Monday, November 2, 2009

Damien returns to Kalaupapa: Lifelong servant, eternal saint


From Maui News-

KALAUPAPA Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, gave a big mahalo to the residents of Molokai on Saturday while conducting a thanksgiving Mass in honor of recently canonized St. Damien.

"We gave him to you as a human being, and you gave him back as a saint," Danneels said during his homily at St. Philomena Church on the windswept coast of Kalawao. "For that, we thank you."

"It was here (Hawaii) that Damien was ordained a priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Here he began his heroic journey as Father Damien. Hawaii can be proud, and the whole world along with it. Yes, here it is appropriate to be proud of this heroic man."

Danneels was the highest-ranking official in one of the largest gatherings of Catholic bishops ever on the Neighbor Islands. Joining Daneels and Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva were 11 bishops and one archbishop, all from California.

Shuttled to the remote peninsula from Honolulu and topside Molokai by a handful of chartered aircraft, the clergy joined residents of Kalaupapa and Molokai in celebrating Damien's canonization

"I thought it was beautiful," Bishop Silva said. "I thought the cardinal's words were very touching."

Kalaupapa resident Norbert Palea was on hand to share his aloha, baked goods and even a few choruses of "Chattanooga Choo Choo." He said the people of Kalaupapa have been on a high since Damien's canonization.

"It was a very happy day," Palea said. "We waited a long, long time. It was overdue."

As a resident of Kalaupapa for 62 years, the former Hansen's disease patient said Damien's message is as pertinent today as it was in 1873, when the young Belgian priest first volunteered to serve at Kalaupapa.

More here-

http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/525354.html

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