The church builder

When Blessed Father Damien arrived in Hawaii he was appalled at the state of the churches and chapels he found. Many of them were built as the Hawaiian huts were made, with sticks and thatch. As such, they didn't stand up to heavy winds and rains and many had collapsed.

Being a carpenter by trade Father Damien quickly set to work building wooden churches and chapels in the European fashion, seemingly everywhere he went.

In a letter he wrote to his family in 1874, he said:

During the summer I worked for four months in another part of the island [Molokai] building a new church ... I am not ashamed to transform myself into a mason or carpenter, since it is all for the glory of God. For the ten years I have been at the mission I have built a church or chapel every year.

Father Damien continued building churches and chapels after he wrote this letter. He died in 1889.

I do not know the number of chapels or churches built by Father Damien, but you can see that the numbers are rather staggering (for the work of one man). He would occassionally have help in the construction, but often enough not.

During a conversation with Dr. G. W. Woods in 1876, Father Damien told him that upon arriving at the leper settlement his "first duty was to transform the rude chapel into a worthy place of worship."

Father Damien seemed certain that the effort he put into constructing and maintaining beatiful churches and chapels was an essential part of his minstry.

I cannot help but wonder what graces would flow if more priests dedicated more time and energy into the maintenance and construction of churches, ensuring that they be truly worthy places of worship.

People are naturally attracted to beauty and, as Pope Benedict XVI recently reminded us, beautiful things lead us to God, who is Beauty itself.

In his diligent care for churches, Blessed Damien stands with Saint Francis of Assisi, who was often found sweeping churches because the priests did not. He would also order his friars to tidy up messy churches and he asked Saint Clare's Sisters to make worthy linens and altar cloths to be given to poor churches.

We priests would do well to make our first priority the care and adornment of our churches. From this, every other part of our ministry will flow.