Cristy Li

Saint Joseph Damien of Molokai
Image Courtesy: Aquinas & More

When Joseph de Veuster was born in Belgium Tremelo, few people in Europe had any first-hand knowledge of Hansen’s Disease (Leprosy) however by the time he passed away at the age of 49 people all over the world knew about the disfiguring disease caused by the Mycobacterium laprae bacteria because of Fr. (Joseph) Damien of Molokai.

Joseph de Veuster, joined the Picpus Fathers in France according to SQPN and at the age of 20 and took the name ‘Damien’ as a Seminarian, volunteering for missionary work while still in Seminary, he was sent to Hawaii where he was Ordained a Priest in 1864

After serving in Hawaii for 9 yrs pioneering Catholicism Fr. Damien faced a new and frightful challenge–a leprosy epidemic. To halt the spread of the disease according to EWTN the Hawaiian government had isolated several hundred Lepers on the island of Molokai Kalawao County.

Molokai Catholic Lepers begged Bishop Louis Maigret for a Priest, many Missionaries despite the dangers, offered to go however Fr. Damien was selected.

Thirteen years earlier, while Fr. Damien was studying for the Priesthood in France, he had symbolically faced and accepted death. At the public profession of his final vows, he truly believed then that only by accepting death would he discover life. Now thirteen tears later, Fr. Damien was putting his dedication to the test, he sought to serve the most pitiful of all men–the lepers of Molokai. 

Between 1866 and 1873 seven hundred and ninety seven (797) lepers had arrived on Molokai, almost half died.

Bishop Maigret accompanied Fr. Damien to Molokai, presenting him to the Catholic Lepers as their new pastor.

With the Lepers help Fr. Damien added a rear wing to the Molokai Chapel also constructing a rectory.

Molokai became known as the ‘Colony of Shame’ medical care was minimal. Fr. Damien was deeply moved by the ‘Leper Children’ struggling to preserve them from the physical and moral corruption of the island.

At the outset of his mission, Fr. Damien aimed to restore in each leper a sense of personal worth and dignity. To show his poor battered flock the virtue of their lives, he had to demonstrate to them the value of their deaths and so he first turned his attention to the cemetery area beside his little Chapel. Fr. Damien constructed first a fence around it to protect the grave sites from animals; he built coffins and would dig graves and organized lepers into the ‘Christian Burial Assn’ to provide a decent burial to each of the deceased–the newly found organization arranged for the requisite Mass, proper funeral ceremonies and sponsored a musical group that played during the funeral processions.

Fr. Damien continued ministering to the sick, bringing the Sacraments of Confession; Holy Communion and anointing bedridden lepers. He would likewise cleanse their bodies, bandaged their wounds and would tidy their rooms. Fr. Damien did all that he could to make them as comfortable as possible.

Soon the settlement had new houses thanks to Fr. Damien and the assistance of lepers and together they constructed a new Church, School and an Orphanage. Morale improved considerably. A few year later, Fr. Damien succeeded in getting the ‘Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse’ led by Mother Marianne Cope (Feast Day 23 January) to help staff the Leper Colony’s hospital and schools at Kakaako and Kapiolani.

One day in 1884 while soaking his feet in extremely hot water, Fr. Damien experienced no sensation of heat, the evil disease that he battled for so many years, had now claimed him.

During his final years, Fr. Damien engaged in a flurry of activity–as much as his body would allow, he hastened to complete his many new building projects and enlarge the orphanages.

Fr. Damien died during Holy Week in 1889 — Some weeks before Fr. Damien breathed his last, he had said the Lord wanted him to spend Easter Sunday in heaven.

On the 03 June, 1995 Fr. Damien was Beatified by Pope John Paul II and Canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on the 11 October, 2009

More here from Franciscan Media

Related: “A Leper For Christ: St. Damien of Molokai” -Word on Fire

Saint Rosa Venerini (1656-1728)
Image: Rosettagrams

(Vatican) Born in Italy Viterbo, Rosa was the daughter of a Physician  and had three siblings, was naturally gifted with intelligence and an uncommon sensibility–the education that Rosa received in her formidable years, allowed her to develop her many talents, together with Christian values and principles.

