St. Damien De Veuster

Aloha... Inspiration from Father Damien

St. Damien De Veuster

Across the pond from Belgium 1873
The little nest, Kalapapa, safe haven would be
A task so noble simple acts of kindness
A time before global, heartless, and mindless

Duty and service in the despair of banish
A kind heart arrived never to vanish
Epidemic in a land so scenic and blue
Father Damien De Veuster cared for you

In service to the people with nerves of steel
When a sail to Molokai had no broad appeal
Acrosss the vast where truthful winds blow
The seas rise and ebb they already know

Molokai monastery Ecclesiast
From across the sea came help at last
Canonization trickles along meager path
In 1873 to fight Hanson's wrath

Now a date is set at St. Peter's Square
October 11th the world meets you there
Father Damien De Veuster now forever told
Homeland Hawaii across the wet and cold

A simple hero in his own time
A sainthood now to carry a chime
Heroic service reveals no squalor
To go alone in silence and valor

Bells will toll in a Belgium Mission
For a life of toil with banished victims
Try to sense the hope as it rises
For love embodies all shapes and sizes

Arrive at the moment with faith on display
Bridge a divide beyond a feeling of grave
Elevating life is no illusion
Among the suffering with warmth so human

Now in far away landsvof St. Peter Square
St. Damien finds beloved Hawaiians even there
Back in Kalaupapa hallow the ground
Home village Molokai love and joy abound