Mary is the Mother whom Jesus gave me

Monsignor Francis-Xavier Nguyên Van Thuân (1), who died in 2002 and is now venerable, left a splendid Eucharistic and Marian spirituality to the Church. Arrested on August 15, 1975, he was detained in a re-education camp for more than thirteen years, nine of which were spent in solitary confinement, until his release on November 21, 1988.

In prison, together with the Virgin Mary, Van Thuân lived a profound mystical experience centered around the Eucharist, in all its dimensions of sacrifice, real presence, communion, and adoration.      

With Jesus, Mary was always very present throughout Van Thuân's life, from childhood until his death. He gave a beautiful testimony in 1999 in Cologne, before speaking to an assembly of priests, explaining how Mary is at the heart of his Eucharistic and priestly spirituality, and always recalling his experience in prison:

When I ask myself what Mary meant in my radical choice for Jesus, the answer is clear: on the Cross Jesus said to John: "Behold your mother" (Jn 19:27). After the institution of the Eucharist, the Lord could leave us nothing greater than his Mother. For me, Mary is the living Gospel, in pocket-size format, with the widest distribution, closer to me than the lives of all the other saints. Mary is my Mother: the one Jesus gave me. The first reaction of a child when he is in pain or afraid is to cry out "Mamma." This word, for a child, is everything. Mary lived entirely and exclusively for Jesus.

In the hardest period of confinement he wrote this prayer of consecration, of total self-giving to Jesus through Mary:

O Mother, I consecrate myself to You, wholly to You, now and forever. Living in your spirit and in that of St. Joseph, I will live in the spirit of Jesus, with Jesus, Joseph, the angels, the saints and all souls. I love you, our Mother, and I will share your fatigue, your concerns and your efforts for the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus. Amen.

(1) Archbishop Van Thuân was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Saigon (Vietnam) on April 1975 before being arrested by the Communist government on August 15, 1975. Pope Saint John Paul II made him a cardinal on February 21, 2001.

Adapted from: Zenit