The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers in Hong Kong commemorated the centenary death anniversary of Father Thomas Frederick Price, one of the congregation’s founding fathers, on September 12. Servant of God Father Thomas Frederick Price, also known as the Tar Heel Apostle, died in Hong Kong on 12 September 1919, on the feast of the Holy Name of Mary. Tar Heel is a nickname applied to the state of North Carolina in the United States of America. Father Price was the first North Carolinian to be ordained to the priesthood in 1886.
A gathering of representatives from various Maryknoll schools in Hong Kong, the Maryknoll Sisters and associates of Maryknoll missions in Hong Kong and China, joined the memorial Mass celebrated by John Cardinal Tong, Hon the apostolic administrator of the diocese, at St. Margret’s Church, Happy Valley; Father John Baptist Kwan Kit-tong, the parish priest; Maryknoll Father Joseph McCabe, assistant parish priest; and priests from various religious institutes concelebrated.
Father Price was born on 19 August 1860, in Wilmington, North Carolina. After his ordination to priesthood, he worked among the orphans and the underprivileged. Together with Father James Anthony Walsh, he obtained permission from Pope Pius X and founded the American Catholic Foreign Mission Society (popularly known as Maryknoll) in 1911.
In 1918 Father Price led the first delegation of three Maryknollers for the foreign missions in China. But his health deteriorated and had to return to Hong Kong to undergo an operation at St. Paul’s Hospital for appendicitis. However, he succumbed to a burst appendix and died on September 12 and was buried in St. Michael’s cemetery, Happy Valley.
In 1936, his mortal remains were exhumed and transferred to the cemetery at Maryknoll, New York. In 1955, his remains, together with those of Bishop James A. Walsh, were finally interred in the crypt below the Maryknoll Seminary Chapel.
During the Mass, Cardinal Tong acknowledged with gratitude the great missionary endeavours undertaken by the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers for the Church in China and Hong Kong.
“Although I was born in Hong Kong, my family had to move to South China due to the Japanese war and occupation of Hong Kong. I was baptised there by Father Bernard F. Meyer, one of the companions of Father Price,” the cardinal said.
In his homily, Father McCabe, the superior of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers in Hong Kong, gave a brief introduction to the life and mission of “Father Freddie” who had a great devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes and to St. Bernadette Soubirous. Since 1908 he had developed a habit of writing a letter every day up until his death, addressed to the Blessed Mother. Although his skills in Chinese were very limited, the Chinese people who came in contact with him remember him as a holy priest.
On his deathbed Father Price requested that, before burial, his heart should be cut out and sent to Nevers, France, to be buried near the body of St. Bernadette. As per his desire, his heart was inserted in a small niche and placed near the body of Bernadette and covered with a tablet.
While Father Price’s dream of foreign missionary work was cut short, his dream lives on through Maryknoll and his zeal continues to inspire souls. SE
