ADDITIONAL FUNDING PROVIDED BY BANK OF HAWAII, FOODLAND, AND MEADOW GOLD DAIRIES.

[MUSIC] >> THIS IS THE TIME OF DAY, I ALWAYS HEAR THEM.

DUSK.

WHEN THE SUN'S GONE DOWN BUT THERE'S STILL LIGHT ENOUGH TO RECOGNIZE A FACE.

LEPERS -- FORTY OR FIFTY OF THEM AT A TIME -- MARCHED BETWEEN ARMED GUARDS, FROM KALIHI-KAI TO KING FROM KING TO BISHOP AND ON DOWN BISHOP TO THE PIER, WHERE SMALL BOATS WAIT TO FERRY THEM TO THAT LARGER BOAT ANCHORED FURTHER OUT -- THE LEPER BOAT.

IT ALWAYS LEAVES AT DUSK ON MONDAYS, AND TRAVELS THROUGH THE DARK TO DUMP ITS HUMAN CARGO BEFORE THE SUN COMES UP.

THIS IS THE TIME OF DAY I HEAR THEIR MUFFLED STEPS, THE MOURNING SOUNDS OF THOSE WHO FOLLOW AFTER, THE HAUNTING, THE FAREWELL CHANTS, THE ANGUISHED CRIES OF SEPARATION, AND THEN THE SHRILL WHISTLE, AS THE BOAT MOVES OFF ACROSS THE WATER.

MY FEET HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A PROBLEM.

WELL, EVER SINCE I CAME TO THE ISLANDS, THAT IS, OH, NOT WHEN I WAS A BOY IN BELGIUM, NO, I WAS AS GOOD ON MY FEET AS ANYBODY IN THOSE DAYS, RUNNING AROUND THE COUNTRYSIDE, HELPING OUT ON THE FARM, DRIVING THE COWS IN AT NIGHT, SKATING ON THE RIVER DYLE.

WHY, THE NIGHT BEFORE I LEFT HOME FOR GOOD, I WALKED 14 MILES TO SAY GOODBYE TO MY MOTHER AT THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY.

TWELVE YEARS, I PROMISED HER.

I DIDN'T KEEP MY PROMISE.

ACTUALLY, THE TROUBLE WITH MY FEET STARTED AT MY FIRST MISSION FIELD ON THE BIG ISLAND WHERE I USED TO WALK FOR MILES OVER STILL WARM LAVA FLOWS IN SEARCH OF MY STRAY SHEEP IN THOSE ILL-FITTING BOOTS, THEY'D ITCH AND BURN AND ACHE MY FEET, I MEAN, I COULDN'T SLEEP AT NIGHT UNLESS I SOAKED THEM.

WELL, AFTER THAT I HAD TROUBLE WITH THEM UNTIL THE DAY I DIED.

THE DAY I DIED.

MONDAY, OF HOLY WEEK, 1889.

PALM SUNDAY NIGHT, AROUND 11:45, BROTHER JAMES LIGHTS THE LANTERN, WAKES UP FATHER CONRADY, THE PRIEST WHO'S BEING SENT TO REPLACE ME HERE AT THE LEPER SETTLEMENT, AND TOGETHER THEY GO NEXT DOOR INTO THE CHURCH.

SOON, I HEAR THEM COMING BACK.

BROTHER JAMES RINGING THE LITTLE ALTER BELL AS HE WALKS AHEAD OF FATHER CONRADY IN THE DARK.

UP THEY COME TO MY ROOM, BROTHER JAMES HOLDS THE NAPKIN BENEATH MY CHIN, FATHER CONRADY SAYS, IN A SLEEPY VOICE, THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST, AND I RECEIVE MY LAST COMMUNION.

THEN, FATHER CONRADY ASKS IF HE CAN HAVE THIS OLD CASSOK, THREADBARE, FULL OF LEPROSY, WHAT WOULD HE DO WITH IT?

BETTER I BE BURIED IN IT.

NEXT THING I KNOW IT'S GETTING LATE.

THE ROOSTERS ARE CROWING, IT'S HARD TO BREATHE, SO BROTHER JAMES HELPS ME TO SIT UP AND AS HE'S HOLDING ME, I BREATHE FOR THE LAST TIME.

AS HE BENDS OVER TO CLOSE MY EYES, A FAREWELL CHANT BEGINS OUTSIDE MY DOOR, AND QUICKLY SPREADS THROUGHOUT THE SETTLEMENT TILL EVERY LEPER KNOWS THAT KAMIANO'S SPIRIT IS GONE.

BROTHER JAMES FETCHES A BASIN, WASHES MY BODY, DRESSES IT IN THE OLD CASSOCK AND CARRIES IT TO THE CHURCH NEXT DOOR AND THERE HE PUTS IT IN A PLAINREDWOOD BOX AND THE REST OF THE DAY I LIE IN STATE.

ALL THE LEPERS FILE IN TO SAY GOODBYE, THE CHOIR SINGS MY FAVORITE HYMNS.

THIS TIME I HAVE NO LITTLE JOKES TO RAISE THEIR SPIRITS, NO OINTMENTS FOR THEIR SORES.

BY MIDAFTERNOON, MY SORES HAVE CRUSTED OVER WITH BLACK SCABS WHERE THE SICKNESS HAS CONSUMED ME, IT HAS NOTHING LEFT TO FEED UPON.

AND THEN, AT LAST, TOWARDS EVENING, FATHER CONRADY HELPS BROTHER JAMES TO DRESS ME IN MY VESTMENTS, THEY LIGHT THE CANDLES AND TIP-TOE OUT.

I'M ALONE.

IT'S QUIET, PEACEFUL, EXCEPT FOR THE POUNDING OF THE SURF AND THE EVERLASTING WHINE OF MR.

CLIFFORD'S BARREL ORGAN.

AND YOU KNOW, THAT KIND MAN, HE BROUGHT IT ALL THE WAY FROM LONDON HOPING IT WOULD AMUSE US.

IT HAS -- BEYOND ALL EXPECTATION.

THE CHILDREN WIND IT UP AND LET IT GO AND ARE ETERNALLY SURPRISED WHEN IT MAKES MUSIC OF ITSELF.

AFTER THE WHILE IT STOPS AND THERE IS NOTHING BUT THE SURF.

THE UH, REQUIEM MASS THE NEXT MORNING WITH FATHER CONRADY AT THE ALTER IS MUCH THE SAME AS I'VE CELEBRATED FOR OTHER LEPERS ABOUT THREE THOUSAND OF THEM.

COMFORTING THE MOURNERS, INTERCEDING FOR THE DEAD, THE CHOIR PLEADING: ETERNAL REST, GIVE UNTO THEM O LORD AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM, MAY THEY REST IN PEACE.

AT LENGTH, EIGHT LEPERS LIFT THE COFFIN TO THEIR SHOULDERS AND BLIND PETERO'S FIFE AND DRUM CORPS LEAD THE PROCESSION TO THE CEMETERY.

YOU KNOW, SORROW AT A LEPER'S PASSING IS TEMPERED WITH GRATITUDE FOR HIS RELEASE, SO PETERO'S MUSIC IS ANYTHING BUT SAD, ACTUALLY MORE LIKE PICNIC MUSIC AS WE MAKE OUR WAY TO THE OPEN GRAVE BENEATH A HALA TREE WHERE I SPENT MY FIRST NIGHT AT THE SETTLEMENT.

YOUNG BOYS FROM THE ORPHANAGE, DAVID'S CHINATOWN, THEY GO TO THE STANDING FOUR DEEP AMONG THE OPEN GRAVE.

ONE SUDDENLY BREAKS RANKS AND CLIMBS UP INTO THE TREE AND THEN THE FIRST SHOVELFUL OF DIRT.

FOR SIXTEEN YEARS, I WAS SOLE KEEPER OF THE CITY OF THE DEAD.

YOU SEE THE CHURCH, THE RECTORY, AND THE CEMETERY FORM ONE ENCLOSURE AND IT WAS MY HABIT TO COME HERE AFTER DARK TO SAY MY BEADS.

NOW I'VE COME TO REST.

AND SO I DO -- FOR ALMOST HALF A CENTURY.

THEN, ONE FEBRUARY DAY, THE BLACK MARBLE STONE IS ROLLED AWAY, THE GROUND DUG UP, THE COFFIN LIFTED TO THE SURFACE.

STRANGE HANDS TEAR AWAY THE ROTTING LID.

LEPERS I HAVE NEVER KNOWN BREAK SPONTANEOUSLY INTO CHANTS AND FUNERAL SONGS FOR THEIR DEAD HEROES AND A VOICE CRIES, THE BODY IS INTACT, PRAISE GOD.

AH, AND SO IT IS, I MEAN MY HAIR IS A LITTLE LONGER AND MY BEARD, YOU KNOW, MY SKIN'S A DEEPER BRONZE, PERHAPS, THE SILVER ROSARY IS TARNISHED, THE VESTMENTS' MOLDY, AND THE GOLD EMBROIDERY DULLED, BUT THERE ARE NO SIGNS OF LEPROSY.

I MEAN, EXCEPT FOR MY POOR FEET FROM WHICH A TOE OR TWO IS MISSING, THE BODY IS INTACT.

NOW, IT HAD BEEN MY WISH AND MY INTENTION TO STAY HERE FOREVER WITH MY LEPERS.

TOGETHER WE WOULD AWAIT THE RESURRECTION, BUT APPARENTLY MY WISH HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN.

MY BODY, STILL IN THE DECAYING COFFIN, IS BEING PUT INTO A PACKING BOX AND THE PRIEST IS EXPLAINING THAT FATHER DAMIEN IS LEAVING KALAWAO.

AN AIRPLANE IS WAITING DOWN BY THE LANDING.

WELL, WHY DOESN'T SOMEBODY SPEAK UP FOR ME AND INSIST THAT I BE ALLOWED TO STAY?

FIFTEEN MINUTES TO FLY THE CHANNEL.

IN MY DAY, IT TOOK ALL NIGHT BY BOAT AND WHETHER YOU WERE A PASSENGER ON DECK OR A LEPER IN THE HOLD, SEASICKNESS WAS PART OF IT.

THE PLANE TOUCHES DOWN IN HONOLULU, THE PACKING BOX NOW DRAPED WITH A BELGIAN FLAG IS TRANSFERRED TO AN ARMY CAISSON AND THE MILITARY PROCESSION MAKES ITS WAY TO ITS DESTINATION, THE FORT STREET CATHEDRAL.

FOUR DAYS I LIE IN STATE.

NOW IN A KOA CASKET, YOU KNOW, THE KIND USUALLY RESERVED FOR HAWAIIAN ROYALTY.

THIS IS MY CATHEDRAL.

ITS CONFESSIONALS KNOW MY SINS, THE PEWS, MY PENANCES.

I WAS ORDAINED IN THIS CATHEDRAL.

