Early Life
Map of Fr. Damen's Homeland in Europe
Credit: Google Maps and Loyola University Chicago University Archives and Special Collections
Fr. Damen's Childhood Home
Fr. Damen's likely childhood home in Etten-Leur, the Netherlands. Credit: Brabant Historical Information Center
Arnoldus J. Damen was born in 1815 in Leur, Holland to Jan and Johanna Damen. He was one of ten children, but two of his older brothers died before he was born. He was raised in the predominantly Roman Catholic region of North Brabant in the Netherlands.
Fr. Pierre-Jean de Smet, S.J.
Credit: Loyola University Chicago University Archives and Special Collections
St. Stanislaus Novitiate, Florissant, Missouri
This drawing depicts St. Stanislaus Seminary as it looked around the time Fr. Damen attended. The drawing shows the original log structure with some additions, and the stone foundations for the building that still stands on the property can be seen in the foreground. Fr. Damen entered St. Stanislaus Seminary as a Jesuit novice on November 1, 1837. Credit: Library of Congress
His parents sent him to study at a preparatory seminary conducted by M. Pierre de Nef in Turnhout, Belgium. While there, he met Fr. Pierre-Jean de Smet, the great Jesuit missionary to America, who described the needs of the American Catholic Church in an effort to encourage young men to become Jesuits and move to America.
At age 22, Damen left Europe for America to study at St. Stanislaus Seminary in Florissant, Missouri, roughly fifteen miles from St. Louis. He was admitted as a Jesuit Novice on November 1, 1837, and he was ordained as a priest on September 23, 1843.