That priest once reported he had urged Damien to give up the idea of writing down everything that comes into his small-brained head. Even his supporters admitted it was difficult to work with him. And yet, we owe much of what we now cherish in hospices and respite programs around the world to this stubborn man. To me, what makes Damien a saint is his awareness of little things. Things like spit.
People battling with leprosy and some other serious illness have to spit often.
Damien cut neat little square holes in the floor of his church. His parishioners arrived with rolled up banana leaves. They sat on the floor. One end of the tube was put in the hole. They could spit without leaving the church.