St. Damien of Molokai Prayer Card (PC-38)

St. Damien of Molokai Prayer Card

The priest who went to the lepers — and became one of them

Born Jozef De Veuster in rural Belgium in 1840, he took the name Damien when he entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary — and set sail for Hawaii in his brother's place when illness prevented his brother from going. In 1873, he volunteered for what most considered a death sentence: to go and live permanently among the lepers forcibly quarantined on the Kalaupapa Peninsula of Molokai, a natural prison surrounded by towering cliffs and pounding ocean on three sides.

What he found there was not just disease but despair. The colony had become lawless and hopeless — people abandoned by the world, waiting to die. Father Damien did not keep them at arm's length. He dressed their ulcers with his own hands, built houses and a church, dug graves, made coffins, shared meals, and gave these forgotten human beings back their dignity as beloved children of God. He told them they were not alone. He stayed for sixteen years — until 1884, when he placed his foot in scalding water and felt nothing. He had contracted leprosy. He did not leave. He simply began his next sermon: "We, lepers…"

He died on April 15, 1889, at the age of 49. His work had captured the attention of the world and transformed public understanding of leprosy forever. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1995 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009. He is the patron saint of those suffering from leprosy, AIDS patients, and all who are cast out and forgotten by society. His feast day is May 10th. Hawaii placed his statue in the National Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol — one of only two statues the state is permitted to display.

Perfect for: Healthcare workers, those suffering from illness, HIV/AIDS ministry, May 10th feast day, Hawaiian Catholic communities, those who feel abandoned or outcast, and anyone inspired by radical service to the most vulnerable.