KEAUKAHA, Hawaii — More than a century after Father Damien died among his brethren on a forgotten peninsula on Moloka'i, the memory of his sacrifice remains strong.

A sacred relic — a bone from the right foot of the newly canonized Saint Damien de Veuster — entered the grounds of the Malia Puka O Kalani Catholic Church this week to the pealing of a bell and the sounding of a conch. Kini Burke and Kimo Pihana carried the reliquary by its wooden handles as parishioners watched, and then followed them in.

Then, in the church's large hall, a joyful interfaith service full of song and dance celebrated the relic's brief sojourn to the historic sanctuary.

Pope Benedict XVI presented the relic to Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva on Oct. 11 during Damien's canonization.

Throughout the past week, the relic toured all the parishes of the Big Island. Today, it will leave the Big Island for Maui, and spend the next week traveling to parishes across the state.

When the relic arrives in Honolulu on Nov. 1, it will be part of an interfaith service at 'Iolani Palace and then be taken to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, where it will reside permanently.

On Thursday, the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, bearing two red and two yellow feather kahili, accompanied the relic into the Big Island hall, where it was placed on a table and decked with maile and orchid lei. Also in attendance were the royal societies Ahahui Kaahumanu and Hale O Na Alii.

Above the relic, in large paper letters, were the words "Aloha E Komo Mai, Kana Damien Ka Kana Pakelona" (Welcome St. Damien, the parishioners' saint). There was also a woodblock print of the priest in heaven, a creation of Volcano artist Dietrich Varez.

"If Damien was anything, he was a man of God," said the Rev. Joseph Hennen. "He was a person of the people. He was a person of the Hawaiian people, and especially the sick, and especially the needy."

EMOTIONAL SERVICE

Paul Neves, the alii ai moku of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, said his great-grandparents were imprisoned at Kalawao. His grandfather was born there, and sent away because he was not stricken.

Neves recalled his mother saying, before she died in 1993, "Damien saved our family." As he teared up, he continued:

"Many of you would not be here had that crazy man from Europe not come here and fought on our behalf."

Students of Keaukaha Elementary, 110 strong, then filed in to the auditorium to sing songs of Keaukaha and performed two chants.

The women of Ke ola Pono No Na Kupuna, a hälau associated with Alu Like, danced hula to several songs, including "Kuu Home O Keaukaha" and "Kaleohano."

The highlight of the service came at the end, when sisters Nalani Longakit and Kuulei Garcia performed a special hula called "Kalaupapa."

In 1958, Nalani, then a student at Keaukaha School, began showing lesions on her face and was taken away to Kalaupapa at the age of 5.

"It's not easy for a mother to let go, not at that age," mother Shirley Tripp said.

Nalani stayed there until she was 11. A good friend of the family, now deceased, wrote the song, which Nalani performed with her sister Kuulei.

"At the end of the pali," the song began, "there's a place so few ever knew.

"It's the end of the rainbow — Kalaupapa."

As the mele ended, there were few dry eyes in the crowd.

"Father Damien was the symbol of life for the people on Kalaupapa," Longakit said. "He was the man that everybody looked up to because he wasn't afraid to live among the sick."

Shortly before 2 p.m., as the bells rang again, the saint's relics were carried to the altar of the church itself for the "silent veneration" as musicians strummed and sang from the back rows. Men, women and children crossed themselves and touched the reliquary, perhaps paying respects or asking Damien to intercede on their behalf.

"This is my parish, and we're happy Father Damien, who has meant so much to the people of Hawaii, especially the people of Kalaupapa — and personally, he was here on this island, ministering to his people — so we're happy to have him," said Laverne Costa of Hilo.