INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION FOR THE CAUSE OF BEATIFICATION AND CANONIZATION FOR FATHER MARCEL GIROUARD M.AFR. (1923-1994)
By Rt. Rev. Martin Anwel Mtumbuka – 15th March, 2024
Fr. Marcel Girouard died of cancer in 1994. Since then, many people – especially his many former students – have been asking for his Beatification and Canonization. Long at last the long, tedious, and expensive process towards the Beatification and Canonization for Fr. Marcel Girouard is about to begin. But first, what is Beatification and Canonization?
According to the tradition of the Church, for someone to be beatified and recognized as a Blessed, one miracle acquired through the candidate’s intercession is required in addition to recognition of heroic virtue or offering of life. Canonization requires a second miracle after beatification. By beatifying someone, the Church proclaims that the person in question is (a) definitely in Heaven, and (b) definitely able to plead to God on your behalf if you pray to him.
For all of who were privileged to sit at Fr. Marcel’s feet as his students and/or work with him, there is no doubt that he was a priest of heroic virtue or offering of life. For me as his student, and later as his fellow teacher/ formator, he was a living saint in every way one can imagine. It is my deep seated conviction and belief that if Fr. Marcel is not in heaven, some of us have no chance!
There is a lot one can say about Fr. Marcel’s outstanding personal life and priestly ministry. But briefly who was Fr. Marcel Girourd? To answer this question, we shall rely mainly on archives in the office of the Provincial of Missionaries of Africa in Canada.
Fr. Marcel was born on 12th January 1923 at St. Bernard, St. Hyacinthe County and was brought up at St. Ours-sur-Richelieu, in the Province of Quebec, Canada. His younger brother, Louis-Phillippe, also joined the Society of Missionaries of Africa and worked as a missionary in Malawi. He died in 1986.
Fr. Marcel used to say that he owed his vacation in a homily he heard in his parish church on the words addressed to the Rich Young Man; “Go, leave everything you have, the land which you grew up, and then follow me.” (cf. Mt 19:21).
He studied for the Bachelor of Arts degree (Philosophy from 1943 to 1945 and Theology from 1947 to 1951) at the Seminary of St. Hyacinthe. He did his Postulancy at Everell from 1945 to 1946; Novitiate at St. Martin from 1946 to 1947; took the Oath of the Society in 1950 in Ottawa; and was ordained a priest in Ottawa on 29th January 1951.
It was noted during his years of formation that Fr. Marcel was a serious young man, cordial and delicate, with solid intelligence. He was very active and a hard-worker, good with his hands. He never spared himself.
His first appointment was to Nyasaland; now Malawi. He first went to the Institute of Education, London, for a year where obtained a Diploma in Education. This was to affect him for the rest of his life, for he spent all his missionary years teaching.
When he arrived in the Diocese of Mzuzu in September 1952, he was first appointed to Katete Parish. In October 1954 he went to Nkhata Bay Secondary School and then in 1958 to Karonga Secondary School – now Chaminade Secondary School. He was a successful teacher and had a good influence on his students as all those who had the privilege sitting at his feet as his students can testify. He had a tendency to overwork; he did not know how to rest and took insufficient care to his health. In the community with fellow priests he was much appreciated for his patience and tact.
In October 1960, Fr. Marcel was appointed Diocesan Education Secretary. He got on very well with the teachers. At the same time, he carried out some parish ministry, for he never wanted to be simply an administrator, He realized, however, that through lack of practice, his knowledge of Tumbuka language was imperfect, for he only used English in his relations with the teachers.
In May 1963 he returned to teaching, this time Katete Teacher Training College – now St. John Bosco Secondary School – where he taught pedagogy. In 1967 he made the Long Retreat at Villa Cavalletti. After a period of leave in 1972 he was appointed to Rumphi with the big and specific mandate of upgrading what was until then St. Patrick’s Preparatory Seminary to a Junior Seminary which is its status until today. Among his first Form IV students four were ordained priests, namely Frs. Paul Chirwa, Francis Shawa, Richard Theu and Albert Nyirongo. Before then seminarians from Mzuzu Diocese went to St. Kizito Junior Seminary for their secondary education and formation – among them Bishop Joseph Mkasa Zuza. From 1974-1980 he was Rector and then stayed on as a teacher. Every three years he returned to Canada for three months. He remained there for 21 years, until he had to leave Malawi because of his health.
During these years, Fr. Marcel taught 25 periods a week of Mathematics. “This is where I am most useful,” he used to say, “because of the studies I have done”. He also taught Latin to Form Ones and Twos for many years.
His health remained good until 1993 when it was discovered that he had cancer and he had to go to Canada. He still hoped to return to Malawi, saying to the doctor who asked him why he was so anxious to go back, ‘Africa is my life’. This remark in fact sums up the life of Fr. Marcel Girouard. For forty-three years he lived the routine life of a teacher with unshakable faith. Those who worked alongside him recognized that he was possessed with a great determination to bear witness to the Gospel. Everyone felt his deep humanity and living faith – very much inherited from his parents.
