True Life in God e-Newsletter
November 2, 2004
Vassula in New York City: A Meeting Report – Part 3
Upcomming TLIG Retreat in Bogota Columbia
Meeting Report: Vassula in Iceland
Election Day in the USA, the Ultimate Victor is Jesus!
Vassula in New York City : Part3
May 28, Friday, 7 p.m. Meeting at the Holy Face of Jesus Monastery in Clifton, New Jersey.
Fr. Bernard and Fr. Louis, the monks from this Benedictine Monastery had invited Vassula, with the help of Anne Matthews and Thecla Johnides of TLIG, to speak to their youth group but many of their friends and parishioners joined, filling the beautiful chapel. Fr. Louis’ enthusiasm for True Life in God dates back many years, he has testified to the authenticity of the Messages and to the great influence they have in his contemplative life. Fr. Bernard introduced Vassula and then took his seat beside Fr. Louis to listen to Vassula’s testimony. One could see the delight in both priests’ faces as Vassula spoke of the early days of her conversion and the main themes of the Messages, dotting the profound teachings with her day to day experiences with the Lord. The atmosphere was warm and intimate; hearing her speak gave a calming and tranquil effect in the overfilled chapel. The Armenian TLIG songs contributed to the solemnity and warmth of the ambiance. A Greek Orthodox listener who had driven up from Massachusetts commented afterwards: “I felt that Vassula was genuine, a down-to-earth individual with extraordinary gifts, someone that does not flaunt her abilities, nor hide from them. She spoke with such faith and honesty…” Refreshments were laid out for everyone after the meeting; all were invited to share a few more beautiful moments together.
May 29, Saturday, 1 p.m. Meeting at the Armenian Church Center, New York City
This big Meeting organized by the TLIG Prayer Group of New York City fell on the Saturday afternoon of Memorial Day Weekend, one of the important holidays in the U.S. The pulse of the City slowed down almost to a halt as New Yorkers took some time out of their hectic rhythm to go out of town. The audience of approximately 500 people at the Armenian Church Center was satisfactory under the circumstances.
Vassula’s old friend Al Barbarino sang praise songs as people filled the hall before the meeting, and Vergine rendered the beautiful True Life in God songs in Armenian while Tigranuhi read the English translation of the verses. Mark Jordan gave the welcoming address, followed by a short introduction of Vassula and True Life in God by Fr. Louis of the Monastery of the Holy Face of Jesus.
Vassula’s talk introduced the Messages saying it is God speaking to us today, they are a foretaste of the Beatific Vision, and that in them, the Holy Trinity reveals Themselves to us. The True Life in God Messages call us for a radical transformation of self, mind and soul done with the power and grace of the Holy Spirit. This coming of the Holy Spirit to transform us is called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit or baptism by fire, the Day of the Lord or the Visitation of the Lord, to purify us and to make us realize who we really are. Also called a New Pentecost, the Holy Spirit enables us to reach levels of pure light, levels of divinization whereby we become gods by participation. The Holy Spirit will give us a deeper and better understanding of God’s word, and of God’s mysteries, calling us to reach deification.
“I alone can clothe you in My splendour and give you the indispensable light; I alone, in My Divinity can impress upon your soul My Image of Holiness. Come to Me and prolong your gaze on My Holy Face so that you may understand fully that you are joint heiress with Me, united to Me and in Me…receive more of Me, allowing Me to receive more of you. My wish is to give more of Myself to you, so that you can give more of yourself to me. I will be obtaining in this way all that belongs to Me already; through My divine Love that will be poured in you, you will be deified, transfiguring your soul, so that My Father identifies you on Judgment Day with Me.” (April 25, 1999)
She continued about the need for Repentance and to confess our sins to empty ourselves and allow Him to burn to the root all that is not Him. In True Life in God, our soul answers the call to perfection, to rise above the heavens. It is a call to Detachment, leading to Dispassion, then to Impassibility, the 3 steps to holiness.
“If you allow My Holy Spirit to invade you, He can transfigure your soul from a desert into a garden (Detachment) where I can have My rest in you; If you allow My Holy Spirit He can transfigure your soul into a palace (Dispassion) where I can be King and reign over you; If you allow My Holy Spirit to transfigure your soul, He can transfigure your soul into a Heaven (Impassibility) where I can be glorified.”
Detachment is to die to one’s self, to die to one’s will, and also to all material things a soul can be attached to.
