St. Philomena Church and Cemetery

St. Philomena Church, the only remaining building from the early settlement at Kalawao, began with an original church built on this site by Brother Victorin Bertrant in 1872, about a year before Father Damien arrived. Assisted by patients, Father Damien remodeled the church in 1876, adding a new wing and a tower, and he rebuilt it with stone in 1888. During 1987-88, the church was restored to its condition of December 24, 1932, the date of the last regular church service there, and it was rededicated on October 22, 1988. The Sacred Heart Brothers Cemetery, immediately to the right of the church, contains the grave of Brother Joseph Dutton, the original grave of Father Damien, and a marker commemorating him, and it is only a small portion of a much larger graveyard at St. Philomena where over 7000 people have been buried on the peninsula since January 1866. Father Damien de Veuster arrived at Kalawao on May 10, 1873, devoted his life to the settlement's patients, sought practical solutions to their problems, and gained trust and support through his fluency in the Hawaiian language. Early in 1885, he was officially diagnosed as having leprosy, although he had noted probable symptoms a few years earlier, and he died on April 15, 1889.

Kaunakakai, Hawaii · United States