MY HERO IS NOT FROM THE BIBLE
BUT HE LIVED BY BIBLICAL ETHICS
HE IS COMMONLY KNOWN
AS DAMIEN
THE LEPER PRIEST OF MOLOKAI
BUT FIRST
A BIT OF HISTORY
THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
WERE RELATIVELY UNKNOWN
UNTIL DISCOVERED BY CAPTAIN COOK
IN 1778
HE CALLED THEM THE SANDWICH ISLANDS
IN EARLIER AGES
IT HAD BEEN POPULATED
BY POLYNESIANS
FROM OTHER PACIFIC ISLANDS
IN OTHER WORDS THEY WERE ISOLATED
IN THEIR LITTLE PARADISE
THE KINGDOM
OF HAWAIʻI WAS SOVEREIGN FROM 1810 UNTIL 1893 WHEN THE MONARCHY WAS
OVERTHROWN BY RESIDENT AMERICAN (AND SOME EUROPEAN) BUSINESSMEN. HAWAII WAS AN
INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC FROM 1894 UNTIL AUGUST 12, 1898, WHEN IT OFFICIALLY BECAME
A TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES, RATIFIED A STATE IN 1959.[57]
COOK VISITED THE ISLANDS TWICE.
UPON HIS DEPARTURE DURING HIS SECOND VISIT IN 1779, A QUARREL ENSUED, INVOLVING
COOK'S TAKING OF TEMPLE IDOLS AND FENCING AS "FIREWOOD",[64] . COOK AND FOUR MARINES WERE KILLED .
AFTER COOK'S VISIT AND THE
PUBLICATION OF SEVERAL BOOKS RELATING HIS VOYAGES, THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
RECEIVED MANY EUROPEAN VISITORS: EXPLORERS, TRADERS, AND EVENTUALLY WHALERS WHO
FOUND THE ISLANDS A CONVENIENT HARBOR AND SOURCE OF SUPPLIES.
THESE VISITORS INTRODUCED
DISEASES TO THE ONCE-ISOLATED ISLANDS AND THE HAWAIIAN POPULATION PLUNGED
PRECIPITOUSLY[66]
BECAUSE NATIVE HAWAIIANS HAD NO RESISTANCE TO INFLUENZA, SMALLPOX, AND MEASLES, AMONG
OTHERS. BY 1820, EURASIAN DISEASES, FAMINE, AND WARS AMONG THE CHIEFS KILLED
MORE THAN HALF OF THE NATIVE HAWAIIAN POPULATION.[67] DURING
THE 1850S, MEASLES KILLED A FIFTH OF HAWAIʻI'S PEOPLE.[68]
..
FRANCE SENT A WARSHIP TO HAWAII.
UNDER THE THREAT OF WAR,THE KING SIGNED
THE EDICT OF TOLERATION ON JULY 17, 1839
AND PAID $20,000 IN COMPENSATION FOR THE DEPORTATION OF THE PRIESTS AND THE
INCARCERATION AND TORTURE OF CONVERTS,
THE KINGDOM PROCLAIMED:
THAT THE CATHOLIC WORSHIP BE
DECLARED FREE, THROUGHOUT ALL THE DOMINIONS SUBJECT TO THE KING OF THE SANDWICH
ISLANDS; THE MEMBERS OF THIS RELIGIOUS FAITH SHALL ENJOY IN THEM THE PRIVILEGES
GRANTED TO PROTESTANTS.
FATHER
DAMIEN ARRIVES IN MOLOKAI IN 1873. THE BELGIAN PRIEST DIED OF LEPROSY IN 1889.
IN 2009, FATHER DAMIEN WAS CANONIZED.
THE WORD LEPROSY IS FROM
OLD FRENCH, FROM LATE LATIN LEPRA, FROM GREEK LEPROS, MEANING SCALY,
FROM LEPIS, SCALE
FATHER DAMIEN
IN
THE MID 1800S, WAVES OF FOREIGNERS INTRODUCED A SERIES OF DISEASES THAT RAVAGED
THE NATIVE PEOPLE OF HAWAII.1 AMONG
THE CRUELEST OF THESE DISEASES WAS LEPROSY, NOW KNOWN AS HANSEN'S DISEASE, FOR
WHICH THERE WAS NO KNOWN CURE.2
AS
THE SEVERE DEFORMITIES SYMPTOMATIC OF HANSEN'S DISEASE SPREAD, SO DID FEAR. IT
WAS DECIDED THAT THOSE AFFLICTED SHOULD BE FORCIBLY OUTCAST ON A REMOTE
PENINSULA ON THE SMALL ISLAND OF MOLOKAI. THIS PENINSULA, NOW HOME TO THE
SETTLEMENT OF KALAUPAPA, IS BATTERED ON THREE SIDES BY A ROARING PACIFIC OCEAN
AND CUT OFF FROM THE REST OF THE ISLAND BY ONE OF THE WORLD'S TALLEST AND
SHEEREST OCEAN CLIFFS.
