Since receiving the charism of locutions from God, Vassula, on many occasions, has experienced the Passion of Jesus. The following group of accounts is of one of these occasions, experienced just prior to a conference in Omaha, Nebraska in June, 1993.

 

On June 12,1993, prior to the conference at which Father Ljudevic Rupcic OFM (theologian and teacher of exegesis in Sarajevo; he had the courage to publish, in 1983, in Yugoslavia, under the communist government, ‘The Apparition of Our Lady in Medjugorje‘, the first book published about these apparitions) was another speaker, Vassula Ryden, Father Michael O’Carroll, Mrs. Christine Lynch, publisher of the English Printed edition, Mr. Pat Callahan of Trinitas, publisher of the original handwritten edition and Mr. John Lynch met in Vassula’s hotel room to discuss policies concerning the distribution of the Messages of True Life in God.

Vassula’s experience began almost immediately at the start of the meeting. Vassula’s own account of her experience is followed by accounts by Father Michael , Pat Callahan and Chris Lynch. (These accounts have been edited for this internet publication)

Vassula’s Account

Prior to the meeting, Vassula had received this message from Jesus: June 11, 1993

They were discussing as the meeting started and I was listening. After around ten minutes their voices started to disturb my soul and were becoming heavy and painful, hurting my soul. An image struck me of how far everyone, including me, is from sanctity and how peace was missing within each soul.

Sorrow started to creep in me to the point that I felt great agony. I leaned toward Father Michael O’Carroll and whispered in his ear that I was not feeling well. At that moment he asked Pat Callahan to be with me while he left to pick up a document from his hotel room.

A few seconds after the agony reached its peak I found myself sinking and Pat helped me onto the floor, tormented. My soul was in great pain and I wept bitterly. I was pinned to the floor, because Jesus took over my whole being so that I felt what He felt as He acted and spoke through me. My body weight changed, becoming heavy as lead, although I myself did not feel the change.

I felt how the whole world was gnawing on Christ’s Body. I experienced the whole world gnawing on Christ’s Body. I felt Peace was missing from each person and that, instead of lifting our heads to look at Christ, we were all very busy tearing upon one another and ignoring His Holy Presence standing in our midst.

I saw how the world is being deceived, even those who are close to Christ and how love is missing. I felt how the Holy One is ignored because we are too busy being mean and spiteful to one another. I felt the wickedness of the world and the rejoicing at harming one another. I felt all this scourging and recrucifying Christ. The contrast of His Holy Countenance with our stained soul was striking! How far we all are from holiness and purity.

Then Jesus spoke through my mouth. A supplicating “Peace” was repeated over and over again while His Body was being gnawed by our cruelty. Sometimes the word came out in low whispers. Then I felt crucified. The agony of the crucifixion crept into or upon me. I do not remember for how long. I remember that my body took the death position. Head bowed to the chest with bent shoulders, which were lifted from the floor and remained in that position for a very long time. My wrists were pinned to the floor all that time. Coming out of this, I felt like someone was lifting my right hand and shaping it in a Byzantine benediction cross. I felt a power greater than I facilitating me to do the blessing, apparently on each person who was present. I could not remember this detail. When this was going on, I experienced peace and no agony.

Once this was over, I felt the agony creeping again in my soul and Christ’s pain fully overtook me. I remember from lying flat on the ground how I suddenly found myself sitting up and I think I wailed loudly. Then I was thrust backwards again. My hands were being placed together as for prayer. Then I heard myself, while weeping, very slowly praying the Our Father. Every word that came out of my mouth had a space of two or three seconds in between. Every word was uttered with great difficulty and my voice was hardly audible. I remember that just before saying the words: “but deliver us from evil”… I felt as though my body was being torn into pieces and the sorrow was so intensified that I thought I would die.

Immediately after the prayer, I felt a longing for the Father. And I found myself searching for Him. My lips were uttering several times: “Abba?” Like: “Where are You?”

I thought everything was finished. The agony left me and I whispered Pat’s name. He leaned toward me and put his ear near my lips since my voice was hardly audible. I asked him to lift me and place me on a chair because I had heard Father O’Carroll say that they should lift me onto the bed. So Pat tried to lift me into a sitting position first and I could see how hard he was trying, to the point that he was shaking from the effort, yet he could not lift me, not even a centimeter from the ground. I understood, from previous experiences, that Christ was still holding me. I must have asked twice or three times more, every few minutes, for them to lift me. But they failed. Father O’Carroll tried alone, and he failed.

I smiled because they seemed so utterly lost in the face of the supernatural. They decided that both of them would lift together, and still they could not succeed. Almost immediately, I myself, without much effort, sat up. My movements were very slow. I had no voice. They brought me some tea. I slowly poured myself some tea but could not manage to drink. I realized that Jesus held me still and before very long I collapsed again in the Crucified’s position. I went through the crucifixion for the second time. At the end I signaled to Pat with my eyes since I could not move. My mouth was dry and my lips felt like parchment. I asked Pat to moisten my lips. He did this by dipping his finger in liquid, then wet my lips. He did it several times to relieve my thirst.

