Happy Monday! Grab your coffee and read some compelling stories about two saintly souls as we start another full week of the world's most popular online Lenten devotion. We didn't necessarily realize their names rhymed when we paired Damien of Molokai with Pandita Ramabai but, as this seems to be the Year of the Limerick in Lent Madness, it somehow feels appropriate.
On Friday, Photini aka The Woman at the Well made it past Ananias aka The Guy Who Helped out Saul/Paul 64% to 36% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen. She'll face Tabitha in a sure-to-be heart-wrenching matchup.
Stay tuned later today for another sure-to-be scintillating episode of Monday Madness as Tim and Scott highlight the week to come.
Damien of Molokai
Father Damien of Molokai was born Joseph de Veuster on January 3, 1840, in rural Belgium. The youngest of seven siblings, Joseph was expected to follow in his father’s footsteps as a farmer. However, God had other plans for Joseph, and he heard a calling to follow his two older brothers into monastic life. Upon coming of age and entering the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Mary and Jesus, Joseph followed Roman Catholic tradition and took on the name of a sixth-century martyr, Damien of Syria.
Damien was known for praying fervently to Saint Francis Xavier to be sent on a mission. Little did Damien know but his prayers would soon be answered. In 1864, Damien’s brother suddenly became ill, and Damien found himself taking his brother’s place on a mission to Hawai’i.
Upon arrival to the islands, Damien was ordained to the priesthood and settled into a life of spreading the word of God. In 1866, Hawai’i established a leper colony at Kalaupapa on the island of Molokai. Leprosy, or Hanson’s Disease, was rapidly decimating native Hawaiians as their immune systems were unfamiliar with the disease brought by missionaries and other foreign visitors. In a mistaken attempt to control the spread of disease, the Hawaiian monarchy began sending leprosy patients to the remote peninsula of Kalaupapa. Flanked by soaring cliffs, deep ravines, and unforgiving topography, the peninsula ensured there was only one way in (by boat) and no way out for those banished from their homes, families, and friends.
Following a visit to the colony, Damien was dismayed by the poor living conditions, lack of resources, and inhumane treatment of the lepers. He began building homes for the patients, a church (St. Philomena, which stands today), established standards for cleanliness, implemented education plans for the young and old, and ensured the sick were cared for and the dead buried. In each patient, he saw Jesus staring back at him. Damien relocated permanently to Kalaupapa despite the church’s warnings that he would be exposing himself to infection. Damien is said to have replied, “I make myself a leper with the lepers, to gain all to Jesus Christ.” In 1885, Damien contracted leprosy and lived with the agonizing disease for four years before his death in 1889.
Collect for Damien of Molokai
Bind up the wounds of your children, O God, and help us, following the example of your servant Damien, to be bold and loving in service to all who are shunned for the diseases they suffer, that your grace may be poured forth upon all; through Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Pandita Ramabai
Born as Rama Dongre in 1858 in Gangamoola, India, to Brahmin parents, Pandita Ramabai was a champion of women’s rights and a social reformer. Despite the many prohibitions against women, Ramabai’s father, a Sanskrit scholar, taught his daughter the Hindu sacred texts. After his death, she continued his research and teaching at Calcutta University and was the first woman to be awarded the title Pandita for her scholarship.
She married a Bengali man outside her caste, which was socially frowned upon in her time. Her enlightened husband shared her passion for women’s issues, and they hoped to start a school for widowed child-brides, but he died less than two years after their marriage. They had one daughter, who worked closely with her mother, though she died suddenly a year before Ramabai’s death in 1922.
Ramabai continued her work on women’s issues, promoting education and an end to child marriage. To Lord Ripon’s Education Commission, she suggested that because men are not supportive of women’s education, women themselves should be trained as teachers and school inspectors in India. Additionally, she argued that if according to custom only a woman could provide medical care for gynecological issues, then women should be allowed to study medicine in order to do so. This sensational advice was carried all the way to Queen Victoria. The next year, Ramabai went to Britain to study medicine. There she converted to Christianity after spending time with the Wantage Sisters, an Anglican religious community. She also joined a mission that ministered to former prostitutes.