Dispassion is a higher degree of perfection wherein the soul is freed from earthly passions, has a distaste for all worldly things, a distaste for all evil thoughts and evil acts, and is led into higher levels of contemplation. It is a total rejection of evil. Our Lord describes this state, saying: “And although you will still be among men, your mind will be in heaven. Although your body will be moving among men, your soul and mind will be as an angel’s. I will teach you to live in Us, move in Us, and breathe in Us…”
Impassibility is the ultimate perfection of the soul; it is a wider aspect of dispassion, a detachment of lust and passion, of pleasures and desires of the flesh.
One must give one’s heart to the Lord to mold it, He leads the soul through purification after purification. The experience of seeing our sins with His Eyes is a grace and since the purification of the soul is according to God’s mind, if you ask, He will grant you this grace. Giving one’s self to God is like jumping off a cliff blindfolded…and landing on a path of sapphires (virtues). The knowledge of God is the greatest spiritual gift to be obtained; it is the first principle of Wisdom. Failure to know God is a sin, it is essential to taste God while still on earth, and the first step to know Him is to become intimate with Him.
Vassula touched on the subjects of Intimacy with God, the Apostasy, the Second Pentecost and the Power of Prayer. The audience was made up of Catholics and Orthodox, lay people and clergy, many hearing of the Messages for the first time. No one saw time pass, Vassula spoke for 2 solid hours and everyone was transfixed in their seats, at perfect attention. After the meeting, some listeners came backstage to thank and congratulate her.
May 30, Sunday, 10 a.m. Liturgy at Three Hierarchs Greek Orthodox Church
It was Pentecost Sunday, and we attended the Liturgy at Fr. Eugene Pappas’ church in Brooklyn. After the service, Fr. Eugene called some prominent members of his community to the fore to give special blessings, Vassula was included. After the service, she was accosted by a group of Russian and Greek churchgoers who had recognized her from the newspaper advertisement and the TV interview. Eager to speak to her and interested to know more, they requested her to pray over them with the cross in her hand. Janna, a Russian Orthodox in the TLIG Prayer Group spoke to a Russian gentleman who was homeless and an alcoholic, and who asked to be prayed over. He gave her his testimony weeks later that his life changed ever since Vassula blessed him: he has not had a drink and now has an apartment to live in!
May 31, Monday Departure for Buffalo, NY
Here ended Vassula’s visit to New York City, many thanks to the New York TLIG Prayer Groups for all the good work and hospitality.
Third Latin American Retreat of True Life in God
The Third Latin American Retreat of True Life in God will take place in Bogotá, Colombia, on December 7 to 11, 2004.
The two prior Latin American Retreats (Puerto Rico 2003 and Mexico City 2004) have borne many and great fruits, both individually (with a considerable improvement of our spiritual life) and collectivelly (such as the opening of new Beth Myriams and TLIG prayer groups).
TLIG readers from all over the world anxiously await the Latin American Retreat, where we always have, among the attendants, people from Europe, US, Canada, Australia and even friends from Bangladesh!
Remember that these retreats are intended to make a much needed stop in our hectic lives, so we can be silent, and in that silence be able to listen to the Voice of Our God. It is a time for contemplation, adoration and continuous praise to Our One and Triune God. It is an opportunity to meet again with Our Loving Father and truly repent with our hearts, so that we may be filled with the Grace and Gifts of the Holy Spirit!
The subject of the Retreat is: “The Trinitarian Spirituality of True Life in God: Ecumenical, Contemplative and Ascetic”.
When?
December 7 to 11, 2004
With a public talk by Vassula on December 10, 2004.
Where?
Bogotá, Colombia
Who are the Speakers?
Besides Vassula, there are many international speakers.
Details of the place and speakers will be given to those participants who register for the Retreat
How much does it Cost?
US$250 Dollars for Colombian residents
US$350 Dollars for foreigners
What does the Cost include?
Ø Participation in the Retreat and all of its activities
Ø Lodging
Ø All Meals
Ø Materials related to the Retreat
The cost of registration is intended to cover the plane tickets and lodging costs of the speakers. Remember that NOBODY gets any money for any activity related to the Retreat, or to any TLIG activity. All people involved are volunteers, who freely give up their time, resources and will for the Glory of God, and His Glory alone!
How do I register?
E-mail Juan Ibañez at [email protected]
Hurry, because the response from Latin America alone has been tremendous! See you in Bogota !
