Pastor for lepers. The spiritual feat of Father Damian (10 photos)

These days, leprosy seems like some kind of semi-mythical disease. And at one time it greatly poisoned people’s lives. After all, there was no cure for leprosy, and death, painful and sometimes stretching for years, turned a person into an outcast rejected by everyone.





Until the end of the 19th century, until drugs appeared, some relief could only be brought to the unfortunate by church ministers who worked on a voluntary basis in leper colonies.



Damian in his youth

Such was Father Damian de Veuster (1840-1889), who in Hawaii is called the apostle of lepers. The future clergyman, who received the name Joseph at birth, was born in the Belgian village of Tremelo and became the seventh child in the family of a grain merchant.

After graduating from school, the teenager entered the monastic congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, where two sisters and a brother were already members. And by order of the leadership, in 1864, now Father Damian (the name was given in honor of the doctor and martyr who lived in the 4th century) went to Hawaii.





Damian among his charges in the colony

At that time, the young priest did not even suspect that along with his binding name he would receive an equally tragic fate. After all, he had to bring comfort not to the paralyzed or blind. And those suffering from a terrible incurable disease that disfigures the body and torments the soul.

Leprosy was brought to the islands in the 1930s by the Chinese. The disease spread quickly due to the specific culture of the local population. Hawaiians ate from the same bowl, hugged and kissed when they met, slept in the same bed - sick and healthy. Naturally, there was no talk of any protective measures.



Damian de Veuster with the girls' choir

When the authorities realized that urgent measures had to be taken, the sick were isolated and sent to the Kalawao leper colony on the island of Molokai. The only thing the authorities helped with was food, clothing and personal belongings. Otherwise, the unfortunate people had to rely only on themselves. And the mercy of God, which Damian brought to this terrible place.

The first thing the missionary did after arriving was to pick up a bad habit - he began to constantly smoke a pipe, because there was no escape from the stench of rotting bodies. And the smoke at least a little dispersed the terrible smell of death.



The island of Molokai today



The first days the priest lived on the street, sleeping under a tree, placing a stone under his head as a pillow. And then he got used to it and lived the life of his special parishioners, becoming the soul and heart of the new community. He taught the doomed to build houses, temples, farms, schools, treat wounds, and make coffins. He equipped a port, opened several shops, a hospital, and a shelter. He consoled the living and mourned the dead.



The plan of the churchmen was truly a success. They started talking about Damian as a living saint. The local king awarded him an order, and European newspapers, one after another, devoted laudatory articles to the missionary. But the man cared little about the pandemonium of the big world. He was only concerned about his charges and the desire to make their lives at least a little better.



He even managed to engage in culture between hard physical labor and sermons. Even to the point of organizing a choir for girls. For 11 years, everything was fine with the brave priest. And then the inevitable happened: Damian was taking an evening bath out of habit, when he suddenly realized that one leg had lost sensation and was not responding to too hot water. This was the first sign of illness. The colony's guardian angel turned into her patient.



Damian - patron saint of leprosy patients, outcasts, victims of infectious diseases

But he didn’t leave his job. Volunteers arrived to help Damian - priest Louis Lambert Conrardi, nun Marianne Cope, Dr. Goto, a nurse and a military man. He was weakening and realized that the end was near. The living apostle was not yet 50, and he looked like an emaciated old man.

Damian's father's condition worsened sharply on March 23that of 1889. He could no longer get out of bed. And on April 15 he quietly passed away. The shepherd found his rest under the very tree under which he spent his first nights in the colony. All the residents came to say goodbye to their comforter. The Hawaiians did not need any proof of this man's holiness; his deeds were enough. But the Catholic Church was in no hurry to recognize merit. And only in 2009 the angel from Molokai was canonized.