A Great Marian — by Fr. John Larson on September 10, 2008 — Leave a reply Learn about one of our Latvian Marians: Servant of God Fr. Jan Mendriks (1907-1953). He was shot to death at the Vorkuta Prison Camp on the Gulag Archipelago and is now among a group of potential Blesseds referred to as the “New Martyrs of Russia.”