Fr. William Trienekens: Happy are those who take refuge in Him

At the ordination of Fr. William Trienekens by Bishop Carroll, May 27, 1961

​As a young altar server in Boekel, Netherlands, Fr. William Trienekens saw his parish priest at Mass on a regular basis, and knew he “wanted that same job”.  It was never of any question to him — he was going to be a priest.

The third child and eldest boy of a family of ten, Father describes growing up in Boekel as relatively easy until the Second World War broke out. His father died in May 1944, two or three weeks before D-Day, upon which he suddenly became man of the household, and had to assume the role of surrogate father for his family, looking after the garden and taking on a major share of the household chores.  He describes this as his first ministry position.

By 1955, Fr. Bill was still very much interested in becoming a priest. With not much by way of finances, he sought the help of his parish priest in finding out the addresses of dioceses abroad who were accepting foreign students; Calgary was one such diocese. Bishop Carroll responded to his correspondence immediately, and within half a year, the paperwork was ready and the soon-to-be Fr. Bill was on a boat to Canada in August of 1955.

Fr. Bill describes his first meeting with Bishop Carroll as the best piece of advice he ever received. He was received by Bishop Carroll at his office, and in his interview, Bishop Carroll gave this request:  “I’m going to tell you a sentence, and you will repeat what you heard me say.”  For Fr. Bill, this was the best demonstration of how to really listen to someone he had ever received.  “After half an hour, we really understood each other. I walked out of his office… knowing I had a new father.” His new spiritual father sent him to St. Joseph’s Seminary, and would write him a letter every semester, closing with “Your tenacity will help you reach your goal.”  Fr. Bill was ordained on May 27th, 1961, along with Fr. Jack Bastigal, Fr. Louis Geelan, OFM, and Fr. Bill Stephenson (who was ordained in his home diocese of Antigonish).

When asked about his priestly ministry, Fr. Bill stresses his desire to work in parishes to strengthen community. The Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Women’s League, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Christian Family Movement, and Small Christian Communities come to mind easily as communities he helped strengthen. So too does his time celebrating Mass with the deaf community, his mountain hikes and retreats with schools, directing the permanent diaconate program, and the Evenings for the Engaged, in which a lead couple married for over 5 years would invite one or two engaged couples to their home — and often found their own marriage strengthened by the encounter.

Fr. Bill has many favourite prayers:  the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary, both learned as an infant; and later on, the Prayer of St. Francis, and Psalms 100 and 131. Psalm 34:8 holds particular meaning for him:  “O taste and see that the Lord is good, happy are those who take refuge in Him.” As a family in the Netherlands in the Second World War, taking refuge in God was of great importance, and this passage has reminded him to take refuge in prayer in all of the difficult moments of his ministry since then. His favourite prayer of all is silence: “St. John of the Cross wrote: ‘God’s first language is silence.’ We can pray non-stop, and kill our relationship with God, because we don’t take time to reflect and meditate.”

His advice on how to discern one’s vocation?  Pray for the right choice — “Here I am Lord, I come to do Your will” is a necessary prayer. The ability and interest to pursue it is necessary too. However, “if you want holiness [in vocation], go to bed every night at 10, get up in the morning at 6, and dedicate yourself again to God.  Say your prayers, do exercise, serve others, enjoy life, and be happy.”
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At 90 years of age, Fr. Trienekens says that it has been a happy life. It has been a struggle at times to reach this place, with personal sorrow and distance from family, but overall, “it has been a happy, graced life”, the guiding principle of which has always been:  “Taste and see that the Lord is good, happy are those who take refuge in Him.”

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Fr. William Trienekens

Ordained: May 27, 1961 at St. Mary’s Cathedral by Bishop Carroll

Pastoral Placements

• Assistant: St. Anthony’s, Drumheller (1961-1965)
• Assistant: St. Joseph’s, Calgary (1965-1967)
• Assistant: St. Patrick’s, Medicine Hat (1967-1969)
• Pastor: Sacred Heart, Oyen (1969-1970)
• Studies: St. Paul’s University, Ottawa (1970-1971)
• Chaplain: Bishop Carroll High School, Calgary (1971-1979)
• Pastor: Corpus Christi, Calgary (1979-1987)
• Sabbatical: University of Louvain, Belgium (1987)
• Pastor: Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Calgary (1987-1990)
• Pastor: St. Luke’s, Calgary (1990-1999)
• Vicar General (1998-2011)
• Co-Director-Permanent Diaconate Program (1998-2006)
• Administrator: Holy Spirit, Calgary (2003)

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Written by Solomon Ip for Faithfully. Solomon is a born-and-raised Calgarian, who got letters after his name in Lethbridge. He worships at All Saints, Lethbridge; St. John the Evangelist, Calgary; and both the Calgary and Lethbridge chapters of the St. Francis Xavier Chaplaincy. He is an oboist by training, chorister by grace, hobby wordsmith, amateur calligrapher and museum enthusiast.