This week the Diocese of Winona-Rochester celebrated the feast day of St. Damien, a Belgian priest who dedicated his life to caring for lepers in Hawaii.

“Today we celebrate the feast of St. Damien de Veuster,” the diocese said in a Tuesday Facebook post.

St. Damien, born Joseph de Veuster, was born and raised in rural Belgium, a Britannica report said. He was the youngest of seven children. At 18, he joined the Society of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Five years later, he traveled as a missionary to the Hawaiian islands. He was ordained a priest in Honolulu in 1864. The Hawaiian government had deported people with leprosy to the island of Molokai, and Fr. Damien became very moved by the lepers' suffering. 

“Father Damien was priest, doctor and counselor to 800 patients before he contracted the disease in 1884,” the diocese’s post said. “He stayed on Molokai, ministering until a month before his death. Considered a model and martyr of charity, he was canonized in 2009.”

Although he was not the only priest to help the lepers, the others who volunteered only ministered to them for short periods of time, a report from Catholic Hawaii said. Fr. Damien, on the other hand, stayed there indefinitely, serving the lepers for 16 years before he eventually contracted the disease himself and died. 

Belgium initiated the process for beatification in 1938, and he was canonized in 2009. 

Fr. Damien is the patron saint of people with leprosy, a report by Catholic.org said. His feast day is May 10. Hawaii celebrates the anniversary of his death, April 15, as a minor state holiday.