 |
| The nine seater plus pilot plane. Hurrah! |
 |
| Me, after take off but before my ears went wonky. |
 |
| Ciao, Honolulu! |
 |
| Hanauma Bay (pretty cool, yeah?) |
 |
| Rabbit Island (off O'ahu) |
 |
| Cliffs of Moloka'i |
 |
| Cliffs of Moloka'i at a distance. |
 |
| You can understand why no boats can possibly dock here with rought waves and cliffs like these. |
 |
| Shore time. |
 |
| Safely on the ground. Uff da! It was WINDY! |
 |
| The "double car garage" airport. |
 |
| The lone lighthouse. |
 |
| Father Keoster in his Damien shirt and beach hat. |
 |
| Gratuitous beach shot |
 |
| Graves of patients . . . some of whom were burried by St. Damien. |
 |
| Herself with a mosaic of Bl. Marianne outside St. Francis. |
 |
| St. Francis Church |
 |
| A beautiful grotto made by the patients. |
 |
| Inside St. Francis Church |
 |
| This made me cackle out loud. It was in the museum not the church! |
 |
| Sacred Heart of Jesus at the beach. |
 |
| Inside St. Philomena's Church. This lady (forgive me, I cannot recall her name) and her husband were the ones chosen to receive St. Damien's relics from the Pope in Rome. |
 |
| Backside of St. Damien's grave marker. |
 |
| Uff. Haven't you seen enough of me already! |
 |
| Tallest cliffs in the world, I've read/been told. |
 |
| Father Koester prepares for Mass. He used St. Damien's altar (it was to the right and I did not take a picture of it - I'm just daft!) |
 |
| These pews were made by Damien. The holes in the floor were put there by him to accomodate the patients who needed to spit (and otherwise would not come to Mass or stay throughout Mass, because one of the problems with Hansen's disease is over abundance of saliva). Therefore, they would roll banana leaves up and stick them in the holes and spit when they needed to . . . then they could remain at Mass! |
 |
| Another wonderful thing Damien did for the parishioners was to install a bell inside the tithe box (on the wall) so that those who were blind could hear that their tithe made it in the box as it should. St. Damien thought of everything! |
 |
| St. Philomena's Catholic Church with the nose of our broken down bus showing. |
 |
| Returning to Honolulu, here's Diamond Head and some of the city. |
 |
| I hope you can see the rainbow. Taking pictures from a plane is always ify. But, it was comforting (after some turbulence both ways) to see a Promise of God so brilliantly laid across the sky. |
 |
| The packet of goodies a Sacred Heart Priest gave us. The medals are particularly lovely. |
 |
| The book I purchased and devoured straight away. Wonderful stuff! |
 |
| Dated with a stamp in the book store so I'll never forget when and where I got this book. |
7 comments:
Sarah....these pictures are fabulous (especially the ones with you in them! :)
All I can say is that you were very brave to get into that SMALL plane! I have a hard enough time in a big jet! You are my new hero!
Seriously though...what a blessing to be able to experience all that you did. Thanks for sharing the pictures!
I had no idea about the holes! Beautiful story and photos! Always loved St. Damie, but now even more so!
Another thing that might be interesting to know is that you have to be 16 years old or older to come to Moloka'i because of the LAW . . . while there are still patients on the island, these laws will be in place. We were not allowed to roam around unaccompanied. It was strange, to say the least. I felt a bit like a prisoner, to some extent . . . and yet, I'd have it no other way: to walk spiritually in their shoes while there (they were prisoners, too, you see; still are, in certain ways - they are free to leave the island, but it's their home and sanctuary . . . ). Anyway, I didn't mention these restrictions or why before, so now you know.
These pictures are wonderful! Thanks for taking us with you the best way you could. I really enjoyed learning about my brother in Christ more as I always looked up to him and like another commentor..even moreso now. Thank God these people had such lovely beauty surrounding them. The churches are both lovely and so is my friend, Sarah! :) I DID see the rainbow. Someone once told me that when you see part of a rainbow after making a retreat as such, that the Blessed Mother wants you to know she is pleased. So, there you have it! Momma is pleased! :) Thanks, girlfriend!
Sarah, I loved this post! Last time we were in Hawaii was four years ago, and we met a couple who were traveling to spend two weeks on that island, citing it a quiet and great getaway, free from crowds and good golfing. I felt saddened for that, but here you've shown me the holiness I always felt would remain, has done just that. I really wanted to travel there as a side trip when we went, but then hubby was not up to it. Next time, wink. Thanks for posting the pics, really spoke to me.
Wonderful!! Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos. Now, I definitely want to know more about this new saint ...
Chris and I toured the Chapel on Molokai. I was touched by how simple and lovely it was, even though I knew nothing of the Faith at that point.
What a wonderful packet of treasures!
Post a Comment