Jack Voelkel
Father Damien, the Leper Priest (part 2)
Father Damien, the Leper Priest (1840-1889)
Part 2: The CostBefore Damien had left Europe, the General of his order had given him and his colleagues a wise and solemn warning, which often came to his mind in later years.
You will be enthusiastic when you first arrive in Hawaii, but after a while the excitement will wear off and cultural shock may well lead on to depression. Be careful of the sexual seduction of women who are more aggressive there than what you have been accustomed to here. Initially, you may see amazing effectiveness in your evangelization, but your converts may easily revert to their old customs. Failures of this kind may lead you to have doubts about your calling. But even in the moments of deepest depression, salvation is at hand. Remember – the operation of grace takes a long time. Always work in pairs: solitude, especially under these circumstances, is not good (p. 29).
Damien was to experience all of these dangers, repeatedly. In spite of his faith, he was often lonely and even depressed. Frequently, months went by without a visit from his superiors or even a colleague. Though he was accompanied on at least two occasions by brother priests, they were chronically difficult to get along with and tried his soul. Yet, he wrote of his joy in serving God and those who were most needy.
He wrote constantly to the Board of Health and his religious authorities pleading for more attention to the lepers, better conditions for them, more personnel, and especially nursing sisters. He was told to be patient, that there was no money, and that he was being unreasonable, even insubordinate. He felt ignored and unfairly criticized.
In the early years of his ministry on Molokai, Damien’s brother in Belgium published in a magazine, a private letter Damien had written to him, describing his situation, without his permission. People began to take notice, and wrote to him, asking how they could help. Charles Stoddard, editor of a Catholic periodical, investigated Damien’s work and wrote The Lepers of Molokai (p. 207). Soon he was receiving not only fan mail but offers of financial support of his work. This public attention did not sit well with his superiors who felt that Damien was becoming proud. It was with difficulty that he was able to get them to release money sent to him for needed improvements.
But the greatest cost was his discovery after 12 years that the growing chronic pain in his foot was evidence of leprosy. Since a common supposition at that time was that leprosy was the fourth stage of syphilis, it was rumored that he had succumbed to sexual temptation. On two occasions he was subjected to humiliating physical examinations, but no proof of the sexual disease was ever found.
His CharacterDamien’s biographer describes him as “a likeable man, intelligent, practical, sharp, stubborn, open-minded, forgiving, with a good sense of humour [sic] and a quick temper. Most of all he was an original thinker, quite ahead of his time, and he had the rate gift of empathy” (p. ix).
Damien’s biographer describes him as “a likeable man, intelligent, practical, sharp, stubborn, open-minded, forgiving, with a good sense of humour [sic] and a quick temper. Most of all he was an original thinker, quite ahead of his time, and he had the rate gift of empathy” (p. ix).He had the privilege of making the acquaintance of the well known writer, Robert Louis Stevenson, whose description was perhaps more objective and unvarnished.
Of good old Damien, about whose weaknesses, and worse, I have perhaps heard everything, I now have a higher opinion. He was a European peasant, dirty, bigoted,... foolish, cunning, superb in his generosity, his openness and his fundamental good humour [sic]. If you could convince him he was wrong (sometimes after hours of fierce protest) then he would repair his error and appreciate the people who had complained the more. A man of all human grime and insignificance, and yet all the more a saint and a hero for that (Cited in Eynikel, p. 309).
In the end, the leprosy in his body crippled him, produced open sores on his left hand, and disfigured his face. But he kept on working, caring for his boys, ministering to others, until his body just wore out. He was resigned to death, but kept repeating, “I am so happy that I can celebrate Easter in heaven” (p. 299). He wrote to his English Anglican friend, Edward Clifford, “During your long traveling road homewards, please do not forget that narrow road we both have to walk carefully, so as to meet together at the home of our common and eternal Father” (p. viii). Damien was only 49 when he died.
He lived 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.
He was buried in Molokai, but in 1936, at the request of the Belgian government, his body was exhumed and returned to his homeland. His statue, along with the Hawaiian king, Kamehameha’s, has been placed in Statuary Hall in Washington (Hawaii…). Later on, a relic composed of the remains of his right hand was returned to Molokai, and buried beside a chapel dedicated to his honor (Kalaupapa ).
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.[1]
BibliographyEynikel, Hilde Molokai. The Story of Father Damien. (Trans.) Lesley Gilbert. London: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., 1999), a PhD Dissertation, the basis of a major movie, Molokai, produced by Era Films, Brussels, directed by Paul Cox, with a screenplay by John Briley, and starring David Wenham (as Damien), Peter O’Toole, Tom Wilkinson, Kris Kristofferson, Sam Neill, and Derek Jacobi.
Eynikel, Hilde (Trans.) Lesley Gilbert. London: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., 1999), a PhD Dissertation, the basis of a major movie, , produced by Era Films, Brussels, directed by Paul Cox, with a screenplay by John Briley, and starring David Wenham (as Damien), Peter O’Toole, Tom Wilkinson, Kris Kristofferson, Sam Neill, and Derek Jacobi.Father Damien (Joseph de Veuster). New Advent http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/0465a.htm
Hawaii State Government. http://www.state.hi,us/about/damien.htmKalaupapa http://visitmolokai.com/tour4.html
Print
Email
