FACING THE LEPROSY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1917, 13 August 1888, Page 3

FACING THE LEPROSY

THE RTLV Flt/OOJfRAROYOOiSSTQ

A3f-IsT FR. DiMiEN.

(From " Tho Osthotlo Seutinyl ")

For acme lime p*o', It baa been prettygenerally known that, tho Rtv L. 1j Oonrardy, of Umatilla rflaorvation^ had decided to go to thi ea\M of F?. Daralcn,' the apußtlo of tho lepars, ia tho (oland of Molokal, Bindwich Islands. The Ray Father, h-iviog ruooive'd poimisa'.on from Arohbiahop Gross, hna boea awiitlng for Boma llmo to bo rcllovod ua Indian M:aslonary on tba reaetvalion ; and n. w th. t his place is euppliod by t^o ycinni; PrJos's ho is here m thio ci y, en' route i>r Molokal, the home of tha poor iepora to Whom ha pToposos to onsforate — wo miy add, Sic iQ;o— hla life, Fr. Oonrerdy Ja a ooantryman of Fr,, Dftmion, having been bora m tho oifcy of L e<e, Bilgiara, where ho also received his early education. Fr. Oonrardy Is a type of thoaa intrepfd; fearleaa souh who aourt aaorifios and porll to further the interests of ll^llglon and «lye glory to God, Impelled by the Mia: alonary spirit, he gavo up a large paviah; to which ho had boon appointed iram< diatoly after his orJlnation, to devote biraaolf to Foreign Misaiona. Goin« to Paris to the oolebrßtod SAmlnary wh'bh has for more than two hundred yeara supplied India, Japan and Ohlna, with oo many missionaries and martyr", he tamnlned fchere oomo time, and In 1871 was assigned to tha mis3lon of Pondloharry In Boathern India, whore ho labored nearly tbroe yoars, undtr the killing hoat of tho tropical Bun, and eadaring all kinds of prlvation3. His health failing, he wao advised to go to a te.m(.era<e climate, and chioa to ojat hia lot i'm mg iho Iniians of Oregon, whoro he anlvad m 1874 He was placed m charge of tho Indian tribss on the Umatilla resorvation by the eaU t'y Bianohet • where ho" haß remained ever since. Bat B"r Ojnrardy, whose ambition has ftUisys beea to tnka tho worst and moßt d ffioaU place wan not Batisfied. It wan m 1876 that he, having heard of the heroic undertaking of Fr D.uslac emong the lepers of M)!qkat, conceive i tho Idea of baoorning hid comptnlon. Aa early as 1883 he was aooepted fo>r that mission, but, owing to th» aoarolty of Priests m this arohdlcoast?, ho w?s oonstratned to postpone hla departure for this fiold till a more favorable time. Letters received from Fr. Dumien reoantly show that the loper colony has inoreased to 1800 souls, and they are arriving m large numbera, Bora<jUrao3 as many aa thirty a week- It is woll known that Fr. Djunion has fa'lan a victim to hia charity. He writes Fr. Oonrardy that disease haviDg settled m hb hands, he will pooq bo enable to oolebrato IVlf.ea, and there will bo no one to braak the bread of life to these pooroceatareß. In order to hasten to his relief Fr, Oonrardy glvoa up a farewell visit whioh he contemplated paying his family m Europe. A short tima ago Fr. Oonrardy was offered a fin 3 parish m the Argandne Republic, bat that did not fill his ideal of aolf-aacrlflce. The rev. gentlomaa has left tho city, and will soon be among the stricken onaa of Molokal. We bespeak for him the prayers of all.