Marinus LaRue

The Ship of Miracles

Leonard LaRue was born in Philadelphia on January 14, 1914, trained at the Pennsylvania Nautical School, and rose through the Moore-McCormack Lines to command the cargo freighter SS Meredith Victory. In December 1950, delivering supplies during the Korean War, he found the port of Hungnam choked with nearly 100,000 refugees fleeing the advancing Chinese army.

LaRue ordered his ship, built for twelve passengers plus crew, emptied of nearly all cargo and weapons, and took aboard some 14,000 refugees. Over three days, December 23 to 25, 1950, without a doctor, an interpreter, heat, or sanitation, and through mine-infested waters, the Meredith Victory carried them 450 miles to Geoje Island, disembarking on Christmas Day without a single loss of life. The US Maritime Administration called it the greatest rescue operation by a single ship in history.

In 1954 LaRue left the sea and entered St. Paul’s Benedictine Abbey in Newton, New Jersey, taking the name Brother Marinus in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. For 47 years he lived the quiet round of Benedictine work and prayer, washing dishes and tending the abbey gift shop, rarely speaking of Korea. He died at the abbey on October 14, 2001, just as Korean-founded Benedictines arrived to save the dwindling community.

Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson opened his cause on March 25, 2019, and the US bishops voted near-unanimously at their June 2021 assembly to support its advancement. He is a Servant of God.

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