THE
SOULS OUTCAST HERE BECAME PRISONERS IN THEIR OWN LAND, HARSHLY KICKED FROM
BOATS, WASHING ONTO SHORE WITHOUT ADEQUATE SUPPLIES, INFRASTRUCTURE, MEDICINE,
OR TOOLS. FAMILIES ON SURROUNDING ISLANDS, POWERLESS TO HELP, MOURNED FOR THE
CRUEL FATE OF THEIR LOVED ONES.
SEND ME
FATHER DAMIEN, BORN JOSEPH DE
VEUSTER ON JANUARY 3RD OF
1840 IN BELGIUM, WAS ONE OF EIGHT SIBLINGS. WHEN HE WAS OLD ENOUGH, JOSEPH'S
FATHER, A FARMER, SENT HIM TO COLLEGE TO PREPARE HIM FOR A COMMERCIAL
PROFESSION. IT WAS THERE THAT JOSEPH, THROUGH A SOCIETY OF MISSIONARY PRIESTS,
DECIDED TO BECOME A PRIEST HIMSELF, TAKING THE RELIGIOUS NAME DAMIEN.
SEVERAL
OF DAMIEN'S SIBLINGS HAD ALSO PURSUED RELIGIOUS CALLINGS, INCLUDING HIS OLDER
BROTHER AUGUSTE. IT WAS, IN FACT, AUGUSTE WHO ORIGINALLY INTENDED TO GIVE HIS
LIFE TO THE MISSION IN HAWAII. BECAUSE OF ILLNESS, AUGUSTE WAS PREVENTED FROM
GOING. HAVING PRAYED DAILY TO BE USED BY GOD AS A MISSIONARY, DAMIEN SEIZED THE
OPPORTUNITY. HE ASKED TO AND SUCCEEDED IN TAKING HIS BROTHER'S PLACE.
AFTER
THE NECESSARY PREPARATION, DAMIEN ARRIVED TO THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS IN MARCH OF
1864 AND WAS SUBSEQUENTLY ORDAINED A PRIEST AT THE CATHEDRAL OF OUR LADY OF
PEACE, WHICH STILL STANDS IN HONOLULU TODAY.
SOME
YEARS AFTER DAMIEN'S ARRIVAL TO HAWAII, HIS BISHOP WAS LOOKING FOR A FEW BRAVE
VOLUNTEERS FOR A SHORT-TERM TRIP TO MINISTER TO THOSE WITH HANSEN'S DISEASE
EXILED ON MOLOKAI. DAMIEN IMMEDIATELY VOLUNTEERED. KNOWING THE RISK OF
INFECTION, HE WAS WARNED BY THE BISHOP HIMSELF TO PROCEED WITH CAUTION.
YOU
MUST AVOID ANY FORM OF CONTAGION. IF THEY PASS AROUND A PIPE [A COMMON CULTURAL
OCCURRENCE] YOU MUST REFUSE IT. ABOVE ALL,
YOU MUST NOT JOIN IN MEALS AND EAT FROM THE COMMUNAL POT WITH YOUR FINGERS, AS
OTHERS DO. EVEN THE SADDLE THAT A LEPER HAS SAT UPON MUST BE TABOO TO YOU, AND
I FORBID YOU TO SLEEP IN THE HUT OF A LEPER.3
THE DYING SHED
KALAUPAPA GREETED DAMIEN WITH
DEVASTATION. HE WALKED AMONG THE LIVING DEAD. EVERYWHERE HE LOOKED WAS
GROTESQUE DISFIGUREMENT, BLEEDING AND OOZING SORES, RAMPANT DISEASES OF VARIOUS
KINDS, AND PERHAPS WORST OF ALL, HOPELESSNESS. DAMIEN STRUGGLED TO CELEBRATE
HIS FIRST MASS.
