Saint Damien de Veuster

Priest, Apostle of the Lepers of Molokai

Feast Day

May 10

Life

1840–1889

Canonized

2009

Order

Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (SS.CC., Picpus Fathers)

Born

Tremelo, Belgium

Saint Joseph de Veuster, who took the religious name Damien, was born at Tremelo, Belgium, on January 3, 1840. He entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Picpus Fathers) in 1859 and, taking his brother's place, sailed to the Apostolic Vicariate of the Hawaiian Islands, arriving at Honolulu on March 19, 1864. He was ordained priest at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, Honolulu, on May 21, 1864.

In 1865 the Hawaiian government passed a law segregating persons afflicted with Hansen's disease (leprosy) on the Kalaupapa peninsula of the island of Molokai. After volunteering, Damien arrived at the Kalawao settlement on May 10, 1873, the date the Church now keeps as his feast. For sixteen years he lived among the lepers as priest, builder of churches and houses, dresser of wounds, and undertaker. He contracted leprosy himself in 1884 and died on April 15, 1889.

Pope Saint John Paul II beatified Damien at Brussels on June 4, 1995. Pope Benedict XVI canonized him at Saint Peter's Basilica on October 11, 2009. The Memorial is observed on May 10, the date of his arrival at Molokai, and is inscribed in the Proper Calendar for the Dioceses of the United States.