HERE, I TOOK MY VOWS OF POVERTY, CHASTITY, AND OBEDIENCE.

I LAY UNDER A FUNERAL PALL, RIGHT HERE IN THE SANCTUARY, DYING TO THE WORLD TO LIVE IN CHRIST.

THESE HANDS THAT, AS A FARM BOY, THAT MILKED COWS, CURRIED HORSES, TAKEN NEWBORN CALVES, PITCHED HAY, SHOVELED MANURE, THESE HANDS WERE CONSECRATED HERE.

BISHOP MAIGRET TOOK ME, A FARM BOY, WITH ONLY FOUR YEARS RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION AND YOU KNOW THE MINIMUM FOR A PRIEST IS USUALLY TEN, HE TOOK ME AND HE MADE A PRIEST OF ME.

IF THEY WON'T SEND ME PRIESTS, HE SAID, I'LL HAVE TO MAKE MY OWN.

AND WHEN I TURNED FROM THIS ALTER AND I SAW THEM WAITING AT THE RAILING, HAWAIIANS WHO ONLY YESTERDAY WERE STILL WORSHIPING THEIR ANCIENT GODS, KANE, KU, AND LONO, WHEN I SAW THEM WAITING TO RECEIVE THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST FROM MY HANDS, MY FINGERS TREMBLED, MY HEART MELTED LIKE WAX, AND I KNEW HAPPINESS BEYOND BELIEF.

FROM THAT MOMENT, I WAS THEIR SERVANT AND THEIR PRIEST.

I ATTENDED MY FIRST ISLAND MASS IN THIS CATHEDRAL.

WE MISSIONARIES CAME STRAIGHT HERE FROM THE BOAT TO GIVE THANKSGIVING FOR OUR SAFE ARRIVAL, BEDAZZLED BY THE SUNSHINE, THE FLOWERS, THE FRIENDLY PEOPLE CHATTERING IN ENGLISH OR HAWAIIAN, NEITHER OF WHICH I THEN SPOKE OR UNDERSTOOD, AND A GRAND CATHEDRAL LIKE THIS WHERE WE'D EXPECTED NONE AT ALL.

HERE, IN THE BISHOP'S OFFICE, I HAD MY FIRST INTERVIEW WITH HIS EXCELLENCY.

I APPROACHED HIM IN FEAR AND TREMBLING BECAUSE OF SOMETHING THAT HAD HAPPENED AT THE BOAT.

YOU SEE, WE'VE BEEN FIVE MONTHS AT SEA AND HERE WE WERE GOING DOWN THE GANGPLANK IN HONOLULU, UM, TEN SISTERS ALL IN WHITE, SIX BROTHERS ALL IN BLACK, OUR FEET TOUCHED THE GROUND BUT WE CAN'T GET OUR LAND LEGS, AND THE SIGHT OF US, SIXTEEN RELIGIOUS, STAGGERING LIKE DRUNKEN PENGUINS TOWARDS OUR VENERABLE BISHOP WAS JUST TOO MUCH, I HOWLED WITH LAUGHTER.

WELL, THE BOAT-DAY CROWDS ROARED BACK, THEY PRESSED UP AGAINST THE ROPES, AND THEY THREW UM, FLOWER GARLANDS ROUND MY NECK AND THE BISHOP, AS I CAME CLOSE, WAS VERY CAREFUL NOT TO LET HIS EYE MEET MINE, BUT LATER ON IN HIS OFFICE, HE LAUGHED.

NOBODY THREW FLOWER GARLANDS AROUND MY NECK, HE SAID, THEY JUST DEPORTED ME, BUT I CAME BACK ABOARD A FRENCH WARSHIP WHICH THREATENED TO SHELL THE CITY UNLESS FREEDOM OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP WAS GUARANTEED AND I WAS ALLOWED TO STAY HERE.

THAT WAS THIRTY YEARS AGO.

IT'S STILL ENEMY TERRITORY, YOU MIGHT SAY, BUT THAT LAUGH OF YOURS, MY BOY, HELPED MORE THAN YOU CAN REALIZE.

BEFORE THE OIL OF ORDINATION WAS DRY, HE SHIPPED ME OFF FOR A FEW MONTHS TO PUNA, ON THE BIG ISLAND, WHERE THEY HADN'T SEEN A PRIEST IN YEARS AND THEN EIGHT YEARS IN KOHALA, A PARISH SO LARGE, IT TOOK TWO WEEKS TO COVER IT, ON THE BACK OF MY MULE, KAPAKAHI, OR ON FOOT.

NO WONDER I STARTED TO HAVE TROUBLE WITH MY FEET.

THERE WERE OTHER INTERVIEWS WITH HIS EXCELLENCY, USUALLY WITH ME BEGGING FOR MONEY TO BUILD CHAPELS AND HIS EXCELLENCY GRUMBLING AT THE COSTS.

YES, YOUR EXCELLENCY, I DID SEND THE MOTHER SUPERIOR TWO HUNDRED POUNDS OF POTATOES.

WELL, OF COURSE I SENT A BILL...NO, SHE DIDN'T EXACTLY ORDER THEM, BUT EVERYBODY NEEDS POTATOES AND NEXT MONTH WHEN THE WHALERS COME, THE PRICE WILL DOUBLE IN THE MARKET, SHE GOT A BARGAIN.

WELL, WE NEED THE MONEY FOR THE CHAPEL, FOR A PAINT BILL COMING DUE.

WELL, OF COURSE CHAPELS DON'T GROW LIKE MUSHROOMS, I'VE BUILT ENOUGH TO KNOW.

BUT IT'S VERY BEAUTIFUL HERE, YOUR EXCELLENCY, WE'VE MADE A CRUCIFIX OVER SIX FEET HIGH AND DECORATED IT WITH HAWAIIAN CARVINGS, YOU'LL SEE IT NEXT MONTH WHEN YOU COME FOR THE CONSECRATION.

YES, I REALIZE YOUR EXCELLENCY IS BUSY...YES, YES, I'M LEAVING.

YOU WOULDN'T NEED ANY TOBACCO HERE AT THE MISSION, WOULD YOU?

OUR SECOND CROP IS COMING ON, IT'S BEAUTIFUL.

YES, YES, I UNDERSTAND.

NO MORE SHIPMENTS OF ANY KIND WITHOUT A WRITTEN ORDER.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, YOUR EXCELLENCY, THANK YOU.

I WROTE MY PARENTS FROM KOHALA: HERE I AM LIVING ON AN ISLAND OF VOLCANOES, ONE OF WHICH, SO THE NATIVES BELIEVE, IS THE HOME OF MADAM PELE, GODDESS OF ETERNAL FIRE.

THEY WORSHIP HER AND WHENEVER THERE IS AN ERUPTION THEY RUSH TO PROPITIATE HER.

WELL, ONE MAN HAS JUST GONE BY ON HIS WAY TO OFFER SACRIFICE, SO I SEIZED THIS EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE HIM A SHORT SERMON ON THE FIRES OF HELL.

HE LISTENED POLITELY AS THOUGH HE KNEW MORE ABOUT THE FIRES OF HELL THAN I DID.

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN I AM TONGUE-TIED BEFORE THEM.

I MEAN, I COULD KNOW ALL THE BOOKS OF THEOLOGY BY HEART BUT STILL NOT KNOW WHAT TO SAY TO THEM.

BUT THEY SEEM TO LIKE ME, THEY CALL ME KAMIANO, WHICH IS THEIR WAY OF SAYING DAMIEN.

I KEEP MY BODY IN GOOD SHAPE AND SERVITUDE BY SPADING VEGETABLES AND BY RAISING LAMBS, WHICH YOU WILL BE INTERESTED TO KNOW, FATHER, I BOUGHT FOR ONLY TWO AND A HALF FRANCS APIECE.

AT LAST WE HAVE ENOUGH ANIMALS, VEGETABLES, AND CHAPELS, AND SO THIS YEAR, I WILL HAVE MORE TIME FOR STUDYING AND VISITING THE SICK.

I DIDN'T MENTION THE YELLOW FLAGS IN MY LETTERS, BUT THEY WERE THERE, ON TREES AND FENCES, ON SIDES OF BUILDINGS, EVEN ON MY CHAPEL DOORS -- ALL LEPER AND LEPER SUSPECTS ARE HEREBY ORDERED TO REPORT TO THE GOVERNMENT HEALTH AUTHORITIES WITHIN FOURTEEN DAYS UNDER PAIN OF ARREST.

OCCASIONALLY, I'D SEE THE SHERIFF'S MEN WITH GUNS AND DOGS, SNIFFING AROUND THE CAVES AND VALLEYS OF MY PARISH.

SOMETIMES, I'D HEAR A DISTANT SHOT.

ONE DAY I CAME BACK TO FIND A YOUNG HUSBAND BARRICADED IN MY QUARTERS, PREPARED TO SHOOT ANYONE WHO TRIED TO TAKE HIS SICK WIFE FROM HIM.

ONE NIGHT IN THE CONFESSIONAL, A YOUNG BOY COUGHED, HEMORRHAGED, AND COVERED ME WITH BLOOD.

LATER, IN HONOLULU, I SAW THAT SAME BOY IN ONE OF THOSE PROCESSIONS OF LEPERS, DOWN KING TO BISHOP AND ON DOWN BISHOP TO THE WATERFRONT.

I SAW HIM, FORCED FROM HIS PARENTS' ARMS INTO ONE OF THOSE SMALL BOATS.

I CAN STILL HEAR HIS FATHER'S SOBS, I CAN SEE HIM CROUCHING ON THE PIER, STRAINING TO CATCH A LAST GLIMPSE OF THE LITTLE BOY HE WOULD NEVER SEE AGAIN.

I COULD STILL HEAR HIS MOTHER'S FAREWELL CHANT.

ALL THIS AGAINST AN EVENING SKY THAT SEEMED TO MOCK US WITH ITS BEAUTY.

WHAT ELSE COULD I DO TO COMFORT THEM BUT PROMISE ONE DAY, I WOULD GO TO MOLOKA'I TO VISIT THEIR SON?

THERE CAME A TIME WHEN I WASN'T VERY WELCOME IN THIS CATHEDRAL, AFTER THE NEW BISHOP TOOK OVER.

NOT ONLY BECAUSE I WAS THEN A LEPER, NOW THAT I COULD UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS...OH WELL, NEVER MIND, THAT'S ALL OVER NOW.

SIXTY YEARS HAVE GONE BY AND HERE I AM BACK IN MY CATHEDRAL, OBVIOUSLY ONCE MORE IN FAVOR.

ALL KINDS OF DIGNITARIES ARE FILING PAST THE KOA CASKET.

A SOLEMN PONTIFICAL MASS IS BEING SAID, AND THE BISHOP IS SAYING VERY EXTRAVAGANT THINGS ABOUT ME, AND READING A MESSAGE FROM THE VATICAN.

