Father Damian: The Rainbow Priest.

When a monk dies, it is not unlike a death in the family. One of your own is no longer with you, and regardless of the monk’s place in the community or his particular work, there is a sense of loss knowing that you will never see him again in the dinning room, at the Divine Office, or at the Eucharist. We now miss our confrere Father Damian Parker, O.S.B. who died after a brief illness on January 13, 1995. While Father Damian’s work in recent years took him away from the abbey much of the time, his presence was felt by the mere fact that he was an active member of our community trying the best he could each day to live his life as a good monk.

Father Damian was born in Louisville, Kentucky were he attended parochial grade school and high school. He attended the University of Notre Dame where he earned a degree in science in 1952. Three years ago he was very happy and proud that he was able to attend his 40th year class reunion at Notre Dame. While at the reunion, he was able to celebrate Mass for and with his classmates.

After graduation from Notre Dame, Father Damian entered Immaculate Conception Abbey, in Missouri and professed his first vows as a Benedictine monk on September 8, 1954. Four years later, 1958, he was ordained to the priesthood. He first came to Mount Michael in the fall of 1958 where he served the community in a variety of positions as a teacher of biology, German, religion and Latin. At times he was the guest master, assistant novice master and sacristan.

During the 1970’s, Father earned his master’s degree in science. He also served as assistant pastor of Holy Family Church in Omaha, and then spent two years at Pecos Benedictine Abbey in Pecos, New Mexico.

The work for which Father Damian will be most remembered is the hospital chaplaincy work he began in 1988. He served as chaplain at Bergan Mercy Hospital, Clarkson Hospital and the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He provided weekly masses for the nursing homes in Elkhorn and Gretna, Nebraska. At Mount Michael on the third Monday of each month, Father Damian also joined with a small prayer group and celebrated a “Healing Mass” for the intentions of the sick.

As chaplain Father Damian became known as the “rainbow priest,” a nickname he earned because of the wide, rainbow-colored suspenders he wore all the time. For Father Damian these suspenders were more than just an article of clothing; they became the symbol for the way he wished to minister to the sick. They were a sign of hope and God’s grace to countless patients, and grieving families. One woman, who remembered Father Damian visiting her when she was very ill, recalled that simply the presence of Father in her hospital room brought her renewed strength.

Father Damian suffered from several debilitating illnesses; he probably suffered more than anyone realized. He had heart problems, diabetes and arthritis; yet despite these infirmities (and maybe because of them), he was a faithful, generous and compassionate minister to the sick. At the vigil service held at the Abbey on the evening before Father Damian’s funeral, our prior, Father Robert, referred to Father Damian as the “wounded healer,” an appropriate name for one, who, despite his own suffering continued to minister to others. On the night before he was hospitalized for the last time, he made two sick calls in the middle of the night even though he was not feeling well himself.

At the vigil service numerous friends, former students, and family members had a chance to offer their personal reflections and remembrances of Father Damian. The common thread that ran through all these testimonials was that he was a man of extreme compassion and understanding. His particular gift seemed to be in helping those individuals in most need of God’s grace: the sick, the suffering, and the grieving.

Father Damian, the “rainbow priest”: a man of gentleness, understanding and compassion. Not a bad way for a monk to be remembered!