BRO. MARCEL VAN: SIMPLICITY 1
The ideas presented here come from the dialogues
Bro Marcel Van had with the Lord Jesus, with the Blessed Mother, and with St Therese of the Child Jesus (it is indicated who is speaking or sending the message) with whom he enjoyed spiritual conversations. Brother Marcel’s holy life did not rest on these conversations but rather on his deep love for God, his obedience to his will, and his commitment and service to others. He died as a “confessor of the faith” – one who lived his faith heroically in the midst of trials – in a North Vietnamese Communist prison where he strived to bring joy and faith to his companions, Catholic or not.
1. Simplicity
a. Simplicity in prayer
Jesus: There are many who do not know how to listen to what I say, without daring to converse simply with me as children, under the pretext that it does not suit … Tell them that I very much listen to ordinary conversations, and that I take pleasure in hearing them. This is all I expect from souls who love me … Continue to write my words and call them “Love of Jesus”; as for the words that you address to me, you will call them “Love of Marcel” … I do not seek, like the people of the world, the elegant remarks; only the childish words coming out of a loving heart have the gift to charm my ear. And you, my child, always act like that, for I find much charm in the words you speak to me here; I never get tired of listening to them …
Jesus: O my second little Therese, listen to me: every time I speak to you, I only recommend the same thing to you: prayer. Prayer of the will, prayer of works, prayer of feeling. Do not forget that there are many ways that can help you pray without you having to tire yourself. One must not be afraid of prayer. The first Therese of the Child Jesus taught you the easiest method of prayer that requires no words; since you are very small, continue to follow this method that was taught you.
Marcel: O Mother Mary, last night, during the meditation, little Jesus only looked at me without saying anything, except for the few words that follow: “Now, Marcel, I’m going to teach you simply to look at me, so that when I do not speak to you, you just look at me. I will get used to this attitude so that later you can faithfully put it into practice. So little Jesus just exhorted me to look up at the tabernacle. And thus fixing the tabernacle, I felt as much consolation as if Jesus had spoken to me. This morning, the little Jesus resumed the same exercise, but I could not apply it because I only slumbered. I asked Jesus if he was happy about that. He answered that yes, provided that I never get upset at the sight of my weaknesses. He told me that I was very weak, that I possessed nothing, except my weaknesses, that he received from me nothing but weaknesses, because everything in me was only weakness.
Marcel: I remember one day when I had absolutely nothing to say to the child Jesus, I kept looking at him, filled with disgust, but not knowing how to go about it. Seeing me in this state, little Jesus called me to teach me a way to entertain myself with him. He told me first to look at the bench and he added: “Little brother, say: ‘Jesus, I love you in the bench’. He then told me to look at everything in the oratory and to repeat for everything: ‘Jesus, I love you in … the dust, the fly, the glass, the foot of the bench, in the flower, in the plant, in the flowerpot, in the earth contained in the pot, in the shelf where it is placed, in the brick, in the column; I love you in the bird, in the song of the bird, in the frog, in the white tree frog, in the cry of the tree frog, in the plane, in the car … ‘”While the little Jesus taught me this lesson, I wanted to laugh and I was very distracted. Then I had the following distraction: I told myself that if it were given me to teach the children, I will do such and such thing to pamper them. Then little Jesus, once more, invited me to say, “Little Jesus, I love you in my little brothers who are having fun. “
Finally, the little Jesus said to me, “Little brother, you can always use this method, and so you can, while resting, make continual prayer. Moreover, this method will help you never to commit a fault in your distractions; where the spirit leads you, there too your love leads you, so that I am loved by you everywhere … “
Since then, when I have nothing to say, I use this method, but I want to laugh. Once I said, “Little Jesus, I love you in the fly”. And he, to say to me laughing: “This fly feels very bad, it is very dirty and yet you still love me in it really. So consoling me in the most ordinary things, you oblige me to follow you step by step to give you my kisses … “
Jesus: On this day of April 28, 1946, oh! Marcel! how many ordinary things that people do not think about and that they could offer me to please me. Regarding Love, these little things, far from ordinary, are very precious
Mary: My child, do as follows: when you start a decade (of the Rosary), tell me: “O Mother, I offer you this Our Father, and again this first Hail Mary, this second Hail Mary, this third I Hail Mary “and so on, until the end of the decade. Then you start again as above. The first ten finished, offer me the second, saying again: “O Mother … etc. And then continue always so. So you do not need to know how to meditate this or that mystery. The method which is most agreeable to me and which I wish to see employed by men in preference to all others, is that which consists for everyone of offering me his prayers and his thoughts during the recitation of the rosary.
Marcel: I adored the Blessed Sacrament for half an hour only and found it extremely long; I had only one desire: to return as soon as possible. I do not understand why. In contrast, when coming back, I regretted not to have behaved well with you. […]
Jesus: Little brother, why trouble yourself? Do you think I do not understand you anymore? You had to make an effort to stay with me; it is a greater sacrifice than if you were kneeling all day in my presence. […]
Marcel: Little Jesus, I’m so sad that I do not know what to tell you anymore.
Jesus: You can at least breathe and look; then, take your breaths and your looks to give them to me: is not that to speak to me?
Marcel: Mary knew how to foresee and, above all, she trusted in her true Heavenly Father. With me, she behaved like a mother, but with God the Father, she acted with all the candor of a child. If she missed something, if she had any need, however small, she could only lift her eyes to heaven and ask God the Father, in all simplicity and sincerity. And since her trust and simplicity were so pleasing to God, Mary got all she asked for, as she told you before. For example, when she lacked flour to make bread, she was content to tell her true Father: “O Father, today, ‘your little one’ [Jesus] and your children are in need.” Then she detailed: “They have no more flour, no more salt … etc. “. After which she remained in peace as usual. The true heavenly Father was very eager to answer his prayers, but he did so in a very natural way, without resorting to dazzling miracles …
Marcel: Prayer is a conversation with God, in the manner of the child who speaks to his father, two lovers who call themselves sweet words, the friend who talks intimately with his friend. In this prayer, the lips are motionless, silence reigns in the soul, words are formed only in thought, the soul perceives them and God hears them. Hence, for every soul who loves God with all his heart, it does not happen for a moment without it being united to God and conversing with Him.
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