French Retreat with International Participants

September 24th – October 1st, 2022 

The French TLIG Association organized a retreat that took place from the 24th of September to the 1st of October 2022 on the Island of Rhodes with 120 participants from all over the world (21 countries).

The retreat’s purpose was to reunite TLIG friends, after months of world-wide lockdowns, confinements, and border closures on a global scale. More specifically, the retreat had three main objectives : The first objective was for True Life in God readers to meet each other again, to see and talk to each other around a table and a smile, to start a new dynamic on projects that previously had to suffer slowdowns, and finally, to enable the participants to find a new inner, spiritual serenity and relaxation.

Theme of the Retreat

The theme of the retreat was : « How to Spread Prophetic Messages in Apocalyptic Times ».
The theme was imparted through presentations from several of the thirteen priests who attended the retreat, coming from various countries : USA, Italy, Togo, Congo, Romania, Sweden, France, Burkina Faso, and Czech Republic.
Among them, we were blessed to have with us Mgr. Athanasios, Metropolitan of the Coptic Orthodox Church of France.

The program was divided in three parts :
– The Workshops
– Excursions in Rhodes
– Spiritual enlightenment through group sessions, prayers and relaxation

Saturday Arrival and Vassula’s Welcome Speech

On Saturday, September 24th, participants were arriving to the retreat’s hotel from Rhodes airport throughout the day. Vassula Ryden and Nicolas Buchet (the host) gave a welcome speech in the evening.
Nicolas Buchet, representing the French TLIG National Association, thanked every participant who made the effort to come, especially those from various countries around the world. To facilitate, headsets and English translations were available for participants. Neil Labbé de Montais, the other host, explained the concept of the program and the sessions that would be taking place during the retreat. Finally, Vassula concluded the welcoming session, with a speech that in substance contained the following:

Vassula’s welcome speech

She thanked everyone for the efforts in spreading this « divine work » and also to the generous donors. She reminded us that Jesus wants « us humble of heart, effaced and willing. No one should work with a spirit of competition or conceit… ». She added also that « The Holy Spirit urges us to be steady in our work (…). To know that we have been called by God Himself, chosen from among so many others to share in this Work of Mercy that comes from the reserves of Heaven, is such a blessing that we should normally praise Him ceaselessly all day long. To have been undeservedly called to serve God is an immense blessing. » Vassula concluded her speech with the following reminder « The uniting of Christ’s Mystical Body “will be achieved by martyrdom”, nothing less. These are His own Words. But let us remember that Christ is our life, and with this we are encouraged. Without Him we are dead, even if we believe we are alive. So, let us look for those things that are above, where our Lord is.
Sooner than we think, the signal given by the voice of the Archangel, and the trumpet of God will be heard, and it will be the sign that the Lord Himself will come down from heaven…as He Himself said: « My return is imminent and sooner than you think… »

Vassula’s complete welcome speech can be found here on the True Life in God website
Vasssula’s speech in French is located on the French National Association Website

Sunday, September 25th, Consecrating the Day to the Lord

The entire day was consecrated to the Lord with Holy Mass, prayers – a complete Rosary -, adoration- with songs performed by Nathalie Patard, and a thematic meditation from Fr. Jean-Claude Doh, with a reading of a True Life in God prophetic message.

Nicola, welcome the participants

Tlig International Choir

The True Life in God prophetic message from March 13, 2020 was read by Vassula. Fr. Doh, spoke about, « A Synoptic Look at Prophetism ». This speech encompassed an introduction to what is prophetism, prophets in the Bible and in our time, and prophetic events that deserve our attention. It was important to think about these concepts at the beginning of our retreat. Fr Doh concluded his ‘meditation speech’ with the following : « The inspirations of True Life in God are not sad and catastrophic prophecies. God gives them to us in these times of Mercy to form us. They are a call from the Sublime Love of God. God does not want to allow us to offend His Holy Name forever. That is why He comes in His Mercy to give us many warnings. Moreover, Jesus gives us an inalienable criterion of discernment : ‘By their fruits you will know them. Shall we gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every good tree bears good fruit, and the tree that rots bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotting tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruit you will know them.’ (Mt 7 :16-20). Only through the many testimonies of the positive fruits from the lives of those who have read the True Life in God Messages are we able to recognize the gifts that the Lord gives us.

The complete meditation speech can be found in French and English on the French TLIG National Association website at : https://tlig.fr/rhodes2022/ (Dimanche -> Fr Doh)

Monday, September 26th, A Day for Discovering and Relaxing

The day’s excursions encompassed a visit to Lindos, the Church of St Mary, the Church of Tsambika, and the sandy beach of Tsambika in the afternoon. After our evening Mass, a True Life in God prophetic message Vassula read – ATLIG Message from April 10th 2019.

