Leper Priest of Molokai : : The Father Damien Story / / Richard Stewart.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Hawaii Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2015
• VerfasserIn: Stewart, Richard,
• Place / Publishing House: Honolulu : : University of Hawaii Press, , [2022]; ©2000
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (456 p.)

Leper Priest of Moloka'i traces the life of Father Damien from his boyhood in rural Belgium to his death at the Kalaupapa leprosy settlement after sixteen years of remarkable accomplishments. Damien overcame major obstacles to become a Catholic priest and serve as a missionary in Hawai'i. To his spiritual ministry he added the practice of medicine and the skill of a master builder of chapels, churches, and houses, both professions that he taught himself. He decried human suffering, and in his medical practice he emulated the example of his patron saint, Saint Damien the physician, who led many to Christianity by the example of the Good Samaritan.This biography presents and analyzes much new information about Damien and his years in Hawai'i. The correspondence between Damien, his colleagues in the Catholic church, his Protestant supporters, and agents of the Hawaiian Board of Health gives a fuller understanding of the extent of Damien's work at the settlement and the tensions underlying his relations with Church bureaucrats, who were both impressed by his energy and zeal and irritated by his willfullness and independence. But even his detractors could not deny that he was almost singlehandedly responsible for tremendous improvements to Kalaupapa in the face of overwhelming odds. This is the story of one humble man with faith in God and in himself, who faced gargantuan challenges and triumphed.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Author's Note -- Prologue -- 1 Exile: Day One -- 2 Birth, Childhood, and Beyond -- 3 The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary -- 4 The Quest Begins: Hawai'i -- 5 Puna: Father Damien's First Parish -- 6 Kohala-Hamakua: The Second Parish -- 7 The Calm before the Storm of Moloka'i -- 8 Exile: The First Weeks -- 9 A Prisoner Forever! -- 10 Free at Last! -- 11 Like the Christ: Priest, Physician, Carpenter -- 12 "We Lepers . . . " -- 13 Hutchison, the Survivor; Emerson, the Courageous Physician -- 14 His Finest Works -- 15 A Medal of Honor and a Crown of Thorns -- 16 The Year of the Nurses -- 17 Father Damien Denied -- 18 Damien, the Leper -- 19 Damien, the Martyr? -- 20 The Valley of the Shadow -- 21 "I Am Brother Joseph I Have Come to Help" -- 22 Death's Dark Shadow -- 23 Thy Rod and Thy Staff, They Comfort Me -- 24 Hawaiian Sunset -- 25 Requiem for a Priest -- 26 Accolades and a Preacher's Curse -- 27 Response to the Curse -- 28 A Second Saint Damien -- Epilogue -- Notes -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author