When Bishop Larry Silva returns from the canonization ceremony in Rome in October, there will be a special piece of cargo coming with him: St. Damien's right heel. It's one relic of the soon-to-be saint that eventually will be enshrined at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Downtown Honolulu, joining a lock of his hair. Another lock of his hair will remain at the Sacred Hearts Center in Kane'ohe.
Damien's right hand is in a grave at Kalaupapa, Moloka'i, while the remainder of his body is in a crypt in Louvain, Belgium, near his hometown.
Relics from Damien are in high demand because they help people feel closer to him, clergy say. When people are in the presence of relics, a personal connection with those they venerate is more easily forged, Silva said.
The Rev. Lane Akiona added that a "relic makes it real, that first of all, a human person was graced by God to live an exceptional life among humanity. ... (Relics) provide a link to that past and that history. ... It's a little bit gaudy, but it makes it real. These people were ordinary people, just like us."
In Ireland, for example, on proud display in a church in Drogheda is the shrunken head of St. Oliver Plunkett, the last Roman Catholic to die a martyr in England in 1681. Beneath the Vatican lie crypts holding everyone from St. Peter to Pope John Paul II.
And it's nothing new here, where in Hawaiian culture it's believed that bones carry mana, the power of the person. Buddhists, the Rev. Marc Alexander added, also follow the practice, and historically, the altar of a Catholic church commonly had a relic thought to be from the saint for which it was named.
Damien died in April 1889 and was buried in the shade of the puhala tree under which, 16 years earlier, he had spent his first night on Moloka'i. His remains were moved to Belgium in 1936 at the behest of the then-king.
The lock of his hair — considered a "first-class relic" — is documented to be from Damien's head. It was part of the Damien Museum in Waikiki, which closed seven years ago for renovation.
Most of the hair is now kept at the Sacred Hearts Center in Kane'ohe in a climate-controlled environment, Akiona said.
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