A group of 26 Brazilians on a pilgrimage through Europe attended a mass on Monday, April 24th, in Leuven, Belgium. The chapel houses the crypt containing the remains of Saint Damien, a missionary of the Sacred Hearts, who died of leprosy on the island of Molokai, Hawaii.

The Eucharistic Celebration was presided over by the rector of the Sanctuary of Health and Peace and vice-postulator of the Cause of Canonization of Father Eustáquio, Fr. Vinícius Maciel, SSCC, and concelebrated by Fathers Osvânio Mariano, SSCC, and Edvaldo Carneiro, SSCC. The Mass was recorded and will be rebroadcast on the Padre Eustáquio Channel on May 10th, the date on which the Feast Day of Saint Damien of Molokai is celebrated.

Saint Damien of Molokai

Damien was born on January 3, 1840, in Belgium. He entered religious life with the Fathers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He was sent as a missionary to Hawaii (United States) and on May 24, 1864, he was ordained a priest in Honolulu, the capital.

He tirelessly helped the local residents and worked with his own hands to build a church, earning the people's esteem. At that time, a terrible leprosy epidemic broke out. The sick were separated from the community and abandoned to their fate in a special colony. Father Damien asked to go and help them and landed with several lepers in Molokai.

In that place there was much violence, and many lived without hope or peace. He could hear the jeers of the drunkards, the lamentations of the dying, and the howls of the dogs that devoured the dead.

Gradually, the saint transformed the place, building a church in honor of Saint Philomena, a hospital, an infirmary, a school, housing, and even the homes of the island's inhabitants. In 1885, at only 49 years old, he contracted leprosy and refused to be taken for treatment.

“"So far I feel happy and content, and if I were given the opportunity to leave here in good health, I would say without hesitation: I'll stay with my lepers.", he said.

The saint, despite his suffering, continued his evangelizing work among these afflicted people. Before dying, he saw the arrival of Father Wendelin and the Franciscan nuns, who took charge of the infirmary.

Damien died on April 15, 1889. Currently, a bronze statue of the saint stands in the United States Capitol representing the state of Hawaii. Saint Damien of Molokai was beatified by Saint John Paul II in 1995 and canonized by Benedict XVI in 2009.