Devotions for Kids: The Selfless Service of St. Damien and St. Marianne

Devotions for Kids is a series meant for sharing so that everyone - family and community - can spend time in God's Word together with the children in their lives and grow in faith.

As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.  They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying, "Jesus, Master!  Have pity on us!"

Luke 17:13

The sun is shining brightly upon your face, there is a light breeze tickling your skin, and you can hear the sounds of crashing waves and tropical birds singing.  Sounds nice, right?  This is Hawaii, and for many people this beautiful image is true.  For many living long ago, however, the experience of being in Hawaii wasn't so pretty.  On an isolated island called Molokai, a lonely place called Kalaupapa was filled with people who had leprosy, the same disease we hear about Jesus curing in today's Gospel.

Kalaupapa was a place where people with leprosy were sent to live among others who also had the disease.  It was a sad and difficult place to live because these people were all far away from their loved ones.  Others were afraid of them - afraid of catching the sickness.  But there were some brave men and women who chose to help.  Two of these brave people were Father Damien and Mother Marianne.

Father Damien was a priest from Belgium who heard how uncared for the people on Molokai had become, so he volunteered to go and live with them!  He knew that he might become sick himself, but more than anything, Father Damien wanted to serve the people and share God's love.  For many years, he was the only priest in Kalaupapa, helping, serving, and praying.  He built homes for people, cared for injuries, and most importantly, he gave the people hope.  While he did catch the sickness himself after 11 years of service, he didn't stop helping until the very end of his life.

Years later, a nun named Mother Marianne was asked to go to Molokai to help the people.  She could have said "no," but instead she said, "I am not afraid of any disease" and sailed to Hawaii.  Her work included opening a home for women and girls and taking care of those living in the boys' home that had been started by Father Damien.  She served on Molokai for 35 years and never caught the disease!

Both of these wonderful helpers are now saints in the Catholic Church.  They showed great love and deep compassion by not being afraid to serve the people that everyone else had ignored and forgotten.  Let's let them inspire us to serve others too.  St. Damien and St. Marianne, pray for us!

Let's pray:  God, thank You for the work of St. Damien and St. Marianne.  They showed us what it looks like to be selfless, putting the needs of others ahead of their own.  Help me to love others in the same way!  Amen.