10 May: Feast of Saint Damien of Molokai

by popadmin | May 9, 2021 | CIC Saint Writeups

10 May: Feast of Saint Damien of Molokai. Joseph de Veuser, who took the religious name Damien, was born into a large Belgian farming family in 1840. During his youth he felt called to become a Catholic missionary. He joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. His superiors planned to send Damien’s brother, a member of the same congregation, to Hawaii. But he became sick, and Damien arranged to take his place. Brother Damien arrived in Honolulu in 1864 and was ordained a priest the same year. Nine years later, Father Damien responded to his bishop’s call for priests to serve on the leper colony of Molokai. The island was a wasteland, where quarantined lepers faced hopeless conditions and extreme deprivation. Father Damien volunteered to go. Upon arrival, he found the colony in disarray. Anarchy reigned; patients were not cared for; every kind of immorality was on display. There was no law or order. Fr. Damien provided leadership. Where other missionaries had kept lepers at arms’ length, Fr. Damien instead immersed himself in their life and showed God’s love. He had them come together to build houses, schools and eventually the parish church, St. Philomena. The church still stands today. The sick were cared for and the dead buried. Order and routine made the colony livable. Fr. Damien personally provided much of the care the people needed. Fr. Damien’s work helped to raise the lepers up from their physical sufferings, while also making them aware of their worth as beloved children of God. Although he could not take away suffering, he could change its meaning as a redemptive path toward eternal life. Fr. Damien was supposed to be replaced by another volunteer. However, he grew attached to the people and his work. He asked permission to permanently stay at the colony to serve. His request was granted. Fr. Damien drew strength from Eucharistic adoration and the celebration of the Mass, but longed for another priest so that he could receive the sacrament of confession. In December 1884, Fr. Damien lost all feeling in his feet. It was an early, but unmistakable sign that he had contracted leprosy. He continued his work, despite the illness slowing taking over his body. He often spent time in the presence of the Eucharist: “It is at the foot of the altar that we find the strength we need in our isolation,” he wrote. The disease eventually robbed him of his eyesight, speech and mobility. In the end, priests of his congregation arrived to administer last sacraments to the dying priest. Father Damien died during Holy Week, on April 15, 1889, after spending sixteen years working on the colony. He was beatified in 1995 and canonized in 2009. He is the patron saint of people with leprosy.

(His feast day is an unusual date selection. It is customary for a saint’s feast to be the date that he enters into eternal life. However, April 15 often falls during Lent when the church does not celebrate optional memorials. Thus, May 10 was picked: it marks the day on which Damien performed a particular act of supreme charity and selflessness that would ultimately lead to his canonization. May 10 was the date in 1873 that he first stepped onto the island of Molokai.)

Ideas for celebrating this feast at home:

• In St. Damien’s honor, host a family luau, complete with a Hawaiian feast! Food ideas: Hawaiian chicken or Hawaiian meatballs, Hawaiian rolls, potato-mac salad, fresh pineapple or mango salsa, pineapple rice. Or, make a slow cooker kalua pig! For dessert, serve a Hawaiian wedding cake or a Hawaiian Haupia.
• Listen to an audio book about St. Damien on FORMED: The Spirit of Father Damien by Jan de Volder
• Watch a movie about his life, available on Amazon prime: Molokai – the Story of Father Damien
• Who is a “leper” in your community? (an ‘outcast’ in need of love and mercy) Do something today to make them feel loved.
• Create a poster of hope or homemade cards of encouragement and deliver them to a children’s hospital or nursing home in your community.

(sources: Catholicnewsagency.com, CatholicCulture.org, Hawaiiancatholicherald.com)

3 May: Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles

by popadmin | Apr 29, 2021 | CIC Saint Writeups

3 May: Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles. For centuries, the Church had feasts to honor only four apostles: Sts. Peter and Paul, St. John, St. Andrew. The Church memorialized the remaining apostles on June 29. Then, in the sixth century, the bodies of Sts. Philip and James were brought together to Rome and laid to rest in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles. Because of this, the Church instituted a shared feast day for these two apostles.            

St. James the Less, a brother of the Apostle Jude, was of Cana of Galilee. He was referred to as “the Less” to distinguish him from the other apostle James (the brother of John). This nickname likely refers to his younger age, not that he was any less important. This James was called “the brother of the Lord,” because his mother was related to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Jesus appeared to James before any other apostle after the resurrection (1 Cor 15:7). James is the author of the Epistle of St. James. He became bishop of the Church in Jerusalem and played a central role in the Church’s first council (Acts 15). He confirmed that Gentiles do not need circumcision to follow Christ. In 62 A.D., Jewish leaders accused James of breaking the Law. He was pressured to deny the Divinity of Christ. The Breviary contains a moving description of his death: “When he was ninety-six years old and had governed the Church for thirty years in a most holy manner, the Jews sought to stone him, then took him to the pinnacle of the temple and cast him off headlong. As he lay there half dead, with legs broken by the fall, he lifted his hands toward heaven and prayed to God for the salvation of his enemies, saying: Lord, forgive them for they know not what they do! While the apostle was still praying, a fuller struck his head a mortal blow.”

As for St. Philip, he was one of the first apostles called by Christ. The day after the Lord called the apostles Peter and Andrew, He found Philip in Galilee. Philip was one of the first apostles to come to faith directly through Christ (Jn 1:43-45). Philip believed in Christ as soon as he encountered Him, after hearing only a few words. Philip also speaks during the Last Supper in the Gospel of John after Jesus says, “No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” To which Philip replies, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us” Jesus answered, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:6-9). In the end, Philip followed in the footsteps of James and many other apostles by being martyred for his faith. After preaching with Bartholomew in Greece, he was scourged, imprisoned, and crucified upside down in 62 A.D. Though Philip and James served as apostles of Christ in different ways, in the end, they both valiantly gave their lives for Christ.

Ideas for celebrating this feast at home:

• Read the Epistle of St. James
• Make “Apostle Cookies” (instructions here)
• Bread is a symbol associated with St. Philip and he is often pictured with two loaves, recalling Philip’s remark when Jesus fed the multitude: “How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” (John 6:5). It would be a fitting feast day activity to bake homemade bread.
• For dinner, make “Middle Eastern rice with black beans and chickpeas” (recipe here). Or, make an Israeli feast in honor of the apostles’ Jewish heritage (hummus, olives, veggies, pita, falafel, etc)
• Because St. Philip is the patron saint of pastry chefs and St. James the patron of hatmakers, it might be fun wear hats at dinner tonight. A fitting dessert would be a pastry treat; click here for some delicious puff pastry recipes.

(sources: The Church’s Year of Grace by Parsch; CatholicCulture.org; M. Massery at marian.org)