The ashes of Father Patrick Freitas are surrounded by white flowers at his funeral Mass Dec. 7 in the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa. (HCH photos | Patrick Downes)
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
The funeral Mass for Father Patrick Henry Freitas Dec. 7 brought together people in Honolulu’s Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa whose lives he had touched in his 83 years on earth and his 57 years of priesthood — former parishioners including a group from rural Maui, catechists whom he taught and mentored, a beloved sister, aunties and hanai sons, and 20 priests, nearly all younger than he. Bishop Larry Silva presided.
Father Freitas was present as ashes sealed in a simple bronze urn placed amid an arrangement of white roses and lilies. The photo of him on display was one he picked because it showed him in Mass vestments.
Bishop Larry Silva blesses the urn with incense. (HCH photos | Patrick Downes)
At the beginning of the rite, the urn was covered with a pall, a white cloth signifying his baptism, and surrounded by a Bible, a stole, and other symbols of his life and priesthood.
Fellow Mauian Msgr. Terrence Watanabe gave the homily, reading from a prepared script, which he said he rarely does, only when the occasion and subject require such attentiveness.
“His whole life was a vigil,” Msgr. Watanabe said, “an Advent to this time when he has been called back home to be with God.”
Taking as a model the super-heroes that have invaded popular culture, the monsignor attributed three “powers” to Father Freitas. “The first would be his willingness to grow, change and renew,” he said, describing the priest as one who studied for a pre-Vatican II church but was thrust into a post-Vatican II church.
His second super-power was his love for the liturgy. “He desired that every grace and blessing that the liturgy had to offer would be bestowed on his parishioners.”
His third power: “love for the church.”
“He always put his heart and soul into everything he did,” the monsignor said.
The entire funeral service was planned over many months by Father Freitas himself and executed at his request by Mike Bartels, one of the priest’s hanai sons.
A classically-trained musician, Bartels also had the job of playing all the Mass music, rushing back and forth between the organ and piano.
Bartels, a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, was in uniform, he said, to honor the late priest’s attention to protocol and decorum.
Kyle Miura, another hanai son, recited a long list of acknowledgements, making it clear that there were many people who loved Father Freitas and cared for him in his prolonged, debilitating, final illness.
He said the vicar of clergy Father Gregorio Honorio anointed Father Freitas “about five times,” the number of times he hovered close to death, before he finally passed.
After the prayers of committal at the end of the Mass, the priests and deacons, in robust unison, intoned a cappella the Gregorian chant sung in Latin at every priest’s funeral, the “Salve Regina” — “To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.”
As the priests processed out of the church at the liturgy’s conclusion, Bartels played the powerful “Toccata from Organ Symphony No. 5” by Charles-Marie Widor, Father Freitas’ favorite organ piece.
Instead of refreshments, volunteers at the reception desk handed out pink and white chichi dango, bite-sized pieces of fresh soft mochi wrapped in twisted squares of parchment paper. Simple, modest and sweet.
Father Freitas’ ashes were inurned that same afternoon in a private ceremony at Oahu Cemetery.
Maui-born Father Freitas was ordained a priest on June 12, 1965. He died on Oct. 18 at age 82 in a care home in Waipahu.