Ramabai returned to India and started the Mukti Mission, a home for widows and orphans. As a supporter of the movement for Indian freedom from colonial rule, Ramabai was one of ten female delegates of the Indian Congress of 1889. She translated the Bible into Marathi, the language of her birth, spoken in Western India. To this day, her Mukti Mission in Mumbai still provides the same much-needed services that Ramabai first offered more than a century ago.
Collect for Pandita Ramabai
Everliving God, you called the women at the tomb to witness to the resurrection of your Son: We thank you for the courageous and independent spirit of your servant Pandita Ramabai, the mother of modern India; and we pray that we, like her, may embrace your gift of new life, caring for the poor, braving resentment to uphold the dignity of women, and offering the riches of our culture to our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
[poll id="252"]
188 comments on “Damien of Molokai vs. Pandita Ramabai”
As of 2:17 eastern time, Fr. Damien leads by 15 votes. I voted for Pandita. Lent Madness trivia: weren't the Wantage sisters of his day known to C.S. Lewis? I seem to recall reading one of his letters to them. I'm perfectly willing to be corrected, enlightened even, if I am wrong.
It’s gonna be a close one! Went with Damien.
Damien. The gravity of his actions - defying the leadership of the RC Church and venturing out into multiple unknowns to love the “unlovable” and risk the scourge of a disease of biblical proportions - make him the clear choice. He’d hold his own against any past Golden Halo recipient.
Both are very worthy soles. I voted for Pandita because as a woman she had so many additional problems (still a problem in India today). This on top of the worthy things both candidates did pushed her to the top.
Both of these saints made great contributions
This is the most difficult pairing yet. Great Damien is the perfect Saint and one I have always loved. Pandita speaks to my feminist side which usually wins out but...! I’ll be happy with either but Wish we had a “tie” vote too,
Just checked the bot and at 2:55 pm the two are only 11 votes apart. It was a hard choice for me. I voted before I read the comments. I had heard of Father Damien long time ago but had never heard about Rama “pandita” before. I really appreciate what I have learned with Lenten Madness the past bunch of years.
I'm with those hoping for a tie and a wild card spot. I love both of them! As a women of mixed color, a physician, and former missionary, I have great respect for both.
WE NEED PANDITA TO BEAT DAMIEN OF MOLOKAI!
Whoa! What a tough choice. But Damien's story really grabbed me. True, profound charity and generosity of spirit...hard to beat those!
I did not receive an email from the SEC today. I hope this can be fixed as I am an interested participant.
Go Father Damien. I've known about your work since I was a child. Your caring and persevering work inspired me to pursue a medical career, although not one in infectious diseases.
Eileen Fisher
I visited the leper colony at Kalaupapa Peninsula, and met the lepers. I read there of the wonderful work of Damien, and have been waiting for years to see him honored. YES, for Damien! YES, YES, YES!
Two compelling contenders today but I had to go with Pandita Ramabai for her focus on educating women.
THIS IS A NO BRAINER! Father Damien gave his life in the name of Christ and to help those poor souls in Hawaii. There is no other choice.
This one's a nail biter! It goes to show how each saint is so deserving of the Golden Halo.
Am counting on the folks voting late in HI and AK to surge Damien past a tie and into the Saintly Sixteen.
This was a tough one, we had been to Hawaii 2012 and after a 3 week vacation and learning of this Island for the Lepars and the whole history of how it became part of the USA, bad thing that they didn't join Canada , Canada should have tried harder to have them join Canada!
