Respect is recognizing the dignity of all people.
To "re-spect: means to "look again" since many times we only see what people are like on the outside. This virtue reminds us to look deeper and recognize that all of us are children of God and are loved by him.
To "re-spect: means to "look again" since many times we only see what people are like on the outside. This virtue reminds us to look deeper and recognize that all of us are children of God and are loved by him.
Saint of the Month: St Damien of Molakai
Life: 1840-1889 Belgium & Hawaii
Feast Day: May 10
Patron Saint: Leprosy and outcasts
Canonized: October 11, 2009
St. Damien of Molokai, also called Father Damien, original name Joseph de Veuster, (bornJoseph de Veuster was born in rural Belgium, the youngest of seven children. He joined the Society of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary,. In place of his brother, Father Pamphile, who had been stricken by illness, he went as a missionary to the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands in 1863. He reached Honolulu in 1864 and was ordained a priest the same year. Moved by the miserable condition of the lepers whom the Hawaiian government had sent to Kalaupapa, an isolated peninsula on the island of Molokai, he volunteered to take charge of the settlement.
Damien, known for his compassion, provided spiritual, physical, and emotional comfort to those suffering from the debilitating and incurable disease. When he arrived, he found the people living in terrible conditions and committing many sins, He served as both pastor and physician to the colony and undertook many projects to better the conditions there. He improved water and food supplies and housing and founded two orphanages, receiving help from other priests for only 6 of his 16 years on Molokai. He gave dignity and respect to the people that everyone else had left for dead. He visited all the people in their homes every week and started a band and choir for the children. Hundreds of people were converted and baptized. In 1884 he contracted leprosy and refused to leave for treatment. He was originally buried at the colony, as he requested, but his remains were transferred to his hometown in 1936. His right hand was returned to his original grave in 1995.
Rumors before and after Damien’s death accused him of immorality, but he was exonerated by an investigation held shortly after his death. Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a famously passionate 6,000-word defense of Damien after interviewing local Hawaiians during his travels in 1889. In 1965 Hawaii placed a statue of Damien in the National Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1995 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.
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Prayer: Saint Damien, be with us and remind us to respect every person, especially those who are sick. Help us to be brave like you and reach out to them to show them God's love. Amen. Saint Damien of Molokai, pray for us.