WASHINGTON, D.C. The U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) overwhelmingly approved the cause for sainthood of “Servant of God” Benedictine Brother Marinus LaRue — a heroic mariner, during the Korean War and later, a humble and holy monk at St. Paul’s Abbey in Newton — during its June 16–18 2021 Spring General Assembly here.
On June 17 afternoon, 99 percent of the U.S. Bishops present approved Brother Marinus’ cause, after Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney of Paterson made a video presentation with his biography and an impassioned plea for his cause. Brother Marinus, a Merchant Marine captain, led the brave crew of his U.S. Merchant Marine cargo freighter, the S.S. Meredith Victory, on a courageous rescue of 14,005 Korean refugees with the ship in 1950, during the Korean War. Later, he led a quiet life of prayer as a Benedictine monk at St. Paul’s from 1954 until his death in 2001.
The USCCB’s vote rang loudly in the Diocese, where it has inspired a team of designated officials to continue their work on Brother Marinus’ cause. They are working to investigate his holiness, publicize his heroism, and urge Catholic faithful to pray to God through his intercession using the Prayer for the Cause of Capt. LaRue/Brother Marinus, O.S.B. [see page 2].
“It was exciting to share Brother Marinus’ compelling story and make a strong case for his cause. It was gratifying that his cause received 99-percent approval from the U.S. bishops. I thanked them for their support,” said Bishop Sweeney, a participant in the USCCB gathering, who taped a video presentation before the meeting and then responded live on videoconference, after the vote. “As both a mariner and a monk, Brother Marinus shows us that holiness is not confined to one type of work or vocation,” he said.
With the opening of the cause, Brother Marinus will follow the footsteps of another notable local Catholic — Blessed Miriam Theresa Demjanovich, a Sister of Charity of St. Elizabeth from Convent Station, whose cause was opened by Bishop Thomas McLaughlin of Paterson in 1945. She was beatified in 2014.
“This [the approval of Brother Marinus’ cause] could lead to another American being named ‘venerable,’ ‘blessed,’ or higher [‘saint’] from New Jersey,” said Bishop Sweeney, during the meeting.
On that June 17 afternoon, the U.S. Bishops also approved the cause of sainthood for Father Joseph Verbis Lafluer, a Louisiana native and a military chaplain and prisoner of war, who died sacrificing his life to help others out of the hull of a Japanese warship that he and hundreds of other POWS were trapped in.
Initially, on March 25, 2019, on the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, now-Bishop Emeritus Arthur Serratelli signed and sealed a decree that opened “the informative process for Beatification and Canonization” to “study the heroic virtues and reputation of the holiness of the Servant of God, Brother Marinus” — the first step in his cause. He secured approval from the N.J. Catholic Conference of Bishops and announced his intention to open the cause at a USCCB meeting. At the June 17 meeting, Bishop Sweeney secured the USCCB’s approval.
Brother Marinus’ story of heroism starts on Dec. 23, 1950, when, as U.S. Merchant Marine Capt. Leonard LaRue, he surveyed thousands of Koreans — men, women and children — crammed onto the docks of the City of Hungnam. They were desperate to flee the invading Chinese communist forces that were closing in quickly during the early months of the Korean War.
Artillery fire roared above them, as Capt. LaRue led his crew of the S.S. Meredith Victory to load as many of the refuges as its ship’s hold and deck could carry. Then, they took a perilous 450-mile voyage through treacherous mine- and submarine-infested waters to the safety of Goeje Island on that Christmas Day. The mission — undertaken against all odds — has been called a “Christmas Miracle.”
“I think often of that voyage. I think of how such a small vessel was able to hold so many persons and surmount endless perils without harm to a soul. And as I think, the clear, unmistakable message comes to me that on that Christmastide, in the bleak and bitter waters off the shore of Korea, God’s own hand was at the helm of my ship,” Brother Marinus wrote later in a reflection.
In 1954, Brother Marinus entered the Benedictine order at St. Paul’s and professed his first vows two years later. Taking his religious name in honor of the Blessed Mother, he performed the menial tasks of washing dishes, working in the gift shop and ringing the abbey’s bell each morning. He also assisted in saving a declining St. Paul’s from closing in the early 2000s with help from six monks from the Waegwan community in South Korea, who agreed to live there. Brother Marinus died on Oct. 14, 2001.
“Brother Marinus was a good, humble and holy monk,” Auxiliary Bishop Elias Lorenzo of the Newark Archdiocese, also a Benedictine priest who knew Brother Marinus, said at the June 17 meeting. “Many Koreans came to his funeral to express thanks for his heroic work, during the Korean War,” he said.
Also signed by Sister of Christian Charity Joan Daniel Healy, diocesan chancellor, the decree in 2019 encourages Catholic faithful to start a devotion to Brother Marinus — who has been bestowed with title “Servant of God” — by reciting the special prayer. The first part of the cause is an inquiry trying to prove his heroic virtue — “that he was a holy man” — which includes personal testimonies.
The diocesan officials involved in the cause include: Father Michael Parisi, diocesan vicar general and pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Mountain Lakes, who serves as the episcopal delegate, overseeing all aspects of the diocesan inquiry; Father Pawel Tomczyk, diocesan director of Youth Ministry and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and the chaplain at Fairleigh Dickinson University and Drew University, Madison, who serves as the postulator, representing the cause; and Dr. Mary Mazzarella, diocesan Respect Life coordinator, assisting with the cause.
“In my reading of the public record, I can see that Brother Marinus could have sailed into history as a heroic sea captain. But he became a religious brother — called by God to the quiet life of humility in a monastery,” Father Tomczyk said.
[The Diocese directs any member of the faithful who has useful knowledge about Brother Marinus LaRue to bring that information to Father Michael Parisi at the Diocesan Pastoral Center, 777 Valley Rd., Clifton, N.J. 07013.]