Fr Damien was born on October 20, 1936 in Le Center, Minnesota. In 1936 the Kraus family moved to Ortonville, where Fr Damien's father operated a cannery. Fr Damien received his secondary education at Nazareth Hall in St Paul, Minnesota. From 1954 until 1957 he was a student at St John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota. On August 14, 1957 he entered the novitiate at Blue Cloud. He professed solemn vows on August 15, 1961 and was ordained to the priesthood on May 23, 1963.

Fr Damien earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of America in 1965. For the next two years he was in Rome at the Pontifical Biblical Institute completing work on a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture. When he returned to Blue Cloud in 1967, he was appointed novice master and director of the Institute of Christian Brotherhood. In 1970 he was called to Rome to serve as secretary to the Abbot Primate, Most Rev Rembert Weakland, a position he held for four years.

After returning to Blue Cloud in 1974, he became known throughout this region as an educator in scripture and as an ecumenist, and he served the monastic community in numerous positions, including that of junior master.

Although Fr Damien was away from the abbey frequently, his abiding interest was the community. In conversations and homilies, he constantly spoke about the quality of the community's monastic life, reminding his confreres of traditional values and urging them to create a meaningful monasticism for today. He had only one brief assignment at an Indian parish, but this Blue Cloud apostolate was also a concern of his. He was a scholar, a practical joker, a fine cook, an excellent homilist, a dedicated teacher, a faithful monk, and a friendly brother to his confreres.