According to Rosa Venerini’s first biographer Fr. Girolamo Andreucci, she made a vow to consecrate her life to God at the age of seven. During the early years of her youth, she lived a conflict between the attractions of the world and the promise made to God, Rosa overcame this crisis with trusting prayer and discipline.

At the age of twenty, Rosa raised questions about her own future, that Women of her time, she could choose marriage or seclusion in a religious order. Rosa invited neighborhood Women in her home to pray the Rosary according to Franciscan Media and sought spiritual guidance from a Jesuit Priest, Fr. Ignatius Martinelli, over time Rosa was convinced that she was called by God to become a Teacher instead of a Nun.

With two friends according to SQPN Rosa opened a free pre-school for Girls in 1685 which was well received, in 1692 Cardinal Barbarigo, asked Rosa to oversee training of Teachers and the administration of schools in his diocese. Rosa organized new schools in many parts of Italy including room–at the time of her death in 1756 there were 40 schools under her direction.

During Rosa’s entire life she moved the Ocean of the Will of God and said: “I feel so nailed to the Will of God that nothing else matters, neither life or death, I want what He wants. I want to serve Him as much as pleases Him and no more.”

Rosa did not practice her education mission only in the school but took every occasion to announce the love of God, she comforted and cared for the sick until they were well, raised the spirits of the discouraged, consoled the afflicted, called non-Christians to repent and to live a new life, exhorted to fidelity, helped the poor and helped to free people from every form of slavery.

“Educate to Set Free” became Rosa’s model to the world. To be free from ignorance and evil so that the project of God which every person carries within can be visible.

Rosa died in Rome at the age of 72 where a number of miracles were attributed to her. Rosa was Beatified in 1952 by Pope Pius XII and Canonized in 2006 by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

The sodality of Women that Rosa invited to pray the Rosary with her, were ultimately given the rank of a religious congregation becoming known as the ‘Venerini Sisters’ working with Italian immigrants. Today they render apostolic service through Teaching, Catechesis, Pastoral Ministry, Health Care, Social Services, Youth Ministry and Foreign Missions in Italy, the United States, Chile, Brazil, Venezuela, Albania, Romania and throughout Africa, guided the Charism of their Foundress Saint Rosa Venerini — Educate to Set Free.

Saints Philip & James
Image Courtesy: Young Adult Ministry Sacred Heart

(EWTN) Born in Galilee, Philip was called by Jesus Christ to be His disciple the day after St. Peter and St. Andrew and straightaway he obeyed. In Philip’s zeal and charity he sought to win Nathaniel also saying: “We have found Him of whom Moses and the Prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth.” When Nathaniel in wonder asked, “Can any good come of out Nazareth?” Philip replied: “Come and see,” he then brought Nathaniel to Jesus. John 1:46

“In his dry but clear response,” Pope Bendict XVI says, “Philip displayed the characteristics of a true witness, he is not satisfied with the presenting the proclamation theoretically but directly challenges the person addressing him by suggestion he have a personal experience of what he had been told.”

After our Lord’s ascension, the Gospel was to be ministered to the whole world by a few persons who had been eye-witnesses to Jesus’ many miracles and were enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit to confirm their testimony concerning Him by doing the like wonderful works themselves. So that this may be accomplished, it was necessary for the disciples should quickly disperse themselves into all parts of the world. Philip accordingly ministered the Gospel in the two Greece Phrygia writes EWTN as Theodoret and Eusebius assures us from undoubted monuments.

From Saint Philip, we particularly learn an ardent love of God and desire to see the Father–Philip died as a Martyr for Jesus Christ, being stoned to death while tied to a cross.

