The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1902-06-24


ia fhe usf - tobacco ehsfsuron thp
sHUn ~ thf TlNt rftHtiksd mf Some
shat from rHfIflur Dol my lHihFs co.
nos nua udnfa ~ thr ifpffa AZ that
iino she ufurnFs uf thf disease we
fsnffal ana a.. rate uf mortality Nefi
hIph Tho miserable condition N the
settlement raNp " the maine ~ "a Twins
graveyard which maine. 7 avn happy a.
state. " no ionger applicable to our
place.
As there we're % many dying. my
priestly duty toward them often gave
me the opportunity g. visit them In
their domicilcs, ana though my cNhor-
tations were especially addressed TO
the Frustrated. often they would fail
upon the ears of public sinners, who
little by little. became conscious of the
Consequences Of their wicked lives. and
=, gan 60 reform, and thus. with the
hope In a merciful Savior. gave up
their bad habits.
! Kindness 20 all, charity TO the
needy. sympathizing hand to the SUI
! ferers and the dying. I'm conjunction
with "a solid religious instruction to my
/ iisteners-thcse have been my constant
means Of introducing moral habits
4 among the lepers. / am happy To say
! that assisted by the local administra-
/ ton. my labors here. which seemed To
/ be almost in vain at the beginning.
have. thanks to n kind Providence
been greatly crowned with success"
The Hawaiian Board of Health, COM
/ posed of Protestants and unbelievers,
being In complete ignorance OF Catho-
/ lie usages. attempted 10 compel Father
Damien to leave the leper settlement
| for good, or remain there forever. He
had asked leave to visit his bishop at
suitable intervals so that he might
make his confession. There was at
that time no priest nearer to him to
whom he could apply. He, therefore,
went to Honolulu, as he was in duty
bound, and In doing this he merely fol-
lowed the example of the government
physician who visited the settlement at
stated intervals. Upon his return TO
the leper settlement he was officially
notified that If he We're to leave the
settlement again, or even to visit any
other portion OF Molokai, he would be
put under immediate arrest. To this
piece Of official insolence Father Da-
mier replied, addressing the authori-
ties in Honolulu II shall come You
must not prevent me from visiting my
bishop" He continued to visit his
bishop until he was Joined at the set
tlement by a priest who could shrive
him, and then he went no more. Dur
ing all this time and for some years
later Father Damien showed no signs
of leprosy.
Father Damien wrote. when he could
find the time. to the various members
of his family; but these letters were
few and for the most part brief. Here
are brief extracts from them: ""
Every one with the exception of few
bigoted heretics, look upon me as
Father. AS for me. / make myself a
leper with the lepers. to gain all to
Jesus Christ. This is why in preaching
| say, we lepers, not, my brethren, as
In Europe. The average of
deaths Is about one a day. Many are
so destitute that there is nothing with
which to pay their burial expenses
They are simply wrapped in a blanket
As far as my duties allow me, / make
collins for these people. l have
not a penny of income, yet nihil mihi
deest l want for nothing. / have even
aims to give away. How is this to be
explained? That is His secret. Who
promised to give hundredfod to those
who give up all for Him. These
ten years j have been on the mission |
have built church and chapel every
year, am not ashamed to act as car
penter or mason when 1t is for the
glory of God A few words
about my way of living live all alone
in a little hut; lepers never enter it.
In the morning, after mass, a woman
who is not lcper comes to prepare
my meal. My dinner consists of rice,
meat. coffee and a few biscuits. For
supper / take what was left from din
ner, with a cup of tea, the water for
which / boil over a lamp. My poultry
yard furnishes me with eggs. l make
only two meals a day, morning and
evening. / rarely take anything be
tween. You see l live very well. /
don't starve. / am not much at home
in the daytime. After dark l say my
brcviary by the light of my lamp; |
study a bit, or write a letter. So don't
wonder at getting only one letter a
year from me-" (This to his mother)
Il really have not the time to think Of
you except in my prayers. My
lepers are very fervent. They fill my
two churches-at KalaWao and Kalau-
papa-from morning till night, and
pour forth their prayers to God with
an ardor that would make some relig-
ious communities blush. / was
u little annoyed at seeing my last letter
printed in the Annales Catalogues
Once for all, let me tell you / don't like
that done. i want to be unknown to
the world, and now | find that / am
being talked about on all sides, even In
America. Sometimes / am inclined to
envy my poor sick Christians, when i
administer the last sacraments to them
and bury them. During the winter l
worked hard to enlarge my church and
build a pretty tower. Manual work is
very good for my health. and / feel
well and happy among my sick people.
/ have now been nearly seven
years among the lepers. During that
long period / have had the opportunity
of closely observing and as 1t We're,
touching with my hand, human misery
under it's most terrible aspect. Half
the people are like living corpses which
the worms have already begun to de-
YOUR, at first internally, afterwards ex-
ternally, until the most loathsome
wounds are formed, which very rarely
heal.
Last year death carried off an I'M
usually large number of Christians.
/ There are many empty places in the
church. but in the cemetery there is
hardly room left to dig the graves. 1
was quite yexed the other day to find
that they had begun to dig grave just
by the large cross, in the very spot
which had reserved for myself! had
10 insist on the place being left vacant.
] The cemetery church and presbytery