THE
BUILDING WAS FULL AND IT WAS BOILING HOT. DAMIEN WAS CONFRONTED WITH ALL THE
PHYSICAL UNPLEASANTNESS OF LEPROSY. THERE WERE TOO MANY PEOPLE WITH SUPPURATING
SORES, SO THAT THERE WAS A STENCH OF ROTTING FLESH. MOREOVER, ONE OF THE
SYMPTOMS OF LEPROSY IS THAT THE SUFFERER SALIVATES EXCESSIVELY. THE PEOPLE WERE
CONSTANTLY COUGHING, CLEARING THEIR THROATS AND SPITTING ON THE GROUND. DAMIEN
HAD TO TURN AWAY IN ORDER NOT TO BE SICK. HE WENT TO THE OPEN WINDOW, BUT THE
BUILDING WAS SURROUNDED BY ILL PEOPLE WHO HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET INTO THE
CHURCH.3
DAMIEN
WAS MOST IMPACTED BY HIS VISIT TO THE "DYING SHED," WHERE THOSE
SWIFTLY APPROACHING DEATH WERE TAKEN. WHEN HE ENTERED, HE MET THE EYES OF A
DESPERATE YOUNG MAN. HIS FACE WAS SWOLLEN. HIS BODY LAY FRAIL AND TREMBLING ON
A DIRTY SHEET. DAMIEN COULD SEE MAGGOTS CRAWLING THROUGH HIS OPEN SORES.
ALTHOUGH THE BISHOP HAD FORBIDDEN HIM TO TOUCH THE PATIENTS, DAMIEN BEGAN TO
STROKE THE BOY'S NECK, WHERE THE SKIN WAS STILL UNTAINTED. HE SPOKE TO HIM OF
HEAVEN AND GOD'S WELCOME THERE, AND ANOINTED HIM. AS DAMIEN TOUCHED HIM AND
PRAYED, A SPASM WENT THROUGH THE YOUNG MAN'S BODY AND HE DIED IN THE LOVING
PRESENCE OF THE YOUNG PRIEST.4
BY
THE END OF HIS THREE MONTHS AT KALAUPAPA, DAMIEN CAME TO THE CONVICTION THAT
GOD WAS CALLING HIM TO DEDICATE HIS LIFE TO THE SUFFERING PEOPLE THERE. HE
WROTE TO HIS SUPERIORS, "I WISH TO SACRIFICE MYSELF FOR THE POOR LEPERS.
THE HARVEST HERE SEEMS RIPE."5
DAMIEN'S
WISH WOULD BECOME REALITY. THIS WAS TO BE HIS MINISTRY UNTIL THE END. INDEED,
THE MINISTRY WOULD EVENTUALLY COST HIM HIS LIFE.
WE LEPERS...
"MISSIONARY
WORK REQUIRES, FIRST AND FOREMOST, BEING PREPARED FOR MARTYRDOM…"6
WHEN
DAMIEN RETURNED TO THE COLONY, HE BEGAN HIS FIRST SERMON WITH "WE
LEPERS..." THOUGH THERE WAS NOT YET ANY SIGN OF INFECTION IN HIS BODY.
DAMIEN HAD RECOGNIZED THAT IF HE REALLY WANTED TO WIN THE HEARTS OF HIS NEW
FLOCK, HE HAD TO BE WILLING TO TOUCH THEM, TO EAT WITH THEM, TO SMOKE THE
COMMUNAL PIPE AS ONE OF THEM. ALL THE WHILE HE KNEW THAT INFECTION WAS A DEATH
SENTENCE. FATHER DAMIEN WOULDN'T DIE FOR ANOTHER FIFTEEN LONG YEARS, BUT THE
DAY HE IDENTIFIED HIMSELF AS ONE OF THE AFFLICTED WAS THE DAY HE TRULY GAVE HIS
LIFE AWAY.
DAMIEN
HAD FOUR DISTINCT OBJECTIVES IN HIS MINISTRY.
HE
SOUGHT TO MEET THEIR SPIRITUAL NEEDS. WHILE THE PHYSICAL NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE
WERE DAUNTING, THE SPIRITUAL NEEDS WERE EQUALLY PRESSING FOR DAMIEN. IN THE
FACE OF DEATH, SOME CAST OFF MORAL RESTRAINT, TURNING TO SEX AND DRINK. AS HE
MINISTERED, DAMIEN FACED COVERT BUT PREVAILING WITCHCRAFT AMONG THE EXILES, A
LEGACY OF THEIR FORMER RELIGION. THE GOSPEL OFFERED HOPE WHEN ALL OTHER HOPE
WAS LOST.
