Marin Mandić
Marin Mandić | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Marin Mandić August 12, 1926 |
| Died | March 7, 2011 (aged 84) |
Resting place | Santa María Tlahuitoltepec, Tlahuitoltepecu, Sierra Mixe, Oaxaca Mexico |
| Education | University of Zagreb |
| Occupations | priest, missionyry, writer, publicist, academic |
| Writing career | |
| Pen name | Don Marino |
| Genres | religious and educational literature |
| Notable works | „Osmijeh : misionar ljubavi“ („Smile: missionary of love“) „Knjiga života“ („Book of life“) |
Marin Mandić (Zakučac (Omiš, Kingdom of Yugoslavia), 12 August 1926 – Santa María Tlahuitoltepec (Sierra Mixe, Oaxaca Mexico), 7 March 2011), Croatian Catholic priest, Salesian, writer and missionary.[1]
Biography
[edit]Priestly activity
[edit]Reverend Marin was born in Zakučac (Omiš) on August 12, 1926. He graduated from the Classical Gymnasium in Split in 1947. He joined the Salesians in 1938 in Knežija, and after the novitiate in Slovenia on the Castle of Škrljevo he took his first religious vows in 1944. He studied theology for the first two years in Ljubljana, and continued and completed it in Zagreb.
He was ordained a priest in 1953. In 1972 he graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. He was an educator at the Episcopal Seminary in Zadar, and for thirteen years an educator and professor of Salesian seminarians of „Srednja vjerska škola za pripremanje svećenika“ [2] in Križevci and Rijeka. His brother and all who knew him agree that Don Marin "was an enthusiastic priest, a brilliant storyteller, a witness and a lover of Our Lady - happy in his priestly and missionary vocation". He was happy to emphasize why he was given that name and explained to everyone that his name Marin means Mary's.[3][4]
Although he himself lived an ascetic life and was obviously always thin, he did not allow his students to do special fasts or mortifications, following the example of his founder Don Bosco: "You do not need any other penance than to perform your daily duties!" Nevertheless, he recommended moderation in eating and drinking not only by his example but also by his words:
"Ako tijelo zbog posta mršavi, duša se deblja; ako se pak tijelo zbog proždrljivosti deblja, duša mršavi." ("If the body becomes thin due to fasting, the soul becomes fat; but if the body becomes fat due to gluttony, the soul becomes thin.")[5]
In Križevci
[edit]
In Križevci, the Salesians, who had numerous spiritual vocations from all over the former Yugoslavia, were received by the Greek Catholic Bishop Gabrijel Bukatko in his episcopal palace in 1959. At that time, the Salesians had previously been guests of the Archdiocese of Zadar, which also had many of its own vocations.
In Križevci, Marin was a catechist for two years; his school counselor was his close Dalmatian compatriot, excellent professor of Greek and Latin Mirko Bajić, assistant Peter Bogataj, confessor Karel Podkubovšek, and director Anton Bajuk (1913–1979) from Bela Krajina, who bore the signs of communist post-war violence until his death. In Marijin Dvor [6] on May 24, 1945, a traditional procession with a statue of Mary Help of Christians was held. When the pilgrims were returning, they were met by a "gathering" of partisan invalids, who beat the faithful and priests with crutches and sticks. Among other things, they seriously wounded Bajuk in the leg. Younger Franjo Crnjaković was also in the procession, who had a less expensive escape.[7]
Marin was also a parish priest and chaplain, and a sought-after confessor in various places in Croatia, and in Podsused from 1961 to 1963. He also worked pastorally in Germany. He held retreats in Croatia and Slovenia and people's missions in Croatia and Serbia. During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 1991 to 1995, he was a priest of the Sisters of Worshipers of the Blood of Christ in Bosanski Aleksandrovac near Banja Luka.[1]
Missionary, poet and writer
[edit]
"Realizing that God was calling him to a more perfect way of life, he embarked on a very demanding missionary service in distant Mexico, where for years he visited his poor but devout parishioners in remote mountain villages, comforting them, encouraging them, distributing the sacraments and being happy".[1] He was known as a person who was always smiling and cheerful, especially when he wholeheartedly took on the missionary service in Mexico, where for over twenty years he was a spreader of Christ's love among the Mixe tribe in southern Mexico. Also, thanks to the selfless work of Catholic missionaries like him, Protestant charismatic sects have the least influence on Catholic believers in all of Latin America, since 81% of the Mexican population considers themselves Catholic.[8]
In the very distant and almost completely unknown country of Mexico, in the even more distant Indian province in the south of that Central American country, the always smiling Don Marin was for his extremely poor faithful "a light and support, a giver of earthly goods, a witness to Mary's faith and care, Her motherly love for them. In return, he received their childlike gratitude, trust and love". He was firmly convinced that with his completely selfless and cheerful giving he always received more than he gave.[3]
He also engaged in writing and published a dozen books under his own publishing house, and published articles, reviews and discussions in various magazines and newspapers. Due to the difficulties of the time, he collaborated with various publishers and writers, such as with his Salesian brother Vinko Furlan, and even with the poet and close fellow villager Jure Kaštelan, although he was of a different – Communist orientation.[9]
He was always cheerful, optimistic and on the move, and so was he in 2008, when he collected donations for his missions during a visit to his homeland, as well as editing materials for his publications. He also visited his benefactors, to whom he was grateful for their prayerful and financial support; among them, the nuns of Zadar occupied a prominent place.
