Brief biography of the Servant of God Marcel Van (1928-1959, Vietnam).
His beatification process was opened in 1990. Cardinal Van Thuan was the first postulator of his cause for beatification. (Cardinal Van Thuan also has the beatification process started and is already venerable)
Truly this Vietnamese is a gold mine, one can spend entire days researching and reading about his brief life and not be satisfied.
According to the Friends of Van website in Spanish (amigosdevan.es): Marcel would be "an apostle for the Third Millennium", a young Redemptorist religious who lived in the first half of the 20th century in Vietnam, dying at the age of 31 in a communist "re-education" camp.
Short but fruitful life. Spiritual brother of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus (of Lisieux), he had inner conversations with Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Therese. His spiritual director, Father Antonio Boucher, had him write everything down, so that we have received an autobiography, some conversations, letters and various writings. The autobiography comprises about 400 pages, and the spiritual conversations with Jesus, the Virgin and Therese about 450 pages.
From the Foreword by Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan (†):
«Every day, throughout the world, Marcel Van's friends grow in number and they wish to have a short biography of him. Indeed, there are already quite a few books dealing with him. But, to respect the work of God, it must be left intact, transparent, true, genuine, like clean water that has just come from its spring. This work of God is Marcel Van, with all his physical weaknesses, his joys, his childlike tenderness, his humanly insurmountable trials, his escapes, his familiarity with Jesus, Mary and Therese. There is nothing to add or remove, there is no legend or sentimentality.
It is easy to write about Marcel Van because there is already a whole literature about him, but at the same time it is very difficult to present the mystery of grace and sin, this mystery of hope and the love of God in the life of a "pocket saint", as those close to him call him.
No one is more responsible for doing so than Father Boucher, his spiritual father. He not only kept and translated everything that Marcel Van had written, but he also wrote a short biography. I think it is the most genuine, the most balanced.»
From the introduction by Father Antonio Boucher, Van's spiritual director:
«From my first meeting with young Van, I was struck by the account he gave me of the circumstances of his childhood and adolescence, not so much by the picturesqueness of the events but by the existence of an unusual interior life. I then asked him to write it down. He devoted himself to this work out of obedience during the twelve months of his novitiate, and then during the eight years that I continued to be his spiritual advisor.
I had a feeling that this little brother, whom Jesus, Mary and Therese led by the hand, would play a role in the Church and in the world. For this reason I felt obliged to ensure that nothing of the treasure that passed before my eyes, through my hands and through my heart was lost. I humbly admit that Brother Marcel taught me much more about the spiritual life than I was able to teach him on my part.
The first thing that deeply impressed me was the incredible familiarity and tenderness with which his heavenly interlocutors offered themselves to Brother Marcelo. (NR: Van had the grace of hearing within himself the voice of Jesus, Mary and Therese of the Child Jesus)
On the other hand, his exemplary life, the purity of his soul, his perfect obedience to his spiritual director and his generosity in the face of sacrifice give me a favorable prejudice regarding the veracity and authenticity of those communications, obviously with all the prudence that is required, not wanting to anticipate the final judgment that corresponds to the Holy Church.»
From the Epilogue:
«Throughout his life, under the guidance of Saint Therese, of Mary and of Jesus himself, Van became a little redeemer by fulfilling his mission as a hidden Apostle of Love thanks to prayer and the offering of himself. He learned to transform suffering into joy, introducing souls to the Love of Jesus. He also wrote a lot, being, out of obedience, a little secretary of Jesus. Today, through his writings and intercession, he continues his mission from Heaven. From Africa, Asia, Brazil, Argentina, the United States and Canada, France and all of Europe, messages arrive from those who discover thanks to Van and just as Therese taught her little brother during their first meeting: "God is Father and this Father is Love."