Marcel Nguyễn Tân Văn

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.[1]

Since Van then wanted to make his First Communion, his pastor allowed him to begin his catechism.[2] Despite his young age, Van made his First Holy Communion six months later, as he had been well prepared by his mother. On that day, he asked the Lord for two graces:

1. To keep his heart pure so that he could love Him with all his heart.
2. To give all men and women a perfect and rock solid faith.

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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6] The pastor exploited him as a slave. After Van obtained his primary school education at 12 years old, Nha definitively stopped his formation.[7]

Due to these severe difficulties, and seeing that he would no longer receive training to become a priest, Van escaped. He wandered around for some time, was temporarily homeless, and eventually was able to return to his family.[8] His time there was also difficult, since they thought that he was guilty of bad behavior, and such rumors had been circulated in the village.[9] Nha eventually visited his family, declaring him innocent of any wrong, and Van eventually agreed to return to work at the rectory of Huu-Bang. But this time, he started with the other boys a resistance league to improve the spiritual poverty that had settled there, and encourage each other in the practice of virtue.[10]

In 1942, at age 13 Van entered the minor seminary of Lan-Song, which was under the responsibility of Dominican friars.[11] But after only six months of studies, it was closed and occupied by the Japanese military.[12] Van then continued his studies at the rectory of St. Thérèse's parish in Qang Uyên, under Maillet, a Dominican missionary.[12] 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.[13] 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.

A short time afterwards, Van recounted having receiving the great grace of having Therese appear to him and spoking with him familiarly, and that this occurred on a regular basis for a period.[13] According to Van, she personally taught him her "little way," and asked him to pray for the French, whom he had previously disliked due to their colonisation of Vietnam. Thérèse spoke to him about God, his love, his paternity, and invited him to converse with God as would two friends. She showed him that God, in fact, was interested in the everyday things of our lives.

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.[14] 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.[15] He then returned to the rectory of Huu-Bang, before staying briefly with his family.[16]

In June 1944, Van was accepted at the Redemptorist convent in Hanoi.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19] In his biography, Van indicated that it was during this period that he had his conversations with Jesus.[20] 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.

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.[21]

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.[22] 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 the Conversations, Marcel Van affirms that Jesus Christ gave some clues as to the solution of the ancient Catholic debate on the topic of unbaptized children:

"JESUS: Remember this well. When the intelligence of little children is still undeveloped, the same applies to will. Intelligence is used to understand whether a thing is good or bad and the will is used to act in accordance with what the intelligence discerns. These two faculties are essential [700], and it is these essential faculties that little children lack. It is therefore necessary for another will to settle within the hearts of these little children. If this will acts in accordance with good, it is equivalent to the little children acting in this way of their own volition.

However, for this will to manifest itself, it must act in accordance with good, with truth itself. If this will acts in a way opposed to good, to truth, it will not produce any effect.

You must place your will within the hearts of little children. In this way they will also belong to the Holy Church. Should they come to die before attaining the use of reason, they will nonetheless ascend to Heaven with Me, for they will have your will with them. You have the will to believe everything the Holy Church teaches you to believe, and you also possess the will to love Me. Because of this, the children will share your will and their souls will belong to the Holy Church and to Me in their entirety. These children may know nothing, but within them resides the will of another who knows, and though they may not know, they will understand.

Do you understand this, little brother? Offer Me your will and I will put it in the souls of children on earth. Henceforth you can rest assured that all little children already belong to Me.

Little brother, this notion of will I have revealed to you was not known until now. Little children were always saved in this manner without man ever realizing it. Come little brother, banish your sadness and be joyful. You are the apostle of children. It was necessary for you to know this.

Children saved in this manner are baptized in Love itself. They are allowed to confess their faith in love. This act of love is accomplished by will."[25]

• « Marcel Van, Un coeur à coeur avec Jésus » (accessed September 10, 2013)
• "Les Amis de Van" [archive], on Les Amis de Van, amisdevan.org (accessed September 10, 2013)