More on Saint Philip here from SQPN and here from Franciscan Media

Saint James the Lesser

St. James the Lesser came from Nazareth says Pope Benedict XVI and was probably related to Jesus —Matthew 13:55 and  Mark 6:3 he was called “Less” because he was younger than the other apostle by the same name.

The Book of Acts of the Apostles emphasizes the prominent role that St. James played in the Church of Jerusalem after the resurrection of Jesus —Acts 12:17; Acts 15:13-21 and Acts 21:18

Saint James most important act says Pope Benedict XVI was his intervention in the matter of the difficult relations between the Christians of Jewish heritage and those of pagan origins. In this matter, together with Peter, he contributed with integrating the original Jewish dimension of Christianity, with the need not to impose upon converted pagans the obligations to submit to all the norms of the ‘Law of Moses’ — Torah.

The Book of Acts has preserved for us the solution of compromise proposed precisely by James and accepted by all the Apostles present, according to which pagans who believed in Jesus Christ, were to be asked only to abstain from idolatrous practices of eating the meat of animals offered in sacrifice to gods and from “impropriety” a term which alluded to irregular matrimonial unions. In practice, it was a question of adhering to only a few prohibitions of Mosaic Law held to be very important.

Thus two important complimentary results were obtained, both of which are still valid today: (1) the inseparable relationship that binds Christianity to Judaism, as to a perennially alive and effective matrix was recognized; (2) Christians of pagan origins were permitted to keep their own sociological identity, which they would have lost had they been forced to observe the ‘ceremonial precepts’ of Moses –Saint James however continued to observe all of the ‘Laws of Moses’ himself as part of his heritage.

The oldest information on the death of St. James, is provided by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, written in Rome towards the end of the 1st century.

Flavius Josephus says in his Jewish Antiquties: Chapter 9 No.1 the death of James was decided with an illegal initiative by the High Priest Ananus–in the year 62, he profited from the gap between the deposition of Roman Procurator (Festus) and the arrival of his successor (Albinus) to hand him over for stoning.

More here from EWTN and here from Catholic Saints.Info

St. Athanasius -Image Courtesy: Pellham Plastics

(Franciscan Media) Born into a Christian family in Egypt Alexandria and provided a classical education, Athanasius became Secy to Alexander the Bishop of Egypt Alexandria, an outspoken critic of a new movement growing in the East–the heresy of Arianism.

Athanasius entered the Priesthood and eventually named a Bishop himself and becoming known as the ‘Champion of Orthodoxy’ according to EWTN his strength of ascetical writings among which was of the ‘Life of Saint Anthony’ (Feast Day 17 January) earned him the title of Doctor of the Church.

When Athanasius accepted his new position as Bishop of Alexandria, which he served for 46 years according to SQPN he continued to fight against the heresy of Arianism, which spilled over from theology to politics, resulting in Bishop Athanasius being exiled 5 different times for his defense of the doctrine of Jesus Christ’s divinity.

Following the death of Constantine in 337 his son restored Athanasius as Bishop, this lasted but for only a year however as he was deposed again by a group of  Arian Bishops. — Athanasius took his case to Rome which Pope Julius I called a synod to review the case and other related matters.

While the theological controversies which marked this period were complex writes EWTN they were an important milestone in the history of the Church which Bishop Athanasius rendered an outstanding service. As Cardinal Newman said, he stands as “a principal instrument after the Apostles by which the sacred truths of Christianity have been conveyed and secured to the world.”

In 2007 Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said that “Athanasius was undoubtedly one of the most important and revered early Church Fathers but this Great Saint was above all the impassioned theologian of the Incarnation of the Logos, the Word of God who as a Prologue of the fourth Gospel says–“became flesh and dwelt among us.” —John 1:14

“We have many causes which to be grateful to St. Athanasius, his life like that of St. Anthony (Feast Day 17 January) and of countless other Saints shows us that ‘those who draw near to God do not withdraw from men but rather become truly very close to them.’ (Deus Canitas Est, n.42)

Full address here of Saint Athanasius by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI