“The Day of the Lord is at Hand”
February 2-7, 2023
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My little children, I shall not be long, I am already on My Way of Return; I am telling you this before it happens, because when it does happen you may believe that this Voice you have been hearing all these years, came from Me; I am telling you this so that you may rejoice, because I, too, rejoice for this Day when Satan’s head will be crushed by My Mother’s heel;
– hear Me: I shall pour out My Spirit on this evil generation to entice hearts and lead everyone back to the complete Truth, to live
a Perfect Life in Me your God;
(TLIG Messages, September 19, 1991)
At the end of our previous retreat in Aegina, we left with the thought and impetus to strive towards attaining a closer, more prayerful life with our Lord. As a holy obligation, the spiritual seeds planted in our souls during the Aegina retreat had to be nourished. Jesus hastened and facilitated this endeavor through our retreat in Meteora, which took place from February 2nd – the 7th, 2023. True Life in God-Greece hosted this spiritually uplifting, enlightened, life-changing retreat in Meteora, Greece. We embarked on this journey physically and spiritually, pulling ourselves away from the comfort of our home, our belongings and our surroundings to find our real home in Christ. As a spiritual exercise, the journey we undertook comprised a sort of dying of self, as we went with a sparse suitcase to an area most of us had never seen. What we have as our anchor is our dependence on Christ.
Meteora, our destination, comprises a miraculous landscape and monastery setting. The environment is very uplifting, spiritually charged and holy. You can sense the holiness in each and every chapel, with its frescos and icons. Historically, on these cliffs the Orthodox Christian church was protected from the Ottoman rule of the 16 th-18th centuries. It is due to the accomplishments of the hermits and monks that built this over-reaching hide-away that we have the benefit to partake in our living faith. What we perceive in Meteora is man’s everlasting desire to connect with the Divine. The cliffs welcome complete isolation, a peace and harmony that was and is used for spiritual ascension. There are now six active monasteries in Meteora perched on very large, cliffs. It is a miraculous gift of nature that was first inhabited by these hermit monks beginning in the 9th and 10th centuries.
The Famissi Hotel-Eden, in Kalambaka
We arrived at the Athens airport on Thursday, February 2, 2023, where our bus coordinators were waiting to bus us on a five-hour drive to Meteora. It was a joy to see some old True Life in God friends from Czech Republic, Germany, California, England and Greece, and we even had the pleasure to meet new ones from the USA. With True Life in God as our common ground, we almost instinctively talked about prayer meetings, pilgrimages and the power of the work of the Holy Spirit within them. We noted the unity, kindness, love, understanding and care people have for each other in the company of True Life in God. When we partake in True Life in God related activities, it is, for sure, God’s Will in action. We waited a while at the airport for other over-seas and European passengers before embarking on our bus-ride.
On the bus, Catarina, our bus leader, led us in prayer for a sick friend. Sister Monica Josefa, in unison with all, prayed the Rosary for the benefit of all friends in TLIG who could not attend this retreat, for the people of Greece, for those in need, and those who are suffering during these trying times. She also prayed for the retreat itself, that all in attendance will be inspired. The passengers had the opportunity to share thoughts, stories, songs. Sister Monica sang two beautiful songs to our Blessed Mother. The testimonies and stories shared imparted experiences of miracles in people’s lives that led them to follow Jesus-to dedicate their life to their spiritual growth, with Jesus as their guide. Upon arrival at our destination point, the Famissi Hotel-Eden, in Kalambaka, we were stunned to see the hotel as a welcoming, quaint, log-cabin style lodge.
Friday, February 3, 2023
Vassula’s Welcome Talk
Vassula welcomed us on February 3, 2023. She led us towards God by saying that everybody is invited to be a living altar to God; not by force or condemnation. He is gentle. He comes to us in His wisdom, to each of us in a different manner. His approach is never the same for each person, but it is always out of mercy, with peace terms. We all belong to God, so He comes to remind us of our roots. He invites every soul, gives every soul the fullest knowledge of His Will. Spiritually and historically, the time period in which we live is terrible because no glory is given to God. People give glory to themselves instead. We are living in the end of times as depicted in 2 Thessalonians 2. At this designated time in history, faith is frozen, but the Holy Spirit promises to revive us before Christ’s return. What offends Christ the most is apathy. Complacency and apathy are unacceptable in His eyes. We are wretched and are asked to ask the Holy Spirit daily to enliven a flame in us. Grace is there for us, but we have a long journey towards perfection, uniting ourselves with the angels. Are we not called to be gods by participation? God wants us to receive Him, to be His beloved child, and at His service. We come to Christ as we are and He will turn us into saints. We are created out of Love for Love: to Love our Creator. It is only from the triune God that we have our lives; if we cut our God, we cut out life.
Vassula is speaking
Vassula continued by saying that when we pray, we unveil God. True Theology is contemplation of God. We live, move in Him. The soul of man has been deformed by our sins. To save us from sin, He, God, is the one who died for us. He wants us to give more to Him, so we receive more from Him. A divine union with Him means finding a fullness of His deity. Through the True Life in God Messages, we read: “My return is imminent;” (TLIG Message, December 27, 1994) https://ww3.tlig.org/messages/898/ And, “I will come back the way I left;” How will this happen? Will He walk on the Earth? He is preparing us for His return through His teachings of wisdom. His return will include a fire through which He will make all things on this Earth new. (https://ww3.tlig.org/events-and-activities/international-retreats/meteora-2023-the-day-of-the-lord-is-at-hand/)
Father Rolf spoke after Vassula completed her welcome talk. In 1956, Our Lady told Father Rolf that if the world will not hear Her, she will appear in every country, in every family. Our Blessed Mother is preparing us for Jesus’ return. We must prepare ourselves internally, by following, honoring, and loving Jesus’ sacred Heart. What we need is to listen to the language of Jesus’ cross-that is, we need to be ready to bear our personal cross-Jesus prepares each one of us to bear our own cross. We fear the idea of suffering, yet we are full of sins. Through confession we come closer to freeing ourselves from sin so Jesus can step in and heal us. Jesus knows us and lives in our hearts, and our Blessed Mother brings us to Jesus. We need this help from our Blessed Mother, like a child, since our hearts are as a little child’s. The cross we carry can indeed by carried by us because Jesus himself is actually carrying it for us. Our fidelity will consecrate us to Jesus’ Sacred Heart and to His Mother’s in unison.
As we deeply contemplated the concepts and wisdom embodied in Vassula’s and Father Rolf’s talks, thankful that they offered us the opportunity to enlighten our souls, we sang a hymn to our Blessed Mother ‘Agni Parthene Despoina’, composed by St. Nektarios, before departing for the Monastery of Agios Stefanos.
St. Stephanos Monastery
This monastery, along with its surrounding landscape was breath-taking. Housed on one of Meteora’s enormous cliffs, we could see the beauty of God’s creation with the surrounding mountains, the valleys and the rolling hills. A bridge led into a small chapel’s outer portico, where we lit candles, and venerated a very large, gold-plated icon of our Blessed Mother. In the chapel, frescoes entirely decorated its four walls. The artistry was so detailed, colorful and full of meaning. The monks, along with those who visited this chapel used the frescos to learn about their Christian faith. Our tour guide disclosed the history behind the frescos: they were brought in from Italian monks and were a means towards a spiritually contemplative, prayerful life for the residing monks, and all who visited the chapel. Within its pictorial accounts and stories, the frescos portrayed the life of St. Stephanos, the life of Christ, the life of other noteworthy saints and an image of an ascent to Heaven and the divine realm. We were all awed by this tour. Upon our return to the hotel, we attended Holy Mass and then watched a movie entitled “Marian Apparitions of the 20th Century.” In the 20th century, our Blessed Mother appeared at three hundred locations to bring us back to Christ, to embrace us in Her love and to lead us towards a holy, divine life, praising God for His goodness. Our Lord never ceases to show His presence, using art forms, saints, and the Blessed Mother to invite and to allow us to know Him.
