Description

Oil Dedicated to Marcel Nguyen Tan Van

Marcel Nguyen Tan Van, 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.