Vassula in Japan

August 2 – 9, 1999

First I want to thank God and praise Him for the unique opportunity he has given me to be a

witness of one of the missions of True Life in God. I thank my God through Jesus Christ for

all of you who became witnesses as well of this Celestial Manna and for the way in which

your faith is spoken of, all over the world.

This living God and Father to all sent His echo Vassula to Japan to tell them, once more,

that truly they are ‘children of the living God’.

Arriving in Osaka, Bernard Kuhn welcomed Vassula and her company and to the countryside

where the ‘Foyer de Charite’ is located up on the hills, surrounded by rice fields. Fr

Quenuille and the ladies gave everyone a warm welcome and later on informed Vassula about

the progress in Osaka, Kobe and of the whole of Japan.

Right the next day the meeting at Kobe was held with success (view the report). The people

of Kobe filled the place where Vassula was speaking, thirsty to receive the message of hope

Jesus has entrusted her with. There were people sitting even outside the hall on the floor,

because there was no more room inside. The translator was excellent, giving to the people

not only the messages in Japanese, but also transmitting the love and the fire with which

Vassula was speaking. The Holy Spirit, through her words, touched everybody’s heart as she

was sharing Jesus’ message.

The next stop in this mission was Hiroshima (read the report) the next day (3 August).

Francesco and Angela Uchida were the hosts and had arranged for Vassula to be there and to

speak on the anniversary of the bombing in Hiroshima. The invitation came from one of the

Buddhist Temples in Hiroshima, where Vassula was called to speak about God’s love and

proclaim this saving message to a people that has suffered so much the last decades after

the bombing. Among the people who attended was the Catholic Bishop of Hiroshima who greeted

Vassula and welcomed her in private before her speech, and stayed till the end, the Buddhist

Abbot, who invited Vassula to speak in the Temple, and a Bonze, to whom at the end of the

meeting Vassula gave a big wooden rosary. To the Abbot she gave a statue of our Lady of

Fatima, that she had brought with her from Rome. Before the trip to Japan, Vassula was told

that these Buddhist priests in the past had visited in France our Lady of Lourdes and that

they had taken back with them an icon of the apparition site of Lourdes, which they had

placed in the Temple. And this was true. In one of the halls of the Temple this icon was

there and also a bottle of holy water from the apparition site of Lourdes. Our Lady opened

the door of the Buddist Temple so that Vassula would go and proclaim Jesus’ message to them.

A visit to the hospital were the victims of the bombing of Hiroshima are hospitalized was

arranged for the next day (5 August), Vassula was accompanied by one of the doctors to one

of the rooms where the mild cases are, to greet them. She was welcomed with tears in the

eyes from the patients in the room. This experience was unforgettable, showing Jesus’ love

and compassion for the ones who suffer.

Late in the afternoon we attended the True Life in God prayer group meeting in Hiroshima and

right after that went to the evening mass, celebrated on the eve of the Hiroshima bombing

anniversary. As it was the last night in Hiroshima, Angela and Francesco arranged for dinner

inviting also the Buddhist Abbot and his wife to share with Vassula and the rest of the

group the unity God brings to His people when love fills the heart. Vassula was inspired to

ask him to come next year to Jerusalem, attending the International True Life in God

Conference and he accepted saying that it is his honour to be invited to participate. After

driving us back to our hotel, Francesco had a car accident (ruined his car, some cuts in his

hands and a slight concussion from the shock). Satan really showed his fury because the Echo

of Jesus, Vassula was accepted from the Buddhists in Hiroshima!

Early next morning (6 August) we went in the centre of the city were there is a monument in

remembrance of the bombing. Thousands of people were gathered to pray for the victims as

they kept One Minute of Silence.

Later on that day we took the train for the south-west of Japan, Fukuoka. A group of

cheerful and warm people, some of the organizers, took Vassula and her companions to their

hotel.

Vassula’s meeting was held the same night with great success. When Vassula finished

speaking, nobody wanted to leave and they asked her to pray over them and she did with her

Cross containing the relic of the True Cross. The presence of the Holy Spirit was very

powerful, touching the people’s hearts, healing.

Tokyo

Tokyo was the next stop (August 7). Fr. Valera, S.J. read his introduction and reports on this

meeting:

Vassula’s talk on the 7th, before an audience of some five hundred people assembled in the

hall of Arcadia Hotel, was a smash. Simple, direct, to the point. The kind of talk that

conveys directly the Word and establishes an immediate communication from heart to heart.

Spontaneously, Newman’s « Cor ad cor loquitur », comes to mind. Vassula’s charism is perceived

not only in her written word, but also in her oral communication. Vassula’s presence

confirmed one opinion I had of True Life in God. It is a manual for the democratization of

mystical experience. Mystical experience is touching the Lord through the Holy Spirit, and

touching the Lord in that way is not the privilege of a selected few, but the bread of the

People of God. « Take up the book and eat it », said God to Ezechiel. True Life in God, in its

modest fashion, tries to convey the same message.

A further point I noticed in Vassula’s talk was our Lord’s effort to teach her the technique

to recover the traditional « Lectio Divina »: the life giving reading, meditating and

contemplating of the Word of God in the Holy Scriptures. Vassula spoke about the book of

Daniel, Revelation and the 24th chapter of St. Matthew. The relevant passages illuminate

each other and become light and strength for the believing and loving heart. But that

technique can be generalized. Any Christian, in the Holy Spirit, can learn to read the

Scriptures, using the parallel verses, and make the experience of « the whole in the

fragment »: As the whole sky is reflected in a dewdrop, we can make the experience to

meditate the whole of the Scriptures using a single verse. In this way the People of God

will rediscover their « milk and honey », and True Life In God has a contribution to make.

I had also the opportunity to see, from my vantage point, Vassula’s patience and touching

humility.

We then went on to Bangladesh (see report) before returning to Tokyo, via Hong Kong.
Our last day in Tokyo, and Mr Hiro (a Japanese writer who interviewed Vassula in Rome) with

his wife came to the hotel to continue his interview with Vassula to write a book about

her.

After dinner Fr Faroni, one of the priests in the south Japan brought a family and asked

Vassula to pray for the younger daughter who was there with them. We all went up to

Vassula’s room. Mr Hiro the Buddhist writer and his wife also came with us and participated

in the prayer for healing. Vassula prayed over each one of us including Mr and Mrs Hiro who

approached voluntarily to be blessed with the relic of the True Cross. Mr Hiro was also the

first to take the medal of Jesus’ Face that Vassula offered to whoever there wanted to have

one.

It was really their day of grace! At 13.15 the next day, we flew back to Europe.

One more mission of the echo of Jesus was accomplished. She is travelling around the world,

giving her time for Jesus to use, to gain souls, for His glory.

Catarina Andritsaki