Father Clarence M. “C.M.” Trinkle, who made diocesan history by becoming its first consecrated hermit in 2018, died April 4 at the age of 82.
He also served as a priest in the diocese.
Known as Father Joseph Mary of Jesus Crucified after his consecration as a hermit, the Virginia native and avid sportsman had been a priest since 1992, but told the Catholic Herald in a 2018 interview that he had felt a strong call to live as a hermit since he was 14.
He lived as a hermit in West Virginia and then on the grounds of St. Dominic’s Monastery in Linden, home to a group of cloistered Dominican sisters, where he offered Mass and provided spiritual direction. But it wasn’t until after his retirement that he became consecrated, professing vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to Bishop Michael F. Burbidge in St. Dominic’s monastery chapel four years ago.
“I’m a modern-day version of a desert hermit,” he said in 2018. “I just love doing what I’m doing and I am so grateful to Bishop Burbidge.”
He was born to Clarence and Bertha Trinkle Nov. 28, 1940. His call to the priesthood became a call to the eremitic life after reading Thomas Merton’s book, “The Silent Life,” in high school.
He entered the seminary for the Diocese of Richmond, leaving in 1964 to live at a Camaldolese hermitage in Big Sur, Calif. But he found he was not yet ready for a hermit’s life.
After graduating from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., he served at St. Leo the Great Church in Fairfax during his diaconate and was ordained by Bishop John R. Keating May 16, 1992. He served as parochial vicar at Holy Spirit Church in Annandale (1992-96), parochial vicar of St. Peter Mission in Washington (1996-97) and administrator of Our Lady of the Shenandoah Mission in Basye in 2000, where he served for three years before retiring after a medical leave.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered April 8 at St. John the Baptist Church in Front Royal at 11 a.m. Visitation will be April 7, 4-8 p.m., and vigil prayers at 7:30 p.m. Interment will be April 8 at St. Peter Cemetery, Washington, Va.
Find out more
Read the Catholic Herald’s 2018 coverage of Fr. Trinkle’s consecration as a hermit.
