====== Couturier, Felix ====== (29 March 1876-27 July 1941), third bishop of Alexandria. Born in France, to a French father and an English mother, he was taken to England at age of 10 after the death of his father. The education of the future bishop was in France and at St. Charles College, London, Eng., and at the Dominican College, Hawkesyard, Eng. Felix Couturier entered the Dominican Order in 1896, and was ordained priest in 1901. He was prior first of Hawkesyard Priory and afterwards of St. Sebastien’s. In the First World War he was a military chaplain with the British forces, and served in Egypt and Palestine. His record was distinguished, for he received the Military Cross for gallantry, also the Order of the British Empire, and was four times mentioned in dispatches. Called to Rome in 1919, he was there consecrated bishop of Myriophytos and named visitor apostolic to Egypt, and he thereafter spent a year in Egypt. His career now took a wholly new direction. He was chosen to be the bishop of Alexandria, Ont., in succession to W. A. Macdonell, who had died in Nov. 1920. Fr Couturier arrived in Alexandria, Ont., on 23 Aug. 1921 (//Glengarry News// 26 Aug. 1921). Given the surprise nature of his appointment, and his previous connections with Egypt, it is not remarkable that the story developed that he had been chosen by mistake for Alexandria, Canada, when Alexandria, Egypt was really meant. Presumably, however, there was no basis in fact for this story. There was newspaper speculation in 1922 after the death of archbishop Gauthier and again in 1927 that Couturier would be the next archbishop of Ottawa. (//Cornwall Freeholder// 26 Jan. 1922, 6 Oct. 1927) In fact, however, the remainder of his life of service was to be in the very small diocese of Alexandria. He came to Canada as a complete stranger to the country and to his new diocese. As a continental European who belonged to both the French and English cultures, Bishop Couturier was a transitional figure in a diocese where the two previous bishops had been of Highland Scottish origin and where the bishops after him were French Canadians. Surprisingly, we have been told that while Bishop Couturier was a bilingual speaker, he was not fully proficient in writing French. (Choquette 40, 49) In 1927 it was stated that he “speaks English with a cultured accent.” (//Montreal Gazette// repr. //Cornwall Standard //7 April 1927) Bishop Couturier was strongly marked by both Dominican and army concepts of discipline and order. He was a strong supporter of ritual and ceremony in church services. It was during his period as bishop that the Monastery of the Precious Blood was founded. Also two new parishes, both in Cornwall, were added to the diocese. He had the unenviable task of being bishop during the difficult years of the Depression. When Bishop Couturier’s health failed towards the end of his life, Fr Rosario Brodeur was named coadjutor bishop. Bishop Couturier died at the Bishop’s Palace in Alexandria. He is buried in St. Finnan’s cemetery. Among people from Britain associated with Bishop Couturier, see [[field_justin|Bishop Field]] and [[guinevan_william_a|Fr Guinevan.]] ---- //Standard Freeholder// 28-30 July 1941, London //Times// 29 July 1941 (2 column inches), //Glengarry News// 1 Aug. 1941 * //Who’s Who in Canada// 1938-1939 * Villeneuve, Choquette, //Sinnsearachd//, Ostrom 110, and Macdonald, //St. Finnan’s //* //Cornwall Standard //12 Jan. 1922 (from //Montreal Gazette//), speaks to Canadian Club, Montreal, defending British rule in Egypt * //GN// 5 July 1929, welcomed back to Alexandria on return from aboad (he is Alexandria’s “First Citizen”) * //CS //28 Nov. 1929, has operation in Montreal * //GN// 15 Sept. 1939, speaks at meeting at Lancaster of the Glengarry Red Cross * //GN// 19 Dec. 1941, Mass of Requiem for Bishop Couturier [<6>]