NOW AT LAST I BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT.

IT WOULD APPEAR THAT MY NATIVE COUNTRY, BELGIUM, WANTS ME TO COME HOME.

GO, THE MASS HAS ENDED.

THE KOA CASKET IS CARRIED FROM THE CATHEDRAL.

THE ARMY CAISSON IS LOADED AND THE MILITARY PROCESSION MAKES ITS WAY DOWN BISHOP TO KING ACROSS KING AND ON DOWN BISHOP TO THE PIER WHERE A WHITE SHIP WAITS TO RECEIVE ME INTO HER HOLD.

THE MILITARY BAND BEGINS A DIRGE, BUT I...I HEAR THE ANGUISHED FAREWELL CHANTS AND THE CRIES OF LEPERS AS SMALL BOATS FERRY THEM TO THAT LARGER BOAT ANCHORED FURTHER OUT, WAITING AS MY BOAT WAITS, TO RECEIVE THEM INTO HER HOLD AND CARRY THEM TO MOLOKA'I.

MOLOKA'I.

USUALLY IT'S NO TRICK TO SEE HER SILHOUETTE ON THE HORIZON, BUT TODAY THE LIGHT'S NOT RIGHT.

NEVER MIND.

SOON, WE'LL COME CLOSE ENOUGH TO SEE HER CLEARLY.

THE FIRST TIME I SAW MOLOKA'I WAS WHEN THE SHIP, THAT BROUGHT ME TO THE ISLANDS, SAILED CLOSE ENOUGH FOR ME TO SEE PART OF HER, DISTINCTLY.

A NARROW, SOUR TONGUE OF LAND STICKING OUT INTO THE SEA, THE LONELIEST MOST USELESS PIECE OF LAND YOU CAN IMAGINE.

BARREN, ROCK-STREWN, WIND-WHIPPED...I STILL FIND IT INCONCEIVABLE THAT I COULD PASS SO CLOSE WITHOUT SOME PREMONITION OF WHAT IT WOULD BECOME -- A PLACE OF HORROR, A DUMPING GROUND FOR LEPERS, THE SADDEST SPOT ON EARTH.

OF COURSE, I HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING THAT WHILE WE WERE STILL TWO MONTHS AT SEA, A DOCTOR IN HONOLULU HAD DECLARED -- I TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO BRING BEFORE THE PUBLIC, A SUBJECT OF GREAT IMPORTANCE.

I REFER, OF COURSE, TO THE RAPID SPREAD OF THAT NEW DISEASE KNOWN TO THE NATIVES AS.

MA'I PAKE.

IT IS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, TRUE ORIENTAL LEPROSY, AND IT WILL BE THE DUTY OF THE NEXT LEGISLATURE TO TAKE SOME MEASURES, EFFECTIVE, BUT HUMANE, BY WHICH THE SEGREGATION OF ALL THOSE AFFLICTED MAY BE ACCOMPLISHED.

FROM OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS, WE -- LEPROSY AND I -- HAD COME TO THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.

CONTEMPORARIES, YOU MIGHT SAY, ALTHOUGH LEPROSY WAS OLD AS TIME WHEN IT ARRIVED AND I WAS BARELY TWENTY-FOUR.

THE MILITARY DIRGE COMES TO AN END.

A FAREWELL CHANT BEGINS SOFTLY AND THEN FILLS THE AIR.

AM I REMEMBERING?

OR HEARING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME?

IS IT FOR ME OR FOR LEPERS LONG AGO?

BUT I'M OUT OF TIME NOW.

THE CHANTS, THE BOATS, THE TWO PROCESSIONS MERGE, BECOME THE SAME, ONE COULD NOT BE WITHOUT THE OTHER.

THE CHANT COMES TO AN END.

THE KOA CASKET GOES ONBOARD.

AIRPLANES CUT THE SKIES TO RIBBONS.

A WHISTLE BLOWS AND THE WHITE SHIP, IMPATIENT TO BE OFF, PULLS FROM HER SLIP, AND MOVES OUT INTO THE CHANNEL.

ALONG THE SHORE, OFF TO THE LEFT, HALF HIDDEN BEHIND A GROVE OF TREES, IS THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING WHICH HOUSED THE AGENCY ENTRUSTED WITH TAKING MEASURES, EFFECTIVE BUT HUMANE, TOWARD THE SEGREGATION OF THE LEPERS: THE BOARD OF HEALTH.

IN ALL GOOD FAITH, THEY MADE THOSE YELLOW FLAGS AND NAILED THEM UP THROUGHOUT THE KINGDOM, ON TREES AND FENCES, ON SIDES OF BUILDINGS, EVEN ON MY CHAPEL DOORS.

IN ALL GOOD FAITH, I'M SURE, THEY PURCHASED THAT SOUR TONGUE OF LAND I FIRST SAW FROM THE SHIP.

THAT NATURAL PRISON, SURROUNDED ON THREE SIDES BY VICIOUS SURF, AND ON THE FOURTH BY SHEER BLACK CLIFFS THAT STOP THE PREVAILING WINDS AND MADE THEM DUMP THEIR RAIN THAT SHUT OUT THE SUN AT NOON, SO THAT THE LAND LAY HALF A DAY IN SHADOW.

A PLACE WITHOUT A SUNSET, AS THE LEPERS CALLED IT.

IN ALL GOOD FAITH, THAT GOVERNMENT AGENCY ROUNDED UP THE LEPERS AT GUNPOINT WHEN NECESSARY, AND SHIPPED THEM OFF WITH A PAIR OF PANTS OR A COTTON DRESS AND A PROMISE OF DAILY RATIONS TO SUPPLEMENT WHAT IT WAS HOPED THE LEPERS THEMSELVES WOULD BE ABLE TO PROVIDE.

IN ALL GOOD FAITH, THEY CALLED AN EMPTY WOODEN BUILDING A HOSPITAL AND PROMISED TO STOCK IT WITH SUPPLIES AND STAFF IT.

EFFECTIVE?

YES.

IT GOT THE LEPERS OUT OF CIRCULATION SO THE FOREIGN POPULATION COULD RELAX.

HUMANE?

NO.

IT WAS A BARBAROUS METHOD OF ISOLATION.

THAT TONGUE OF LAND BECAME A LIVING GRAVEYARD.

CAN YOU IMAGINE HUNDREDS, SOMETIMES AS MANY AS A THOUSAND, LEPERS, CROWDED SIX, EIGHT, TEN, INTO STINKING ONE-ROOM WINDOWLESS SHACKS?

CAN YOU IMAGINE A COMMUNITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, WITHOUT A DOCTOR OR A NURSE?

NO RESIDENT POLICE, NO LAW, NO WORK, NO COMFORT, AND NO HOPE.

AS FOR THE HOSPITAL, AN EMPTY SHACK WHERE THE SICKEST ONES LAY ON THE FLOOR IN THEIR OWN FILTH AND WAITED.

BUT NOBODY CAME, EXCEPT THE FLIES BY DAY AND THE RATS BY NIGHT TO FEAST UPON THEIR SORES.

SOME OF THE MORE ABLE-BODIED LEPERS, DETERMINED TO WREST THE LAST BIT OF PLEASURE FROM THEIR LIVES, BANDED TOGETHER AND HAD A SEPARATE PLACE DUBBED THE VILLAGE OF THE FOOLS.

BREWED LIQUOR FROM THE ROOTS OF PLANTS AND SPENT THEIR DAYS AND NIGHTS, DRINKING, GAMBLING, WHORING, AND BOASTING, A?OLE KANAWAI MA KEIA WAHI, IN THIS PLACE THERE IS NO LAW.

AND RAIDING THE REST OF THE SETTLEMENT TO STEAL YOUNG BOYS AND GIRLS TO ACT AS SLAVEYS OR TO SATISFY THEIR LUST.

THE SECOND TIME I SAW MOLOKA'I WAS THE DAY BEFORE EASTER, 1873.

A CATTLE BOAT EN ROUTE FROM MAUI TO HONOLULU, BISHOP MAIGRET AND I ABOARD, STOPS LONG ENOUGH TO UNLOAD SOME LEPERS AND FIFTY HEAD OF CATTLE IN ITS HOLD.

LEPERS FROM THE SETTLEMENT CROWD THE LANDING.

LOOK AT THEM.

NOT ONE, OR TWO, OR THREE, BUT HUNDREDS.

IN VARYING STAGES OF CORRUPTION AS THOUGH THE GRAVE HAD GIVEN UP HER DEAD.

WALKING, LIMPING, CRAWLING, SOME COME EVEN IN WHEELBARROWS.

MAIMED AND TWISTED BODIES, SUNKEN FACES, MISSING LIMBS, MAGGOT-BLOATED SORES.

HOW DEAR, GOD CAN SUCH THINGS BE?

I CANNOT BEAR TO LOOK AT THEM, AND YET, I CANNOT TEAR MY EYES AWAY AS THEY HOLD OUT THEIR ROTTING ARMS TO WELCOME NEW LEPERS TO THIS PLACE OF HORROR.

AND THEY ARE SINGING...SINGING.

LEPROSY AND I ARE FACE TO FACE AT LAST.

NOW, THE CATHOLIC LEPERS ARE GATHERED AROUND THE BISHOP, BEGGING HIM TO SEND A PRIEST, NOT FOUR ON A ROTATING BASIS AS THE BISHOP IS SUGGESTING, BUT ONE TO LIVE AMONG THEM, TO BE A FATHER TO THEM, TO CALL THEM BY THEIR NAME.

AND HE IS SAYING THAT HE CANNOT ASK THAT SACRIFICE OF ANYONE...AND STILL THEY BEG.

AND THEY ARE RIGHT, YOUR EXCELLENCY, THEY MUST HAVE ONE PRIEST WHO BELONGS TO THEM, IF ONLY TO PROVE TO THEM THAT GOD HAS NOT FORGOTTEN THEM.

I MEAN, I SUFFER IF I GO A WEEK WITHOUT CONFESSION.

THEY MUST GO MONTHS, YEARS WITHOUT CONFESSION AND THE MASS.

THEY MUST FACE DEATH WITHOUT SACRAMENTS.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO ASK, YOUR EXCELLENCY, I WANT TO BE THERE PRIEST.

I BEG TO STAY.

IMPETUOSITY, THE BISHOP SAYS.

UNBALANCED GENEROSITY.

OVERREACTION IN THE FACE OF SO MUCH BRUTAL SUFFERING.

IF IT HAD BEEN RIGHT AND PROPER, HE WOULD'VE SENT SOMEONE YEARS AGO.

HE WOULD'VE COME HIMSELF.

OTHERS BEFORE ME HAVE VOLUNTEERED, ONLY TO BE DENIED.

NO ONE, NO ONE, HE SAYS, CAN PUT ASIDE ALL HUMAN CONSIDERATION AND LIVE THE ONE CLEAN MAN AMONG A THOUSAND LEPERS.

