Earlier this week, Bart and I were offered the chance to see the work of the Sant'Egidio community in their Kamiano house.
They use this house for many works of charity, one of which is serving food to the poor every Wednesday and Saturday from 4.30 to 7pm. About 15 volunteers served 300 meals and notably this was done in a very personalized way, with individual service by the volunteers at the tables.
From what I have seen, there is a large number of volunteers coming forward to help this community. This is the same group which gathers every day at 8pm in the St Carolus church for evening prayers.
The name "Kamiano" given to the house is the Hawaiian name of St Damien, the Belgian priest who lived with and served the leper colony on Hawaii. I was also given a copy of a new book about Damien, called "The Spirit of Father Damien", by Jan De Volder, who is a member of the Sant'Egidio community. By the way, in a Public poll here in 2005, Damien was voted the "greatest Belgian of all time".
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Paul, Father Damien was succeeded in his work by Mother Marianne Cope, who was canonized a saint this past October 21. She was raised in my home city of Utica, New York.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I didn't realize Mother Marianne had just been canonized, that is really something to celebrate.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to reading the new book on Fr, now St Damien. His story is fascinating as well as inspiring, and of course Mother Marianne is a big part of it.