Archive Record

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1 of 1977

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Metadata

Title

Father Damien De Veuster, ss.cc., to Father Modeste Favens, ss.cc., Hilo, October 23, 1864.

Creator

De Veuster, Damien

Dates of Creation

October 23, 1864

Object ID

2023.1.1

Object Name

Letter

Other number

1960

Scope & Content

Hilo, October 23, 1864

Dear Reverend Father [1],

I received your letter of August 29th and also the church ornaments and the books you were kind enough to send me. I thank you with all my heart, and I assure you that they will all be very useful. As to an altar stone Divine Providence helped me find one, even two (in case I need another) at Fr. Nicaise Célestin Ruault's place in Kau [2]. For a chalice, I talked to Rev. Fr. Charles Pouzot, who let me take one. It is only the textbooks which at the moment cause me pilikia [3]. Only at Halepuaa the Christians have some; in the other places, you hardly find one or two. I would especially like to have some [4] now because I made arrangements with the district school official to give some to our Catholic children, who all go to Calvinist schools. Having Catholic textbooks, would preserve readers greatly against the deadly consequences of being obliged to go to those heretical schools. Besides, these books will help them to learn the prayers and the catechism.

As to the rest, Rev. Father, I am hamahema [5] especially in regard to the chapels, but as you say so well in your letter, first the hearts have to be won over to the dear Lord and changed into spiritual temples, and then the construction and ornamentation of material temples will follow in turn. If only this conversion of heart of the people in Puna would come about soon! If the good Lord would first completely convert the heart of their pastor as he converted the heart of the cure [6], but alas! Pray, Reverend Father, that Father Damien give all of himself and be devoted to His service until he breathes his last. For to start is nothing; to persevere is the difficulty. It is only with God's grace that I can hope for this perseverance. This grace will not be lacking, I am certain, as long as I don't resist it. Pray, and ask others to pray for me, Reverend Father. For my part, I will do everything whatever depends on me. Confident of your prayers, I am, in union of hearts, your very humble servant and brother,

Damien
Missionary Priest

PS Father Charles still has his three schools going. For want of an English teacher, he started giving the lessons himself. I took it upon myself to visit the little Christians of Hilo, and also to go and see Father Célestin in Kau. The good Lord gave me a strong body to make those long journeys without tiring too much [7]. I still have one favor to request. I have heard that Brother Charles Bris [8], the carpenter, finished the church in Kailua and that Brother Arsenius Bernat [9] has not yet arrived from the other island to start a new church at Kau. Would you please let me have Brother Charles to help me a little in Puna while I wait for the other brother to arrive? At Kaimu, especially, in fifteen days of work Brother Charles could transform a store into a nice little church for me. Would you also remind His Excellency Bishop Louis Maigret not to delay in talking with the King about the land? In case his Majesty does not want to give it or to sell it, then make with him hoolimalima [10], a long-term rental agreement, because to do that here with his konohiki [11], a firm Calvinist, would create difficulties. I already heard some rumors.

Please give my aloha to the Bishop and to all the fathers and brothers in Honolulu.

Damien
__________

[1]. In 1850, Father Modeste became the Missionary Provincial and moved to the Mission center in Honolulu living there until he died on August 13, 1891. Schoofs, Pioneers, pp. 44, 262-267. The designation "Missionary Provincial" comes from a decision of the Third General Chapter, (September 1 - October 12, 1838) and incorporated into the Rule of the Brothers of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (1840), Articles 388-427.
[2]. Kau (Ka??) is a district on the south side of the Island of Hawai?i.
[3]. real trouble.
[4]. This seems to suggest that only a few baptized adults had the Catholic books.
[5]. in a difficult situation.
[6]. Probably the Curé of Ars. See Letter 18.8.
[7]. Puna and Ka?? were adjacent to each other, but both were large districts. The walk from one station to another could be as much as 40 or 50 miles.
[8]. Charles-Joachim (Almaque) Bris ss.cc., (1819-1895).
[9]. Guillaume (Arsène) Bernat ss.cc., (1808-1888). Schoofs, Pioneers, pp. 227-228.
[10]. Lease.
[11]. Overseer.

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 / Hawaiian

People

Bernat, Arsene
Bris, Almaque
De Veuster, Damien
Favens, Modeste
Kamehameha V
Maigret, Louis-Desire
Pouzot, Charles
Ruault, Nicaise

Subjects

Books
Building construction
Churches
Religious articles
Religious education

Search Terms

Sacred Hearts religious

Legal Status

All rights of reproduction and photography reside with Congregation of the Sacred Hearts United States Province.

Notes

Translation #20 found in Father Damien's Letters (Rome: General Postulation of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts SS.CC., 2017), pp. 53-55. Reprinted with permission.

Copyrights

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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.