Born in Belgium in 1840, Jozef joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary at the age of nineteen and took the name Damien. Eager to embark on missionary work, he obtained permission to sail for the Hawaiian mission in 1864. It was in Hawaii that he learned of the harsh quarantine system that forced those afflicted with leprosy to live in permanent exile on the island of Molokai. Along with a handful of others, Father Damien volunteered to minister to the lepers. He served these outcasts for the rest of his life, succumbing to leprosy himself at the age of 49 in 1889.

Pope Benedict XVI canonized Father Damien on October 11, 2009.

THE SPIRIT OF FATHER DAMIEN
The Leper Priest: A Saint for Our Times

Father Damien, famous for his missionary work with exiled lepers on the Hawaiian island of Molokai, is finally Saint Damien. His sanctity took 120 years to become officially recognized, but between his death in 1889 and his canonization in 2009—amid creeping secularization and suspicion of the missionary spirit he so much embodied—Fr. Damien De Veuster never faded from the world’s memory. What kept him there? What keeps him there now?

To find an answer, Belgian historian and journalist Jan De Volder sifted through Father Damien’s personal correspondence as well as the Vatican archives. With careful and even-handed expertise, De Volder follows Father Damien’s transformation from the stout, somewhat haughty missionary of his youth, bounding from Europe to Hawaii and straight into seemingly tireless priestly work, to the humble and loving shepherd of souls who eventually succumbed to the same disease that ravaged his flock.

De Volder finds that—as spiritual father, caretaker, teacher, and advocate—Father Damien accomplished many heroic feats for these poor outcasts. Yet the greatest gift he gave them was their transformation from a disordered, lawless throng exiled in desperate anarchy into a living community built on Jesus Christ, a community in which they learned to care for one another. 234 Pages | Retail Price: $15.95 | Special online price! Click here to order

ALSO AVAILABLE

MOLOKAI - DVD
The Story of Father Damien

This drama is the story of Fr. Damien, who in 1872 went to the island of Molokai, where lepers had been exiled to live in miserable surroundings. Damien earned the trust of of the lepers, and his appeals for help resonated throughout the world. Even after Damien himself contracted leprosy he carried on working for his "fellow lepers" to the end. Stars David Wenham, Derek Jacobi, Peter O'Toole, Sam Neill, Leo McKern and more. This movie is rated PG. 108 minutes | Retail Price $19.95 | Special online price! Click here to order

FATHER DAMIEN AND THE BELLS
Arthur and Elizabeth Sheehan

This 25th volume in the acclaimed Vision Books series of saints’ lives for youth 9-15 years old is the story of the saintly Fr. Damien, who in 1872 went to the island of Molokai, where lepers had been exiled to live in miserable surroundings. Damien earned the trust of the lepers, and his appeals for help resonated throughout the world. He spent his life caring for all the needs of the outcast lepers, and even after Damien himself contracted leprosy he carried on working for his “fellow lepers” to the end. Illustrated. 180 Pages | Retail Price: $9.95 | Special online price! Click here to order