He was never content to be a teacher of Mathematics. He communicated life. He gave his students all his time and talents, his efforts and his pains. His generosity and compassion for students – especially weak and/or very poor ones – were unlimited.
At his funeral the Provincial of Canada, Fr. Richard Dandenault, recalled how many people in the Diocese of Mzuzu had benefited from his teaching. Hundreds of students passed through his hands some to become priests, others teachers or businessmen or civil servants or politicians. He said everywhere in Malawi you could meet people who said,” Ndili kusambizgika na Abambo Girouard”, I was taught by Fr. Girouard.
When he became ill, Fr. Marcel began to write a work which he called “Summary of what I have been through since the beginning of my illness”. He persevered with his diary until June 1994, covering ninety pages. In July 1994 he went to live with his family. Only two-and-a-half pages were written during the month of July. The half-page of August is headed: ‘Death’. He no longer had strength to continue writing.
Father Girouard died in the Hotel-Dieu in Sherbrooke on 2nd December 1994 at the age of 71. The funeral was celebrated in the Provincial House on 5th December and he was buried in the cemetery of the Society at St-Martin-de-Laval. Bishop Jobidon, who was his Bishop in Mzuzu Diocese, said: “We now have Marcel – a powerful intercessor with the Father.”
We all fully agree with Bishop Jobidon that in Fr. Marcel we have a strong intercessor before God. While all our teachers/ formators at St. Patrick’s Seminary contributed greatly to our holistic growth, nobody touched us more deeply than Fr. Marcel. His compassion for all students – especially those who were academically weak or in financial difficulties, his very hardworking spirit, the amount joy he radiated, his outstanding prayer life, his homilies, his spiritual direction, his commitment to giving all his students some practical skills like carpentry, bookbinding, typing, and everything he was, touched us deeply. He was my spiritual director and I very much owe my vocation to him. Later I went back to St. Patrick’s Seminary – at first as the Vice Rector and then Rector – and the respect he gave me didn’t show any sign that he was far ahead of me in every aspect regarding teaching, administration, formation, priestly ministry, spiritual maturity and everything else.
Fr. Marcel was a unique tool in God’s hands to make dry bones live (cf. Ezk. 37:3). If it were not for him, the late Mons. Michael Muwowo and myself would never have been enrolled in St. Patrick’s Seminary because we were way above the maximum age limit. With his usual big sense of humour, he told me several times how much he ‘fought’ with fellow staff to have us selected for Form I. Only Fr. Marcel could do that! As a way of paying him back for such a great favour, both Mons. Michael Muwowo and I relentlessly asked the good Lord for the grace to live by the prayer of St. Ignatius which Fr. Marcel heroically lived by – as did his close friend Mons. Saint Denis (Prefect of the Prefecture Apostolic of Northern Malawi): Lord, teach me to be generous, to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labour and not to look for any reward, save that of knowing that I do your holy will. Amen.
His Lordship Bishop John Ryan of Mzuzu Diocese has similar sentiments about this great servant of Christ and his Church: In 1978, I was appointed to Mzuzu Diocese, as Bishop Jobidon requested St Patrick’s Missionary Society for a replacement for the Mathematics Teacher, Fr. Marcel Girouard, at St Patrick’s Minor Seminary in Rumphi as, he said, Fr. Girouard was ‘getting old’. When I arrived in Mzuzu Diocese, I quickly paid a visit to Rumphi to meet Fr. Girouard. I was amazed. He may have been old but he was still full of energy, full of enthusiasm and full of concern for the boys of St Patrick’s Seminary. As a young missionary priest, it was clear to me that Fr. Girouard was completely committed and dedicated to the task given to him, mainly teaching Mathematics. But he was not only concerned with figures, numbers and sums but he was also full of the Holy Spirit giving himself completely to prayer and spiritual direction. Spirituality and Mathematics were just different faces of the one coin. That was his life. Imparting both of these to students and to everyone he met. After meeting Fr. Girouard in 1978, I knew I was not needed at St Patrick’s yet. Fr. Girouard continued for another 15 years! In the end, it was cancer which prevented him from continuing with the passion he had in serving the young boys at St Patrick’s Seminary. And during those 15 years I marveled at how, during holiday time at St Patrick’s Seminary, Fr. Girouard was visiting many parts of the Diocese giving retreats and spiritual food to various groups. Holidays for him was to continue to serve and promote spirituality and faith in Jesus Christ.
So what next? The next step is that all those who have been asking for the process of Beatification and Canonization of Fr. Marcel Girouard should indicate their commitment to: a. Pray for the cause of Beatification and Canonization of Fr. Marcel Girouard, b. Give testimony for his heroic virtue or offering of life, c. Generously support the cause financially; especially when the Holy See will start sending experts in this field to examine available documents and testimonies relating to the cause.
So please indicate your availability for these three major tasks please by sending a message to secretariat@marcelgirouard.org. Once this has been done, namely having sufficient number of people willing to pray for the cause, give testimonies for the cause and financially support the cause, we will request the local Ordinary of Mzuzu Diocese to request the Episcopal Conference of Malawi to formerly request the Holy See, Rome, to approve and guide the official process of seeking the Beatification and Canonization of Fr. Marcel.