Saturday, February 4, 2023
On Saturday, February 4, 2023, Bishop Jeremias from Brazil spoke to us all. He stated the he has been reading the True Life in God Messages since 1998. He is Ukrainian Orthodox. It all began for him while attending a conference in New Jersey, Georgia, a long-standing True Life in God reader and volunteer gave him the True Life in God material. She opened his way to the True Life in God Messages. He thanked Georgia, from the bottom of his heart, offering her a ‘thank you’ gift! An Icon of Archangel Michael. During the True Life in God pilgrimages, Bishop Jeremias felt God’s family; he felt the warmth of Christ amongst all. His diocese in Brazil, which encompasses Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay is Ukrainian. Within the diocese, much effort is placed towards sustaining ecumenism between his church, the Lutheran and the Anglican churches. At the cathedral in which he works exists a weekly unity prayer session for all Christians, with Lutherans and Anglicans attending. Its popularity is growing. Each week’s prayers are consecrated for unity amongst the churches. Bishop Jeremias stated that the True Life in God Messages taught him many things; they saved his priesthood. Twenty years ago, he was very down and the TLIG Messages made him strong. They fortified him. He believes this is the work of God. Bishop Jeremias came to this meeting with his helper, Eduardo Molabato, who is an iconographer. He teaches iconography and tells us that an icon is a spiritual window. He gave each of us a photocopy of an icon he created of St. Joseph holding the baby Jesus. It is golden in color, depicting eternal life, as Eduardo tells us. We can see St. Joseph’s hand, indicating what he did for Jesus that is not read in the Bible. Eduardo told us that this icon brings miracles, especially for health needs.
Bishop Jeremias Speaking
From the accounts of our speakers and the forebearers of our Christian faith, we see the work of the Holy Spirit preparing us for Christ’s Return. God works through architecture, art-forms, iconography, artistic inspirations, influential people, unified prayer, prayerful inspirations, our Blessed Mother, the saints and through the True Life in God Messages. Meteora was built as a hymn of praise to God, a means of ascending to God, as are the True Life in God Messages. They are the modern day Meteora. God sent us the True Life in God Messages, through Vassula, as His Love Hymn to us, for us to ascend to Him, to find intimacy with and in Him. The retreat participants had the opportunity to tell us about their individual conversions and the intimacy they encountered with God. -Irini Zoppa, one of the True Life in God Greek translators who was the first-years ago- to translate the TLIG Messages, disclosed to us that she was in a deep depression before discovering the True Life in God Messages. When she was asked to and began translating the True Life in God Messages from English to Greek, she would ask herself: “How is this possible that I can translate English to Greek?” She was not proficient in English, but in French. Vassula told her that this this how God works. Vassula said to her: “God is tender and patient in His work. He likes using people with nothing so He can show that He is the power. All we need to do is praise Him and thank Him. We just need to follow Him and praise Him.”
Father Joseph Iannuzzi then stepped onto the podium and welcomed us with a “Kalimera.” What we finally discover, professed Father Joseph, is the in-dwelling of the Trinity through the TLIG Messages. The three persons of the Holy Trinity become real to us, as a new presence of God in the souls of the baptized. Through the Holy Spirit we receive a sanctification of the cosmos. All three divine persons need a presence in us, as existed in Adam and Eve. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit brings back the trinitarian presence of the divine. The fullness of the operation of the three: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit cooperate and are restored in the human soul in its fullness in the True Life in God Messages. However, why is the fullness of the Trinity in the True Life in God Messages abounding now? This manifestation has been reserved since Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden. There will be a baptism by fire on Earth which will make all things new again. The Father operates with our will, the Son operates with our mind and the Holy Spirit operates with our memory. We, like the angels and saints, can possess God through a contrite heart. “possess Him as He possess us;” (TLIG Messages, January 9, 1996). https://ww3.tlig.org/messages/953/ Through this relationship God invites us to a knowledge of ourselves, for we live in God’s Divine Will. The fiat is the unconditional consent of God’s will to our will. (https://ww3.tlig.org/events-and-activities/international-retreats/meteora-2023-the-day-of-the-lord-is-at-hand/)
Father Iannuzzi Speaking
