May 10 | Saint Damien of Molokai

Welcome, young history buffs and curious minds, to My Daily Saint, the podcast that digs deep into the incredible lives of the saints, those remarkable people who shaped history and continue to inspire us today. Forget dusty old portraits and boring stories. Today, imagine being banished to a remote, inescapable island. You have an incurable, terrifying disease that slowly and painfully disfigures your body, and because people believe it is highly contagious, you've been ripped away from your family forever. You live in forced quarantine, just waiting for a painful death.

The place you live is filthy, completely lawless, and everyone around you feels totally rejected by both the world and by God. Even the religious leaders, the priests who are supposed to comfort you, are so terrified of catching your deadly disease that they will only speak to you from a safe, far-off distance.

But then, one man arrives. He doesn't stand behind a barrier. He walks right in, and he changes everything. Today, we are looking at the jaw-dropping life of Joseph de Vester, better known to the world as Saint Damien of Molokai. And let me tell you, this guy was the absolute definition of fearless. He is the patron saint of people suffering from leprosy, and by the end of this episode, you'll know exactly how he earned that title.

Our story actually begins in Belgium in the year 1840. Joseph was born into a busy family of farmers. He was one of seven children, and his path in life seemed completely set in stone from day one. Because his family desperately needed help on the farm, Joseph had to drop out of school when he was only 13 years old. From that point on, everyone expected him to just grow up, work the land, and eventually inherit the land. The family farm. But Joseph had a different dream.

He wanted to follow in the footsteps of his older brother and two of his sisters, who had all entered religious life. So, once he was old enough, he left the farm and joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the same religious order his brother belonged to. When he entered, he took the name Damian, honoring a famous 6th century martyr.

Now, here is where it gets really interesting. Damien wanted to be a priest and a missionary more than anything else in the world, praying every single day for the grace to be sent out on a mission. But remember how he had to drop out of school at age 13? Because of his lack of formal education, many people didn't actually think Damien was smart enough to ever become a priest.

Sometimes, though, destiny works out in wild ways. Damien's older brother, Pamphil, was the one originally chosen to go on a grand mission to Hawaii. But at the very last minute, Pamphil got incredibly sick and was unable to make the trip. Seizing the opportunity of a lifetime, Damien boldly volunteered to take his sick brother's place. He packed his bags, sailed across the world, and arrived in Honolulu in 1864, where he was ordained as a priest that exact same year.

After a few years of serving in Hawaii, Father Damien was handed a massive, terrifying assignment. He was asked to minister to a leper colony on the island of Molokai. Back in those days, leprosy was a death sentence. The public thought it was entirely incurable and extremely contagious.

Hawaiian natives were particularly vulnerable to the disease, and many children had been forcibly separated from their families and quarantined on this island. The conditions were horrifying. The colony was a place of deep despair, filth, and lawlessness. The priests who had visited the island before him were so terrified of the deadly disease that they kept a strict distance from the sick people.

But Father Damien didn't just preach from afar. He got right to work. He rolled up his sleeves and helped transform the community. With his tireless effort, this once desolate colony soon boasted a brand new church, a school for the children, and even an orphanage. But he didn't stop there. He became a fierce, loud advocate for the community, fighting for their needs with the Hawaiian government. And he invited the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse to come and help minister to the citizens. He brought light into the darkest place on earth.

But this incredible, selfless devotion came at the ultimate cost. Father Damien gave everything he had to the people of Molokai, and he eventually contracted leprosy himself. He died on April 15, 1889. Today, his sacrifice is so deeply respected that April 15th is an official state holiday in Hawaii. Though he was originally buried right there on the island with the people he loved and served, most of his remains were eventually moved back to his home country of Belgium. He was canonized a saint by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11th, 2009.

Damien's life deeply challenges us to look at how we treat the outcasts in our own world. Just like Father Damien refused to minister from a distance, your challenge this week is to bridge that gap. Go sit with the people in your community who feel rejected, left out, or invisible. Say hello. Be a friend to someone who feels like the world has given up on them. Don't minister from a distance. Get involved. Thank you for joining us on My Daily Saint. We look forward to sharing another incredible story of faith and courage with you tomorrow.