The Feast of Father Damien

Father Damien is one of my family’s favorite saints. I wrote this a few years ago but it seems particularly appropriate today when his feast is the day before our Mother’s Day.

From Father Damien: The Man and His Era

A son, the next to the last child, was born to Francis and Ann Catherine de Veuster on January 3, 1840 and was baptized Joseph on the day of his birth. The other children in the de Veuster family were Eugenie, Pauline, Leonce, Gerard, Constantia, August and Maria. They were raised in comparative comfort, descendants of the resilient Flemish of the area, and they understood the world in which they lived and the faith that had been given to them as their true and everlasting heritage. Joseph (soon called “Jef” by the family) and his brothers and sisters grew up with the Catholic teachings and images. The doctrines of the Church served as signposts for the entire family, and the saints stood as symbols of dedication and right living.

The Catholicism permeated the red brick house which was accompanied by a barn. The deVeusters also brought their piety to their livelihood, which was the raising and selling of grain. Frans, as the father was called, conducted business in Tremelo, Louvain, Antwerp, Malines, and Brussels.

Among the deVeuster,s the vocations to the religious life flowered as a result of their mother’s teachings. She read to her children often from a book about the martyrs and saints of the past. Also, Tremelo and the surrounding area fostered a certain basic piety even in the normal routines of the seasons amid the work of an agricultural people bound to the earth.

An unusually touching farewell took place between Damien and his mother. They met in the shrine of Our Lady of Monatagi in the company of another relative. It appears that the mother and son spent most of their reunion in silence. It was not the awkward graceless absence of words that typify anger or resentment. These were two human beings who had shared decades of faith, resolve and care. Few words are needed to bridge such souls.

He never saw his mother again.

Father Damien has always been a favorite in my family. My oldest son was captivated with his story as a youngster and then chose the name, Damien, for confirmation. It was Father Damien’s simple and determined bravery that my son admires so.

When Calvin was preparing for his confirmation, I read Father Damien’s story to him. A few things stick out in my mind. Father Damien wanted to go to Hawaii, but he was also very sad to leave his mother behind in Belgium. Their goodbye truly was a goodbye forever. In this day of e-mail, telephone and cell-phones, it is hard to imagine being so out of touch with the son you birthed and fed from your body, and raised from infancy to manhood. I have often wondered what kind of woman Father Damien’s mom must have been to raise such a selfless son. And I admit I cried for her, and for the loss she must have felt, intermingled of course with humble pride for her son.

The other story of Father Damien that touches my heart is how he participated in his Catholic faith even when it was not always easy to do so. One time a priest came to Father Damien’s island to hear confessions, but the captain of the ship would not even allow Father Damien to board. Father Damien, knowing he need the graces of confession for the difficult work he was doing, humbly sat in a little boat at the side of the bigger ship, and shouted his confession for the priest to hear it. I’m not sure that I would want my sins broadcasted like that. What a humiliation for this holy man to endure. Yet endure he did. He made his confession despite this hardship. Remembering that makes me remember that it’s not such a big deal to get to confession on Saturday afternoon, or drive across town to my favorite confessor. At least I have those options, and my sins truly are just between me and God!

More blogs observing Father Damien’s feast today.
Catholic Fire
Ward Wide Web shares a letter from Robert Lewis Stevenson, defending the good priest after his death!
Vultus Christi
Science, Religion and Miscellaneous Babble

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