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Married Couple
Priest
Beatification of
Georges & Pauline Vanier
The Canadian Worldwide Marriage
Encounter Secretariat continues to promote the cause of Georges & Pauline
Vanier for beatification.
In the words of Pope John Paul II “…there is a need to foster the recognition of the heroic virtues of men and women who have lived their Christian vocation in marriage …”
Georges & Pauline Vanier were married on Sept. 29, 1921 in Montreal. He was a much decorated war hero, she a lively, outgoing young woman with high religious ideals. They had five children and were a close-knit couple and family. Throughout their diplomatic career, they worked for refugees and the dispossessed. Georges Vanier was the first foreign diplomat to return to Paris at the end of World War II and Pauline, in her Red Cross uniform was a daily presence greeting returning deportees at the railway station. They were seen by friends and associates as a team. “We always think of them together” was an often-repeated phrase. Each day Georges & Pauline set aside a half-hour for prayer and spiritual reading. From 1959 to 1967 Georges was Governor General of Canada. During that time they had a chapel installed in their Rideau Hall residence where they attended daily mass.
After her husband’s death Pauline returned to France to support her son Jean who had established L’Arche, a worldwide movement for the care of the mentally disadvantaged. Pauline died in 1991 at Troisly.
Under the direction of the Archbishop of Ottawa, a committee has been studying the grounds for introducing their cause for beatification. For further information, Vanier prayer cards, please contact Dane & Anne MacCarthy email: annedane@look.ca
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"There is nothing extraordinary about my parents, Georges and Pauline Vanier -on the contrary, everything was very ordinary. They were very different in character and temperament and marriage was a long apprenticeship to a beautiful but hard- won harmony. They were called a 'team'. A long apprenticeship toward an outstanding success, such was the sacramental grace of Christian marriage for 46 years." -Fr.Benedict Vanier, OCSO (From a letter on the occasion of dedication of Newman Chapel windows in the University of Toronto, October 31, 1999.)
Prayer God of fidelity and love: You instilled in the hearts of your servants Georges and Pauline Vanier the courage to overcome the extraordinary difficulties of lives shared in service to the world. They shared a commitment to family life, a willingness to serve in the public forum yet always had time to look to the less fortunate of your world.
We pray that this exemplary couple be
one day glorified on earth and by their intercession, obtain for us the following favour We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN Please make known any favour obtained to:
30 Cathcart St., Ottawa, Ont.,
Publication: Appreciation to Worldwide Marriage Encounter & Conventual Franciscans
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