HE
WANTED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL CARE. IN ADDITION TO HANSEN'S
DISEASE, THE PATIENTS SUFFERED FROM ALL KINDS OF SECONDARY INFECTIONS: LICE AND
TICK INFESTATIONS, SCABIES, LUNG INFECTIONS, ULCERATED SORES, DIARRHEA, COUGHS,
ETC. HE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN CONTRIBUTING TO THE ALLEVIATION OF ALL THESE NEEDS,
OFTEN IN THE FACE OF INDIFFERENCE, DELAYS, AND EVEN OPEN OPPOSITION FROM THE
OUTSIDE. HE CLEANED THE ULCERS, PUT OINTMENT ON THEM, AND BANDAGED HIS PATIENTS
UP. HE DID HIS OWN RESEARCH, USING A CONTROL GROUP TREATED WITH PLACEBOS TO
DOCUMENT THE SUCCESS OR INEFFECTIVENESS OF THE NEW METHODS HE READ ABOUT.
HE
WAS TO BE A FATHER TO THE FATHERLESS. THERE WERE MANY ORPHANS LEFT TO FEND
FOR THEMSELVES. IN TIME HE WAS CARING FOR MORE THAN 100 ORPHAN BOYS HIMSELF. IN
ADDITION TO SPIRITUAL TEACHING, HE INVOLVED THEM IN HIS BUILDING PROJECTS.
DAMIEN
WAS DETERMINED TO RAISE THE LIVING CONDITIONS. DAMIEN SET ABOUT HELPING THEM ERECT
THEIR COTTAGES. HE WORKED TO BRING IN AN ADEQUATE WATER SUPPLY. HE INSISTED ON
BETTER FOOD RATIONS AND ADEQUATE CLOTHING. HE DUG THEIR GRAVES AND MADE THEIR
COFFINS. HE NOT ONLY HAD TO WORK AS A PRIEST, BUT AS A DOCTOR, ARCHITECT, AND
BUILDER AS WELL. HE BUILT ORPHANAGES, HOMES, CHURCHES, AND MORE. DAMIEN ALSO
RAISED AWARENESS AMONG THE PUBLIC, HE WAS A TIRELESS ADVOCATE OUTSIDE THE COLONY
FOR THE EXILES WITHIN.
CONFESSIONS OF A SAINT
WHILE HE OFTEN WROTE OF THE UNIQUE
JOY THAT COMES WITH SERVING GOD AND THOSE WHO WERE MOST NEEDY, FATHER DAMIEN
WAS NO STRANGER TO LONELINESS, DEPRESSION, TEMPTATION, AND MORE. IN ONE JOURNAL
ENTRY, HE CONFESSES,
ANGRY
ON SUNDAY THREE TIMES BEFORE MASS. IMPURE THOUGHTS, THE FURIES. LISTENED TO
TITTLE-TATTLE AND GOSSIP AND DID THE SAME MYSELF... TWO OR THREE TIMES ALLOWED
SOMEONE TO DIE WITHOUT THE SACRAMENTS, VANITY, HATRED, GRUMBLING AT OTHERS,
INFLEXIBILITY.7
AS
DAMIEN POURED OUT HIS LIFE IN SELFLESS LOVE IN A WAY SEEMINGLY BEYOND THE
AVERAGE PERSON'S ABILITY, IT'S REFRESHING TO READ OF HIS PLAIN HUMANITY.
EASTER IN HEAVEN
"GREATER
LOVE HAS NO ONE THAN THIS: TO LAY DOWN ONE'S LIFE FOR ONE'S FRIENDS."8
AFTER
TWELVE YEARS AMONG THE EXILES OF MOLOKAI, DAMIEN BEGAN TO NOTICE SYMPTOMS IN
HIS FOOT. ONE DAY, WHILE PREPARING A BATH, HE UNKNOWINGLY PLACED HIS FOOT INTO
SCALDING WATER. HIS SKIN BLISTERED, BUT HE FELT NOTHING. FOR WHAT WOULD BE THE
LAST THREE YEARS OF HIS LIFE, HANSEN'S DISEASE RAVAGED DAMIEN'S BODY. WHAT
STARTED AS PAIN IN HIS FOOT TURNED TO OPEN SORES ON HIS LEFT HAND AND
DISFIGUREMENT OF HIS FACE. ALL THE WHILE, HE CONTINUED HIS PRIESTLY WORK,
PUSHING THE LIMITS HIS DETERIORATING BODY IMPOSED. AS HIS CONDITION WORSENED,
HE RESIGNED TO DEATH WITH A MEASURE OF PEACE. "I AM HAPPY THAT I CAN
CELEBRATE EASTER IN HEAVEN," HE WROTE AS THE END DREW NEAR.
FATHER
DAMIEN DIED OF HANSEN'S DISEASE AT 8:00 A.M. ON APRIL 15, 1889, AT THE AGE OF
49. .
