SUNDAY, 8:30 a.m.

CatholicTV Presents: An Uncommon Kindness: The Father Damien Story

CATHOLICTV This 2006 documentary profiles Father Damien de Veuster (1840-1889), now St. Damien. Born in Belgium and ordained in 1864 in Honolulu, he volunteered in 1873 to care for the lepers whom authorities had exiled to the island of Molokai. After 12 years of heroic service there, he contracted the disease; he died four years later, among the patients he called his brothers and sisters.

SUNDAY, 8 p.m.

Nature: Fellowship of the Whales

PBS This show charts a humpback whale’s first year of life. Born in her species’ mating-ground warm waters off Hawaii, she begins to learn whale ways. She soon follows her mother thousands of miles to their summer feeding grounds off southeast Alaska. Then they return to Hawaii for the winter, with the young whale ready for life on her own.

SUNDAY-THURSDAY, 9 p.m.

WWII in HD

HISTORY Premiering Sunday, this 10-part documentary on Americans’ World War II experiences will air two 60-minute episodes apiece on five consecutive nights. Actor Gary Sinise narrates as this high-definition miniseries chronicles the conflict by employing original color footage, some not seen since the 1940s, as well as first-person accounts of American combat veterans, a nurse, war correspondents and prisoners of war.

TUESDAY, 6 p.m., 9 p.m.

Samurai Subs

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL Ocean explorers man deep-sea submersibles in 3,000-foot waters off the Hawaiian island of Oahu to search for the wrecks of five Japanese long-range and aircraft-carrying giant submarines. The U.S. Navy confiscated the subs at the end of World War II and later scuttled them after the Soviets demanded access to them. Re-airs 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. Wednesday.

THURSDAY, 8 p.m., live

Life on the Rock

EWTN Bill Thierfelder, president of Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C., discusses “Athletics and Virtue.” He is in the news for resisting a federal demand that his college’s health-insurance plan cover artificial contraceptives.

FRIDAY, 9 p.m., midnight

House Hunters:

Leaving Their Apartment

HOME & GARDEN TV Richard Crisp, his wife, Sheila, and their three children plan to leave their apartment in Yonkers, N.Y., for a home that meets their needs.

SATURDAY, 2 p.m.

The Call to Fatima:

The Message

EWTN Carmelite Sister Lucia (1907-2005) was one of the three shepherd children whom the Blessed Virgin Mary visited in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. This two-hour video interviews her relatives and associates and conveys the themes of her book, Calls From the Message of Fatima.

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.