I think my hand was once more lifted and formed into the Byzantine blessing. When my eyes met Father Rupcic’s, (see Pat Callahan’s account) again my hand was used to bless him. Then Jesus spoke through my lips and prophesied:

Tell Father Rupcic that the Croatians will be delivered in the end. All is not in vain.Everything hereto is for My Glory.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Rejoice! for your King is on the road of return. Salvation is at hand!

When everything was over, I was again alright and I had no “after effects”.

(On Thursday, June 17, 1993, while traveling in the Philippines I received an experience of the stigmata in the right foot, where it remains today.)

Father Michael O’Carroll’s Account

 

The meeting opened at 10am. Almost immediately Vassula turned to me and whispered, “I’m not feeling well.” I mentioned this to the others, assuming that they would await the outcome and left the room for a few minutes. When I returned I saw that Vassula had collapsed into Pat Callahan’s arms. Next she was lying on the floor. I had seen Vassula endure the Passion at least twice, once in Switzerland and once in Pittsburgh. The experience had not occurred in the last 18 months. But I recognized its recurrence, noting the features I had seen previously: a searching look in the eyes with the whole face strained, the arms held upward, occasional writhing motions of the whole body, accompanied by cries of anguish or moans. This time she was weeping occasionally.

Some of us were moved to tears. Pat Callahan knelt beside Vassula and wrote as she spoke. ‘Peace’ was repeated several times. There was a message for Father Ljudevit Rupcic, OFM, and a message for the Conference. Thinking of previous experiences, as Vassula seemed to come out of the experience, I suggested offering her some tea. She took a little. Then unexpectedly she told Pat the experience would recommence. This happened. Mrs. Lynch returned to the sales area. Later John joined her.

Pat and I moistened Vassula’s lips with tea drops or water which she accepted. Each separately and both together we tried to raise Vassula from the floor. In the construction business Pat has had experience lifting objects weighing several hundred pounds. We could not even stir Vassula’s body though she agreed to our efforts; she is very lightly built and could normally be easily carried. As our efforts failed she smiled humorously and I had the feeling that she was almost teasing me as to imply “keep trying”.

Pat thought that in her body the Saviour was weighed down by the sins of the world. When the experience was finished, Vassula, with little noticeable effort, raised herself to a sitting position and reoccupied her chair. Pat estimates the duration of the experience at over three hours. We persuaded Vassula to take a little lunch. She was ready to give her hour long talk to the Conference at 4pm.

Pat Callahan’s Account

 

We gathered in Vassula’s room to discuss publishing procedures for the True Life in God messages. At the beginning of the meeting Vassula mentioned that she was not feeling well. Father O’Carroll went to his room to pick up some papers. Vassula looked at me and asked me to come near, saying, “Pat, will you stay close, I am not feeling well.” She slumped forward as if she were going to faint. I moved toward her to be of assistance. And as I did, she began to fall forward. I reached out to break her fall, and lowered her to the floor. She was obviously in pain.

As we stood there by her, she began to moan and weep in a distressed, soft, pained way. Her pain became so severe the great distress her body was experiencing became quite evident. It was as if she could hardly encompass or incorporate the intense pain. Her body writhed in the agony. I am not clear how long this lasted.

She began to twist from side to side in response to the pain, her movements became more violent, almost as if she was being handled in some way and trying to escape from it. Then, rather suddenly, her arms were slung back as if put upon the cross. With her hands and arms fixed, her head and her torso moved back and forth in great pain. Her torso from her hips up came off the floor six to eight inches and her head would bend over her left shoulder. She was raised to this position, with her hands, as it were, pinned to the floor. Her feet were together side by side, her left knee was bent a little, and her right knee bent and slightly raised.

It was unreal that we could be witnessing what seemed to have the qualities of the Lord’s Passion. With the torso being off the floor, an image I saw was of one being on the cross. Her moans and cries of agony were interrupted at times with the words, “peace … peace…peace.” (repeated many times). I do not know how long this lasted but her body stopped moving and she hung there suspended off the floor as I described.

At some point later her torso was again flat on the floor and she raised both hands. Her eyes opened and her face became radiant in a manner I had not seen before. She called out very softly “Abba” with her hands raised. Her lips moved as if talking but I heard nothing. She became quiet again but I could tell she was still suffering. At one point she kind of hung her head to the left and became very still, almost as if dead.

She uttered, hardly audibly, the words, “I am thirsty.” Father O’Carroll got a glass of water to give her a drink but she could not take it. I was kneeling behind her right shoulder. She was laying with her arms outstretched and appeared to be in less pain. She raised her hand in the form of a blessing – holding her fingers like Jesus is sometimes depicted giving a blessing. She then very slowly blessed each of us. Very agonizingly and determinedly, as she moved her right arm, she would point at each person, but never look at them. I had the awareness as though Jesus was blessing us from the Cross. She became still, crossed her hands and laid them high on her stomach. She laid very still, with her eyes open. At this point one of the party had to leave.