Saint Damien of Molokai
Feast day: May 10
Belgian missionary who lived and died among Hawaii's lepers.
Jozef De Veuster was born in Belgium in 1840. He entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts and took the name Damien when he left as a missionary for Hawaii.
In 1873 he volunteered for the leper colony of Kalaupapa on Molokai, where he came to live permanently among the sick.
He built houses, churches, and cemeteries, cared for the dying, and proclaimed the Gospel with courage and fatherly tenderness.
When he realized he too had contracted leprosy, he declared: «We are one now» — a sign of his total identification with the excluded.
He died on April 15, 1889, at forty-nine, and was buried at Kalaupapa, where he is still venerated today.
He was canonized in 2009 by Benedict XVI. His liturgical feast is May 10. He is patron of lepers and people with HIV/AIDS.
Dedicated prayer
To the saint of Hawaii's lepers, we ask charity toward the excluded and courage in serving the sick.
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