I had an ANEURSYM on the big Island and was flown to Maui Memorial Medical Center and treated by Dr. Rogers, who built this beautiful hospital, after two,weeks and losing 6 days of memories, I was brought home by a very handsome strong medic, first to Detroit, Michigan, USA and then To Windsor, Ontario, Canada and then to,Hotel,Dieu Hospital for two weeks, then Rehab for 2 years! I have very good medical coverage and medical care by both male and female nurses! But, it is harder for the female caregivers to be taken seriously! I had to,vote for Pandita sorry Damien! You both deserve to,win!
What a tale! So glad you are recovered. You will be forever hanged, won’t you?
CHANGED
Smelling salts, Susan. Get those smelling salts out. My jaw hung at "hanged" (it was so unlike you). Sal volatile. Or eau de vie if necessary. I'm still giggling at sending hoes forward for the golden halo. "Hoes for the halo!" I'm pretty sure we have solved Tim's and Scott's marketing problems for the next decade. Smelling salts, my pretty.
Hawai`i no ka oi!
Damiein and Sister Maryanne brought love and compassion to an abandoned and shunned people. Having been friends with a few of the Hansen's disease survivors in years past I can attest even in the 1970s and 80s it was the religious community that fought for their dignity as the state attempted to abandoned them.
I wanted to vote for both. Voted for Father Damien, because "In each patient he saw Jesus staring back at him". He worked with those who were outcast and banished from their homes and gave his life for his patients. Liked John's limerick! Thanks!
Damien has my sympathy vote ( my grandson is named for him) Other than that quirk of faith (?) My vote would have gone to Pandita
Has there ever been a tie? What are the rules for a tie-breaker? I am hoping Damien will hold his slim lead! The reverence for Fr. Damien in Hawaii is inspiring.
2 votes apart at 6:25!!!!
Well, as of 6:28 this evening, it looks like a tie. Both Father Damien and Pandita Ramabai are compelling candidates, but I had to vote for Pandita. Working to secure dignity, education and care for women in a predominantly patriarchal and caste-bound society was no small feat - and add to that her translation of the Bible into Marathi. She cared for the minds, bodies - and souls of girls and women.
I remember having a book in my house when I was little-and loving it-called “Fr. Damien and the Bells.” But woah-no one could hold a candle to my new friend, Pandita-what an amazing woman!
VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR DAMIEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Tough choice! Both are very deserving! I ultimately went with Damien because he ultimately sacrificed his own health and life to help others.
I was moved by the story of Ramabai, which I did not know before Lent Madness. I honor her work for girls and women in India. However, Fr. Damien gets my vote today. Having served as a member of the L.A. Diocese Program Group on HIV/AIDS Ministries, Fr. Damien is our patron saint. His blessed work with the lepers of Hawaii is inspirational to those who work with persons with HIV/AIDS and likely to those who work on the front lines of Ebola as well. Blessings to all who give of themselves to care for the sick and marginalized, and to both Fr. Damien and Ramabai.
Man oh man this was a hard one! Horrible!
Nail biter!
Here is a link to the obituary for Pandita Ramabai - published in November of last year as part of the New York Times' effort to include obituaries for noteworthy people who were "overlooked" -
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/obituaries/pandita-ramabai-overlooked.html
Brahmin customs prohibited widows from remarrying. Considered cursed, they were required to shave their heads, wear drab, coarse clothes and subsist on meager food. Widows were also subject to physical and sexual abuse. The common practice of child marriage meant that some widows were still girls when they were doomed to a lifetime on the margins.
This is an amazing review. Thank you. So glad I voted for Pandita Goddess.
Using proceeds from her book and lectures, she raised funds to open the Sharada Sadan (Home of Learning) center in 1889 in Bombay, offering widowed girls a refuge where they could study and learn skills like gardening, carpentry and sewing. The shelter grew, at one point serving more than 700 girls and women. Many became teachers and nurses while others stayed, running a dairy farm and their own printing press. The home is still active.
I have never heard the term, "Male pattern violence." Oh, my, is it truly as innate as baldness? I know this is fodder for another thread, but you have surely given me something to think about.
Thank you! It's not too late to #VotePandita