Artist Karen Lucas and Sacred Hearts Sister Dorothy Santos pose by the St. Damien mosaics at St. Damien Church in Kaunakakai, Molokai, in February. (Photo by Judy L. Bittenbende)
In 2011, Sacred Heart Father Clyde Guerrero was in the homestretch of the construction of the long-awaited St. Damien Church on Molokai at the center of the island’s main town of Kaunakakai where he was pastor. He knew of the beautiful mosaic art of Sacred Hearts Sister Dorothy Santos and asked her if she would create for the new church four panels depicting how St. Damien’s life paralleled that of Jesus, exemplifying the charisms, or spiritual gifts, of his and the Molokai saint’s religious order, the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Sister Dorothy, who is now 93, lives at St. Anthony Retreat Center in Honolulu. She undertook the project in earnest, finishing the four mosaics in three years working with her long-time friend and mentor, artist Karen Lucas.
It took hundreds of hours to select the scenes and choose, cut and set the colorful tiles. The mosaics depict how St. Damien followed his congregation’s commitment to live the four stages of Christ’s life: his infancy, his hidden life, his apostolic life and his crucified life.
The “infancy” panel shows St. Damien with a young child, demonstrating his devotion to the abandoned children of Kalaupapa, mirroring the Lord’s childhood and devotion to children.
The “hidden life” mosaic reflects St. Damien’s prayer life, showing him seated praying his rosary among the graves at Kalawao. The scene calls to mind Jesus withdrawing from his apostles and the crowds for a moment of quiet prayer and contemplation.
The “apostolic life” panel depicts Father Damien with the children and patients at Kalawao, reflecting Jesus’ public ministry responding to the physical and spiritual needs of those he met every day.
The “crucified life” scene shows St. Damien on his the death bed during Holy Week 1889. It calls to mind Jesus’ final hours of humiliation, pain and death.
Each scene reminds viewers that they are also called to live in ways that parallel Jesus’ life of service, prayer and suffering.
The completed mosaics, a gift of the Hawaii Sisters of the Sacred Hearts to St. Damien Parish, were installed in February. Sister Dorothy and Lucas came to Molokai for the installation and to receive the personal thanks of the present pastor, Sacred Hearts Father William F. Petrie. The artwork has since brought delight to both parishioner and pilgrim.
Sister Dorothy has made mosaics with Lucas for the past 19 years. She met Lucas, a Hospice Hawaii art therapist, in 1996 at Malia O Ku Malu Community, a retirement community in Kaimuki for Sisters of the Sacred Heart. There several sisters worked under Lucas’s supervision to make a mosaic of Our Lady Queen of Peace, which now brightens the entry of the community house.
Over the years, their projects have included mosaics of St. Damien, St. Marianne, the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and scenes from the history of the Sacred Hearts order. Their many art pieces are installed in religious buildings in Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Rome, Massachusetts, California and across Hawaii. Now they appropriately decorate St. Damien Church on Molokai.
At the unveiling of the new Molokai artwork, Sister Dorothy reflected on her interest in art as a child, and as an elementary school teacher and catechism teacher for 45 years.
“I did not think of myself as artistic, although I always liked art, and I particularly enjoyed doing art projects with my students,” she said.
She said that she has found much joy in creating the religious mosaics.
The Sacred Hearts sister is currently working on mosaics depicting Mother Alexandrine and Bishop Libert Boeynaems, the founders of the St. Anthony Orphanage in Kalihi. The art will be installed on that site, now called St. Anthony Retreat Center.
A few years into the 10th decade of her life, Sister Dorothy still has a spring in her step, a deep love of the Lord, and probably another mosaic project in her future.
