Father Damien (1840–1889), born Joseph de Veuster in Tremelo, Belgium, was a Catholic missionary of deep faith who journeyed to Hawaiʻi in 1864 to complete his religious training with the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts.

In 1873, he volunteered to serve in Kalaupapa, a remote peninsula on the island of Molokaʻi, where people with Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) were forcibly isolated. There, he brought spiritual guidance, built homes and chapels, cared for the sick, and offered profound comfort to the abandoned.

He once said, “Without the Blessed Sacrament, a position like mine would be intolerable.” For 16 years, Father Damien lived among the lepers, ultimately contracting the disease himself. He called it “a shortcut to heaven.”

Before his passing, he wrote, “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.”

In 2009, Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI, recognized as a saint for his heroic compassion. Today, Kalaupapa is a National Historic Site—a sacred place of beauty and reflection, honoring lives touched by love, sacrifice, and the enduring Hawaiian spirit of aloha.