Vassula Comes to Iceland
A handful of True Life in God followers in Iceland had shared the Messages within a small circle in their prayer group. For many years, they had been in touch with the websites and reports of Vassula’s worldwide mission; but after the initial effort to spread the Messages in 1992 had failed, it seemed to remain a close circle, until Skuli Thorvaldsson, his wife Paula and sister Katrin set out to hear Vassula firsthand in Edinburgh, in 2000, and Brighton, Oct.25, 2003 and then in New York on May 27, 2004. He missed the opportunity in Brighton to invite Vassula to Iceland, and afraid that an audience totally unfamiliar with the Messages would not respond, he waited. But in New York, he knew the time had come.
Returning home, he contacted Nils Christian Hvidt in Denmark, who received a yes from Vassula that same day. With a date, Oct. 3, 2004, the little group sat down to planning in earnest. They contacted first Rev. Sigurdur Pálsson, and then the Bishop of Iceland, Rev. Sigurbjörnsson of the Lutheran Church, who gladly agreed to provide the sanctuary of the Hallgrimskirkje, a church built like a Viking ship, towering over all Reykjavik. With the guidelines received, VCD’s were distributed; and posters and flyers designed. When the chief executive of the largest advertising agency in Iceland, Mr. Jonas Olafsson, saw the videos, he said, “This is awesome; this is the real thing. I am going all out and I will charge nothing.”
The enthusiasm spread to his employees, who produced five nine-foot silk screen posters of the Holy Face to be placed in the church.
Advertising began three weeks prior with half-page newspaper ads, repeated four times, in two of the largest newspapers covering the entire nation. A full-page ad was taken out on the very day, calling people to come “tonight.” A country with the highest ratio of daily publications per capita, every household was reached. The last week before the presentation an email campaign began to friends, business associates, their families. State radio interviewed Skuli on its Sunday morning talk show, and he answered questions about the Messages and stressed the nonprofit nature of Vassula’s mission. Posters and flyers were distributed throughout the city, in churches, hospitals, bus stations, airport terminals, fitness centers, clubs and organizations like AA and the Salvation Army. The organizers in Denmark, enthralled by the beautiful poster, asked to use it in their presentation as well. Flowers were ordered, and sound and video experts were booked.
Books had been ordered, from Trinitas, 20 copies of each handwritten volume, and from England the printed version, the Enigma and prayer books. These were for sale in the vestibule of the church. All proceeds from sales were donated to the church and leftover volumes donated to the church gift and bookshop with order lists for future sales. In view of an audience not familiar with the Messages, the most beautiful 8-page handouts containing in Icelandic Vassula’s background, a picture of the Holy Face, backed by quotations of Messages on Love, peace, unity and Mary. Many people afterwards said they would frame this as a memento.
The organizers met with the Catholic Bishop of Iceland, Fr. Johannes Gejsen, who received them cordially, but declined the invitation and refused the videos, but accepted the Farfa discourse and the correspondence between the Vatican and Vassula. He refused permission to place a flyer in the church vestibule and was informed with regret that the Catholic Church in Iceland was the only parish to refuse the posters or the invitation.
On Sunday, October 3, a blustering day, Vassula arrived with her companion, Michael Bornet; and Skuli and Paula met them at the airport. The luggage, however, did not arrive; and Vassula’s notes were in it. They were taken to the hotel to quickly plan their notes before attending Bishop Sigurbjörnsson’s reception. Bishop Sigurbjörnsson had invited other priests, Rev. Jon Dalbo Hrobjartsson and Sigurdur Palsson, with their spouses, and Vassula explained the nature of her mission, and was presented the program for the evening.
At 7:30 pm, the program started with organ and choir by Lára Eggertsdóttir and Graduale Nobili. Skuli then wished everyone welcome, speaking in Icelandic, explaining Vassula’s mission and informing the audience of the availability of the Messages in Iceland in the future. A video of the event was also to be available in the church gift store. After this Rev. Palsson blessed the audience, and invited Vassula to the podium.
