Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Governor-General Georges-Phileas Vanier on March 5, 1967. The night before he had told Prime Minister Lester Pearson by phone that, though his health was frail, he was prepared to soldier on through Canada’s Centennial Year. But on Sunday morning, after Mass in the chapel he had installed in Rideau Hall when he began his term of office, he died.
Vanier was the nineteenth person to hold the office of Governor-General of Canada and the first French-Canadian to do so. When, on Sept. 15, 1959, Georges Vanier took office as governor general of Canada he spoke words that were seen as admirable at the time but sound dated in today’s secular context.
“My first words are a prayer,” said the career soldier and former diplomat: “May almighty God in his infinite wisdom and mercy bless the sacred mission which has been entrusted to me by Her Majesty the Queen and help me to fulfill it in all …show more content…
He came to believe that pain and weakness were foundations for to communion with God.
Born to a Francophone father and Irish mother in Montreal, George Vanier was studious and serious. Asked by a journalist if he spelled his first name (Georges) with an “s” or without, he replied, “Take your choice. I am a Canadian either way.”
Following law school, Vanier joined the Canadian army at the outbreak of the Great War and was instrumental in founding Canada’s first French Canadian battalion, the famed 22nd Regiment, better known as the “Van
Vanier was the nineteenth person to hold the office of Governor-General of Canada and the first French-Canadian to do so. When, on Sept. 15, 1959, Georges Vanier took office as governor general of Canada he spoke words that were seen as admirable at the time but sound dated in today’s secular context.
“My first words are a prayer,” said the career soldier and former diplomat: “May almighty God in his infinite wisdom and mercy bless the sacred mission which has been entrusted to me by Her Majesty the Queen and help me to fulfill it in all …show more content…
He came to believe that pain and weakness were foundations for to communion with God.
Born to a Francophone father and Irish mother in Montreal, George Vanier was studious and serious. Asked by a journalist if he spelled his first name (Georges) with an “s” or without, he replied, “Take your choice. I am a Canadian either way.”
Following law school, Vanier joined the Canadian army at the outbreak of the Great War and was instrumental in founding Canada’s first French Canadian battalion, the famed 22nd Regiment, better known as the “Van