I DON'T SEEM TO HEAR WHAT HE'S SAYING.

I ONLY SEE THEIR NEED AND KNOW THAT I MUST STAY.

YOU SEE, A MAN ENTERS THE RELIGIOUS LIFE IN ANSWER TO A CALL.

LATER, IF HE'S LUCKY, HE RECEIVES A CALL WITHIN A CALL, HE FINDS A NICHE THAT HE WAS MEANT TO FILL.

WELL, THIS IS MY NICHE.

THIS IS WHAT I WAS MEANT TO DO.

THIS IS WHY I WAS BORN.

SO, LIKE THE STUBBORN FLEMING THAT I AM, I STICK TO MY GUNS UNTIL FINALLY THE BISHOP SAYS, GOD HELP US BOTH, BUT IF I PROMISE TO BE PRUDENT, I MAY STAY AS LONG AS MY DEVOTION DICTATES AND THAT'S ALL I ASK -- TO STAY AS LONG AS MY DEVOTION DICTATES.

YOU HAVE A PRIEST, DO YOU HERE?

I AM TO BE YOUR PRIEST.

MY NAME IS KAMIANO.

CONFESSIONS ALL AFTERNOON, ALL NIGHT IF NECESSARY, AND EASTER MASS AT SUNRISE.

THE NEXT MORNING, WHILE IT IS STILL DARK, THE LITTLE CHURCH STARTS TO FILL WITH, GOD FORGIVE ME, CREATURES FROM A NIGHTMARE, LIMPING, SHUFFLING, COUGHING, SPITTING, TOUCHING, WITH THE FINGERS THEY HAVE LEFT, THE ROSARIES HUNG AROUND THEIR NECKS.

THEY FILL THE CHURCH UP TO THE RAILING, THEY CROWD THE DOORWAYS AND THE WINDOW SILLS, THEY KEEP ON COMING AND FILL THE CHURCH TO OVERFLOWING, NOT ONLY WITH THEIR CORRUPTING BODIES, NOT ONLY WITH THE STENCH, BUT WITH A SADNESS SO UNBEARABLE, I STAND THERE DUMB.

THE VOMIT RISES UP IN MY THROAT, I CHOKE IT BACK.

THEY KNEEL AND WAIT, AND FINALLY, IN A VOICE I'VE NEVER HEARD BEFORE, I SAY THE WORDS, IN NOMINEE PATRIS, ET FILII, ET SPIRITUS SANCTI.

AMEN.

I STILL REMEMBER THAT FIRST EASTER SUNDAY.

I REMEMBER BEING TAKEN FROM SHACK TO FLIMSY SHACK TO VISIT THOSE TOO SICK TO LEAVE THEIR MATS, APPALLED AT SUCH CONCENTRATED MISERY.

I REMEMBER WONDERING HOW A FEW LEAVES OF THE CASTOR OIL PLANT, TIED TOGETHER WITH COARSE GRASS AND ANCHORED TO A CRUMBLING STONE WALL COULD AFFORD AS MUCH SHELTER AS THEY DID.

I REMEMBER BEING TAKEN TO THE SHACK WHERE HUA, THE KAHUNA, LIVED.

WHILE WE WERE STILL THERE SHE CAME OUTSIDE AND SHE POINTED TO A FORMATION IN THE CLOUDS, YOU KNOW, LIKE A CALABASH MOUTH DOWNWARD, AND SHE SAID IT MEANT THAT THE KING WOULD DIE AND EMMA WOULD BE QUEEN, AND SHE WOULD LET THE LEPERS ALL GO HOME.

AND THEN THERE WAS THE WHEELBARROW MAN, WHO CAME OUT OF A DOORWAY CARRYING A LARGE BUNDLE OF DIRTY RAGS.

HE PUT IT IN A WHEELBARROW AND PUSHED IT TO THE EMPTY JAILHOUSE, SHOOK IT A LITTLE UNTIL THE BUNDLE ROLLED OUT.

I WATCHED THE BUNDLE MOVE.

I HEARD IT GROAN.

SAW IT PULL ITSELF UP INTO THE DOORWAY AND LAY FACE DOWN TO DIE.

LATER TWO LEPERS CAME, ROLLED THE BUNDLE OVER AND TIED IT HANDS AND FEET LIKE A LUAU PIG TO A POLE AND CARRIED IT TO THE CEMETERY AND BURIED IT IN A SHALLOW GRAVE.

AND I REMEMBER THAT FIRST NIGHT UNDER THE HALE TREE WITH RATS AND SCORPIONS AND CENTIPEDES TO SHARE MY VIGIL AND THE SOUNDS OF WILD PIGS AT THAT SHALLOW GRAVE, EATING THEIR FILL.

IT WAS THREE WHOLE DAYS BEFORE I WOULD LOOK AT SOME OF THE LEPERS WITHOUT REVULSION.

WEEKS BEFORE I COULD ENDURE THE GRAVEYARD SMELL.

A VISITING DOCTOR OR AN AGENT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH WOULD ALWAYS PUT A PIECE OF CAMPHOR INTO A HANDKERCHIEF AND TIE IT AROUND THEIR NECKS AND FROM TIME TO TIME STOP TO SPRAY THEMSELVES WITH CAMPHOR LIQUID.

I CHOSE A PIPE.

AND STRONG BLACK COFFEE.

FIRST FEW WEEKS I CAMPED OUTDOORS, AND THEN WITH THE HELP OF SOME OF THE MORE ABLE-BODIED LEPERS WE BUILT MY QUARTERS.

AMBROSE BUILT THAT WINDOW FRAME.

HE'D NEVER TOUCHED A TOOL BEFORE.

NOW THEY ALL THINK OF THIS PLACE AS THEIRS SOMEHOW.

THEY COME IN HERE IN THE EVENINGS AND THEY GO OUT ON THE, THE LANAI WITH THEIR GUITARS AND IN THE DARK THEY SING AND THEY PLAY AND THEY FORGET THAT THEY ARE LEPERS.

OH, AND ANOTHER THING.

THERE WAS NO RUNNING WATER TO THE SETTLEMENT, AND WE HAD TO CARRY IT LONG DISTANCES IN DIRTY OIL CANS AND LET IT STAND FOR DAYS.

I MEAN, I COULDN'T WASH MY HANDS OR SOAK MY FEET WITHOUT DEPRIVING SOMEBODY OF HIS DRINKING WATER.

SO, I ROAMED THE HILLS LOOKING FOR A NEW SOURCE WHERE WE COULD BUILD A RESERVOIR.

SOME OF THE LEPERS HELPED ME LAY THE PIPES AND WE HAD RUNNING WATER.

THE DAY MY HOUSE WAS BUILT, THREE WOMEN, MAILA, PHILOMELA, AND ELIKAPEKA, CAME AND OFFERED TO KEEP HOUSE FOR ME.

THEIR LEPER HUSBANDS WERE DEAD, BUT THEY THEMSELVES WERE CLEAN.

AND WHEN I HESITATED, PHILOMELA LAUGHED, MANUAHI, KAMIANO, LIKE YOU, WE WORK FOR FREE.

HOW COULD I REFUSE.

I CAN STILL HEAR THEM LAUGHING AT ME.

THEN THEIR SCORNFUL LAUGHTER TOO, WHEN MY ENEMIES STARTED TO PEDDLE SCANDALOUS STORIES ABOUT US.

OH, WHAT DO I CARE WHAT THE GOSSIP SAYS, YES, I DO RUB OINTMENT ON THEIR SORES WITH MY BARE HANDS.

WHAT WOULD YOUR EXCELLENCY HAVE ME DO?

WEAR GLOVES?

ATTEND ONLY TO THE MEN AND BOYS?

LEAVE THE MEDICINE ON THE GATEPOSTS LIKE VISITING DOCTORS DO?

TALK TO THE LEPERS THROUGH CLOSED WINDOWS?

EXHORT THEM FROM THE PULPIT, BUT NEVER EVER CHAT WITH THEM IN PRIVATE?

I'M NOT AN AGENT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH, YOUR EXCELLENCY, I AM THEIR PRIEST.

THEIR FATHER IN CHRIST.

I'M THERE TO COMFORT THEM, TO WIN THEIR HEARTS AND SOULS.

YES, I DID PROMISE TO BE PRUDENT.

AND IN MY OWN WAY, I AM.

I MEAN, SINCE I AM THERE TO COMFORT CHRIST IN THEM, I AM PRUDENT TO NEVER TO LET A SHADOW OF FEAR OR DISGUST COME BETWEEN US, NEVER TO LET THERE BE ANYTHING BUT LOVE.

OH, YOUR EXCELLENCY, I DON'T QUARREL WITH OTHER PEOPLE'S IDEA OF PRUDENCE, LET NO ONE QUARREL WITH MINE.

YES, I DO SHARE MY PIPE WITH THEM.

WELL, IF WE'RE TOGETHER OF AN EVENING AND I LIGHT MY PIPE AND ONE OF THEM WANTS A PUFF OR TWO, CAN I REFUSE, YOUR EXCELLENCY?

WELL, CAN I?

YES, I'VE THOUGHT OF THAT.

WELL, IF IT'S GOD'S WILL, I'M PREPARED.

BY REMEMBERING THAT THOSE WORM-INFESTED ULCERS ARE THE WOUNDS OF CHRIST, THAT'S HOW I MANAGE TO GO FROM DAY TO DAY.

WELL, IF THAT'S THE WAY YOUR EXCELLENCY SEES IT, THEN I SUPPOSE I AM A FOOL.

YES, YOUR EXCELLENCY?

OH, THANK YOU, YOUR EXCELLENCY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

I WAS, HIS EXCELLENCY SAID, A FOOL FOR CHRIST.

YOU KNOW, EVER SINCE CHRIST TOUCHED HIM AND MADE HIM CLEAN, WE'VE HAD THE LEPER ON OUR CONSCIENCE, THAT'S THE ONLY POSSIBLE EXPLANATION FOR THE CRIES OF PRAISE AND WONDER WHEN WORD WENT ROUND THE LEPERS HAD A PRIEST.

EASY ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE WHEN THEY PRAISE YOU TO YOUR FACE.

I'D JUST INTERRUPT AND TELL THEM WHAT TO DO TO HELP.

REMIND THE CANDY MERCHANT THAT LEPER CHILDREN STILL LIKE CANDY.

SUGGEST TO THE BAKER THAT A BARREL OF COOKIES WOULDN'T BE REFUSED.

TELL RICH MEN'S WIVES THAT LITTLE LEPER GIRLS WOULD LOVE SCRAPS OF THAT FINE CLOTH TO MAKE DRESSES FOR THEIR DOLLIES, THAT IS, IF THEY HAD ANY DOLLIES.

