Monday, August 10, 2015

Leprosy: Saint Damien of Molokai, Patron of Lepers and HIV/AIDs Sufferers



The Belgian nuns at my school used to talk about another Belgian, a priest, Father Damien, who worked and lived with the lepers at Molokai, Hawaii. He was born in 1840 and went to Hawaii in 1864. He began his ministry with the 600 lepers of Molokai in 1873. 




Fearful of the lepers who were considered highly contagious the Hawaiian Legislature and King Kamehameha V approved the creation of settlement colonies for lepers on the island of Molokai in 1865. (Carville Leper Home in Louisiana was founded in 1894; Culion Leprosarium in the Philippines was created in 1904). 

Father Damien died in Molokai in 1889 at the age of 49, a leper like those whom he had served for 16 years. He was beatified in 1995 and sainted in 2009. He is venerated, not only by the Roman Catholic Church, but also by the Eastern Catholic Churches, Episcopal Church, some churches of the Anglican Communion, and individual Lutheran Churches.


Saint Damien of Molokai, pray for us!



Read also
The Island of the Living Dead, Culion Leper Colony, Philippines
The Miracle of Carville, Louisiana Leper Home
Interaction between Leper and Regular Folk - Che Guevara Quote
Photos: I took the pictures of the Mosaic portrait of Father Damien and the Church of Our Lady of Maria Lanakila in Lahaina; the real photo is courtesy of Wikipedia

Tags: Leprosy, lepers, Damien, Father Damien, Saint Damien, Molokai, Hawaii, leprosarium, leper colony, Hansen's Disease, Hawaiian, religion, Catholic, #leprosy, #hansensdisease

This is all for now,
Cecilia

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