Andrej Majcen was born in Maribor, Slovenia, on 30 September 1904, the eldest of four children (two sisters and his little brother Zoran, who died as a child). His parents – father Andrej and mother Marija, née Šlik – were a united couple, exemplary for their integrity and dedication to others: his father, a judicial employee, taught him to always be good to everyone, not to judge, to resolve tensions; his mother, a woman of deep faith whom the Servant of God considered to be a religious in the world and believed she was never equaled in devotion, not even as a religious,passed on to him an all-encompassing love for Our Lady and the commitment to always be of God in a changing world, afflicted by conflicts and marked by ideologies. These teachings of his father and mother were confirmed for the young Andrej when – after his teacher training – he was hired as a teacher by the Salesians in Radna, in an environment marked by joy, commitment and a faith that informed the daily life.
To Don Bosco's vocational proposal to become a Salesian, he responded with a prayer and struggle on his knees before the Blessed Sacrament, finally surrendering to God's call and beginning his Salesian journey. On 8 September 1924 he participated in the solemn consecration of the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Raknovik, Ljubljana. It was there too that he died (aged 95) on 30 September 1999. Inbetween the stages of formation to Salesian consecrated life (first profession on 4 October 1925) and to the priesthood (priestly ordination on 2 July 1933), while he was entrusted with numerous tasks and was required to handle a load of sometimes excessive effort, which served as an apprenticeship to life for him.
After learning about the martyrdom in China of Aloysius Versiglia and Callistus Caravario (later canonised by John Paul II as Salesian proto-martyrs in 2000), and having met Fr Jozef Keréc, a missionary, Fr Majcen also felt his own missionary vocation, combined with a strong need for total self-giving to the point of martyrdom. This route, after repeated requests, was opened for him in 1935, when the State imposed the closure of the trade classes in Rakovnik, of which he was Principal. From then on he would be in Kumming (Yunnan, China), from 1935 until expulsion, in 1951 at the hands of the communists; in Hanoi, in North Vietnam (1952) and, in Saigon, in South Vietnam, from 1956, after the arrival of the Ho Chi Minh guerrillas in the North. There, much loved and already accompanied by a reputation for holiness, he spent the season of the most intense fruits of his Salesian life, founding the Congregation in Vietnam, with different assignments and above all as Director of Novices. Again expelled from South Vietnam by the communist regime, in 1976, after a period in Tainan, in 1979 he returned home to take care of his health and, against all expectations, the Superiors asked him to stay in Slovenia. Here too he found Communism, living in a persecuted Church, in a community so impoverished, but (except for the first months), still in Rakovnik, under the mantle of his dear Help of Christians.
Already marked by signs of tuberculosis before priestly ordination, several times subjected to surgical interventions, bringing the permanent consequences of the plague contracted in the East and finally weakened by diabetes, Fr Andrej Majcen from Slovenia encouraged a very intense activity of missionary promotion, writing and mediation including on behalf of the Major Superiors of the Salesian Congregation. Above all, he became a sought-after and beloved confessor, to whom many flocked and to whom the Archbishop of Ljubljana also turned, sending him many priests "in crisis".
His reputation for holiness accompanied him at home as well as in Vietnam, for whom he remains an unforgettable father. He died on his ninety-fifth birthday, and over 100 priests concelebrated at his funeral, the moment of farewell being an Easter experience of gratitude to God.
His reputation was corroborated by many graces experienced until the final months. His legacy also includes 3,417 pages of Diaries and Meditations from which his commitment – as he said – to "scurry along in the footsteps of the saints", to become a saint too, as he always understood that.
https://www.infoans.org/en/sections/news/item/22277-rmg-30-september-25th-anniversary-of-the-death-of-the-servant-of-god-fr-andrej-majcen-sdb#sigProIde1ec53d5fb