I TOLD THE MAN WHO RAN THE MUSIC STORE IN HONOLULU ABOUT BLIND PETERO AND HIS FIFE AND DRUM CORPS, YOU KNOW HOW LEPROSY COULD DESTROY PETERO'S EYESIGHT BUT NOT HIS LOVE OF MAKING MUSIC.

HOW WE MADE INSTRUMENTS OUT OF SCRAPS OF SHEET IRONS SO THEY COULD PLAY AT WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS, AND AT THE LANDING WHEN NEW LEPERS CAME.

JUST TO MAKE SURE THE MUSIC STORE MAN DIDN'T FORGET, I MADE A SILLY JOKE ABOUT SHEET IRON MUSIC.

YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN PETERO'S FACE WHEN THOSE INSTRUMENTS ARRIVED.

HE FELT THEM ALL OVER HIS HANDS, HE LIFTED THEM TO HIS CHEEK, AND THERE WERE TEARS IN HIS POOR BLIND EYES.

EASY ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE WHEN THEY PRAISE YOU TO YOUR FACE.

BUT WHEN THEY PUT THINGS ABOUT YOU IN THE PAPER...THIS IS ABSURD, YOUR EXCELLENCY, RIDICULOUS.

THE HERO OF MOLOKA'I.

A PRIEST RENUNCIATION.

AND THIS, THIS, FROM THE PRIME MINISTER.

WITHOUT FOR ONE MOMENT SUBSCRIBING TO HIS RELIGION, I CAN SAY THIS, FATHER DAMIEN IS A MARTYR, A TRUE CHRISTIAN MARTYR.

CAN'T THEY UNDERSTAND?

I'M ONLY TRYING TO DO MY PRIESTLY DUTY AS I SEE IT.

CAN'T YOUR EXCELLENCY DO SOMETHING TO STOP THIS SILLY CHATTER?

I WANT PRIVACY.

I WANT TO LIVE QUIETLY WITH MY LEPERS, DOING WHATEVER I CAN TO PROVE TO THEM THAT GOD HAS NOT FORGOTTEN THEM.

OH, YOUR EXCELLENCY, LEPROSY I CAN FACE, IT CORRUPTS THE BODY.

BUT PRAISE LIKE THIS BREEDS PRIDE, AND PRIDE CORRUPTS THE SOUL.

I KNOW, I KNOW, PRAISE BELONGS TO GOD, BUT WHAT IF I FORGET?

WHAT IF I LET THIS STUFF CORRUPT MY SOUL?

IS IT A MATTER OF OBEDIENCE?

THEN YOUR EXCELLENCY MUST PRAY FOR ME AND ASK OTHERS TO DO THE SAME.

FOR I AM VERY MUCH AFRAID.

THE BISHOP SAID THAT THE CHURCH COUNCIL HAD DISCUSSED THE UPROAR AND COULD FIND NO HUMAN EXPLANATION FOR IT.

COULD IT BE THE HAND OF GOD?

COULD IT BE THAT THE LEPER'S TIME HAD COME AND I WAS BEING USED TO BRING THE LEPER'S CAUSE BEFORE THE WORLD?

WELL, WHATEVER IT WAS, HIS EXCELLENCY SAID I MUST GIVE UP MY WISH FOR PRIVACY.

I MUST SUFFER SUCH STUFF GLADLY.

THE MORE REPORTERS WROTE ABOUT THE LEPERS THE BETTER.

OH, I HAD MY DETRACTORS, TOO.

THEY SAID I HAD LEPROSY WHEN I CAME TO MOLOKA'I, BUT I CONCEALED MY CONDITION TO MAKE MYSELF A HERO.

THEY SAID I COLLECTED MONEY FOR THE LEPERS AND POURED IT INTO THE COFFERS OF THE CHURCH.

THEY SAID I WAS A COARSE AND DIRTY MAN AND AMONG OTHER THINGS, AND I DARE SAY THERE IS A GRAIN OF TRUTH, THAT I WAS AWKWARD, ILL-DISCIPLINED, LONG WINDED, HOT TEMPERED...HOT TEMPERED, THE BOARD OF HEALTH MAN WOULD CERTAINLY SAY AYE TO THAT.

YOU SEE, THE DAY AFTER THAT FIRST BIG BLOW ON MOLOKA'I WHEN HALF OUR FLIMSY SHACKS WERE LITERALLY CARRIED OUT TO SEA, I TOOK THE FIRST BOAT TO HONOLULU.

AT THE CHANCERY, THEY TOLD ME HIS EXCELLENCY WAS CALLING ON THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.

SO, I WENT OVER THERE.

AH, YOUR EXCELLENCY, THEY TOLD ME I'D FIND YOU HERE.

NOW, MR.

PRESIDENT, I DID KNOCK, NOBODY ANSWERED.

OH, I HEARD VOICES SO I CAME IN.

YES, I REALIZE I AM INTRUDING BUT IT'S MOST IMPORTANT.

WELL, EVEN IF I AM UNWELCOME, I MUST REPORT THE NIGHT BEFORE LAST, THE NIGHT BEFORE...OH, YOUR EXCELLENCY, ASK HIM TO LET ME SPEAK.

THE NIGHT BEFORE LAST, A HURRICANE AND A WATERSPOUT DEMOLISHED HALF OUR SHACKS AND WE NEED HELP AT ONCE.

LEPERS TOO SICK TO MOVE ARE LYING ON THE GROUND, COMPLETELY AT THE MERCY OF ELEMENTS.

WE NEED FOOD, CLOTHING, MEDICINE, EVERYTHING.

EVENTUALLY, WE WILL NEED MATERIALS TO REPLACE THE SHACKS, BUT FOR THE MOMENT...NO, THE CAPTAIN CAN'T GIVE YOU A REPORT, HE DIDN'T EVEN COME ASHORE.

HE THOUGHT IT WAS BEST FOR ME TO COME.

NO, MR.

PRESIDENT, NO, I AM NOT HERE AS A CATHOLIC MISSIONARY PRIEST.

I AM HERE AS THE SELF-APPOINTED REPRESENTATIVE OF EVERY LEPER IN THAT CHARNEL HOUSE YOU CALL A SETTLEMENT.

IT IS A CHARNEL HOUSE, YOUR EXCELLENCY.

WITH LEPERS DYING EVERY DAY.

NOT FROM LEPROSY, BUT FROM NEGLECT.

ANEMIA FROM LACK OF PROPER NOURISHMENT.

DYSENTERY FROM CONTAMINATED FOOD AND WATER, BRONCHIAL PNEUMONIA FROM LACK OF PROPER CLOTHING.

DO YOU KNOW, MR.

PRESIDENT, DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT IS SINCE MOST OF THEM HAVE TASTED MILK?

NOW, I PROTEST SUCH GROSS NEGLECT.

NO, YOUR EXCELLENCY, NO MR.

PRESIDENT, NOT UNTIL I'M THROUGH.

THE SHACKS WILL HAVE TO BE REPLACED WITH WOODEN COTTAGES ON TRESTLES, PROOF AGAINST THE KIND OF STORM WE GET AT KALAWAO.

I CAN GIVE YOU AN ESTIMATE.

WELL, IF THE BOARD OF HEALTH CAN'T HELP US, WE CAN ASK ELSEWHERE.

MY HAPHAZARD BEGGING MAKES YOU LOOK NIGGARDLY?

IS SIX DOLLARS PER LEPER, PER YEAR, ENOUGH TO PROVIDE CLOTHING FOR A PERSON IN PERFECT HEALTH?

COULD YOU EXIST ON SOUR POI AND SCRAPS OF PUTRID MEAT FOR WEEKS ON END?

SOMETIMES NOT EVEN THAT WHEN THE STORES ARE DUMPED OVERBOARD BECAUSE OF HEAVY SEAS, AND STARVING LEPERS STAND ON THE SHORE AND WATCH THE SEAS DEVOUR THEM.

AS FOR THAT SHACK YOU CALL A HOSPITAL...HE'S GONE, YOUR EXCELLENCY.

I SWORE WHEN I CAME THROUGH THAT DOOR, I WOULDN'T LOSE MY TEMPER.

BUT WHEN I SAW HIM STANDING THERE, WELL-FED, PINK-CHEEKED, SANCTIMONIOUS, AND HE TOLD ME I WASN'T WELCOMED...I'M VERY SORRY, YOUR EXCELLENCY.

I AM SORRY, I...I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY.

YOU THINK I SAID IT RATHER WELL?

OH, YOUR EXCELLENCY, YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE ANGRY WITH ME.

I KNOW MY TEMPER IS A SERIOUS FLAW.

AND HIS EXCELLENCY SAID SOMETHING WHICH WAS TO BE A COMFORT TO ME THE REST OF MY LIFE, THOUGH I'VE TRIED NOT TO USE IT AS AN EXCUSE.

HE SAID, GOD SEEMED TO PUT SUCH FLAWS INTO HIS MOST ZEALOUS PRIESTS TO KEEP THEM HUMBLE.

OH, THE GOSSIPS HAD THEIR DAY, TOO.

THEY SAID I SLEPT AROUND.

IT WASN'T TRUE.

I KEPT MY VOW OF CHASTITY.

NOT THAT I WAS NEVER TEMPTED.

THE NIGHT OF SAMMY'S WEDDING.

SAMMY WAS THE SON OF A NON-LEPER FAMILY THAT LIVED OUTSIDE THE SETTLEMENT.

IT WAS AN EVENING WEDDING, FULL MOON, MUSIC, FLOWERS, A LUAU AFTERWARDS.

I HAD NO HORSE AT THE TIME AND IT WAS TOO FAR FOR ME TO WALK BACK TO THE SETTLEMENT AND SO, IT WAS ARRANGED THAT I STAY OVERNIGHT WITH SAMMY'S PARENTS, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY SLEPT IN THE SAME BIG ROOM ON THE FLOOR.

AFTER THE FATHER HAD BLOWN OUT THE CANDLE AND EVERYTHING WAS STILL, SOMEONE UNROLLED A SLEEPING MAT NEXT TO MINE AND STRETCHED OUT A HAND TO TOUCH ME.

IT WAS THE YOUNG DAUGHTER OF THE FAMILY.

I GOT UP AND I WENT OUTSIDE.

THE MOON WAS FULL.

IT WAS COOL AND FRAGRANT, AND EVERY INSTINCT IN ME WAS ABLAZE.

I WALKED OVER TO THE STONE WALL AND I TURNED AROUND.

SHE WAS STANDING IN THE DOORWAY IN THE MOONLIGHT, NAKED.

I WALKED ALL NIGHT, AND I REACHED THE SETTLEMENT BY MORNING, BUT I COULD STILL SEE HER, STANDING IN THE DOORWAY.

AFTER THAT SHE CAME BETWEEN ME AND THE PAGES OF MY BREVIARY WHEN I TRIED TO READ IN MY OFFICE.

SOMETIMES I SAW HER, HER BODY ON THE CROSS.

