Testimonies 12a (Vassula experiences the Passion)
13 September 1998 08:31
This is the first of a series of three testimonies which each deal with the same event which occured in Puerto Rico in 1994.
VASSULA EXPERIENCES THE PASSION OF JESUS
by Dr. Gregoria Merced, Director Centre for Peace, Puerto Rico
On February ll, 1994, after Vassula Ryden and Father O’Carroll had given a televised interview, Millie Subira, a member of the Centre for Peace, a young man named Radames Arroyo and I invited them for lunch at a restaurant. When seated and water served, Vassula told me in my ear, “I do not feel well”. I said to her “Do you want to leave?”, she said “what about your lunch?”. I replied , “if you do not feel well we will leave”.
I immediately told Father O’Carroll and the other two that Vassula was not well and that we must leave. When Vassula stood up she told me in my ear “I am feeling the symptoms of the Passion”. When I heard that, I felt mixed emotions; I shivered and felt joy at the same time because I realized that I could see a living Jesus; sadness because The Passion is painful, and fear thinking that Vassula could fall in front of so many people.
We helped her down the stairs since the restaurant was located on a second floor. When we were half way to the parking lot, Vassula had her First Fall. She looked like Jesus carrying the Cross, her expression was of pain, her weight was becoming heavier and more difficult to sustain by us. Father O’Carroll, young Radames and I tried to lift her but we could not.
We then had to pull her all the way to the car. In the car we layed her down on the back seat with her head on my lap; her feet were down. On the way home we could see the signs of pain on her face and the stiffness and weight of her body.
When we reached my house and parked the car we tried to pull her out. At that moment she had her Second Fall. We had to pull her from the open area where the car was parked to a front bedroom
In the bedroom we had to use all our strength to lay her on the bed. She immediately took the position of the cross, her arms extended. Her index and centre fingers were extended and rigid, the rest of the fingers were down.
Vassula was cold and rigid, her face revealing pain but at the same
time peace. There was no sign of despair in her pain. Her body
was in the same position as on the crucifix, her feet one on top of
the other, her knees and legs bent, her head was erect and raised in the air (not resting on the bed). Her body, with the exception of one of her heels and the back of her hands, was levitating around six inches from the bed.
Father O’Carroll gave her a drop of water because she felt thirsty. She retained the position, as described above, for a long time until she tried to stand up. We again pulled with all our strength and sat her on a chair. It was impossible to keep her seated, so we laid her on the floor again.
She again took the position of the cross. She tried again to stand up and laid her head on my arm (I was kneeling beside her). Her head was down and I caressed her face and her hair and said “Jesus I love you”. She opened her eyes, showing a light blue color (Vassula’s eyes are brown) with a sweet and loving look that I will never forget.
Her weight was so heavy that I could not hold her and she had the Third Fall.
I was so shaken with emotion since I felt and truly believed that I
had Jesus in my arms. I asked for help to accomodate her on the
floor. She called me with her eyes and I approached her. She
then made the sign of the cross on my forehead with the two fingers
that were maintained erect and which felt like two bars of ice. It
was impossible to bend the fingers.
We placed her on the bed and I felt in my heart that she was going to give a message. I told Millie Subira to get pencil and paper but before Millie came back, Vassula was whispering in my ear the initial part of the message – “THERE IS NO PEACE IN THE WORLD, PRAY, PRAY”. She gave the message slowly until completion.
Later on we gave her a cup of tea and she started recuperating from The Passion. She was very weak and had to go to her room and rest.
This has been the most significant experience my life.
