October 11 2009 Postage Stamps issued by Hawai'i Post

Three stamps and a mini-sheet were issued on October 11th 2009 to celebrate the proclamation of Father Damien as a Saint (canonization) by Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican on the same day.

Jozef de Veuster was born in Tremelo, Belgium on January 3 1840, the seventh of eight children. His birthplace is shown on the $2.50 stamp (above left). His older brother Pamphile became a Catholic Priest and Jozef decided to follow in his footsteps, taking the name "Damien".

In 1863, a group of 16 missionaries from Belgium were to travel to Hawa'i. Pamphile was one of them but became sick just before sailing, so Damien took his brother's place. The trip around Cape Horn took almost 5 months, arriving in Honolulu on March 19 1864. Damien was ordained as a Catholic priest a short while later on May 21 1864 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu.

Leprosy had spread rapidly in Hawai'i by 1865, and it was decided by the Board of Health to separate the lepers from the rest of society. In 1866 a leper colony was established at Kalawao on the Kalaupapa peninsula of the island of Moloka'i in Hawai'i. This remote outcrop of land is surrounded by rough seas on 3 sides and 2,000 feet high cliffs on the other side. At first, priests and officials only visited occasionally. Chaos ruled the leper colony as there was no strong leader and not much in the way of law and order. Drunkenness and debauchery were common.

On May 10th 1873, Father Damien stepped ashore for the first time at Kalawao. He volunteered for this duty for a short period of time, but stayed a lifetime. His arrival brought order and a new spiritual awakening for the lepers at the colony. Father Damien selflessly cared for the sick and dying, but eventually succumbed to leprosy himself and died of complications caused by bronchial pneumonia on April 15th 1889. In 1893, a monument was erected at the settlement in his memory with the inscription "Greater love hath no man than this. That a man lay down his life for his friends."

Despite strenuous objections from the residents of the settlement and elsewhere in Hawai'i, his remains were exhumed in 1936 at the request of the Belgian Government and are now interred in the crypt of St. Anthony's Chapel in Louven (Louvain) Belgium (above).

Leprosy is currently called Hansen's disease and has been totally curable since the 1940's. Only a few souls who used to have Hansen's disease are left at Kalaupapa today and they are free to leave anytime, but many have chosen to stay. Because of his good works, the beatification process of Father Damien was started in 1938. He went through the stages of "Venerable" in 1977, then "Blessed" in 1995, and finally he was proclaimed a "Saint" on October 11 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican.

The $2.50 stamp (above left) pays for extra charges, such as additional weight. It shows a young Father Damien, at left, drawn by Edward Clifford in 1868, a few years after Damien first arrived in Hawai'i. On the right is Damien's birthplace in Tremelo, Belgium which now houses the Damien Museum. This Museum also houses a tapestry of Damien, a scene from which is depicted on the First Day Cover cachet.

The $6 stamp (above middle) pays the Overnight rate. It is adapted from a stained glass window from a church in Santiago, Chile.

The $9 stamp (above right) pays the Same Day rate. It shows part of the stained glass window from the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu. This is the same church where Damien was first ordained as a Catholic priest on May 21 1864. Our Lady of Peace is the oldest standing cathedral in the United States and is located downtown Honolulu on Bishop Street at the corner of Beretania Avenue.

The $9 minisheet (above) pays the Same Day rate. It shows a water color of Father Damien painted by Edward Clifford in 1888. Father Damien in a straw hat is reading his bible. In the background is a view of Kalaupapa, Moloka'i. The original painting hangs in the Damien Museum in Tremolo, Belgium. The Museum is housed in Damien's original birthplace as shown on the $2.50 stamp.

A Booklet was issued consisting of 3 booklet panes. Each pane consists of 2 stamps of each value ($2.50, $6 and $9) and has a white margin all around. "Hawai'i Security Printers, Honolulu, Hawai'i" is printed horizontally on the bottom margin and "© 2009 Hawai'i Post" is printed vertically on the lower right side margin of each pane. The Booklet cover shows part of a painting from the "Star of the Sea" Painted Church in Kohala, Hawai'i. The painting depicts Father Damien surrounded by lepers and is printed on white card stock.

The special postmark for this issue shows the bronze statue of Father Damien by artist Marisol Escobar that stands in front of the State Capitol Building in downtown Honolulu.

Technical details of the stamps and mini-sheet:
Colors: $2.50, $6, and $9 stamps and $9 mini-sheet - Multicolored
Size: 32mm x 48mm ($2.50, $6, and $9 stamps), 63mm x 51mm (mini-sheet)
Stamps sheet size: $2.50 stamp - 30 (5 across, 6 down). $6 and $9 stamps - 30 (6 across, 5 down).
Perforation: 12. Mini-sheet - imperforate.
Stamps & Mini-sheet design: Enelani.
Layout & Pre-press: Enelani.
Printer: Hawai'i Security Printers, Honolulu, Hawai'i.
Printing Method: 4-color (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) printing process.
Sheet margin markings: HAWAI'I POST (top middle), "Traffic Light" showing 4 colors used in printing (lower left side), © 2009 Hawai'i Post (lower right side) & Hawai'i Security Printers, Honolulu, Hawai'i. (bottom middle)
Paper: GPA coated white stock with water-activated gum on the back.