It was a funeral, but few of those who attended the final Mass for the Rev. Patrick Rager wore black.

For at least some of the priests there Saturday morning, the Mass was a celebration of Father Rager's saintly life. Knowing and spending time with him, they said, was a chance to feel God's presence.

The 50-year-old Catholic priest died Tuesday at his home in West Homestead after suffering for years from ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Despite his illness, Father Rager earned worldwide recognition for his dedication to ministry, prompting church leaders and others to describe him as a yet-to-be canonized saint.

About 100 friends, family and clergy gathered at St. Therese of Lisieux Parish in Munhall, where the Rev. Kris Stubna echoed a sentiment expressed earlier in the service by Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh.

"People walked away from Father Pat knowing they had been in the presence of God," said Father Stubna, the diocesan education secretary.

The first sign of Father Rager's illness came shortly after he graduated from Duquesne University in 1981, when he was 21. His knees buckled during a softball game with friends.

Still, he served during the 1980s as a deacon in Beaver Falls, then as an assistant pastor at St. Sylvester Church in Brentwood. In 1987, he could no longer walk with a cane and had to stay at home. A year later, former Pittsburgh Bishop Anthony Bevilacqua appointed Father Rager as pastoral counselor for the disabled.

A clinical psychologist, he published a newsletter and worked with hundreds of people over the phone from a wheelchair in his home. After a Catholic magazine published a story about him, he received visits, phone calls and letters from people around the world.

"Father Paddy" continued to minister even as the disease slowly paralyzed him. When he could no longer speak, he blinked his brown eyes to communicate.

Those eyes brightened with the laughter of people visiting him and welled up when they shared memories, said Father Stubna, who attended seminary with Father Rager.

"Even when he could no longer speak joyfully, his eyes told volumes," he said. "Those Irish eyes conveyed hope and joy and a passion for living."

Father Rager's mother, Helene, remembered her son as a young man who loved sports, cars and his Irish heritage. But priesthood was an early calling.

"When he was young, he used to collect all the kids on the street, and he'd pretend he was a priest," she said.

Father Rager was hospitalized with anemia until he begged for his family to take him home. His mother said that when he came home last Sunday, "the biggest smile came on his face."

For Father Stubna, it was no coincidence that his friend died around 3 p.m. -- the time that some believe Christ died.

God is never closer to anyone than to those who suffer, he said -- and Father Rager understood people's suffering "in the most authentic way possible."

Bishop Zubik told Father Rager's mother, who cared for him until he died, that her son was "truly" a saint.

"He accepted a cross that for most of us would have been impossible, but for him, was living," the bishop said.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.