I HAD NO ONE TO TALK TO, NO OTHER PRIEST.

WHEN I DID GET TO HONOLULU TO CONFESS, THE BISHOP TOLD ME THAT STRONG MEN MUST LEARN TO TURN TEMPTATION TO THEIR PROFIT.

SO, AFTER THAT WHENEVER SHE APPEARED TO ME, I WOULD SAY OUT LOUD, GOD ALONE IS WORTHY OF MY LOVE, HE IS MY TROTH FOREVER.

AND THAT'S HOW I KEPT MY VOW OF CHASTITY.

YOU SEE, WHEN A PRIEST WORKS ALONE, WITHOUT A COMPANION PRIEST, HE SOMETIMES HAS TO GO WEEKS, MONTHS, WITHOUT CONFESSION.

NOW THIS WAS A GREAT HARDSHIP FOR ME, AND WHEN I FIRST CAME TO MOLOKA'I, IT WAS UNDERSTOOD THAT AS LONG AS I REMAINED IN GOOD HEALTH, I WAS FREE TO GO ONCE A MONTH TO HONOLULU AND STAY OVERNIGHT AT THE MISSION.

AND THEN, QUITE ABRUPTLY, WITHOUT ANY WARNING, THE BOARD OF HEALTH SUDDENLY ANNOUNCES THAT I AM NOT TO LEAVE THE SETTLEMENT FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER.

I CAN, IF I WISH, DECLARE MYSELF A LEPER AND REMAIN CONFINED AS OTHER LEPERS OR I CAN LEAVE THE SETTLEMENT FOR GOOD.

THIS IS A TRAP, YOUR EXCELLENCY, DOCTORS AND CLERGY ARE NOT USUALLY SUBJECT TO SUCH RESTRICTIONS.

THEY WANT TO GET RID OF ME.

THEY KNOW I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT THE SACRAMENTS, BUT THEY WANT ME TO LEAVE OF MY OWN ACCORD, TO MAKE A LAUGHINGSTOCK OF MYSELF, MY ORDER, AND MY CHURCH.

AND THEN MAYBE, WITHOUT THE LEPER PRIEST TO WRITE ABOUT, REPORTERS WILL STOP AIRING THE AWFUL TRUTHS ABOUT THE SETTLEMENT.

YES, OF COURSE, YOUR EXCELLENCY, MY DEVOTION STILL DICTATES THAT I REMAIN.

BUT THERE ARE LAWS OF GOD AND LAWS OF MAN, YOUR EXCELLENCY AND WHENEVER THE TWO CONFLICT, I FOLLOW THE LAWS OF GOD.

I AM ENTITLED TO THE SACRAMENT.

I WILL CONTINUE TO DO AS I HAVE BEEN DOING, AND I WILL ASK ODDS OF NO MAN.

LET THEM ARREST ME.

LET THEM THROW ME INTO JAIL.

YES, WELL, THEY DID ARREST FATHER AUBERT.

HE DISGUISED HIMSELF AS A RUFFIAN, AND HE CAME TO MOLOKA'I, NOT TO THE SETTLEMENT, BUT TOPSIDE.

AND IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT, HE SLIDE DOWN THAT CLIFF WHERE EVEN IN BROAD DAYLIGHT MEN AND ANIMALS HAVE FALLEN TO THEIR DEATH, JUST SO HE COULD HEAR MY CONFESSION.

THE SHERIFF'S MEN WERE WAITING AT THE TOP WHEN HE RETURNED.

A FEW WEEKS LATER, A LEPER BOAT COMES FROM MAUI.

THE NEW LEPERS TELL ME THAT MY PROVINCIAL IS ABOARD, BUT WHEN HE DOESN'T COME ASHORE, YOU KNOW, AS HE USUALLY DOES, WHILE THEY'RE UNLOADING, I GRAB A LANDING CRAFT AND I PADDLE OUT.

I CAN SEE MY *PROVINCIAL UP AT THE RAILINGS, BUT HE'S BEING FORBIDDEN TO COME ASHORE.

SO, I START UP THE ACCOMMODATION LADDER.

STAND BACK, ORDER OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH, THE CAPTAIN SHOUTS.

I BEG FIVE MINUTES WITH MY PROVINCIAL.

BUT THE CAPTAIN SHAKES HIS HEAD.

SO FATHER MODESTE LEANS OVER THE RAILINGS, MAKES THE SIGN OF THE CROSS AND I, KNEELING, IN THE LITTLE BOAT, WITH CAPTAIN, PASSENGERS, AND CREW LOOKING ON, MAKE MY CONFESSION.

BLESS ME FATHER, FOR I HAVE SINNED.

SINCE MY LAST CONFESSION, I HAVE COMPLETELY LOST MY TEMPER SEVEN TIMES.

I HAVE SPOKEN RUDELY AND WITH ANGER TO AGENTS OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.

I HAVE ACCUSED THEM OF MURDERING THE LEPERS BY DELIBERATE AND INTENTIONAL NEGLECT.

AND I HAVE NOT APOLOGIZED BECAUSE I BELIEVE IT TO BE TRUE.

AT SUCH TIMES I AM SO CONSUMED WITH ANGER, I AM UNFIT TO STAND BEFORE THE ALTER.

THREE DAYS AGO AT THE VILLAGE OF THE FOOLS, I RAISED MY STICK AGAINST SOMEONE.

I CAUGHT A MAN USING LITTLE BOY KIMO, USING HIM, USING HIM TO SATISFY HIS LUST.

THE MAN DEFIED ME, HE RUSHED ME, HE RUBBED HIS LEPROUS STUMP ACROSS MY FACE, AND I FORGOT MYSELF, AND I BEAT HIM WITH MY STICK UNTIL THE BLOOD CAME.

I TOLD HIM IF I EVER CAUGHT HIM TOUCHING ANY CHILD THAT WAY AGAIN, I MYSELF WOULD TIE THE MILLSTONE ROUND HIS NECK AND THROW HIM INTO THE SEA.

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO PROTECT THE CHILDREN?

THE SHIP'S WHISTLE DROWNS OUT MY WORDS, BUT MY PROVINCIAL MOTIONS ME, AND I GO ON AND ON UNTIL MY HEART IS EMPTY.

AS THE BOAT PULLS AWAY, I SEE HIM RAISE HIS HAND, AND I FEEL THE PEACE OF ABSOLUTION.

EVENTUALLY, AT THE INTERVENTION OF THE FRENCH CONSUL, THE ORDER WAS MODIFIED, AND AS LONG AS I REMAINED IN HEALTH, I WAS FREE TO COME AND GO AT WILL.

THE YEARS GO BY, FIVE, TEN, ELEVEN, TWELVE, AND MY RELATIONS WITH THE BOARD OF HEALTH GO UP AND DOWN.

SOMETIMES THEY CRITICIZE MY WORK, SOMETIMES THEY PRAISE IT, SOMETIMES THEY FLATTER ME, TELLING ME THAT I AM THE STRONGEST MORAL INFLUENCE AT THE SETTLEMENT.

AND WHEN THE RESIDENT SUPERINTENDENT DIES, THEY OFFER ME HIS JOB.

TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR.

AT THE TIME I TOOK THEIR OFFER AT FACE VALUE.

THANK YOU, BUT I MUST DECLINE.

WELL, SOME PRIESTS, AS YOU KNOW, TAKE A VOW OF POVERTY.

NO, I DON'T WANT TO GET AROUND IT.

NO, I DON'T WANT LESS PERSONAL CONTACT WITH MY LEPERS.

MY WORK IS PERSONAL CONTACT.

MORE MONEY?

NO, GENTLEMEN, IF IT WERE MONEY KEEPING ME HERE, I WOULDN'T STAY FIVE MINUTES.

IT'S SERVICE TO THE LEPERS KEEPS ME HERE.

YES, I KNOW I'D STILL BE SERVING THEM BUT FOR A SALARY, YOU SEE, I'D BE A HIRELING AND ALL THE WORK I'VE TRIED TO DO UP UNTIL NOW WOULD BE WASTED.

MY OWN MOTHER WOULDN'T ACKNOWLEDGE ME HER SON IF SHE THOUGHT I WAS TAKING MONEY FOR THIS WORK.

YES, BUT YOU SEE GENTLEMEN, CHRIST TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO GO FORTH WITHOUT GOLD OR PURSE, TO HEAL THE SICK AND CLEANSE THE LEPER AND HE WOULD PROVIDE.

HE HAS PROVIDED.

I AM PENNILESS, BUT THERE IS A WAREHOUSE FULL OF PROVISIONS FOR THE LEPERS.

DO YOU THINK I COULD BETRAY THAT MYSTERY?

I'M SORRY YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND.

AT THE TIME, I TOOK THAT OFFER AT FACE VALUE.

BUT AS THINGS TURNED OUT, I THINK, WELL, LET ME PUT IT THIS WAY, IT WASN'T SO MUCH MY MEAGER TALENTS AS ADMINISTRATOR THEY WERE AFTER, IT WAS ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO MAKE ME AN EMPLOYEE OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.

BUT LIFE AT THE SETTLEMENT WASN'T ALL MISERY.

A LEPER IS A LONG TIME OF DYING AND THERE ARE MOMENTS OF HAPPINESS.

CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW MALIA FEELS WHEN I FIX HER UP WITH STICKS TO REPLACE THESE TWO MISSING FINGERS AND SHE FINDS SHE CAN STILL PLAY THE CHURCH ORGAN?

SHE PUSHES THE KEYS AND THE MUSIC COMES OUT, AND THE CHOIR SINGS WITH JOY ENOUGH TO BREAK YOUR HEART.

DAILY, DAILY SING TO...I LIKED THE MORNINGS BEST, WHEN THE YOUNG ONES RACING UP AND DOWN THE ONE MAIN STREET, LAUGHING, SHOUTING, URGING THEIR HORSES ON.

ONE DAY, I'M CARRYING THE BODY OF A WOMAN TO HER COFFIN IN THE CHURCH, AND IT'S HALF AN HOUR WE STAND THERE IN SUN UNTIL IT'S SAFE TO CROSS.

AND A FUNERAL WAS A KIND OF CELEBRATION, YOU KNOW, THE PROCESSIONS TO THE CEMETERY, THE CHOIR SINGING, BLIND PETERO'S FIFE AND DRUM CORPS, THE RIVAL BURIAL SOCIETIES WITH THEIR DIFFERENT COLORED BANNERS AND SASHES, WELL IT WASN'T DREARY, I CAN VOUCH FOR THAT.

AND CHARLES WARREN STODDARD CAME FROM CALIFORNIA AND EDWARD CLIFFORD FROM LONDON AND BOTH WRITE BOOKS ABOUT THE SETTLEMENT.

STODDARD CALLS HIS -- THE LEPERS OF MOLOKA'I -- AND I READ FAVORITE PASSAGES TO THE LEPER CHILDREN.