Father Iannuzzi’s presentation deepened and heightened our perspective of the True Life in God Messages. With this energy of thought, we listened to a few testimonies. -Valia has known Vassula since 1989; for her, Vassula is like family. Valia has spent hours talking with Vassula about Jesus. She has many stories to tell. In one story, while Valia was in Ireland with Vassula, on a bus, she asked Vassula if she misses Jesus, since she’s talking to God, yet still with us. Valia wanted to know how this felt. After Valia asked Vassula this question, Vassula replied with a question, “Do you miss Him?” Valia really didn’t understand what it means to miss Him, and moreover, she didn’t know if Jesus was indeed listening, so Jesus told Vassula to tell Valia at that moment, “Tell her I am listening to her.” Indeed, Jesus listens not only to our every word, but to our every thought. -Ian, another participant told us how he was born blind for one week. He was bullied by other children because he wore thick glasses, sitting alone much of the time. He found Christ through the True Life in God Messages at the age of 26, when realizing, after Jesus dictated His Passion in the TLIG Messages, that Jesus was the only person in eternity who could understand his pain. Ian finally realized that he wasn’t looking for God, but God looked for him and found him. -Erwin, who was one of the first True Life in God readers to be with and spend time with Vassula, miraculously saw the Pantocrator wink at him during the Greek Orthodox Church service in which Erwin, made every effort to go, listen to the lengthy service in a foreign language, and remain standing for much of the time. After telling Vassula about what he saw, Vassula said “Confirmation” as she too saw it. Vassula chimed in to tell us that anyone who reads the True Life in God Messages will receive special graces; Jesus is truly with us every second, encouraging us.
The monk from Mount Athos, Brother Martinianos, learned about Christ’s presence in his life first-handedly. Before becoming a monk, he was thrown out of various monasteries when trying to visit, because when asked about his occupation from the other hierarchical monks and he’d say, “choreographer” they’d tell him to leave. However, every time this happened, somehow something or someone would hinder the departure, and he’d go to another monastery, hoping he’d be accepted. Finally, he reached St Paisios, (who at the time was Father Paisios) who told him wisely that his job is not sinful; it is sinful not to work. He finally became a monk after a calling in which he felt he had enough of job, career and secular life. God has a program for us, but it does not interfere with our decision, our choice to go near Him. (https://ww3.tlig.org/events-and-activities/international-retreats/meteora-2023-the-day-of-the-lord-is-at-hand/) Such was the case with another retreat participant, Magda. -She was in Rome with Vassula in 2017. Vassula asked her not to share a Message she had just received. Magda, in the meantime, had taken a picture of this Message, and even though Vassula asked her not to share it, Magda, in her utter excitement, sent it to friends. She figured that no one would know. To her biggest surprise however, Vassula approached her saying, “You sent this Message.” At that moment Magda realized that Jesus really does speak with Vassula. Jesus is leading her, and it is important to follow Jesus’ guidelines: what to do, or not do. A thirst for Jesus enlivened Georgia’s life. -Georgia was raised Greek Orthodox in New York, attended a Greek Orthodox school, and raised within Greek culture. She received a degree in Dental Hygiene, began her career, but felt something was missing in her life. When she met Vassula in 1994 with her mother, she saw Vassula’s brown eyes roll down, and a set of blue eyes rolled down, taking the place of the brown eyes. She understood they were Jesus’ blue eyes looking at her and piercing her soul with love. Then, His blue eyes rolled down and Vassula’s brown eyes came down again. It looked very natural and Georgia kept this scene in her heart. Her mother too witnessed the same experience. Parenthetically, there is a reference to Jesus’ eyes in the True Life in God Messages, (TLIG messages, June 7, 1998) https://ww3.tlig.org/messages/1028/ It was one year later, upon reading the TLIG messages, that she experienced a rejuvenation; the words from the True Life in God Messages filled her physically. She began in thirst to read the TLIG messages daily and would feel and understand what it means that God is alive and active; at a physical and emotional level she understood what Jesus had experienced here on Earth. Through the reading and contemplation of the TLIG Messages experiencing a personal intimate relationship with Jesus; and six months after going through the sacrament of confession, –as she hadn’t gone since she was nine years old, she felt a weight that lifted off of her. She was more focused in her daily activities, more energetic, more focused in church, and started to read the Bible. Her final words were a quote from the TLIG messages from December 5,1991 https://ww3.tlig.org/messages/3082/as this is how she felt, “Without God your table is empty; with God your table is full.” Praise God!
