Damien of Molokai, saint of the Church. A simple priest who saw a need and answered it…
It was however a slow death sentence – to go and minister to lepers, at a time when there was no treatment to cure or prevent that horrible disease. Damien sailed to the island of Molokai to be with the rejected, and knowing he would most probably fall ill and die…
Damien, brave saint of Molokai.
What brought you there to die?
You chose to face contagion’s dread,
That abandoned souls might be fed.
Lepers cast out from society’s pale;
An island isolation their woeful jail.
Shepherdless sheep, left to wander;
Bodies prey to a remorseless canker.
Jetsam of a world that couldn’t care.
What buoyant faith beached you there?
Damien, brave saint of Molokai.
What brought you there to die?
Premeditated courage impresses me;
You knew full well the cost of leprosy.
A slow, incurable, rotting, wasting end,
Exile from life, its inexorable dividend.
Yet you took ship from comfort’s land,
To minister to a death inducing band?
No hope of reprieve from this sentence;
Just your faith in eternal deliverance.
Damien, brave saint of Molokai.
What brought you there to die?
Damien, where is your like today?
Faith impacting in such a total way:
Frailty and doubts notwithstanding,
No room for reason countermanding.
A decision made to be their priest,
Bring word and sacrament to His least,
Yet no easy sinecure faced you there,
Just daily round of gut wrenching care.
Damien, brave saint of Molokai.
What brought you there to die?
Damien, did you push for life’s eventide?
Was your faith somehow inverted pride?
Was hope of heaven a consuming premise?
This life belittled by some future promise?
Or did you simply answer a human need,
In faithful response to your Master’s lead?
Lepers of every sort finding warm welcome,
Both now, and in Jesus’ eternal kingdom?
Damien, brave saint of Molokai.
What brought you there to die?
Damien, clarion witness to the gospel call.
You heard His voice, you gave your all.
This world cannot begin to comprehend,
A life compromised in order to befriend
Folk whose only gift is in dread disguise:
Their loving embrace offering slow demise.
Yet embrace you did, in humble certitude,
Gaining bliss in your appalling servitude.
Damien, brave saint of Molokai.
What brought you there to die?