Father Price and the Shipwreck of the Rebecca Clyde in 1876

I had to come to a stopping point because the iPad was at 5% but feeling great about the potential for these illustrations of Father Price’s life. I played around with some blurring too here. At about 16 years of age Father Price was leaving for college seminary in Baltimore on board a steamer, the Rebecca Clyde, from his hometown of Wilmington, NC. Unbeknownst to all onboard, Hurricane Felipe was headed their way. The hurricane caught the vessel off of Ocracoke Inlet and tore it to pieces. Young Freddie Price was praying in his cabin so long that no life preservers were available when he got to the deck. He clung to the rail and then to the mast with other passengers, until the ship finally broke apart and flung him into the sea. Freddie never learned to swim, and was sinking. He cried out “save me Lord or I perish!” After Father Price’s death, a Bishop and former classmate of the Tarheel Apostle shared that he had been able to hear the story directly from Freddie while they were both in seminary at Saint Charles: "Keeping his head as best he could, with all his physical strength, above the furious waters, he cried again, ‘Lord Jesus, save me or I perish.' Like a flash the sky seemed to open, and out of a speck of blue came the clearest vision, as clear as he saw the howling waves about him, Mary, the Mother of Christ, appeared before his eyes. Upon her face was a smile, and, gently stretching forth her hand she pointed to a great floating plank, which had been washed overboard from the sinking ship. Strengthened superhumanly by the perfect confidence of safety, he gained the plank, pulled himself upon it, threw himself face forward upon it and grasping a great ring on its upper surface, he swung, now up, now down, in the great waves about him, feeling nothing and now and then of the vision, which would always remain indelibly imprinted on his soul. He began the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, and as he said, 'In my joy I almost sang

it.' "  #fatherprice #thetarheelapostle #drawingexistedfirst #maryknoll #starofthesea