Trayers, Rev Denis
REV. DENIS TRAYERS
September 5, 1993
Personal Info
- Date of Birth: 17 May 1927
- Place of Birth in Ireland: Renville, Oranmore
- County: Galway
- Education: St Mary’s College, Galway and St Peter College, Wexford, Ireland
- Date of Ordination: 8 June 1958
- Place of Ordination: St Peter’s College Chapel, Wexford, Ireland
- Ordained by: Most Rev James Staunton, Bishop of Ferns
Diocesan Assignments
- Assistant – Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Wichita – 8/29/1958 to 10/16/1959
- Assistant – Christ the King, Wichita – 10/17/1959 to 5/30/1963
- Assistant – St Mary, Newton – 5/31/1963 to 4/2/1964
- Assistant – Holy Cross, Hutchinson – 4/3/1964 to 8/28/1966
- Assistant – St Patrick, Wichita – 8/29/1966 to 6/30/1969
- Chaplain – St Joseph Regional Medical Center, Wichita – 7/1/1969 to 6/30/1970
- Pastor – St Mary, Chase – 7/1/1970 to 6/30/1972
- Pastor – Sacred Heart, Fredonia – 7/1/1972 to 11/28/1984
- Pastor – St Francis Xavier, Cherryvale and All Saints, Liberty – 11/29/1984 to 1993
Father Denis, identical twin brother of Father Kevin Trayers, wasn’t ordained at the same time as his brother due to an illness that set him back a few years in his seminary studies. When it became time for him to fill out the paperwork to join the Diocese of Wichita, following his ordination in Ireland, the materials didn’t get here in time to meet the printing deadline for The Catholic Advance. What to do? The diocesan staff contacted his brother to see if he could help. Help indeed, he filled out the necessary biographical data and submitted his own picture since they were identical twins, he figured no one would be able to tell the difference other than family back in Ireland.
Father Denis Trayers wrote an article for The Catholic Advance on the history of the legion of Mary which was organized on 7 September 1921 in Dublin, Ireland and eventually became a program in hundreds of dioceses around the world. Their primary objective to begin with was to form a society for visiting the sick people in the Dublin hospitals.
According to Father, “the Legion of Mary is a group of people, organized under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, to act as the eyes, ears, legs and hands of the priest. The Legion helps him reach innumerable souls whom he would ordinarily not be able to reach. Some of their projects include: visitation of the bed-ridden, taking older people to Mass, contacting fallen away Catholics, teaching CCD classes in their parishes, and helping with the parish census.”
The original name for the Legion of Mary was The Association of Our Lady of Mercy but as the number of chapters grew, they hanged their title to Legionaries of Mary. The organization is open to all Catholics who lead edifying lives, according to Father Trayers. Several parishes within the Diocese of Wichita continue to have active Legion groups.
- Date of Death: 5 September 1993
- Place of Death: Mercy Hospital, Independence, KS
- Age of Death: 66
- Funeral Celebrant: Most Rev Eugene J Gerber, Bishop of the Diocese of Wichita at St Andrew Church, Independence
- Burial: St Francis Xavier Catholic Cemetery in Cherryvale, Montgomery County, KS