KAHULUI, Maui — The stately koa reliquary carrying a foot bone from newly canonized St. Damien de Veuster continued its statewide tour yesterday with visits to several Maui parishes, including the church where the Belgian priest was called to serve the Hansen's disease settlement at Kalawao on the isolated peninsula of Kalaupapa.

Damien was working on the Big Island when he traveled to Maui for the 1873 dedication of a new sanctuary for St. Anthony Church in Wailuku. He already had seen the devastating effects of the Hawaiian government's policy of separating families affected by Hansen's disease during his mission work on the Big Island, and while on Maui, Damien volunteered with three other priests to accept a rotating assignment to Kalawao.

Damien was the first to go, and within days of his arrival at the forlorn settlement on May 10, 1873, he told his superiors that he wanted to stay.

During the next 16 years, Damien ministered to the physical and spiritual needs of the Kalawao residents and was a fierce advocate on their behalf. He contracted Hansen's disease and died April 15, 1889, at the age of 49.

May 10 is now St. Damien's feast day, except in Hawaii, where it will be celebrated April 15.

The St. Anthony Church building dedicated in 1873 burned long ago and has been replaced by a modern-style sanctuary for the 1,200-member parish. A small chapel attached to the church is named for Damien and houses two "second-class" relics, a cloth and splinter from his coffin. First-class relics, such as the bone from his right heel, are the actual physical remains of a saint.

"For so many of us, we weren't able to go to Rome (for the Oct. 11 canonization), so this is our chance to be reunited and to get in touch with a saint who's been here and has been a model for us for service and compassion," said the Rev. Roland Bunda of St. Anthony.

Earlier in the day, the reliquary was displayed at St. Theresa Church in Kíhei and Christ the King Church in Kahului.

Parishioners at the Kahului church held a midday Mass and celebration in honor of Damien that included music, hula, offerings and a recounting of the priest's remarkable life and good works.

Joan Ai, a member of the Hui Hoomana 'O Christ the King choir, said she was especially moved by the occasion since her husband's grandfather, Joseph Ai, was sent to Kalaupapa at age 32 and is buried there.

"It feels like our prayers have been answered that he's home, that St. Damien is finally home among the Hawaiian people," she said.

Deacon Ken Bissen Jr. said Damien remains an inspiring symbol to the people of Hawaii.

"He gave his life and love with no regard for his own life. He just gave it all, and to me that's what a saint is," he said.

Following the St. Anthony visit, the reliquary was scheduled to be taken last night to East Maui, with a stop at tiny St. Gabriel Church in Keanae before being honored at a midnight Mass at St. Mary in Häna. Plans called for a caravan to start at 3 a.m. today to transport the reliquary from Häna to three missions — St. Peter in Puuiki, St. Paul in Kípahulu and St. Joseph in Kaupo — in Maui's most remote communities.

Later today, the reliquary will visit Holy Rosary Parish in Päia, St. Joseph Parish in Makawao and War Memorial Gym in Wailuku, where several thousand people are expected to attend a Mass and other festivities from 5 to 9 p.m.

After visiting churches in Kula, Waihee and Lahaina tomorrow, the reliquary will travel to Länai, Kauai and Molokai, arriving in Kalaupapa on Saturday.

On Nov. 1, the relic will go to Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, where Damien was ordained in 1864. An interfaith ceremony at Iolani Palace is planned for the same day.

The relic eventually will be permanently placed at Our Lady of Peace.