Early Church Fathers And Saints Codexery

Father Damien

Belgian priest who served lepers in Molokaʻi until his death.

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Father Damien

via Wikipedia: Father Damien · see source

He contracted leprosy after 11 years of service and died of the disease on 15 April 1889.[1] On 11 October 2009, Pope Benedict XVI performed the canonization of Father Damien.[2]

Life and work

His superiors initially thought he lacked education for the priesthood, but he learned Latin from his brother and was allowed to continue.[3] He arrived at Honolulu Harbor on 19 March 1864 and was ordained a priest on 21 May 1864.[4] In December 1884, he discovered he had contracted leprosy after putting his foot into scalding water and feeling nothing.[5] Despite his illness, he continued working and completed building projects and improved orphanages.[6][7]

Damien was the youngest of seven children; his father was a Flemish corn merchant, and at age 13 he had to leave school to labor on the family farm.[8] In 1860, he entered the novitiate of the Fathers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary at Leuven and adopted the religious name Damien.[9][10] Father Damien reached the Kalaupapa settlement on 10 May 1873, where 600 lepers were living, and served as its resident priest.[10][11] He cared for residents by dressing their ulcers, constructing a church, building homes and coffins, and digging graves.[12]

What the cited sources add

The same source notes that a 1905 correspondence in the "Pacific Commercial Advertiser" removed suspicion from Damien's character regarding Dr. Hyde's insinuations.[10] A 2008 Star-Bulletin article by Bernardo states that Audrey Toguchi, an 80-year-old woman cured of liposarcoma after praying to Damien, was looking forward to his canonization.[13] Catholic News Agency reported that the Vatican would recognize 10 blesseds as saints in a consistory ceremony on 21 February.[14]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Father Damien" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "FEAST OF SAINT DAMIAN OF MOLOKAI – 10th MAY", prayersandpetitions.org, 10 May 2022 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Father Damien" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "'Apostle of the Lepers,' Spanish mystic among 10 to be canonized", Catholic News Agency; "Pope Proclaims Five New Saints", Radio Vaticana; Boeynaems, Libert. "Father Damien (Joseph de Veuster)." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 20 April 2020 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Father Damien" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Pater Damiaan "de Grootste Belg aller tijden"", NOS, 2 December 2005; "Blessed Damian De Veuster", Biography, 2007-05-10; "Father Damien – Kalaupapa National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Father Damien" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Eynikel, "Damiaan: De Definitieve Biografie", Davidsfond, 1997, p. 82 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Father Damien" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tayman, "The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai", Simon and Schuster, 2007 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Father Damien" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Hawaii's Father Damien: From priesthood to sainthood", Hawaii Magazine, 10 October 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Father Damien" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Carr, "Hawaii's Father Damien: From priesthood to sainthood", Hawaii Magazine, 10 October 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Father Damien" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Media, "Saint Damien de Veuster of Moloka'i", 10 May 2016; Boeynaems, Libert. "Father Damien (Joseph de Veuster)." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 20 April 2020 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Father Damien" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Saint Damien – Servant of God, Servant of Humanity", Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace; Catholic Online, "St. Damien of Molokai", catholic.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Boeynaems, Libert. "Father Damien (Joseph de Veuster)." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 20 April 2020. facts only, no text reused. newadvent.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Father Damien" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Boeynaems, Libert. "Father Damien (Joseph de Veuster)." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 20 April 2020 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Father Damien" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Saint Damien – Servant of God, Servant of Humanity", Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Bernardo, "Aiea woman excited for her saint in making", The Star-Bulletin, 4 July 2008. facts only, no text reused. archives.starbulletin.com
  14. "'Apostle of the Lepers,' Spanish mystic among 10 to be canonized", Catholic News Agency. facts only, no text reused. ewtnnews.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Father Damien (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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