Sterling silver oval medal with a 20" genuine rhodium plated curb chain. Dimensions: 0.9" x 0.6" (22mm x 14mm). Weight of medal: 1.9 Grams. Medal comes in a deluxe velour gift box. Engraving option available. Made in the USA.
19th century priest who ministered to lepers on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. Canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009, Saint Damian, Jozef De Veuster was born in Belgium and became a Roman Catholic priest of the missionary religious order, the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He became recognized for his ministry to people with leprosy (Hansen's disease), who had been placed under a government-sanctioned medical quarantine on the island of Molokai in then Kingdom of Hawaii.
After sixteen years caring for the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of those in the leper colony, he eventually contracted and died of the disease, and is widely considered a "martyr of charity". He is the ninth person recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church to have lived, worked, and died in what is now the United States. The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
