4-8 November 2023

“all I ask from you is to listen to Jesus all that comes your way, let it come;
allow Jesus to work and speak through you;”
(TLIG, Holy Mother: 15 October 1992)

Having known the TLIG Messages and Vassula for many years now, I am always pleasantly surprised at the way the Lord prepares her program, almost without her knowledge… This time, Vassula received an invitation from the editors of “Inside the Vatican” Magazine, Deborah and Robert Tomlinson, to participate in a retreat organized by them inside the Vatican! A few days later, Vassula received an invitation from the TLIG Association of Italy. The book “Heaven is Real but also is Hell” had just been published in Italian and its presentation was going to be heralded in a bookstore in Rome. Unfortunately, this presentation of the HIR book coincided with the dates of the retreat. At the same time, Vassula had also received another invitation from the Charismatic Group of Rome to be a part of the Papal audience at the Catholic Charismatics Groups International, on November 4 in the afternoon.

Somehow, in a simple and natural way, the three invitations came together in a “no schedule” program, which evolved day by day and was full of pleasant surprises!

4 November 2023

We were met at the airport in Rome by Fr Vincent and went straight to the Vatican to catch the audience with Pope Francis. At the entrance of the Paul VI Hall, where the audience was held, we met Katerina Andritsaki, who was waiting for us, providing us the necessary invitations on behalf of the Charismatic Rome Group. The hall was nearly full. A large crowd had gathered there from 100 countries. The audience lasted for about an hour, with expressions of enthusiasm and joy for Pope Francis.

Pope Francis Arrived in the Hall…

Upon arriving at our lodging hotel, we met TLIG Italian friends who had come from Rome, Venice and Milano to see Vassula and host the presentation of the HIR Book published in Italian. After introducing themselves, Caterina from TLIG Italian association talked about their prayer group.

She said: “Our prayer group meets on zoom twice a month, every other Friday. Our zoom meeting gives us the chance to come together from Northern to Southern Italy (Torino, Milan, Varese, Treviso, Venice, Rome, Isernia, Catanzaro) and has created a real understanding among us, we can feel Jesus is with us because of the joy we have every time we meet.

The Papal Audience-Charismatic Meeting-Paul VI Hall, Vatican

Because of this joy, why we have decided to increase the number of our annual in-person retreats from one to two: one during Unity Week in January, the second one in September. This may be possible thanks to Fr. Vincent, a blessing and a guide for all of us.  Maria Stella, Elisabetta and I are part of the association. Elisabetta lives in Milan. Maria Stella and I have committed to meet once a month to pray for the prayer group and to present to the Lord and to our Holy Mother a request for help in spreading the TLIG Messages, and to provide whatever the Italian association needs to fulfill the mission God has granted it.

We are sure that Italy will enliven its fervor for the True Life in God Messages since more than once Jesus has given us this Word: “we will become a rivulet, than a river, then a sea, and an ocean…” (cf. TLIG Messages, 6 October, 1993).  As Maria Stella said: ‘l’Italia ha acceso i motori!’ meaning: ‘we fired up the engines’…”

Our visit with the TLIG Italian friends ended late in the evening with a prayer in the hotel’s chapel for the intentions of the two Hearts and the success of the presentation of HIR book.

5 November 2023

The next day we met the mother superior, responsible of the hotel. She spoke very good English and wanted to know more about our group. She said that she asked the Italian women in our group about the group the night before, but the information they gave her was not sufficient… Addressing Vassula, she asked: So, what does your team do? Thus began a torrent of testimony about the TLIG Messages and Vassula’s mission. Sister Christina listened in silence. Her facial expression showed her surprise at what she was hearing and she was impressed when she saw the short video with the highlights from the TLIG pilgrimage to Egypt-September 2023. She asked for more information. We gave her the link to the TLIG website and the promise that the Italians of the TLIG group will soon provide her with the TLIG books in Italian. Later, Fr. Vincent told us that the first day we entered the hotel, two Filipino nuns who were there, working in the hotel, recognized Vassula and smiled at each other. Apparently, they spoke to Sister Christina, who then wanted to know more… She greeted us with kindness and love and wished Vassula well in her work and in her book presentation.

Inside St. Peter’s Basilica

Meeting Caterina and Maria Stella outside the Basilica

Later, after visiting the Basilica of St. Peter, we met with Caterina and Maria Stella, two of the organizers of the ΗΙR book presentation in Italian. They were thrilled that Vassula accepted their invitation to attend the presentation of her book, which had just been published in Italian. The time they had to prepare for the presentation was minimal… but their joy and enthusiasm were great. So, they managed to announce the event through friends, word of mouth and social media. It was the first time they were organizing such an event, and of course, they contained excitement about the outcome. From our conversation, I could see a strong spiritual fire and great faith in them because the time had come for them to spread the TLIG Messages to Italy. In the