May-10 Saint Damien de Veuster of Moloka’i
May-10 Saint Damien de Veuster of Moloka’i When Jozef de Veuster was born in Tremelo, Belgium, in 1840, few people had any firsthand knowledge of the flesh-eating Hansen’s disease then called leprosy. By the time he died at the age of 49, thanks to his ministry among lepers people all over the world knew about this dreaded disease. Forced to quit school at age 13 to work on the family farm, Jozef entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary six years later, taking the name of a fourth-century physician and martyr Damien. In 1864 when his older brother fell ill, Damien volunteered to take his place and travel to the missions in Hawai`i . Damien was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace on May 21, 1864 and stated his ministry in Hawaii. In 1873 as part of a team of rotational member of volunteer chaplains he was assigned for 3 months to minister to the 700 lepers isolated on a settlement colony of Kalawao on the east...