The young people who happened to gather in Zadar that evening immediately accepted him and were honored to have their picture taken with him as a fond memory.
Then he mentioned to his former student from Križevci, Jelena, in confidence that he wanted to die and rest among "his" Indians, who worship the Mother of God with childlike devotion, similar to the Croats, but never curse her, as some of his countrymen, and even believers, do.
Death and memory
[edit]
He actually returned to the missions and worked there until his death. Believers were convinced that Jesus had transplanted that beautiful flower into the heavenly garden. He really loved to decorate the park in Križevci, especially the blooming garden with the statue of the Immaculate Mother of God in the center, together with the boys.
He died on March 7, 2011, in Mexico at the age of eighty-five, sixty-seven years of religious vows and fifty-eight years of priesthood. He was buried on March 9 in Tlahuitoltepec, Mixe, Oaxaca, and a requiem mass was celebrated on March 10, 2011, in the Church of Mary Help of Christians on Kman, in Split.[1]
His books
[edit]- Osmijeh : misionar ljubavi (Smile: Missionary of Love) / likovna oprema Mato Andrić
- Molitvenik Duhu Svetomu (Prayer to the Holy Ghost)| Publisher: Sv. Antun Padovanski Rijeka, Kantrida
- Sedam meditacija sv. Ivana Boska (Seven Meditations of St. John Bosco)
- Don Marin Mandić : OBITELJSKA SLAVLJA — Amor cantat / Ljubav pjeva (FAMILY CELEBRATION — Amor cantat / Love sings)
- Antologija malog misionara (Anthology of the little missionary)
- Knjiga života (Book of Life)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 KTABKBIH kta/missio.ba: Umro meksički misionar don Marin Mandić Meksiko, 10. ožujka 2011. (pristupljeno 24. travnja 2020.)
- ↑ „Srednja vjerska škola za pripremanje svećenika“ = „Secondary religious school for the preparation of priests“
- 1 2 Ana Panić (15 August 2024). "Majka svih naroda" (in Croatian). Zagreb: veritas.hr. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ Tekst je izvorno objavljen u tiskanom izdanju Veritasa – Glasnika svetog Antuna u svibnju 2024. godine (5/2024)./ The text was originally published in the print edition of Veritas – Glasnik svetog Antuna in May 2024 (5/2024).
- ↑ The surrender of his pupils from Križevci
- ↑ Marijin Dvor is the beautiful castle "Dioš" near Daruvar. Do not confuse it with Marijin Dvor (also Marindvor) in Sarajevo, where both the city district and the castle are called by that name.
- ↑ Bogdan Kolar (1991). In memoriam. Nekrolog salezijancev slovenske narodnosti: Anton Bajuk. Ljubljana: Salezijanski inšpektorat. p. 19.
- ↑ "Katoličani v Mehiki - edinstven primer v Latinski Ameriki" (in Slovenian). Ljubljana: Časnik. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2026.
- ↑ Bogdan Kolar (2002). In memoriam III. Njih spomin ostaja. Rajni salezijanci v prvih sto letih salezijanskega dela med Slovenci: Vinko Furlan. Ljubljana: Salve. p. 84s.