I think the photo above is the last that was taken of our dear Marcel - at least on this earth! I am guessing Celine may have managed to bring her camera to heaven (or Therese procured one for her there), and I bet the photos in that LIght are great!!
Meanwhile I chose the photo above because today is a day to think, just for a moment, of Marcel heading North - to Jesus, to love Him amidst the Communists in North Vietnam . . . I won't tell you the whole story, because we have it below (much better than I could relate it) from Marcel's British agent, Jack Keogan. I have a friend who used to love to say, "Feast or famine!" referring to how it was either all the good things at once, or a long wait. These days we're in feast mode - a new blog post so soon after the last (if you haven't seen it yet, just below this post is our latest Book Club meeting, and it was FUN, so do enjoy reading along when you have time) - but today is even more of a feast because HAPPY HAPPY news in my inbox today - a letter from Jack Keogan! First off, Jack had his 88th birthday recently, and naturally, I missed it! You'd think that Marcel would have tipped me off, and actually I think he did because I kept thinking vaguely, "Isn't it Jack's birthday around now?" but sadly, for all birthdays but my own (most frivolous of solemnities and celebrated for a triduum ahead and an octave after), I can be rather dense. Anyhow, a huge belated (or really early for next year!) Happy Birthday to Jack! and now, let's take a moment to say a Hail Mary to our loving Mama, that she will give him a huge hug. And no doubt that monkey Marcel will be in her arms too, so Jack will get a double hug! Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb: Jesus! Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us poor sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen. There! Prayers by the zillions ascending up to heaven for good Jack K, our fearless translator - or if he had fears, he managed to just keep translating anyhow, and aren't we the lucky recipients of his perseverance?!?! All of Marcel's four books in English!!! Sheesh, after what he's done for us, we should be saying whole Rosaries for Jack, not just Hail Mary's.......unless you realize that Rosaries are actually sort of "just Hail Mary's"......and now I realize I'd better end this paragraph before I get too confused to go on! Let's just say: Heaven help Jack! That covers all our bases :) And now, for the feast! Okay, so in Jack's email, he tells a great story about Marcel, and then commends to our prayers (our novena prayers) a wonderful man who needs them, whose name is Karl. I don't want to give all the details about Karl, because while Jack asked if Karl would like prayers, he forgot to ask if he would also like tremendous media attention after Miss Marcel posted the novena request on this blog. Well, sure, we may not be on some Top 10 Catholic Blogs List quite yet, but knowing how love of Marcel is likely to "go viral" any minute now, we don't want to turn K's life upside down! Instead, then, we will simply pray for him, and you'll soon see what we will pray, and, well, let me just give you Jack's "guest post" and let you see for yourself! There are three parts to Jack's post, so I will put in headings. I can't wait for you to read the amazing words that made today a feast for me, and will make the next 9 days super special for all of us! From Jack Keogan, whose true love is Jesus-Marcel: Dear Friends, Marcel's Story On September 14th. 1954 Marcel returned to Hanoi on the last plane leaving from the South to the North. He had pestered his superiors for permission to go to the north "so that there would be someone to love God among the communists." Reluctantly, permission was granted. Eight months later, on a trumped up charge, he was sentenced to 15 years in a camp of re-education. He spent three of these years living the life of the "little redeemer", the "hidden apostle of love." He died of illness and exhaustion on July 10th, 1959. Fourteen years after his death, in 1973 prisoners were comforting each other by talking about him. One of them who had never met Van wrote a poem about him urging the others to remain steadfast. Along the road you have traveled, We follow in your footsteps, Forever committed to our sacrifice, No matter the hardship. Ardent peaceful blood pumps through our hearts, With the life force that you left us. You are no more, but you will remain forever among us. KARL'S STORY A few weeks ago I met Karl, a very pleasant, engaging young man who is suffering from a rare kind of cancer for which there seems to be little hope of a cure. I mentioned my work with Brother Marcel Van, and it turned out that Karl is a Catholic. I asked his permission to try and engage your prayers for Karl and his family, and he simply replied that he would like that. So, it is 9 days to the anniversary of the death of dear Brother Marcel. You know what I am getting at! Would you join with me in making a little novena, through the intercession of Brother Marcel, for Karl and his family? We won't ask for anything in particular, we will simply ask little Van to intercede for Karl and his dear family. We could even use the prayer composed by the prisoner in memory of Brother Marcel and simply add: "dear Marcel please intercede with our heavenly father for Karl and his family." On Karl's behalf I thank you. Marcel's Story, Part 2 I received an email from a lady in Korea this morning who informed me that she has had the privilege of choosing the baptismal names for her 3 nephews. The youngest: Marcel Van is preparing for his first communion but cannot find anything about his baptismal patron. Can I help? I was thrilled and surprised that Marcel is known in Korea. I received Aunt Clare's request at 11.42 this morning and at 13.22 she wrote to thank me for the offer of a copy of Van's autobiography but she did not know who would be happier, herself or nephew Marcel Van. If you are still reading......May the example of Marcel, the guidance of Therese and the love of Mary be always with us, Jack. * * * Don't you love that last line? "If you are still reading . . ." There would have to be more than your ordinary California earthquake to shake me out of my chair! And even then I'd be holding the laptop as I fell, still reading this fascinating account of (1) Marcel's last days and the amazing beauty of the prisoners who remembered him, or even without remembering him personally, shared in the Communion of Saints' memory of him to keep up their courage! WOW! and (2) Karl, who so humbly accepts our prayers for him and then (3) somehow most thrilling of all - a little Marcel Van about to make his first Holy Communion in Korea! God is so good! Now I know it would be asking too much to have you scroll up to find our novena prayer each day, so instead you can pop over to MMM and scroll down to the roses below, and right above them will be the prayer we're saying up to June 10th, our little bro's feast day (in our hearts, if not on the universal Church calendar yet). And yes, the roses are those that Therese and Marcel are going to pour out on Karl, and Jack, and us all! I told you this was fun! Think of it as a pre-paid novena!! Speaking of Church calendars and saints-in-the-making and so on, I peeked into a little library book the other day, a small sweet book about visits to the Blessed Sacrament. Wanting to encourage the reader, the author included stories of those devoted to Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, and here is what I LOVED - he recounted an incident (of course by this point Marcel and I have forgotten the story, except for this part) about a holy woman who had done good work in our own country (the author was in the USA), a certain "Mrs. Seton." He was talking about Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton! But you know, before she was St. Elizabeth, she was simply "Mrs. Seton." Do you love this too? It means that one of these days we might all be remembering (vaguely, if you're like me!) the times when we used to call St. Marcel simply "Marcel Van." "We obtain from God as much as we hope for," our sister Therese liked to remind her novices. So let's hope big! Here is our novena prayer for Karl, and for all your intentions too: Marcel, Along the road you have traveled, We follow in your footsteps, Forever committed to our sacrifice, No matter the hardship. Ardent peaceful blood pumps through our hearts, With the life force that you left us. You are on earth no more, but you will remain forever among us. Dear Marcel, please intercede with our Heavenly Father for Karl and his family, and for Jack and his family, and for all of us and our families and our intentions! Thank you, little brother, and please kiss Jesus and Mary and Joseph and Therese for us too!!! And Little Jesus, by the way - Draw me, we will run!!! Comments are closed.
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Miss MarcelI've written books and articles and even a novel. Now it's time to try a blog! For more about me personally, go to the home page and you'll get the whole scoop! If you want to send me an email, feel free to click "Contact Me" below. To receive new posts, enter your email and click "Subscribe" below. More MarcelArchives
December 2024
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