Archive Record
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Metadata
Title |
Father Damien De Veuster, ss.cc., to Bishop Hermann Kockemann, ss.cc., Kalawao, August 30, 1883. |
Creator |
De Veuster, Damien |
Dates of Creation |
August 30, 1883 |
Object ID |
2023.1.87 |
Object Name |
Letter |
Other number |
2132 |
Scope & Content |
V.C.J.S. Kalawao, August 30, 1883 Bishop Hermann, I take the liberty of submitting to your Excellency the list of my orphan children whom I have adopted while asking you to kindly help me, as your resources allow, to procure them what they need. Born to non-Catholic parents: Born to Catholic parents: Boys: Keawe Boys: Paulo Kaluna Keoki Gab. Kauli Kaia Len Williamson Moke Liu Petero L. WaiokiaToma Kanana D. KapaloluLen Matanui B. MakakuhaJames McCabe L. LeialohaJohn Cullen Pekero LiiliiPet. Keliikaapuni Pelepo PuhieaMilk Hahana P. Halepuole11David Kamalo Samuel KaukauGirls: J. HeakaPhilomena NoaM. Mahi Raphaele KalaeoneReka J. KailiRebeka Gab. MaieleeleKalomela 18PekaAne Haleula Girls: Cecilia Kalua 7Kapea Phil. Hoomanavanui18 Kolakika Luahina Cecilia Kaliilii Paulina Kumuhonua Mopii Ke olahou 8Makaleka Keoho 26 18Born to Catholic parents 26Born to non-Catholic parents 44 Total number of adopted by the priest In fide hujus [1], Brother J. Damien Kalawao, August 30, 1883 [2] Since September 1st 1882, there have been in the whole Island of Molokai 138 baptisms of which the vast majority were adult; 33 marriages. There are now 840 lepers in our settlement and about 200 non-leprous. I estimate that about half of this population now practices the Catholic religion. Our two churches here are often frequented. The morality has not been as good this year as in earlier years. The morality leaves much to be desired; however, there is some improvement. Illegitimate unions have decreased in proportion to the Board of Health allowing the husbands or wives of married lepers to come; besides we have been able to legitimate many unions. Orate pro me atque pro nobis in SS Cordibus [3], Brother J. Damien ss.cc. Missionary Priest __________ [1] Hereby testified to. [2] Given that there is no addressee, it can be assumed that this section is part of the same Letter 192, based on its date, August 30, 1883. [3] Pray for me and for us in the Sacred Hearts. |
Admin/Biographical History |
Jozef De Veuster was born on January 3, 1840 in the village of Tremelo, Belgium. He was the seventh of eight children born to Frans and Anne-Catherine De Veuster. His father intended for Jozef to take over the family farm someday. However, Jozef felt drawn to the religious life, like two of his sisters and a brother before him. At age 19, he entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary at Leuven. For his religious name, he chose Damien after a third-century physician-saint and early Christian martyr. In 1863, Damien's older brother, Father Pamphile, was headed for the Sacred Hearts Mission in the Hawaiian Islands. A case of typhus prevented him from going. Brother Damien, with missionary zeal and unbridled enthusiasm, asked and received permission to take his brother's place. After a sea voyage of nearly five months, Brother Damien arrived in Honolulu on the Feast of Saint Joseph, March 19, 1864. For the next two months he studied the Hawaiian language and prepared for ordination to the priesthood at Ahuimanu College. The ordination of Brother Damien and two others took place at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, on May 21, 1864. His first assignment was to the island of Hawaii, where he labored for nearly nine years - first in the Puna district, and then in an area encompassing the districts of Kohala and Hamakua. In May of 1873, Bishop Maigret blessed the first stone church of Saint Anthony in Wailuku, Maui. To the assembled priests, he expressed the dire need to provide spiritual help for the people of the Kalaupapa leprosy settlement. Realizing the risks and sacrifice that this would entail, the bishop asked for volunteers on a three-month rotating basis. Father Damien was the first to volunteer and accompanied the bishop to Kalaupapa. After seeing the paltry living conditions and despair of its residents, he decided to remain there. With no house to shelter him, he slept under the canopy of a pandanus tree for several days after his arrival. The tree stood next to the small Catholic chapel of Saint Philomena at Kalawao. This chapel was built a year earlier by Sacred Hearts Brother Victorin Bertrand. Father Damien cared for the spiritual and physical needs of the residents of Kalaupapa. In addition to celebrating Mass and hearing their confessions, he