Maria Lanakila and Father Damien...

 Maria Lanakila Catholic Church

Most people who travel with me know how much I love taking pictures of churches, and my daughter couldn't wait to take me to this Catholic church that she went to in Lahaina when she had previously been there....It is very old, built in 1846....

Maria Lanakila means Our Lady of Victory...very beautiful for the Hawaiian people...

this is a statue of Maria on the outside of the church...I think she looks alot like my Guadalupe....

This is the inside of the church...it was stunning, light and bright and very peaceful inside...you knew father in heaven resided there......

here is the choir loft....My Daughter Anne said the choir is the most beautiful she had ever heard.....

they have lovely statue's in little alcoves....

and Jesus....then Anne, called my name and pointed to Damien.....

the Mosaic of Father Damien of Molokai.....I had brought Father Damien's book with me to read on Maui in case I had a chance to read, I had recently watched a movie about him, and longed to learn more...and here he was right before me....I would like to tell you a little about Father Damien of Molokai...in case you have never heard of him.......

Father Damien and his choir...

Father Damien came to Molokai to the leper colony in 1873...he came to help the 700 patients that were on the island....the people of Hawaiian islands were sheltered and had not built up the immunities, that the larger countries had...when whalers and shipping boats found the Hawaiian islands and started stopping there they infected the islanders with many diseases, one of them being Leprosy...to stop the spread of the disease the king of the Hawaiian islands along with many church officials decided to take the sick to the distant island of Molokai and nurse them there...

photo of the village after Father Damien built structures

Surrounded on three sides by the Pacific ocean and cut off from the rest of Molokai by 1600-foot (488m) sea cliffs, Kalaupapa provided the environment.The area was void of all amenities. No buildings, shelters nor potable water were available. These first arrivals dwelled in rock enclosures, caves, and in the most rudimentary shacks, built of sticks and dried leaves.

..The ships delivering the infected patients didn't even take them ashore but dropped them off, by pushing them overboard and they had to swim the rest of the way.....it was a mix of women and children, good people and bad, all with different stages of the disease...then in steps Father Damien....

 Damien was the most famous but not the first caregiver or religious worker to arrive at Kalawao. He followed Congregational ministers, Catholic priests, Mormon elders, and family and friends of patients who went voluntarily to Kalawao village to help. Slowly, Kalawao became a place to live rather than a place to die, for Father Damien offered hope. He spoke the Hawaiian language. Assisted by patients, he built houses, constructed a water system, and planted trees. He also organized schools, bands, and choirs. He provided medical care for the living and buried the dead.

He expanded St. Philomena Catholic Church. Now when I say he expanded the church, that is what he did, by himself with what ever supplies he could find...Not a "retiring" personality, Damien did not hesitate to badger the Hawaiian government and his church for more resources. These efforts attracted worldwide attention, resulting in a heightened awareness of the disease and the plight of its victims. He spent all the rest of his years building houses for the lepers to live in....even when Father Damien could have left the island, he volunteered to stay...

Father Damien had lived in Kalawao 12 years when it was confirmed that he had contracted Hansen’s disease. Although the disease is not highly contagious, Damien had not been careful about hygiene. Over the years he had done nothing to separate himself from his people. He dipped his fingers in the poi bowl shared with other patients. He shared his pipe. And he did not always wash his hands after bandaging open sores. There were over 8000 people sent to the Kalaupapa peninsula from 1866 to 1969, being ostracized from the Hawaiian society. Just to think of it, as recent as 1969 people were living in seclusion on Molokai...

Damien was 49 years old when he died April 15, 1889, at Kalawao with Mother Marianne at his bedside. Shortly before his death, he wrote his brother Pamphile, "I am gently going to my grave. It is the will of God, and I thank Him very much for letting me die of the same disease and in the same way as my lepers. I am very satisfied and very happy."  The Islanders lost their strongest voice....

Cheers to Father Damien of Molokai.......