KALAWAO, Molokai — The heel of St. Damien of Molokai sat in a clear box within a wooden box within a koa box yesterday as a Belgian cardinal and 13 bishops honored Damien's work in the modest church where he restored human dignity to the remote Kalaupapa Peninsula beginning in 1873.

The normal restriction of 100 visitors per day at Kalaupapa was temporarily lifted yesterday for the 130 visitors, including Cardinal Godfried Danneels, archbishop of the archdiocese of Malines-Brussels and primate of Belgium; Bishop Larry Silva of the Catholic Diocese of Honolulu; an archbishop from San Francisco; and 11 visiting bishops from California.

During a Mass yesterday in Damien's St. Philomena Church, which sits next to the grave that contains Damien's right hand, Danneels recounted Damien's work with a Hansen's disease population that eventually grew to 8,000 patients.

"The church has solemnly confirmed what he has always been and it has set him as an example worth following for the whole world," Danneels said.

Yesterday marked the penultimate stop on a statewide tour for Damien's heel. The tour began after the relic's arrival from Rome on Oct. 17. More elaborate ceremonies involving Danneels and the bishops are planned for today in Honolulu for the relic. Afterward, it will take its place at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, where Damien was ordained.

Yesterday, the relic — either Damien's right or left heel — was carried down a 3.2-mile, twisting trail from "topside" Molokai by five boys who took turns shouldering it in the Billabong backpack of Kamalani Bicoy, a 16-year-old sophomore at Molokai High School.

Jerick Sablan, a senior at Damien Memorial School in Honolulu, called it an "honor" to take turns carrying Damien's remains.

"It's an experience that no one can take away, for sure," Sablan said.

Each year, 9,000 to 12,000 visitors are drawn to the Kalaupapa settlement where Damien worked to ease the suffering of Hansen's disease patients until his death on April 15, 1889, said Mark Miller, the administrator for the settlement for the state Health Department.

But this year, 20,000 visitors are expected to visit Kalaupapa because of Damien's canonization.

And even more are expected next year, Miller said.

"Sky's the limit — up to 100 per day," Miller said. "But we need to make sure that the (Hansen's disease) patients who live here continue to have the lifestyle they want and enjoy."

Beginning in 1866, an estimated 8,000 Hansen's disease patients were abandoned in Kalaupapa, including Silva's maternal great-grandfather.

John Santos' headstone was knocked over during the 1946 tsunami and was restored and replaced near where it came to rest after the tidal wave.

So Silva isn't certain exactly where his great-grandfather is actually buried in the cemetery.

But yesterday, on his way out of the settlement to catch a flight back to Honolulu for Damien services today, Silva stopped at his great-grandfather's headstone, which reads simply:

"John Santos

Dec. 24, 1865

Oct. 7, 1921"

Silva made the sign of the cross and told the bishops, "I think he was only here a couple of years."

Every visit to Kalawao and Kalaupapa is memorable for Audrey Toguchi of Aiea, who was cured from an aggressive type of lung cancer after praying to Damien.

Her refusal to accept medical treatment and her subsequent cure was the second miracle attributed to the Sacred Hearts priest, assuring his elevation to sainthood.

Yesterday, Toguchi stood next to Damien's grave just before the Mass and said, "I'm always excited — no matter how many times I come. It's always so exciting."

Sister Alicia Damien took Damien's name when she entered the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi religious order in 1965, inspired by his work in Kalaupapa.

She visited Kalaupapa in 1963 and prayed to Damien to help her "figure out what my life is about and what I need to do with my life," she said.

Forty-six years later, Sister Damien, now 65, sat outside Damien's church with its spectacular ocean scenery and stunning, 1,700-foot sea cliffs and remembered her first visit to Kalaupapa.

"It touched me," she said. "It changed me. It's very different being here. It's just so special."

During his homily yesterday, Danneels told those who had gathered in Damien's memory to honor him as more than just a hero — and to remember Damien's lessons for all:

Damien, Danneels said, "Says to us today: 'Do not set me too high on the podium. Come up there yourself and do what I did.' "