DAMIEN
SERVED THE EXILES ON MOLOKAI FOR OVER FIFTEEN YEARS BEFORE HIS DEATH. IT WAS
LONG ENOUGH TO SEE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A MORE MODERN HOSPITAL, THE ARRIVAL OF
AN ORDER OF NURSES TO CARE FOR THE SICK, SOMEONE TO CARE FOR HIS ORPHANS, AND
EVEN A RESIDENT PHYSICIAN. INDEED, IT WAS LONG ENOUGH TO TENDERLY STROKE THE
NECK OF A BOY ON HIS DEATHBED. IT WAS LONG ENOUGH TO TEACH THE WORLD HOW TO
LOVE LIKE CHRIST.
I
WROTE THE FOLLOWING POEM ABOUT DAMIEN
WE LEPERS
BY THESE WORDS
DAMIEN
LET HIS FLOCK KNOW
HE HAD CONTRACTED LEPROSY
A DISEASE
WHICH AT THAT TIME
WAS CONSIDERED HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS
POSSIBLY TRANSMITTED BY CONTACT
MAYBE SEXUAL
IT WAS CONSIDERED AT THAT TIME
A CURSE BY GOD
FOR IMMORALITY
DAMIEN
KNEW HE WAS PURE
HE OFFERED HIS BODY
TO BE CHECKED FOR SIGNS OF STDS
TO PROVE HIS OWN INNOCENCE
PLUS THAT OF HIS FLOCK
LEPROSY WAS BAD ENOUGH
WITHOUT CALUMNY
WE OFTEN DO THAT TO OUR HEROES
DENIGRATE THEM
BY STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE
TO DILUTE THEIR MESSAGE
CHRIST WAS SAID TO HAVE A DEVIL
LUTHER TO BE A HERETIC
KING TO BE AN ADULTERER
BONHOEFFER A TRAITOR
DAMIEN TO HAVE HAD SEXUAL
RELATIONS WITH A LEPER
IGNORE THE MESSAGE
DEGRADE THE MESSENGER
AS DONE BY REV HYDE
WHEN HE INFERRED
THAT DAMIEN MISSION WAS A FAILURE
BECAUSE HE NEEDED A BATH
PROBABLY TRUE
HE WAS MORE CONCERNED WITH HIS FLOCK
THAN HIMSELF
ASK A MOTHER OF A SICK TODLER
WHAT HER PRIORITIES ARE
“In answer to your inquiries about
Father Damien, I can only reply that we who knew the man are surprised at the
extravagant newspaper laudations, as if he was a most saintly philanthropist.
The simple truth is, he was a coarse, dirty man, headstrong and bigoted. He was
not sent to Molokai, but went there without orders; did not stay at the leper settlement
(before he became one himself), but circulated freely over the whole island
(less than half the island is devoted to the lepers), and he came often to
Honolulu. He had no hand in the
reforms and improvements inaugurated, which were the works of our Board of
Health, as occasion required and means were provided. He was not a pure man in
his relations with women, and the leprosy of which he died should be attributed
to his vices and carelessness. Others have done much for the lepers, our own
ministers, the government physicians, and so forth, but never with the Catholic
idea of meriting eternal life.”
REV HYDE
BUT IN DAMIEN’S CASE R. L. STEVENSON
WROTE IN HIS DEFENSE
R l Stevenson to rev Hyde
But, sir, when we have failed, and
another has succeeded; when we have stood by, and another has stepped in; when
we sit and grow bulky in our charming mansions, and a plain, uncouth peasant
steps into the battle, under the eyes of God, and succours the afflicted, and
consoles the dying, and is himself afflicted in his turn, and dies upon the
field of honour – the battle cannot be retrieved as your unhappy irritation has
suggested. It is a lost battle, and lost for ever. One thing remained to you in
your defeat – some rags of common honour; and these you have made haste to cast
away
Some say he wasn't a scholar
But he mastered Latin
To become a priest
He mastered Hawaiian
To serve his flock
Which displayed two attributes
Which characterized Damien
Persistence
Bulldog determination
He fought the state for more money
He fought the church
For the money
Sent for Leper's care
Siphoned off for other religious
work
There was much denominational bitterness in
Hawaii
It didn't bother Damien
He had stateside denominations
helping him
Which led to church and state complaining
That it put them in a bad light
Though they weren't adverse
To bragging
About the little they did
Or proclaiming first rights to the
doing
None of which helped the leper
Who was ignored in the fight
He was warned
About physical contact with the
lepers
But he soon learned
That he couldn't be a shepherd at a
distance
So he treated their wounds
Comforted the dying
Buried the dead
Fought the strong
For the week's share of food
I think what I admire most about
Damien
Is that he lived out
What Bonhoeffer said about facing
evil
“We are not to simply bandage the
wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into
the wheel itself.”
Frank a Vollmer
