Today the Church remembers two
individuals who gave their lives in the service of others, to those whom the
world considered untouchable: Damien and Marianne.
Damien was born in Belgium in
1840. He entered the Order of the Sacred
Hearts of Jesus and Mary. (A priest who
was influential in my life, Fr. James Keefe, was from the same order.) Damien went to Hawaii in 1863, and in 1873
was sent at his own request to Molokai to work among the lepers. There he lived with the lepers, cared for
them, taught them, buried them; Damien simply loved them. Eventually, he became one of them when he
contracted leprosy. He died on this day
in 1889.
Mother Marianne Cope was born
on 23 January 1838 in Germany. She was a
Franciscan nun. She worked, lived and
died for the lepers on the island of Molokai in Hawaii starting in 1888. She never contracted the disease, and remained
serving the lepers until she died in 1918.
Let us pray: God of compassion, we bless your Name for the
ministries of Damien and Marianne, who ministered to the lepers abandoned on
Molokai in the Hawaiian Islands. Help us, following their examples, to be bold
and loving in confronting the incurable plagues of our time, that your people
may live in health and hope; through Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy
Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
CALENDAR REMINDERS
Adult Christian Education: The
Resurrection by Bishop N.T. Wright. Join
us at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings as we explore the ideas of the afterlife in
the ancient world, what people during the time of Christ believed, what the
reality of the Resurrection means for us as Christians.
3rd Annual St.
Augustine’s BBQ, Saturday, 27 April 2013.
Here is a link to the Houston Press’s article about the upcoming event:
Please remember everyone on our
Prayer List, especially, Lou, Virginia, Hal and Hazel.
Your servant in Christ,
The Rev. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo
Episcopal Church Galveston, Texas 77550
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