St. Damien of Molokai -- May 10
I confess I knew nothing of this Saint before I began my research of him in preparation for making a saint folder. He was a courageous man, and volunteered for an assignment on the island of Molokai that entailed administering to lepers. He not only aided these destitute and shunned ailing people, he did it with joy and love. Ultimately, he contracted lepresy himself and carried that cross until his death. But he did so with joy and acceptance and love for God and the ailing people he nursed. Saint Damien is known as "The Apostle of the Afflicted." He is Hawaii's first and only Saint.
I like that he is wearing a lei around his neck in the above icon, because he is from Hawaii.
The original prayer is:
Father of mercy, in Saint Damien you have given a shining witness of love for the poorest and most abandoned. Grant that, by his intercession, as faithful witness of the heart of your Son Jesus, we too may be servants of the most needy and rejected. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever. Amen.
I made it age appropriate for my young daughter:
Dear God, Saint Damien loved the poorest and most abandoned. Help me to serve the needy and rejected with love. Amen.
St. Damien of Molokai, pray for us!
Coloring page hand drawn by Vee at Paper Dali HERE.
During the homily at the beatification Mass of Blessed Damien, Pope John Paul II said: "Holiness is not perfection according to human criteria; it is not reserved for a small number of exceptional persons. It is for everyone; it is the Lord who brings us to holiness, when we are willing to collaborate in the salvation of the world for the glory of God, despite our sin and our sometimes rebellious temperament."
Click HERE to see a listing, in order, of all my Saints and Feast Day folders for the liturgical year, or click the Archangel folder at the top right of my sidebar.
Also, Xhonane at Familia Catolica has a similar post HERE listing the liturgical folders she has made thus far, and she will add to it as well.
He is such an interesting Saint isn't he? The folder looks great!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of him either, thank you for sharing his beautiful story.
ReplyDeleteDavid and I watched a movie on him called Molokai on Netflix. It was excellent except for one, very tiny, very brief blip of native nudity. There really was no reason for it except it was a hollywood movie, but because of it, the kids could not watch it, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteGardenia, your are perfecting your Folders averytime! You are so creative! This is almost like a Lapbook!
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