What did Fr Damien do to serve the lepers?
What did Fr Damien do to serve the lepers?
Father Damien worked for 16 years in Hawaii, providing comfort to the lepers of Kalaupapa. Not only did he give the people faith, he also built homes for them and treated them with his medical expertise. He prayed at the cemetery of the deceased and comforted the dying at their bedsides.
Who worked with lepers?
Father Damien
The Belgian missionary Father Damien (1840-1889) is known for his work among the lepers on Molokai in the Hawaiian Islands. Father Damien was born Joseph de Veuster in Tremeloo, Belgium, on Jan. 3, 1840, of pious and sturdy Flemish peasant stock.
Where is Fr Damien buried?
May 5, 1936
Father Damien/Date of burial
Why were there so many lepers in Hawaii?
It was the global prevalence of leprosy that spread the disease to Hawaii in the 19th century, when many migrated to the island to work the land. As Hawaiians hadn’t been previously exposed to the disease, their lack of any protective immunity helped the infection thrive upon its arrival.
How old was Father Damian when he died?
49 years (1840–1889)
Father Damien/Age at death
And he did not always wash his hands after bandaging open sores. Damien was 49 years old when he died April 15, 1889, at Kalawao with Mother Marianne at his bedside. Shortly before his death, he wrote his brother Pamphile, “I am gently going to my grave.
Where is leper island?
Molokai
A tiny number of Hansen’s disease patients still remain at Kalaupapa, a leprosarium established in 1866 on a remote, but breathtakingly beautiful spit of land on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. Thousands lived and died there in the intervening years, including a later-canonized saint.
When did Father Damien go to Kalaupapa?
May 10, 1873
On May 10, 1873, Damien arrived at Kalaupapa on a ship from Maui. With no place to go, Damien lived and slept outside under a pu hala (pandanus tree) in Kalawao near St. Philomena Church, which had been previously built by Sacred Hearts brother Victorin Bertrant in 1872.
Why were there leper colonies?
A leper colony, lazarette, leprosarium, or lazar house was historically a place to isolate people with leprosy (Hansen’s disease).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmjvY1oum2U