Lindos

Subsequently, Vassula presented a thematic speech concerning prophecies. She first pointed out that « many prophecies have been accomplished and just as many still have not. All the TLIG messages are in the category of prophecies. »

She added : « Some people sometimes ask me, “What does Jesus say these days?” I feel like telling them, “Do you know what Jesus has been saying these past 37 years?”.

The participants listening Vassula’s speech

Vassula reminds us that God « As a loving Father, warns us, warns the world to change heart and return to Him ; otherwise only disasters will befall on us. » Moreover, we need to carry on God’s work ; reading the True Life in God Messages is one essential work : « Do not allow your heart,” says the Lord, become like a cracked cistern. Jesus states in the TLIG Messages : « you have become like leaking cisterns hold no water ; many have abandoned me, and the heaven stands against this rebellion ; I had filled your heart at birth with the fountain of living water; I had filled your heart with My Presence; now, like a cracked cistern, you have run dry; you are hollow;” (True Life in God Messages, May 31, 2003)

But,Vassula continued, let us be alert to God’s call and learn through His words of knowledge, so that we can perfume the world with His sweet odor, transforming the deserts into fields of knowledge. » Vassula invited participants to this mission saying : « I invite you today to learn and follow in the footsteps of the ancient prophets ; to open a wide path in your mind and in your heart to see how they maintained the perfect faithfulness which they had towards God when He called to reveal His purposes to them: Let us learn from them and meditate on how they passed through these arid lands, these spiritual deserts. » Vassula concluded « If all the religions of the world responded to God’s call for reconciliation, all men and women would already recognize each other as brothers and sisters, descending from a single Source. And if everyone realized that we are living in the End of Times, of which God is renewing everything in full power, we would never stop praising God night and day and our hearts would become a blazing fire of zeal! » Vassula’s complete allocution can be found here : https://tlig.fr/rhodes2022/ (Lundi -> Thématique – VASSULA) in French and English.

Tuesday, September 27th, the Core of the Retreat : The Workshops

Tuesday was an essential day, a main core in the retreat. After Holy Mass and confessions in the morning, three main workshops took place in the afternoon with participants dispatched according to their feelings and their desire to know and practice more on specific subjects. The first workshop was dedicated to newcomers and was conducted by Yolla Bechara who is an official speaker for True Life in God in the French Association. The idea of this workshop was to provide care and information for those who were newcomers to TLIG, or who were participating in a TLIG retreat for the first time. The idea behind this workshop was to strengthen the experience for those discovering the True Life in God Messages for the first time through testimonies and filial love. This workshop was a huge success and contained a third of the overall participants.

A second workshop was dedicated to the revival of prayer groups in France, and the discovery of the « Brazilian example » ; meaning, a presentation of the description on how the TLIG Brazilian National Association manages and succeeds in continually growing its prayer groups. This workshop was given by Paul Henriques and Anne-Marie Gouvernet who spent a lot of time communicating with the Brazilians, and obtaining videos from them that explain their ‘secret’ along with their evangelizing tools. These videos were made in three parts by TLIG Brazilian members who exerted tremendous effort towards making and sharing the videos, along with the printed materials needed for this workshop. The workshop was a huge success, and the biggest in terms of participants. All participants interacted with Paul and Anne-Marie, bringing them ideas from their respective countries. The ‘Brazilian’ videos are available on the Brazilian Youtube Channel. Links can be found here : https://tlig.fr/rhodes2022/ (Ateliers (Workshops) – Prayer Groups Revival).

A third workshop, was presented by Magda Skalova, who is the official TLIG Video Working Group Coordinator. Magda explained the new guidelines of the TLIG Video Working Groups, and interactively gave « how-to » examples of TLIG video-making. Alongside conducting this workshop, Magda was also videotaping the retreat. These videos shall become available soon.

Tuesday evening ended with meditations from Fr Vincent, and a reading of a True Life in God prophetic message from February 13th 2016.
Fr Vincent’s meditation speech was entitled : « Justice Is Divine Mercy ». He emphasized that « the theme of justice is eminently biblical. The Book of Revelation, one of the books of the Bible, more than any other book of the New Testament, emphasizes the “judgment” of God. It is a book that could give us the impression that God and His justice, in wanting to punish His enemies, contradicts the merciful teaching of Jesus… (see Rev 6 :9-10) »
Fr V. explained that « Theologians will speak of natural law as a law that must be obeyed. Be careful ; the True Life in God Messages specify that this duty must be above all, a duty done with love, or, as the Blessed Virgin says:
“accomplish all your other duties too with love, for love, for acts of love are what counts most for Him, no matter how little and insignificant they appear to you, they are of great value in His eyes and thus become great ;” (True Life in God Messages, February 19, 1987) “With love, for love”… an expression that appears in about thirty True Life in God Messages. “To give or give back to each one what is due to him » Fr V. concluded his meditation with a request : « Let us therefore ask the Lord that during this retreat, a hunger and thirst for Justice may increase in us, desiring to increase our conversion, desiring to participate in His salvific plan thro