THEY RECOGNIZE THEMSELVES AND ENJOY.

THE FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE SETTLEMENT MIGHT LEAD A STRANGER TO PRONOUNCE IT THE PRETTIEST VILLAGE IN ALL THE ISLANDS.

ITS ONE MAIN STREET BORDERED WITH NEAT WHITEWASHED COTTAGES AND...OH, I FORGOT TO TELL YOU, AFTER THAT BIG BLOW, WE DID BUILD THOSE COTTAGES, OVER THREE HUNDRED OF THEM, WHITEWASHED INSIDE AND OUT, WE UH, PLANTED SWEET POTATOES IN THE BACK AGAINST THE TIME WHEN THERE WAS NO POI, AND FLOWERS IN THE FRONT, AND WHEN THE FIRST RED GINGER BLOOMED LIKE BLOOD AGAINST THE WHITEWASHED WALL, THE WHOLE SETTLEMENT TURNED OUT TO SEE, DIDN'T THEY?

DIDN'T THEY?

UH, WHITEWASHED COTTAGES...AS WE WALKED DOWN THE STREET, SHOUTS OF ALOHA...WHAT?

READ ABOUT THE CHICKENS?

ALRIGHT, UH, HERE WE ARE, FATHER DAMIEN BROUGHT OUT A HANDFUL OF CORN AND SPRINKLING A LITTLE ON THE GROUND, UTTERED A PECULIAR CRY, IN A MOMENT, CHICKENS FLOCKED FROM ALL QUARTERS, THEY LIT UP ON HIS ARMS, THEY FED FROM HIS HANDS, THEY FOUGHT FOR FOOTING UPON HIS SHOULDERS, EVEN UPON HIS HEAD.

THEY COVERED HIM IN FEATHERS AND CARESSES.

HE STOOD KNEE-DEEP IN THEM.

WHAT WAS THAT?

BIT ABOUT THE MASS?

I'M NOT GOING TO READ ALL THAT.

AFTER THE MASS, A BRIEF INSTRUCTION PERIOD, AND THE PRIEST SAYS FINISH AND EVERYONE LEAVES.

ONE LITTLE BOY FORGOT HIS CAP, AND I RAN AFTER HIM.

OH, THAT WAS YOU, WASN'T IT, KEOLA?

THAT'S WHY YOU WANTED ME TO READ IT.

STODDARD GOES ON TO SAY, I FIND IT STRANGE THEIR HEARTS ARE SO COMPARATIVELY LIGHT.

AND STODDARD IS RIGHT, OUR HEARTS ARE COMPARATIVELY LIGHT BECAUSE DEEP DOWN INSIDE, WE'VE COME TO KNOW OUR LIVES HAVE MEANING.

WE ARE A CONCENTRATED CRY FOR HELP, AND OUR VOICES ARE BEING HEARD.

WE ARE A SYMBOL OF ALL LEPERS.

AND THERE ARE OTHERS, MILLIONS.

BUT OURS IS THE ONLY COLONY WHERE EVERYONE SHARES THE SAME AFFLICTION.

WE ARE A FAMILY.

EVEN THE PRINCE OF WALES TAKES NOTICE OF US.

WE HAVE ESCAPED OUR DEGRADING EXILE.

NO BOARD OF HEALTH WILL EVER AGAIN CONFINE US TO THIS SOUR TONGUE OF LAND.

HEAR THAT?

SHIPS FROM AROUND THE WORLD, SALUTE US AS THEY PASS, EVEN IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT.

BUT THERE WAS ALWAYS A QUESTION IN PEOPLE'S MINDS...IS DAMIEN IMMUNE TO LEPROSY?

THE ANSWER CAME ONE DECEMBER EVENING 1884, AFTER ABOUT TWELVE YEARS AT THE SETTLEMENT.

OH, THERE HAD BEEN WARNINGS, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, SPOTS HERE ON MY ARM, BUT A LITTLE CORROSIVE SUBLIMATE CLEARED THOSE UP.

SEVERE PAIN IN MY LEFT LEG, BUT DR.

TROUSSEAU SAID THAT'S SCIATICA, AND EVENTUALLY IT WENT AWAY.

MY SKIN'S A DEEPER BRONZE, MAY BE, BUT THEN I'D BEEN RUNNING AROUND BAREHEADED ALL THE TIME.

YOU KNOW, I'D BE UP THERE IN THE WIND AND THE SUN, PATCHING THE CHURCH ROOF.

THIS PARTICULAR EVENING, I WAS WRITING A LETTER TO MY MOTHER ON HER 83RD BIRTHDAY, AND I RECALLED MY PROMISE TO COME HOME AFTER TWELVE YEARS.

SUDDENLY A TERRIBLE WAVE OF HOMESICKNESS CAME OVER ME.

I WANTED SO MUCH TO HEAR HER VOICE, TO BREATHE SOME GOOD CLEAN FLEMISH AIR, TO WALK IN SNOW, HEAR THE SLEIGH BELLS.

I PUSHED THE LETTER ASIDE, I GET UP, I FIND MY BREVIARY, I POUR SOME BOILING WATER INTO A BASIN AND THEN I SIT DOWN AGAIN TO SOAK MY FEET.

I PUT MY LEFT FOOT IN FIRST, I FIND MY PLACE, I BEGIN TO READ, AND I START TO PUT MY RIGHT FOOT IN, BUT I'D FORGOTTEN TO POUR IN THE COLD WATER, SO I JERK MY RIGHT FOOT OUT, THEN I LOOK AT MY LEFT FOOT.

THE SKIN IS HANGING FROM THE FLESH, THE BLISTERS ARE ALREADY FORMING.

BUT THERE IS NO PAIN.

MY BELOVED CHILDREN, I'VE CALLED YOU TOGETHER TO TELL YOU SOMETHING THAT CONCERNS US ALL.

EVER SINCE I FIRST CAME TO LIVE AMONG YOU, I HAVE ALWAYS SAID, WE LEPERS, BECAUSE I WANTED TO BE ONE OF YOU.

GOD HAS SEEN FIT TO GRANT MY WISH.

I AM IN TRUTH A LEPER.

NOW I CAN NEVER LEAVE YOU.

OH RECEIVE ME, REJOICE WITH ME, AND REMEMBER WHATEVER HAPPENS, GOD KNOWS BEST.

IF IT IS ANY COMFORT TO YOU, I'M NOT TAKEN BY SURPRISED, I THINK I'VE ALWAYS KNOWN.

EVER SINCE THAT FIRST NIGHT UNDER THE HALE TREE, I THINK I KNEW IT THEN.

NOW WE LEPERS WILL CELEBRATE MASS TOGETHER.

PRAY THAT WE GO ON, PRAY THAT WE HAVE TIME TO FINISH WHAT WE HAVE STARTED, PARTICULARLY THE DORMITORIES FOR THE ORPHANS.

MY LEPROSY IS SPEEDILY CONFIRMED, NOT ONLY BY THE DOCTORS IN HONOLULU, BUT BY THE LOOK IN PEOPLE'S EYES, BY THE CAMPHOR IN THE HANDKERCHIEF, BY THE HANDS CLASPED CAREFULLY BEHIND THE BACK.

I AM NO LONGER FATHER DAMIEN.

I AM A CONTAMINATED ANIMAL.

I AM A LEPER.

EVEN MY OWN PROVINCIAL WRITES TO ME LIKE THIS: IF YOU INSIST ON COMING TO HONOLULU TO TRY THE NEW CURE, YOU WILL GO TO THE RECEIVING STATION WHERE YOU WILL GO TO THE LEPER CHAPEL, BUT YOU WILL NOT SAY MASS BECAUSE NEITHER FATHER CLEMENT NOR I WILL CONSENT TO CELEBRATE MASS WEARING THE SAME VESTMENTS YOU HAVE USED, AND THE SISTERS WILL REFUSE HOLY COMMUNION FROM YOUR HANDS.

HE'S RIGHT, OF COURSE, BUT DOES HE HAVE TO SPELL IT OUT FOR ME?

YOUR ATTITUDE INDICATES THAT YOU POSSESS NEITHER DELICACY OF FEELING NOR CHARITY TOWARDS YOUR NEIGHBOR, YOU THINK ONLY OF YOURSELF.

YOUR VERY WORDS REVEAL YOUR EGOISM.

DIDN'T HE REALIZE I WAS THINKING OF MY LEPERS?

IF A CURE COULD HELP ME, I COULD TAKE IT BACK TO THEM.

BUT THERE WERE OTHERS WHO WERE KINDER.

THE CAPTAIN OF THE BOAT, YOU KNOW THE ONE WHO WOULDN'T GIVE ME FIVE MINUTES ALONE WITH MY PROVINCIAL?

HE INVITED ME TO HIS CABIN FOR A GLASS OF WINE.

BUT THERE ARE THINGS WORSE THAN LEPROSY.

YOU SEE, WHEN A MAN GIVES HIS WHOLE LIFE OVER TO ONE PREOCCUPATION, AND AT THE END DOUBTS ARISE, THE DOUBTS ARE STILL THERE, LIKE MAGGOTS IN A LEPER'S SORES.

YOU SEE, WHEN IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT I WAS A LEPER, THE REPORTERS HAD A FIELD DAY.

THE LION OF MOLOKA'I IS WOUNDED.

DAMIEN HANGS FROM THE LEPER'S CROSS.

SOLDIER OF CHRIST STRUCK DOWN.

AND COLUMN AFTER COLUMN ABOUT THE LEPERS, AND THE SETTLEMENT, AND MYSELF.

LETTERS OF LOVE AND SYMPATHY POURED IN.

GIFTS OF MONEY, NEARLY THIRTY THOUSAND GOLD FRANCS IN ALL.

BUT THE KING, THE GOVERNMENT, THE BOARD OF HEALTH, AND MY OWN MISSION WERE ALL OFFENDED.

THE ARTICLES DIDN'T MENTION THEM.

WHEN I TRIED TO EXPLAIN THAT I WASN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ARTICLES, THEY TOLD ME I WAS DRUNK, DRUNK WITH PRIDE.

SO DRUNK THAT I WAS DANGEROUS, UNFIT TO HANDLE ALL THAT MONEY.

IN FUTURE, THE BOARD OF HEALTH WOULD RECEIVE ALL FINANCIAL GIFTS, EVEN THOSE ADDRESSED PERSONALLY TO ME.

NOW WHAT WOULD A GOVERNMENT CLERK KNOW ABOUT THE NEEDS OF A LEPER?

AND WHEN I TRIED TO PROTEST, THE NEW BISHOP ADVISES AN EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE.

HAVE I REALLY TRIED TO DO GOD'S WILL OR WERE MY CEASELESS ACTIVITIES, MY UNBALANCED GENEROSITY, MY CAPRICES OF SELF-WILL, MY STUBBORN LACK OF PRUDENCE MERELY FOLLOWING THE BENT OF MY OWN TEMPERAMENT?

