Marcel Nguyễn Tân Văn

The process of beatification for Marcel Van was opened in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belley-Ars on March 26, 1997, and the Cardinal Francis-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan was the first General Postulator. The current actor for Marcel Van's beatification is the French association "Les Amis de Van."

He spent much of his time in prison ministering to the other prisoners, and was a great source of comfort for many of them. Witnesses described him as being radiant in faith, peace and joy. He died from exhaustion, tuberculosis and beriberi on July 10, 1959 at the age of 31 years. In December 1949, he had written to his superiors: "Who can know the power of love, who can know the sweetness... there will come a day when I will die, but I will die consumed by love".

In July 1954, after the Geneva Accords, Vietnam was split in two. While many Christians were fleeing to seek refuge in South Vietnam, Marcel Van asked to return to the north which had become communist. He was arrested on May 7, 1955, and was tried and sentenced to 15 years hard labor.

In June 1944, Van was accepted at the Redemptorist convent in Hanoi. He arrived on July 16, but was sent home due to his small size, since the religious brothers had a heavy work load. In effect, though he was only 16 years old, he looked like he was 12. However, by his prayer and perseverance he was admitted three months later to the community, and became a postulant on October 17, receiving the name Marcel. In his biography, Van indicated that it was during this period that he had his conversations with Jesus. At the request of the novice master, Van wrote the story of his childhood, as well as his conversations with Jesus, Mary and Therese. After initial difficulties, notably due to his young age and small size, he eventually became an exemplary religious.

Soon after, Van had a vision of Alphonsus Liguori, founder of the Redemptorists, though Van only recognized him later, at first believing that it had been Our Lady of Sorrows. Upon reading a Redemptorist publication he felt the desire to join the order, and he recounted a little later that Therese also encouraged him in this vocation. But the missionary who had been educating him, Maillet, had plans to send him to a Dominican seminary and was shocked at Van's refusal. This being one of a string of misunderstandings, and thinking that Van was being stubborn and prideful, Maillet drove him away for the minor seminary in June 1943. He then returned to the rectory of Huu-Bang, before staying briefly with his family.

In 1942, at age 13 Van entered the minor seminary of Lan-Song, which was under the responsibility of Dominican friars. But after only six months of studies, it was closed and occupied by the Japanese military. Van then continued his studies at the rectory of St. Thérèse's parish in Qang Uyên, under Maillet, a Dominican missionary. In the summer of 1942, it was there that he discovered Therese of Lisieux's autobiography, the Story of a Soul, which was a turning point in his spiritual life. Indeed, Van had felt in his heart for a long time an ardent desire to become a saint, but knew his own weakness. He knew that holiness through harsh penances and exercises would be impossible for him to achieve. Therese's book showed him that holiness is possible even for the little ones, and from then on she was his spiritual sister.

In 1936, when Van was eight, two typhoons struck the region in quick succession, causing famine and destroying his family's farm. They fell into deep poverty and were unable to financially support his education. He was then forced to become a servant at the rectory, and put to the side his preparation for the priesthood. The pastor exploited him as a slave. After Van obtained his primary school education at 12 years old, Nha definitively stopped his formation.

Expressing a strong desire to become a priest, in May 1935 his mother took Van to live with the priest Joseph Nha in the rectory of Huu-Bang, where he would receive special preparation for the priesthood. Such arrangements were common in Vietnam during that time period, and several other boys lived with Van. But what should have been a time of joy, in fact was a period of great difficulties. As at Ngam Giao, Van had permission to receive Holy Communion every day. This brought about admiration from his comrades, but eventually made some of the adult catechists jealous. One of them, Master Vinh, made his life particularly difficult. He tormented Van severely, allowing him to receiving Holy communion only days when he agreed to be beaten, depriving him of food, and preventing him from reciting his rosary. The pastor was unaware of all this. Van courageously resisted, attributing his strength to his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. "Thanks to her", he writes, "The devil was never able to win." Eventually, the catechist was punished by the pastor for misbehavior and left the rectory.

Born to a devout Catholic family in Ngam Giao, a village in northern Vietnam, Van was baptized under the patronage of Saint Joachim. During his childhood, he was joyful and mischievous. As early as the age of three, he often expressed a desire to become a saint. When his sister Anne-Marie Tê was born in 1932, his family sent him to live with his aunt, since they considered his excessive displays of affection dangerous for the newborn child. He returned to live with his parents two years later at age six.

Marcel Van (March 15, 1928 – July 10, 1959), or Marcel Nguyễn Tân Văn, was a Vietnamese Redemptorist brother. During his life, he reported receiving locutions and visions from Thérèse of Lisieux, Jesus Christ, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. He is called "The Apostle of Love", continuing the teachings of Therese of Lisieux's "Little Way." He died in a North Vietnam internment camp, and his cause for beatification was opened in 1997 by Nguyễn Văn Thuận.