$75.00 CAD
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Notice from Wailuku Hawaii to Catholic Leper Mission at Kalaupapa on Moloka’I that a parcel is being shipped there. This was the location of America's only leper colony.
Sent to:
Rev. Father Wineulon (?) Catholic Mission Kalaupapa Moloka’i
On back:
Wailuku Jan 17/99
Reverend Father, We are sending a box to Rev Brother Maniamo(?) todayRespectfully yours,
-----(?)
Postal card ‘HAWAII PEPA POO LETA’ ‘AKAHI KENETA’ Printed by American Bank Note Co. NY.
Ink smudge on back.
While Bishop Louis Désiré Maigret, the vicar apostolic of the Honolulu diocese, believed that the lepers needed a Catholic priest to assist them, he realized that this assignment had high risk. He did not want to send any one person "in the name of obedience." After much prayer, four priests volunteered to go, among them Father Damien. The bishop planned for the volunteers to take turns in rotation assisting the inhabitants.
On 10 May 1873, the first volunteer, Father Damien, arrived at the isolated settlement at Kalaupapa, where there were then 600 lepers, and was presented by Bishop Louis Maigret. Damien worked with them to build a church and establish the Parish of Saint Philomena. In addition to serving as a priest, he dressed residents' ulcers, built a reservoir, built homes and furniture, made coffins, and dug graves
Mahatma Gandhi said that Father Damien's work had inspired his social campaigns in India, leading to the independence of his people and the securing of aid for needy Indians.
Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on 11 October 2009
WIKIPEDIA
