Wooster, Damian de

Joseph de Wöster was born into the family of the Flemish grain merchant Fran de Wöster in the village of Tremelo, Flemish Brabant , Belgium. After graduating from high school, he entered the Catholic monastic congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, taking the monastic name Damian. In 1864, the monastic authorities sent Damian de Wöster a missionary to Hawaii.

On March 19, 1864, Damian de Wöster arrived in Honolulu . In 1865, he was assigned to a Catholic mission in North Kohala to the islands of Hawaii and Oahu .

At that time, there was a difficult epidemiological situation on the Hawaiian archipelago: many were dying of flu , syphilis , and leprosy. By order of King Kamehameh, leprosy patients were isolated in the Kalaupapa colony on the island of Molokai, founded in 1865. The Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Hawaii planned to organize agricultural work for sick colonists so that they could feed themselves. But the patients had neither the ability nor the strength to serve and feed themselves. In addition, by isolating patients from society, the government did not take care of their maintenance. The colony had neither housing, nor hospitals, nor administrative institutions, nor churches, nor cemeteries ^[2] .

On May 10, 1873, Damian de Wöster arrived in Kalaupapa , where there were already 797 lepers, of which more than three hundred died ^[3] . He began his pastoral work with the construction of the church of St. Philomena , the organization of farms, schools and cemeteries . He founded among the patients the “Funeral Brotherhood”, which cared for the preparation of the funeral of deceased patients, the “Brotherhood of Holy Childhood” for street children, the “Brotherhood of St. Joseph ” for treating patients at home, and the “Brotherhood of Madonna” for the education of girls. In addition, he built a small port for the berth of ships, a road that connected the port with the colony, several warehouses and a store, two dispensaries, orphanages, and a hospital.

For his services in the field of the vital activity of patients and their medical services, the reigning princess Liliuokalani awarded Damian de Wooster the insignia “ Commander of the Royal Order ”.

In 1884, Damian de Wöster fell ill with leprosy, having been infected by sick colonists. Despite his illness, he continued to engage in active pastoral and social activities among lepers.

In 1886, the priest Louis Lambert Conrardi, nun Marianne Cope , arrived in the colony of lepers, the volunteers were former soldier Joseph Dutton and nurse James Sinnett, who began to help Damien de Wöster, who had become sick from illness. After some time, Damian's sick father was taken for treatment in Honolulu. When he was in the hospital, the King of Hawaii visited him to thank him for everything he had done for his sick subjects. On Christmas Day 1887, he was visited by Edward Clifford , a well-known American artist and writer.

On April 15, 1889, Damian de Wöster died of leprosy. He was buried on the island of Molokai , but in 1936, at the request of the Belgian government, his body was transported to Belgium and buried in the city of Leuven . After Damian de Wöster was beatified in the guise of a blessed one, his relics were returned to Hawaii.

The Roman Catholic Church connects two miracles with the name of Damian's father.

• In 1897, a nun of the congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary was healed of a deadly disease after praying to Damian.
• In 1999, Honolulu resident Audrey Togucci was cured of terminal lung cancer after praying to Damian. In both cases, the absence of medical rational explanations for these facts is shown. ^[four]

On June 4, 1995, Pope John Paul II ranked Damian de Wester as a blessed . On October 11, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI ranked Damian de Wester as a saint. ^[5] Memorial Day in the Roman Catholic Church - May 10 . In the diocese of Honolulu, his memory is celebrated on April 15 .

In 1893, a monument was erected in Honolulu in the form of a cross made of red granite with a portrait of white marble. In 2005, the Belgian government Damian de Wöster was awarded the title of “The Greatest Belgian”.

In 1959, Hawaii became the fiftieth state of the United States . Federal laws allowed each state to establish two statues of their distinguished personalities in the Washington Capitol . Hawaii offered to put a statue of the national hero of King Kamehameh and a statue of father Damian de Wooster.

Nemtin A.A. Saint Damian de Wester. - M: Publisher Franciscantsev, 2014 .-- 128 p. - 500 copies. - ISBN 978-5-89208-115-3 .

• Antonio Sicari, Portraits of Saints vol. III + IV, pp. 265-285.

• Father Damian. // Antonio Sicari. Portraits of Saints
• Leper Apostle
• Biography
• Who is the monument in front of the Honolulu City Hall?
• "Poem of Love" - ​​a book about the life and work of Damian de Wester in Hawaii, as well as the love of the Hawaiian Romeo and Juliet - Ilio and Kaiuki