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Rome, Italy, Oct 9, 2009 / 06:24 am (CNA).- As the October 11 canonization of the Fr. Damien de Veuster approaches, an art teacher is leading a small group from Hawaii to Rome to present Pope Benedict XVI with a portrait of the saint painted by an artist paralyzed by Lou Gehrig’s Disease, also known as ALS.
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Fr. Damien, a hero to Hawaiians, ministered to a major leper colony on Molokai where he contracted and eventually succumbed to leprosy in the late nineteenth century. - Read more.
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It is an amazing work, reminiscent of Van Gough. View larger image here.
My mom and sister are over in HI visiting my brother for this occasion. They are going to Moloka'i (where my brother works) and everything!
ReplyDeleteI expect some really cool St. Damien stuff when they return!
:)
PS Terry, if you've never read Robert Louis Stevenson's reply to the Reverend Hyde (srsly) for his attack on Fr. Damien, you must. Just google it. It's awesome, and worth the read.
-Cathy of Chicago
LOVE the painting. LOVE Fr. Damien. He is always in my saints draw in November.
ReplyDeleteThe head Chaplain at the hospital where I volunteer regularly many years ago adopted the name Damien. He is in Rome at this moment to be in attendance for the canonization.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to his return, perhaps with a relic for the chapel.