New! Marcel Van – Spiritual Brother of St Therese of Lisieux – Servant of God – Exclusive Restored Photo – Catholic Gift

Servant of God Marcel Van (born Joachim Nguyen Tan Van, 1928-1959) was born into a devout Catholic family in the northern part of Vietnam. As a small child he had a great devotion to Mary, and wanted to be a priest. He went to a Catholic boys school at age 6, which often led boys to the priesthood. There he was a model student, frequently encouraging the younger boys on to holiness, which sometimes annoyed the older boys, who were often lukewarm or less.

He had a deep mystical relationship with Mary and Jesus, and when he found The Story of a Soul, he felt he had found a soul-sister in Therese. He received locutions from all three, and is called the “Apostle of Love” for his promotion of Therese’s Little Way. He called himself, “Little Brother of the Christ Child.” The locutions are available in a book called The Conversations, with an introduction from Cardinal Christoph Schönborn.

This picture was taken in Hanoi in 1951 just before he was arrested and sent to a communist concentration camp. By then many of the Catholics had escaped to the south, including his family, running from the communists. Marcel had gone with them, but went back north to serve as a witness to God. The communists killed him soon after. The process of beatification for Marcel started in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belley-Ars on March 26, 1997. (source: www.marcelvanassociation.com)

As with all of our restored photographs, we hope this picture helps you to be closer to this holy man. He waits for us on the other side, and he will pray for you now to our Lord if you ask him to.

–Archival-quality print. Printed with archival pigments designed to last for generations when kept dry and out of the direct sun.

** IMPORTANT ** THE IMAGE IS SMALLER THAN THE PAPER! There is a blank border around the image. Approximately 0.5" wide for 5x7, 1.3" for 8.5x11, 1.6" for 11x14, and 1.75" for 13x17 and 16x20. For the two poster sizes, 18x24 and 24x36, we use 0.5" borders. We do this because the ratio of the rectangle of the art almost never matches the rectangle of the paper, and if it did happen to match one size, it would not match the others. Most fine art printers do this because otherwise they’d have to crop the art or warp it to make it fit the paper. The border looks good. It gives the picture a faux matted appearance.

There is almost always a little more border either on the left-right sides, or the top-bottom, depending on whether the ratio of the art is wider or taller than the paper.

We make Archival Quality fine art prints:

– Acid-free paper

– Archival pigments

– Cardboard backer for sizes 11x14 and less.

– Above story of the art

– Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal-clear bag.

– Rated to last 200+ years without fading if kept dry and out of the direct sun.

Thanks for your interest!

+JMJ+

Sue & John

Lincoln, Nebraska

“In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art.”

~ St. Pope John Paul II

Original image is out-of-copyright. Descriptive text and any image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by Sue Kouma Johnson – CatholicArt.AndJewelry.com