Light of Lazarus Around the World
Did you know that EVERY TWO MINUTES, someone in the world is infected with LEPROSY?
Did you know that over 4,000,000 people in the world have this disease?
Did you know that about 150 new cases are diagnosed every year in the United States?
To be honest, not very many people do know. That is why World Leprosy Day is observed on January 29, 2023 – to raise awareness of the seriousness of the disease.
The international focus of The?Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem has been caring for victims of leprosy ( Hansen’s disease ) since the late 1300’s. The signature goal has been to help those less fortunate, the downtrodden, those ridiculed by society and condemned to live with disability in extreme poverty and isolation.
In addition to helping patients in India, Mexico and Louisiana, the Order has helped the leprosy community on the island of Molokai where St. Father Damien ministered to infected outcasts from 1873 to 1899 until he died of the disease. St. Maryanne Cope who spent 30 years caring for the leprosy patients at Kalaupapa died in 1918. Her remains are in a special reliquary Chapel in Our Lady of Peace Cathedral in Honolulu.?Brother Joseph Dutton, “Servant of God,” spent 44 years of his life caring for the sick and afflicted.
Join us in our mission of to send a LIGHT AROUND THE WORLD on January 29, 2023. Shine a light by candle, flashlight or phone light, take a picture and say a prayer. Send us the location, local time. Picture & name optional.
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