-Ian from the Czech Republic would certainly attest to the fact that God fills his table. The Czech Republic is the most atheistic country in the world. No one was there to teach Ian about God. He felt alone, and loveless. A friend of his gave him the True Life in God Messages; he started reading them and through them met Jesus. Through Jesus Ian began a new life, as he had never before felt what is father or mother; his house was never a home. He stopped drinking alcohol, and smoking cigarettes. If Ian tried to play in a music band like he used to, he felt anxious. He only wanted to follow Jesus. Now he and his four children pray together, and compose songs using the True Life in God Messages. It is a sure way for the children to learn about the True Life in God Messages. -Fr. Petr is also from the Czech Republic stated that we are living in the middle of a spiritual battle that’s taking place in our soul. The world is dead to love. There is a lack of respect for life, that’s focused on relativism, materialism and secularism. To combat this, God’s spirit is poured on all of humanity. Our Lord is like a thief in the night to assess every soul, seeing what each person contains in his/her heart. Jesus claims, “I am the resurrection; don’t judge others, so I don’t judge you;” God’s justice will be established on Earth and our time of redemption will soon be here. (https://ww3.tlig.org/events-and-activities/international-retreats/meteora-2023-the-day-of-the-lord-is-at-hand/) -Nektarios found his personal redemption through True Life in God and through his relationship with Vassula. He had no exposure to the church as a child, so he had a mental block to the church. When he was baptized at the age of 40, after reading the TLIG books, meeting Vassula, and going through a period of repentance, he saw, at his baptism, behind the iconostasis, with clear awareness, a tremendous amount of activity. He saw spiritual activity, with angels and spiritual beings going up and down what seemed like a “Jacobian ladder.” When he took his first eucharist, he had a sensation that he was led up a small staircase. Three years later when he went back to the church in which he was baptized, he surprisedly saw that this small staircase on which he was led was not there. There was no staircase in that church. The many testimonies we heard from these retreat participants enabled us see that God speaks to us through our personal, intimate life experiences. He is the driver of our lives. In addition to hearing the previous testimonies, we celebrated Holy Mass, partook in a time of Adoration and prayed the Rosary together. As is customary in the Catholic church, (in that tradition) we solemnly worshiped the holy monstrance through Adoration; adoring Christ, while kneeling, as Father Rolf walked around the room with the holy Monstrance, leaning over to each of us individually. One recipient, in humble and devoted prayer, praying for the needs of all in the room, saw Jesus above him, giant-sized, from the waist up, with His arms open, blessing; in turn, healing everyone in the room! His image was pronounced and all-encompassing. What a blessing for all of us!
