Thomas Frederick Price, MM (August 19, 1860 - September 12, 1919) was the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
co-founder of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, better known as the
Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.
Youth and education
Thomas Frederick Price was born in
Wilmington,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
, the eighth child of Alfred and Clarissa Bond Price. His parents were converts to the
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
faith, and he was raised as a devout Catholic amid Southern apathy toward Catholicism. As a youth, Price was deeply influenced by his parish priests (St. Thomas, Wilmington, North Carolina). One cleric who figured prominently in his early life was
James Gibbons
James Cardinal Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) was a senior-ranking American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as ninth ...
, newly appointed the first
Vicar Apostolic
A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...
of
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
. Gibbons established his headquarters at St. Thomas Church; Price often served Mass for Gibbons and accompanied him on official trips throughout the Vicariate.
With his religious background (especially the deep devotion of his mother to the
Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...
), Price soon felt an attraction to the priesthood. He confided his interest to the parish priest, Mark Gross, and arrangements were made for him to enter
St. Charles College at
Catonsville, Maryland
Catonsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 41,567 at the 2010 census. The community lies to the west of Baltimore along the city's border. Catonsville contains the majority of th ...
, in August 1876. En route to the seminary by ship, Price escaped death in the shipwreck of the ''Rebecca Clyde''. Price attributed his survival to the Blessed Virgin Mary's intercession. After the accident, he returned home until January 1877.
Price attended St. Charles College from January 1877 until his commencement on June 28, 1881. In September 1881, he entered
St. Mary's Seminary in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 20, 1886, by Gibbon's successor,
Henry P. Northrop, at the pro-cathedral in Wilmington, North Carolina. (Both of Price's parents had died before his ordination.) Price was the first native North Carolinian to be ordained to the priesthood, and he was assigned to missionary work in the eastern section of his home state.
Early priesthood
Within the first year of his ordination, Price was appointed pastor of the few Catholics in Asheville and New Bern. He later obtained permission from
Leo Haid
Leo or Léo may refer to:
Acronyms
* Law enforcement officer
* Law enforcement organisation
* ''Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky
* Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity
Arts ...
, the current Vicar Apostolic, to begin a statewide evangelization program. His methods were influenced by
Walter Elliott, a famous
Paulist
Paulists, or Paulines, is the name used for Roman Catholic orders and congregations under the patronage of Paul of Thebes the First Hermit. From the time that the abode and virtues of Paul of Thebes were revealed to Antony the Abbot, various comm ...
preacher.
One of Price's tools for evangelization was the publication of the magazine ''Truth'', which he began to edit and publish in April 1897. In 1912, the magazine passed into the hands of the International Catholic Truth Society, with the guarantee that the Truth Society would enable the publication to reach its full potential. Fr. Price's active role in the Foreign Mission Seminary by this time made his continued involvement in the publication impossible.
A second tool was the establishment of Nazareth Orphanage in 1898. Price's plan was first to help the underprivileged of an area and thereby win the general population's favor, who would then be more inclined to listen to the missioner's message.
Following the success of the Nazareth Orphanage, Price organized summer catechizing teams of seminarians. Finally, in 1902, Price opened a missionary training house at Nazareth. It was a preparatory seminary whose sole purpose was the education and formation of missioners for the home missions. It was called Regina Apostolorum. Price directed the Regina Apostolorum and acted as its primary teacher and spiritual director.
Plans for a foreign mission seminary
As time went on, Price began to emphasize more and more often, in the pages of ''Truth'', the need for a seminary to train young American men for foreign missions. At the same time,
James Anthony Walsh
James Anthony Walsh (February 24, 1867 – April 14, 1936) was the co-founder of Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.
Background
The son of James Walsh and Hanna Shea, James Anthony was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After completing his ...
, of Boston, was developing the same idea in the pages of ''The Field Afar''. At the
Eucharistic Congress in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
in 1910, the two priests met and began to formulate plans for the establishment of a seminary for foreign missioners. With the American hierarchy's approval, the two priests traveled to Rome in June 1911 to receive final approval from
Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...
for their project.
After meeting with the Pope, Price traveled to Lourdes for the first time. During his stay at Lourdes, Price had a spiritual experience that he refers to in his diary: he maintained a special devotion to
Our Lady of Lourdes
Our Lady of Lourdes (french: Notre-Dame de Lourdes) is a title of the Virgin Mary. She is venerated under this title by the Roman Catholic church due to her apparitions that occurred in Lourdes, France. The first apparition of 11 February 1858, o ...
and to
Bernadette Soubirous
Bernadette Soubirous (; ; oc, Bernadeta Sobirós ; 7 January 184416 April 1879), also known as Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, was the firstborn daughter of a miller from Lourdes (''Lorda'' in Occitan), in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées in ...
until his death.
