Subj : May 10th - Blessed Father Damien To : All From : rich Date : Sat May 09 2020 10:05:26 From: rich May 10th - Blessed Father Damien (Joseph de Veuster) (1840-1889) The word =E2=80=9Cleper=E2=80=9D, meaning one possessed by a type of diseas= e that devours flesh and bone, still makes us shudder, and brings to mind those victims of leprosy who, in the Bible and in medieval times, were excluded from human society because of the contagiousness of their ailment. That type of leprosy, now called =E2=80=9CHansen's Disease= =E2=80=9D, has survived up to the present. In our own century, fortunately, medical science has found ways to treat and even to cure it. In the 1860s, there were no such remedies. Consequently, when an epidemic of the disease hit the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands, the ruler, King Kamehameha V, (this was before the United States acquired the Islands) ordered that the victims be rounded up and exiled to the barren island of Molokai. The 800 so quarantined, given little or no government assistance, and not even police to maintain public order, soon became lawless and hopeless, and the island a living tomb. Eventually, however, a group of dedicated Catholics on Molokai asked the missionary bishop in Honolulu to send a priest to the island. The bishop agreed, and in 1873 sent a young member of the missionary Picpus Fathers (Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary), who had volunteered for the job. He was Damien Joseph de Veuster, SS.CC. Father de Veuster was a Flemish Belgian, a native of Tremeloo. His was a farming family, and his father expected him to become a trader in grain. But Joseph's brother Pamphile, already a member of the Picpu= s Congregation, interested him in joining the same community. He took his vows as =E2=80=9CDamien=E2=80=9D, a lay brother, in 1860. The c= ommunity did not plan to admit him to the priesthood at first, for he was no theologian but a hearty, cheerful man who was a practical =E2=80=9Cdoer=E2= =80=9D. Sent to the Hawaiian Island missions in 1863, he was, nevertheless, ordained a priest after arrival, and spent his first eight years in arduous work on the rural and island missions. Father Damien, though zealous for souls when he volunteered for the leper island, was not yet a hero. When he first arrived, he slept under a tree for fear of contagion. But as he grew used to the lepers, he saw that their needs were physical as well as spiritual. So he became closer to them, lovingly dressing their sores, sharing his food and even his pipe with them, making their coffins, building them churches and houses and orphanages. Most of all, he became the champion of these outcasts and their better medical care. Hitherto a quiet man, he now turned into a ferocious lion when it came to demanding assistance for them from the government and the church. He had planned to work at Molokai for only a certain term. As it happened, he spent the rest of his life there. Especially in his later years, he suffered much painful opposition. Some jealous non-Catholics denounced this rough-cut philanthropist, and even among the Picpus Fathers he had his critics. One of his greatest trials was lack of communication, and the inability to see any priests, even for confession. In 1885 he himself contracted leprosy. When he discovered it, he made the announcement by addressing the congregation as =E2=80=9Cwe lepers=E2=80= =9D. But being a leper grieved him far less than the opposition of his fellow priests. Towards the end of his life, he was comforted by the arrival of two =E2=80=9Clay brothers=E2=80=9D to assist him. Equally welcome were the Fran= ciscan Sisters, Conventual, from Syracuse, N.Y., who arrived in 1883 under the leadership of Blessed Mother Marianne Cope, and who labor at Molokai to this very day. The =E2=80=9CLeper Priest=E2=80=9D died on April = 15, 1889. Criticism of Father Damien did not cease with his death. The Rev. Dr. Hyde, a Protestant clergyman, wrote of him as a man of dubious morals. In 1900, the famous author Robert Louis Stevenson, also a Protestant, answered Dr. Hyde with an impassioned refutation. Correspondence in the Pacific Commercial Advertiser of Hawaii also proved that Hyde had misread his sources. Father de Veuster's remains were taken to Belgium in 1936. His caus= e for canonization was introduced in 1955; he was declared =E2=80=9Cvenerable= =E2=80=9D in 1977; on June 4, 1995, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II. Father Damien was canonized on October 11, 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI. Leprosy has not vanished, but is mostly under control. The parallel disease of AIDS has taken its place as a deadly worldwide contact disease. Saint Damien shows us how to act towards these new outcasts: Serve them lovingly as we find them. =E2=80=93Father Robert Saint Quote: It is not possible ever to exhaust the mind of the Scriptures. It is a well that has no bottom. --St. John Chrysostom Bible Quote: "There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. A generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not washed from their filthiness. A generation whose eyes are lofty, and their eyelids lifted up on high. A generation that for teeth hath swords, and grindeth with their jaw teeth, to devour the needy from off the earth, and the poor from among men."=C2 (Prov. 30:11-14)=C2 DRB <><><><> When sorrow darkens my life When sorrow darkens my life, Welcome be the Holy Will of God! When sickness strikes me down, Welcome be the Holy Will of God! When hunger and unemployment threaten, Welcome be the Holy Will of God! When hunger and unemployment are my lot, Welcome be the Holy Will of God! When my hopes are unfulfilled, Welcome be the Holy Will of God! When my friends forsake me, Welcome be the Holy Will of God! When I am unhappy, Welcome be the Holy Will of God! When enemies injure me, Welcome be the Holy Will of God! When men calumniate me and speak that which is evil against me, Welcome be the Holy Will of God! When my undertakings fail, Welcome be the Holy Will of God! When the cross presses heavily upon me, Welcome be the Holy Will of God! When my last hour comes, Welcome be the Holy Will of God! --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .