Joseph de Veuster was born in Belgium in 1840, and by the time he was 13 he had to quit school to help his parents take care of the family farm. At 19 he followed his older brother into the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary where he took the name Damian, after a 4th century physician and martyr. He volunteered to go to the Hawaiian Islands as a missionary, and he soon found himself working in the leper colony on the island of Moloka’i. Rather than leave when his three month assignment was over, he volunteered to stay permanently where he cared for the lepers by cleaning their wounds, bathing them, playing them music, bringing them the sacraments, and petitioning the government for funds for better facilities. Father Damian contracted leprosy and died from it among the people he came to serve.
CHALLENGE
St. Damian de Veuster was beloved by the Hawaiian people, and he lived a life inspired by the saint who’s name he took for his religious name. Do you have a personal connection to the saint whose name you took at your Confirmation? Today, begin a lifelong journey of studying your Confirmation saint’s life more closely so you can use their life as an inspiration for your own.
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