At the reception before Archbishop Richard Smith’s installation Mass, Monsignor Gregory Smith, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, offered the following prayer, invoking the intercession of three beloved saints:
Loving Lord, on this occasion of such great joy and hope, ordinary words seem inadequate. But your saints can inspire our prayer…
With St. Francis of Assisi, we pray that you will make our new Archbishop an instrument of your peace: that he will continue with your help the work of reconciliation—in our homes and in our hearts, within the Church, in our friendships with other Christians and those of other faiths, with all men and women of good will, and in our precious relationships with Canada’s First Nations,
With St. Augustine, we pray that Archbishop Smith will be given the heartfelt support of every member of this local Church, mindful that he carries out his ordained ministry as bishop within the Christian family to which he belongs through baptism.
And with St. John Vianney, we pray that as he works, his labours will be blessed, that as he walks, God will bless his steps, and that if he suffers, God will bless his tears.
May Archbishop Smith experience every day these words of the Cure of Ars, the patron saint of priests: “How great, how noble, how consoling it is to do everything and in the company and under the eyes of the good Lord.”
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