HAVE I DECEIVED MYSELF?

HAVE I A SECRET VANITY THAT FEED ON NOTORIETY?

HAVE I LET THE PRAISE OF MEN CORRUPT ME?

NOW ALL THIS I COULD UNDERSTAND, BUT WHEN THE NEW BISHOP CHIDES ME FOR MAKING NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN A CATHOLIC AND A NON-CATHOLIC LEPER...YOUR EXCELLENCY, YOU DON'T ASK A LEPER IF HE IS A CATHOLIC.

IF A DYING WOMAN TELLS YOU THAT SHE CAN'T BEAR THE THOUGHT OF HER BODY BEING DEVOURED BY WILD PIGS WHEN SHE'S DEAD, YOU DON'T ASK IF SHE'S A CATHOLIC.

YOU MAKE HER A COFFIN.

AND WHEN SHE DIES, YOU BURY HER, AND YOU COMMEND HER SOUL TO GOD, QUITE SURE HE WON'T ASK HER EITHER.

WHEN A LEPER ON HIS DEATHBED CRIES OUT FOR ABSOLUTION, YOU GO TO HIM.

AND ALL DISTINCTIONS VANISH AS YOU INHALE HIS FETID BREATH AND YOU HEAR HIS DYING WORDS, AND THEN IN THE NAME OF CHRIST, FORGIVE HIM REGARDLESS OF WHEN....OH, NO YOUR EXCELLENCY, NO.

I WAS, HE SAID, A DEFECTIVE PRIEST.

THERE ARE WORSE THINGS TO BEAR THAN LEPROSY.

WELL, I'VE TALKED SO MUCH WE'RE WELL PAST MOLOKA'I, SHE'S BACK THERE IN THE MIST.

WE'RE IN DEEP WATER NOW, HEADING FOR HOME.

THEN ONE MORNING, WE DROP ANCHOR...AND I'M ON BELGIUM SOIL ONCE MORE.

TRUMPETS BLEAR, CANNONS BOOM, ALL THE CITY BELLS OF ANTWERP RING OUT, KING LEOPOLD THE THIRD STEPS FORWARD TO SALUTE...AND AT LAST, TOWARDS EVENING, THE TRADITIONAL HEARSE RECEIVES THE KOA CASKET, AND DRAWN BY SIX WHITE HORSES, MAKES ITS WAY SLOWLY SOUTHWARDS IN THE DIRECTION OF LOUVAIN, SOMEWHERE AROUND MIDNIGHT, WE PAST MY FATHER'S FARM.

LOOK, THERE'S A LIGHT ON IN THE PARLOR WHERE WE USED TO GATHER AFTER SUPPER, MY MOTHER TO READ STORIES FROM A FAT BLACK BOOK -- HOLY SAINTS AND MARTYS -- AND MY FATHER TO ENTER FIGURES IN A THIN BLACK LEDGER.

THE THIN BLACK LEDGER AND THE FAT BLACK BOOK...I CAN SEE IT NOW AS CLEAR AS DAY THE BATTLE THEY WERE WAGING.

AFTER MY MOTHER HAD FINISHED READING STORIES FROM HER BLACK BOOK, MY FATHER WOULD CALL ME OVER AND SHOW ME THE FIGURES IN HIS BLACK BOOK AND TELL ME HOW, WHEN I GREW UP, I'D GO INTO THE BUSINESS WITH HIM AND BECOME A GRAIN MERCHANT LIKE HIMSELF.

FOR CHRISTMAS, I WAS 19, I TOLD MY FATHER, I DON'T WANT TO BE A GRAIN MERCHANT, FATHER, I WANT TO BE A PRIEST.

YES, I KNOW YOU COUNTED ON ME, I KNOW YOU NEED ME IN THE BUSINESS, I KNOW IT WOULD EVENTUALLY BE MINE.

BUT I DON'T WANT IT.

FATHER, I WANT TO BE A PRIEST.

OH, I HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT IT.

OH, I'M SURE.

NO, IT'S MY VOCATION.

IT'S GOD, NOT YOU, WILL TELL ME WHAT TO DO.

THEN, ON MY BIRTHDAY, THREE DAYS AFTER NEW YEAR, MY FATHER TELLS ME THAT HE'S GOING INTO LOUVAIN ON BUSINESS AND WOULD I LIKE TO RIDE IN WITH HIM, I CAN VISIT WITH AUGUSTE AT SACRED HEARTS HOUSE UNTIL IT'S TIME TO COME BACK HOME.

AUGUSTE SEEMS TO BE EXPECTING ME.

HE INTRODUCES ME TO FATHER WENCELAS, WE CHAT A LITTLE, AND THEN FATHER WENCELAS SAYS HE'LL TAKE ME AS A NOVICE.

AT DUSK, MY FATHER RETURNS TO SHAKE ME BY THE HAND AND THEN RIDE HOME ALONE.

IT'S GETTING LIGHT.

IN A LITTLE WHILE, WE'LL REACH LOUVAIN AND THEN THE JOURNEY WILL BE OVER.

OFF TO THE LEFT, IN THE LOVELY SHRINE OF OUR LADY.

THAT'S WHERE WE SAID GOODBYE, MY MOTHER AND I NEARLY THREE QUARTERS OF A CENTURY AGO.

HER WRINKLED FINGERS SLIP SILENTLY ALONG HER BEADS.

SHE PRAYS FOR MY RETURN.

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED, MOTHER.

I'VE COME HOME.

THAT WAS THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF LOUVAIN WE JUST PASSED.

I WAS REFUSED ADMISSION THERE BECAUSE OF MY RUDENESS OF MANNER AND APPEARANCE AND TOTAL IGNORANCE OF ANY LANGUAGE SAVE HIS OWN, OH, A LITTLE FRENCH, WHICH HE SUBJECTS TO THE MOST EXQUISITE TORTURES.

WELL, THEY WERE RIGHT ABOUT THE LANGUAGE.

BUT I TOLD THEM THEN, AND I TELL THEM NOW, I COME OF PEASANT STOCK.

WE PEASANTS AREN'T GIVEN TO FANCY LANGUAGE AND DELICATE MANNERS, WE SAY WHAT WE SAY, WE DO WHAT WE HAVE TO DO.

WE ARE WHO WE ARE, IT IS OUR NATURE.

WE WILL FACE DEATH RATHER THAN CHANGE IT BECAUSE WE BELIEVE OUR NATURE COMES FROM GOD.

THE HEARSE IS SLOWING TO A HALT OUTSIDE SACRED HEARTS HOUSE, PRIESTS LINE THE SIDEWALKS, YOUNG BOYS, TOO.

MY HEART GOES OUT TO THEM.

MY NOVICE DAYS WERE PAINFUL.

WOULD I HAVE SURVIVED, I WONDER, WITHOUT AUGUSTE?

WITHOUT HIS GENTLE BUT RELENTLESS CRITICISM.

I KNOW, I KNOW, AUGUSTE, YOU TOLD ME ALL THAT BEFORE, BUT I DO TRY.

LOOK, I KNOW I'M MUCH TOO CLUMSY.

OH, I CAN'T BE LIKE YOU, AUGUSTE, I CAN'T BE MORE SUBTLE.

I HAVE TO SAY WHAT I THINK.

THE WORDS COME OUT IN SPITE OF ME.

OH, THAT IS NOT TRUE.

I DO TRY TO CONTROL MY TEMPER, AND I DO PRAY FOR A DOCILE HEART, BUT THERE'S ONE THING I DON'T UNDERSTAND.

YOU TOLD ME THAT I MUST LEARN TO DO EVERYTHING, EVEN GOOD, IN MODERATION.

BUT CHRIST SAID WE MUST GIVE FROM THE HEART WITHOUT MEASURE.

AND THEN ONE DAY FATHER WENCELAS SAYS, QUITE KINDLY, THAT I MUST NOT ASPIRE TO THE PRIESTHOOD.

BUT SUDDENLY, AUGUSTE FALLS SICK, AND HE CAN'T GO TO THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, SO I BYPASS FATHER WENCELAS, AND I WRITE DIRECTLY TO THE FATHER GNERAL IN PARIS.

AND I BEG HIM TO LET ME TAKE MY BROTHER'S PLACE.

AND WHEN THE FATHER GENERAL WRITES BACK TO SAY LET ME GO, FATHER WENCELAS THROWS THE LETTER ACROSS MY DESK AND SHOUTS, YOU'RE NOT READY YET.

YOU'LL GO OUT THERE AND DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD.

WE'RE IN ST.

JOSEPH'S CHAPEL NOW.

IT'S QUIET AND PEACEFUL.

HERE, I WILL AWAIT THE RESURRECTION.

BUT I AM LONESOME FOR MY LEPERS.

WHEN I'M SEPARATED FROM THEM, WITH HALF A WORLD BETWEEN US, WHEN I AM SEPARATED FROM THEM, THE DOUBTS RETURN.

DID I DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD?

DID I BETRAY YOU LORD?

WAS I LIKE, HE SAID, A DEFECTIVE PRIEST?

WAS I MERELY FOLLOWING THE BENT OF MY OWN TEMPERAMENT?

BUT IT WAS MY TEMPERAMENT TO SEEK YOU OUT WITH A PASSION THAT CONSUMED ME.

AND ONCE I FELT THE WOUND OF YOUR LOVE FOR ME, THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY.

YOU LET ME WITNESS A FESTERING MASS OF FLESH STILL PRAISE THE ONE WHO GAVE HIM LIFE.

YOU WERE THERE WITH ME IN THE LEPERS' SHACKS, THE AGONIES I TRIED TO CONSOLE, THE SUPPURATED WOUNDS I NURSED, WERE YOURS.

THE AGONY AND THE WOUNDS OF CHRIST.

TELL ME ALL THIS IS TRUE.

TELL ME ALL THIS IS TRUE.

ONE WORD AND ALL THESE DOUBTS WILL VANISH LIKE SMOKE BEFORE THE WIND.

ONE WORD.

IF IT IS THE DOUBTS THEMSELVES THAT COME BETWEEN ME AND MY LORD, I WILL CAST THEM OUT.

IN YOUR NAME, OH SWEET LORD JESUS CHRIST, I CAST THEM OUT.

AND I KNOW THAT WHATEVER I MAY HAVE DONE FOR GOOD OR ILL, I AM STILL YOUR PRIEST.

I TRUST IN YOUR PRODIGIOUS LOVE, YOU ARE THE CHRIST AND YOU ARE MY GOD.

>> MAJOR FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED BY A GRANT FROM THE HAWAI'I COMMITTEE FOR THE HUMANITIES, ADDITIONAL FUNDING PROVIDED BY GRANTS FROM BANK OF HAWAI'I, FOODLAND SUPERMARKET LIMITED, AND MEADOW GOLD DAIRIES.

THIS PROGRAM WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING.