Sunday, May 04, 2003 9:42 AM

The ‘ordinariness’ of Vassula

The following testimony was written in 1999

I am a Catholic priest. I work in Peru, though currently I have been given one year to study spiritual theology. I work in the formation of young religious in my order, and in the promotion of the Rosary.

I was first exposed to the writings that come from the hand of Vassula Ryden about two and a half years ago, in Peru. I also was able to meet her several years ago in Peru. I was especially impressed by the ‘ordinariness’ of Vassula, the simple clarity of her message, and the humble fidelity of her presentation. I did not see a person who was promoting herself. Rather she maintained a faithfulness to what the Lord had told her. Nothing added on.

I did not begin to read the messages themselves, however, for a couple of years after first meeting her. I would not say that they provoked a dramatic change of my life, but the messages came to me like a breath of fresh air.

The words I began to read sounded to me like the voice of the Lord that I already knew and loved, and came to renew me and draw me closer, to him and to his Holy Mother. I was astounded by the depth of the spirituality of the writings – touching those places that only those greatest mystics of the Church have been able to talk about, yet coming from the pen of a most unlikely person.

A person with eyes to see and ears to hear will realize that there is something most unusual here. The writings continue to nourish me, as they have through some difficult moments, bringing me deeper into the Heart of Christ, one with the Heart of our Lady.

Sincerely in the Lord,

Rev. James H. Phalan, C.S.C.
USA