Returning to the United States, Price and Walsh began establishing the new seminary and the foreign mission society. After a brief stay at
Hawthorne, New York
Hawthorne is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the town of Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 4,586 at the 2010 census.
History
The village was originally known as Hammond's Mill ...
, the property was purchased at
Ossining, New York
Ossining may refer to:
* Ossining (town), New York, a town in Westchester County, New York state
*Ossining (village), New York, a village in the town of Ossining
* Ossining High School, a comprehensive public high school in Ossining village
* Ossi ...
, for the site of the new foundation, the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America (popularly known as Maryknoll).
Foreign missions begin
![Thomaspricechina1918](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Thomaspricechina1918.jpg)
Price made a countrywide tour of America to gain support for the new endeavor. By 1918, three young priests (
James Edward Walsh
James Edward Walsh, MM (April 30, 1891 – July 29, 1981) was an American Roman Catholic priest and a bishop in China. He was a member of the Maryknoll order, and a missionary in China.Our Sunday Visitor, "They go after priests", Robert P. Lock ...
,
Francis Xavier Ford
Francis Xavier Ford, MM was an American people, American Bishop (Catholic Church), bishop of the Catholic Church and a Maryknoll missionary in China. Because of his torture by the Communist Chinese and death in prison in 1952, he is considered a m ...
, and Bernard F. Meyer) were ready for the foreign missions in China. On September 7, Price went with them as superior to the new mission. From the time of Maryknoll's foundation, Price had understood that Walsh was capable of administering and directing the seminary itself. Price himself had always hoped to be chosen as one of Maryknoll's first missioners, and his dream was realized.
This group of the first four American missioners in China arrived in Hong Kong in October 1918. They then settled down in Yeungkong (now called Yangjiang) on the South China Coast. Because of his age and its complexity, Price had great difficulty learning the
Chinese language
Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...
Price also suffered from physical ailments. Towards the latter part of 1919, Price became seriously ill. As there were no adequate medical facilities in that area, he was brought to Hong Kong for hospitalization. After a trying trip, Price arrived in the British Colony and was immediately taken to St. Paul's Hospital in Causeway Bay, an institution conducted by the
Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres. The long and arduous journey from Yeungkong to Hong Kong by primitive means of travel aggravated Price's advanced and serious case of appendicitis. He entered the hospital on 19 August 1919 and was operated on 8 September 1919. However, it was too late, and on 12 September, the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, he died due to a burst appendix at five minutes past ten o'clock. His dear friend Father Tour had been with him at his side, as they recited the prayers for the commendation of Fr. Price's soul. His body was buried in the priests’ plot in St. Michael's Cemetery in Happy Valley, Hong Kong. The date of his death was rather significant, as he had a great devotion to Our Lady. He was only 59.
A solemn requiem Mass was celebrated on 18 September 1919 at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral for his priestly soul's happy repose. At this ceremony, Bishop of the
Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong
The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong (; la, Dioecesis Sciiamchiamensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church. The diocese takes its name from the see city, the metropolitan area where the bishop resides.
The Roman Catholic Diocese o ...
, Pozzoni, gave the last absolution, and a large concourse of priests and Sisters attended
In 1923, a French missioner returned to France with Price's heart and gave it to St. Bernadette's religious order, the
Sisters of Charity of Nevers
The Sisters of Charity of Nevers (French: ''Congrégation des Sœurs de la Charité de Nevers''), also known as Sisters of Charity and Christian Instruction, is a Catholic convent founded in 1680 in Nevers, Nièvre department, France, at the inst ...
. It was placed in a niche in the wall near the saint's body in the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Nevers. It was Price's request, for he had a very great devotion to Sister Bernadette.
Price's body was exhumed in 1936 and transferred to Maryknoll Cemetery in Ossining, New York. In 1955, his remains, together with James A. Walsh's, were finally interred in the crypt below the Maryknoll Seminary Chapel.
Writings
*
Bernadette of Lourdes (2013)
*
The Lily of Mary (2013)
References
Bibliography
* John T. Sedden, ''When Saints Are Lovers. The Spirituality of Maryknoll Founder Thomas F. Price'', Liturgical Press (1997), 184 pages
External links
*
Maryknoll priests visit grave of Fr. Price in Hong Kong, China, 1923. from USC digital library Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Thomas Frederick
Founders of Catholic religious communities
1860 births
1919 deaths
American Roman Catholic missionaries
American Roman Catholic priests
Maryknoll Fathers
People from Wilmington, North Carolina
American Servants of God
Deaths from appendicitis
Catholics from North Carolina