built houses, an orphanage, and other structures. He constructed churches, both in Kalaupapa and on top-side Molokai. For those who died, he made their coffins and dug their graves. His acts of compassion and advocacy for the patients of Kalaupapa earned Father Damien the respect and admiration of people around the world. In 1881, the Princess Regent Liliuokalani met Father Damien during her visit to Kalaupapa. She later made him, on behalf of her brother, King Kalakaua, a Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Kalakaua. A medical examination in 1884 confirmed that Father Damien had contracted leprosy. In the face of this adversity, he stoically stated: "I have accepted this malady as my special cross." Despite his failing health, Father Damien continued to work up until a few days before his death. He died on April 15, 1889. He was buried beneath the pandanus tree that first sheltered him nearly 16 years earlier. King Leopold III of Belgium later wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt requesting the return of Father Damien's remains to his homeland. On January 27, 1936, Father Damien's remains were exhumed from his grave at Kalawao. Much pomp and circumstance heralded the arrival of Father Damien's remains in Belgium on May 3, 1936. His remains now rest in Saint Anthony's Chapel in Leuven where Damien first entered religious life. Public acclamation of Father Damien's sanctity was heard even during his lifetime. But, it would take 120 years after his death before he was officially recognized as a saint. Official acknowledgment began on July 9, 1977 when Pope Paul VI accorded Father Damien the title of Venerable. Pope John Paul II declared him Blessed on June 4, 1995. Finally, on October 11, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed Father Damien a saint of the Church. His feast is celebrated on May 10, the first day of his arrival on the island of Molokai. A relic of Saint Damien is enshrined in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu. His right hand, the hand of blessing, has been reinterred within his original grave site at Kalawao. |
Language of Material |
French / Latin |
People |
Cullen, John De Veuster, Damien Hahana, Milk Halepuole, P. Halepuole, P. Haleula, Ane Heaka, J. Hoomanavanui, Phil. Kaili, J. Kalaeone, Raphaele Kaliilii, Cecilia Kaluna, Paulo Kamalo, David Kanana, Toma Kapalolu, D. Kaukau, Samuel Kauli, Gab. Keliikaapuni, Pet. Keoho, Makaleka Kockemann, Hermann Kumuhonua, Paulina Leialoha, L. Liilii, Pekero Luahina, Kolakika Maieleele, Gab. Makakuha, B. Matanui, Len McCabe, James Petero, Liu Puhiea, Pelepo Waiokia, L. Williamson, Len |
Subjects |
Adoption Assistance Baptisms Catholicism Children Leprosy Marriage Moral & ethical aspects Orphans Weddings |
Search Terms |
Board of Health Sacred Hearts religious |
Legal Status |
All rights of reproduction and photography reside with Congregation of the Sacred Hearts United States Province. |
Notes |
Translation #192 found in Father Damien's Letters (Rome: General Postulation of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts SS.CC., 2017), pp. 428-429. Reprinted with permission. |
Copyrights |
COPYRIGHT NOTICE The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purposes other than private study, scholarship or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use", that user may be liable for copyright infringement. The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts United States of America Province reserves the right to refuse to duplicate any material if, in its judgment, duplication would involve violation of copyright law. Users of duplicated materials are legally responsible for observing copyright laws as well as the laws of libel, privacy and property rights. LITERARY RIGHTS NOTICE FOR ORIGINAL LETTERS All requests for permission to publish, quote, or exhibit from Father Damien's original letters in this collection must be submitted in writing to the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts USA Province. Permission is given on behalf of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts USA Province as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must be obtained by the user. LITERARY RIGHTS NOTICE FOR TRANSLATIONS All requests for permission to publish, quote, or exhibit translations of Father Damien's original letters in this online collection must be submitted in writing to the General Postulation of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts SS.CC.in Rome. Permission is given on behalf of the General Postulation of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts as the copyright holder. |