St. Damien is globally celebrated for his life of selflessness as a missionary to the lepers of Molokai in Hawaii. Born in Belgium in 1840, he studied to become a priest within the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He arrived in Honolulu in 1864, where he was ordained. The leper colony was woefully neglected and rife with alcoholism, immorality, and despair. Fr. Damien instilled order by encouraging the lepers to unite in their efforts, leading to the construction of homes, schools, and a church. In 1885, he himself contracted leprosy and, until his passing four years later, consistently referred to his congregation in his sermons as “We, lepers.”
Sr. Marianne Cope, born in 1838, was raised in Utica, NY, and became a member of the Sisters of St. Francis in Syracuse. A highly skilled administrator, she oversaw a school and two hospitals and was later appointed Superior General of her congregation. In 1883, she received an invitation from King Kalakaua of Hawaii, seeking co-workers to assist Fr. Damien in his mission with lepers and to establish a hospital for them in Hawaii. Alongside six other sisters, Sr. Marianne accepted this noble assignment and dedicated the next 35 years of her life to serving lepers until her death in 1918.
Both saints who devoted their lives to alleviating the suffering of those afflicted by this grievous disease were canonized by Pope Benedict XVI—Fr. Damien in 2009 and Sr. Marianne in 2012. Sr. Marianne provided care for Fr. Damien during the final year of his life at the leper colony. Today, they are venerated as patron saints of lepers, outcasts, and those with HIV.
Holy Heroes. October 19, 2022. sfarch.org/holy-heroes-in-the-united-states.