Vassula began by saying that she had been informed that the Messages were new to the audience and so she began by telling them of her background, the beginning, speaking slowly, clearly and with intonation on her awakening, describing the love, tenderness and gentleness of God the Father. She described her own purification, and, like a teacher, guided the audience into the Message on repentance (Notebook 35, p.26): “All day and all night long, I call again and again all those who still err in this wilderness seeking Me; come! You who are still in this wilderness saying, `I have sought my Redeemer but have not found Him,’ find Me, My beloved in purity of heart by loving Me!…”
She told them the reward of Purification was Divine Love. The audience filled the church to capacity (800)-chairs had to be brought in and the choir steps in the back came in handy too.All sat absolutely silent intently following every word. She read the Message on consolation (Notebook 85, p.20). She ended with the prayer “In the morning sow your seed of Love…”
Vassula spoke for an hour and a half and said this was her first time in Iceland, the most northern point of her worldwide trek, and that she would gladly come back “maybe one more time.” As everyone stood, she raised her crucifix containing the relic of the Holy Cross and blessed everyone. There was a moment of utter silence when she smiled and said, “That’s all for tonight,” whereupon a spontaneous applause broke out. Skuli and Paula handed her a bouquet of flowers and led her out the side door as the organ was playing. The public filed out, and descended upon the two bookstalls. Volumes I and II, Angel Daniel, prayer books, Spirit of Love, and all printed versions sold out, as did the Ode of the Holy Trinity. One hundred rosaries donated by a retirement home in Washington with guidelines in Icelandic all went, and people were delighted to learn how to pray the Rosary. Order lists for online orders were grabbed as the organizers reordered for future availability in the bookstore of the church.
The next day, despite gale-force winds, Vassula and Michael flew to the Faeroe Islands. She had hardly landed when the phone rang in Pastor Hrobjartsson’s office. It was his brother, a priest active in Norway who was visiting the Faeroe Islands. He called to inquire about a woman who has just arrived from Iceland and was going to speak that night. “Do you know anything about her?” I told him, “This is a truly Christian woman. You can safely invite everyone to let her share the Word of God as she receives it.” What is interesting is that Vassula has not yet been invited to Norway.
The next day Bishop Sigurbjörnsson called the organizers to thank them and to express his gratitude for the inspiration he experienced meeting Vassula and finding his parishioners filling the church in silence, listening to the Word of God. Calls for books and prayer groups continued to come in several days to the church office and to the organizers, and so the “rivulet is turning into the river.”
In a country where people are reserved and religion is private, something truly spiritual had happened; for people called and spoke about this event with interest and eagerness to learn more about True Life in God
Election Day in USA : The Ultimate Victor will be Jesus !
Lord, how long will you allow them 1 to defy You?
When I will speak the next time to them, I will raise a gale! They scorned Your advice in the ecumenical center (in Mexico city), 2 got up and left in the middle of the meeting. And as You know, the greatest oppositions in the World Council of Churches and who did not want my presence there, nor a meeting, were from my own. but I the Victor will bend them double …. look Vassula-of-My-Passion, have My Peace, search no one else but Me! soul-of-My-Passion, go out to the nations and leave the oppositions to Me, I shall make those that oppose Me get up from their Seats and bend them double; trust Me, go out to the nations and remind everyone of My Love and that Jesus means Saviour, Redeemer and that the greatness of My Love for you all, surpasses everything … *
*TLIG editors note -emphasis added- even the percieved importance of the politics the day !
Jesus Continues ……..
do not look to your left nor to your right, remember how My Father seized by your misery gave you His Peace so that you forward this Peace to everyone; My Father, moved by your astounding weakness revealed His Face to you and through you to others; My Holy Spirit enraptured by your nothingness triumphed over you, installing His Throne in you to rule over your soul, and I filled your heart with the Riches of My Sacred Heart; soon, beloved of My Soul, a white linen will cover you and I Myself shall wrap you in My Heart, engulfing you in My Light 
so My child-of-My-Burning-Passion allow Me to use your little hand for just a while longer, write: I have stepped out of Heaven to reach you, but have you listened to Me? I have stepped out of My Throne to come all the way into your room to court you and remind you that you are heirs to My Kingdom; I have stepped out of My Dwelling Place and have taken the wilderness in search of you; the Master of the heavens has not denied you His Love, never! I have allowed your eyes, creation, to look on a King in His Beauty, to attract you; to honour My Name I have roused the dead to preach to you My Kingdom; where is your response?…
today I tell you: your Saviour will bring His victory nearer; My Return will not be late; I will bring salvation to those who love Me; TLIG editor comment – whats more important election returns or Jesus ‘s return? The world gives almost no attention to the Great Return… all the more reason those of us who know from TLIG about the times we live in, must remain more prayerful and vigilant than ever.
True Life in God “Message a Day” Service now Available by e-Mail! One of the most important things we need to stay constant in our spiritual life is to everyday eat good spiritual food ” His bread” . We have heard from many many people again and again the difference it makes in their lives to read TLIG everyday . Now you can get in your email “a message a day ” – similar to the daily message placed on the web site. If you wish to receive this daily email, please subscribe at http://www.tlig.net/dailymessage.html
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