Father Damien and His Journey
Between 1866 and 1873, seven hundred and ninety-seven lepers arrived on Molokai. Almost half of them died. Public indignation mounted, and the Board of Health sought to improve conditions. In April of 1873, Walter Gibson, a politician at the time, wrote a newspaper article that made a bold request. It called for a noble Christian priest, preacher, or Sister who would sacrifice their own life to console the lepers on Molokai. There were several men in Hawaii who were willing to respond, and one of them was Father Damien, a charitable Catholic priest with the Sacred Hearts order. It may have been presentiment or prophecy, but Father Damien had known for some time that he would eventually go to Molokai.
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Sacred Hearts had previously built a tiny chapel, dedicated to St. Philomena, but attendance was scarce. There was no government on the island, and the lepers' days were filled with drinking, crime, and a general sense of hopelessness. Father Damien chose to rectify this in many ways. During the first weeks upon arrival, Father Damien took normal precautions to avoid contagion. He settled comfortably under a tree outside of the tiny chapel, and a large rock on the side of the tree served as his dinner table. But if Damien protected his body from the disease, there was nothing he could do to protect his eyes or ears from the shock of the contact with the lepers. Gathering his courage, he began to approach …show more content…
He asked to come to Honolulu, so that another priest might hear his confessions, but his Father Superior forbade it. In the end, he relented, but insisted that if Damien must come to Honolulu, that he stay at the Franciscan Sisters' leper hospital. He was not allowed to leave his room for the duration of his stay, which was one week. He spoke of his rejection by his own as "the greatest suffering he had ever endured in his life." When Father Damien returned to Molokai, he was utterly alone. He continually begged his superiors for an assistant, not only to help him in the ever-mounting work, but also to provide spiritual comfort for him. They were still reluctant to help, as two other Sacred Hearts brothers had already contracted leprosy from their time on the island. As death approached, Father Damien engaged in a flurry of activity. He continued to recite the Breviary as best he could as his eyes failed, and the disease invaded his windpipe, keeping him from sleeping for more than an hour or two at night. He was forty-nine years old when he died on April fifteenth, 1889. Shortly before his death, he wrote in a letter to his brother, "I am gently going to my grave. It is the will of God, and I thank Him very much for letting me die of the same disease and in the same way as my lepers. I am very satisfied and very happy" ("Father Damien" par.
...ions that I thought I would do if I were put in his position. I could not relate relate to everything like his mother leaving, drug problems, pregnant girlfriends, and living in some much poverty. Despite all that I feel like I understood why he did the things he did and the choices he made. It was a great way to learn of how someone else grew up and struggled through life to accomplish something most people take for granted everyday.
Julian of Norwich lived during a time of great fear dominated by economic and physical hardships, feudal era of control, fear of death from the bubonic plague, corruption within the church’s hierarchy and doubt and insincerity was rampant amongst believers. Living a simple existence she depende...
Also, the religious of Limmerick discriminate against poor children as in the case when Frank McCourt tries to become an alter boy but is denied. Mrs.McCourt explains why he is denied by saying " They don’t want boys from lanes on the alter. Oh, no they want the nice boys with hair oil and new shoes that have fathers with suits and ties and steady jobs"(149). The Mc.Court family is constantly aware of the discrimination it faces because of the poverty they live in.
The true identity of biblical leprosy, and what it defines as within the confines of the Bible are areas of hot debate among scholars. The majority of religious academics generally now accept that the leprosy of biblical times is not what we...
Leclercq, Jean. The Love of Learning and the Desire for God; a Study of Monastic
In Chapter Five, ‘The Stigmata of Saint Francis,’ Cunningham analyzes the originality of Saint Francis of Assisi’s stigmata. It surrounds a controversy that emerges about a manuscript where Brother Elias letter is announcing Francis death, argued he carried Christ’s five wounds. Therefore, it is relevant because it exposes Francis stigmata as debatable because not many witnessed this occurrence during his death. I would apply this chapter in my life by critically analyzing the historical development of the Christian faith in order to practice a perfect
All of humanity, even the one reading this paper, has had thoughts of doing things that are far from that of a saint, and although most do not act upon these thoughts there are those who have; those who kill out of spite, those who commit unspeakable acts against men, women and children, those who to everyone else are frightening and fearful and thus locked away from
Although Father Latour may possess few worldly desires, one may argue he wants what others can benefit from as well as pleasing himself. Along his journeys, Latour encounters various people, most associates of the Catholic Church like himself. It seems as each time Latour detects a sense of deceit in a person, he progresses in his own mission of morality. When one is trying so hard to embrace and follow the rules and restrictions of religion, as well as enjoy the worldly luxuries, a divided character is created within oneself. It is not until true and total devotion is committed to ones religion that material things become irrelevant and one can be at peace.
In Dr. Osman’s lecture and in Life and Miracles of St. Benedict, monasteries were portrayed as places for people to escape the harsh times and live together worshipping God. In The Dark Ages, the narrator discusses how many nuns and monks would try to escape because they were forced to go there, some even going as far as scaling the walls of their convent or monastery. These holy places offered many people the escape and religious freedom that they craved, but not everyone loved the strict life that monks and nuns lived. (The Dark Ages, “Marriage of Monks and
was abandoning them at this time, but the priests were dying too. When the plague
His life, his actions, only show that no matter what you’re facing, be it anything from racial prejudice to something as simple as a mean girl, you can face it and change it for the better. I feel as if he really didn’t find his true calling until he was in his twenties, and that makes me realize that I still have time to find what I’m meant for. After learning so much about him, I am surprised I this is the first time I am hearing his story.
won millions to his cause. Even though he said that at his death he was "...the
of Father Damien, a persona that she inhabited for the rest of her life. Therefore, Agnes
realize he was truly a humble being who did not need to prove himself to anyone. His
all of the adversity, he managed to keep his optimistic outlook and his diligent work