THE CANONIZATION OF FATHER DAMIEN: MAUI BIDS FAREWELL TO 'FRIEND,' SAINT, RELIC

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WAIHEE

St. Ann's Church paid tribute to St. Damien on Monday with parishioners reading aloud writings from the church's youngest members.

"I would be lonely and sorrowful to be taken away from my family," wrote 9-year-old Kela, who along with classmates in her religious education class at St. Ann's, was asked to imagine life as a leprosy patient exiled to Molokai in the late 1800s.

"I could not take a bath. I could not play with my toys because I could not bring it. . . . I would feel like I was trapped in my room for 10 years," said 7-year-old Jacob.

"I would be scared forever," 9-year-old Miguel said.

St. Ann's parishioner Kathy Texeira read the children's answers and prayers they wrote in honor of St. Damien.

Cameron, 10, wrote: "Saint Damien, you are a hero to any church. Now you are a saint, I hope you are safe in heaven."

The last of a three-day Damien relic tour on Maui ended Monday night at Maria Lanakila Church in Lahaina.

A crowd of about 75 people visited St. Ann's Church in Waihee on Monday afternoon, making it one of the smallest groups to venerate the saint's relic and honor him in song and prayer.

Father Damien de Veuster was canonized a saint on Oct. 11 in Rome. His 16 years of service to Hansen's disease patients exiled to Molokai has become a source of inspiration to many.

Damien died from leprosy in 1889 after contracting the disease while working with the patients.

This morning, the saint's relic, brought to the islands from Rome, was scheduled to be taken by ferry to Lanai where it will remain there for at least a day. By Saturday, the Catholic Church will have completed its trek around Hawaii with a stop in Kalaupapa and then to its final resting spot at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu where the relic will be placed in a permanent glass case by the church altar.

Texeira said she visited with the relic on both days this past weekend where crowds exceeded 500 Saturday at Christ The King Church in Kahului, and then more than 2,000 at the Maui Vicariate celebration held Sunday in the War Memorial Gym.

"This is more intimate," Texeira said of the relic tour stop at St. Ann's.

Precila Peros, St. Ann's outreach coordinator, provided transportation for three frail elderly church members to attend Monday afternoon's veneration in Waihee. She fought back tears as she spoke of Damien's passion for volunteerism and her efforts to do the same and encourage others to follow.

"I hope the excitement for Saint Damien doesn't die down," she said.

Peros said people need to be more kind to each other, especially toward the ostracized and helpless in the community.

"So all of us has a little of Saint Damien in us," she said. "Each of us can do a little, and a little can be a lot for someone in need."

Since Saturday morning, the relic has been taken to parishes across the island by Deacons Pat Constantino of Maui and Wally Matsui of Oahu. Keeping watch over the relic has been the responsibility of Ray Hart and Larry Aberill, members of the Knights of Columbus Fourth Degree Assembly Color Guard 2290.

Except for a Sunday night break at home where he took a shower, Hart has been with the relic for most of the last 72 hours, including an overnight vigil Saturday in East Maui.

Each visit at a Maui parish has been "wonderfully emotional," according to Hart.

Visitors and residents, Catholics and not, have filled every one of the churches or come close to capacity.

In Keanae, Hart said, about 30 to 40 faithful "jammed" St. Gabriel Church; and St. Mary Church in Hana was overflowing with at least 300 people attending Mass and prayers between midnight and 3 a.m. Sunday.

"It's been a wonderful experience. You're seeing religion is really alive," Hart said.

Paying tribute to the Damien relic has varied from individual to individual, some genuflecting in front of the case carrying the relic and others briefly touching it while praying in silence.

In one instance, a woman reached out of her wheelchair to touch the case. Hart said he will always remember the moment a blind man came to venerate the relic.

"You can tell from him it wasn't just a wooden box. You could tell from him he was seeing Damien," he said.

One other duty Hart assumed this weekend was to keep watch over the chalice Damien used to consecrate bread and wine. Hart held on to the chalice as it was taken from a secure location on Oahu to Maui just prior to Sunday's Mass in War Memorial Gym.

Hart said he wasn't looking forward to ending his duties in accompanying the relic.

"I'm going to have to say goodbye to a friend," Hart said. "I'm going to miss him."

* Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.