Sunday, February 5, 2023
After we began the day by singing the ‘Our Father’ in Aramaic, Father Joseph Iannuzzi thanked us for being here. He talked about the indwelling of the Holy Trinity in the soul. We are asked to abandon our will to God’s Will. The gist of his talk concluded that we should allow ourselves to be possessed by God by cleaning our house-going to confession, attaining good knowledge: through good instructors, doing good deeds, and finally consecrating our will to the two hearts. (https://ww3.tlig.org/events-and-activities/international-retreats/meteora-2023-the-day-of-the-lord-is-at-hand/) We sang a hymn to the Virgin Mary ‘Agoi Parthene Despina’ before praying the Rosary. -Vasilia, another retreat participant, gave her testimony after our Rosary prayer session. She used to go to the island of Simi for one month each year. She had no knowledge of the sacrament of confession or communion, although she comes from a family with faith. No one even told her how to pray. Then in 2014, when she was in Simi, a monk approached her and said, “Come here.” Vassili, the monk, told Vasilia about the True Life in God Messages, giving her a book. Upon reading the TLIG Messages, Vasilia began to believe and understand how God can be speaking to her. This changed her life completely. In praise for the graces God has given us all, we sang our praise hymn to our Blessed Mother, took a small break and then engaged ourselves in the sacrament of Confession. Each participant had the opportunity to cleanse his/her soul, repenting of any and all wrongdoings; recognizing our sins, and wholeheartedly asking God, through our Confession, to purify our souls. This sacrament is the catharsis that leads to purity and sanctification. After our lunch period, we reunited to hear Father Rolf speak before celebrating Holy Mass. Father Rolf claimed that Jesus, indeed, wants to save all souls, everyone. We are now living in a time of Grace, but we are not fully prepared for Jesus’ coming. Jesus wants us to carry and bear the crosses He gives us. We endure our crosses by thinking with God, thinking with love. Father Rolf humorously summed it by saying, “We need to be online with Jesus the whole day.” Jesus wants our hearts, all the time. Jesus did say to Vassula that the days are counted for our purification. Hence, we need to pray for our brothers and sisters, for miracles. Through our prayers He will renew His church, and remove its stains. He will rebuild the church anew, but in the meantime, the church will experience tribulations. Rebellion has spread in Christ’s house. When Christ returns, there will appear a great sign in the sky. Those who love Jesus will be joyful to see this sign and will praise Him. With these thoughts in mind, we celebrated Holy Mass, taking the sacrament of Communion. After Holy Mass, we all partook in a healing service; each of us, in turn, receiving a blessing from one of the priests or Vassula. Truly, through this healing, we experienced an inner peace.
Monday, February 6, 2023
On this final day, one day prior to our departure, another priest, Father Eduardo, spoke to us about a talk he heard from Vassula in 2007. He indicated that when one repents, it must be done from the heart. It is a determination of turning away from sin towards God. It is an exchange of sin with God. This deliberate turning away from sin to God, is a call to love Him. In Luke Chaper 13:3 it states: “unless you repent, you will perish.” Vassula chimed in saying that the Holy Spirit has no space to work in your soul if it is filled with sin. Through an act of self-denial, beginning with repentance, one’s soul will gradually know what God wants from you. We need to give the Holy Spirit space to work within us. The Holy Spirit gives us light, enabling us to know and to do God’s Will. -Dimitri, a retreat participant who told us his testimony, the final testimony of our retreat, imparted his personal story. He desperately needed the Holy Spirit to illuminate his deadened life. He had no joy in his life; it was a void. At the age of 22, his psychiatrist told him that he cannot be helped. The doctor claimed that if he can’t help himself, he’s done. Dimitri was a party animal: the heart of the party, however, his innermost relationships caused him to sin, fomenting his darkened depression. His life’s illumination was sparked through a video his saw of Vassula. Without a doubt, he thought, Vassula’s experiences came from God, for Dimitri felt peace for the first time after hearing her story. Soon after, Dimitri participated in a True Life in God retreat, and met a lady who helped him tremendously. As Dimitri communicated with her, praying constantly, reading and meditating on the True Life in God Messages, and above all, confessing his wrongdoings, he was healed. Dimitri concluded by reciting Psalm 37: “confess my sin and never repeat it; crushed by the weight of my guilt and get rid of the sin-and never repeat it.”
Our hearts were filled with empathy and spiritual insight. Our trip to the Monasteries of Varlaam and Rousanou proved to be quite adventurous. The Holy Monastery of Varlaam was founded in the 14th century by a monk named Varlaam. In the year 1350, Varlaam climbed the very high cliff, on which, with a few other monks, was able to establish the monastery. Along with extraordinarily beautiful frescos in its chapel, we saw a unique pully-system developed by these 14th and 15th century monks. They used nets to lift people and provisions up to the top of the cliff where the monastery was housed. Moreover, alongside the pully system, a room housing a very large oak barrel, provided the monks’ water storage. From the Varlaam monastery, we went to the Holy Monastery of Roussanou. This monastery is actually one single building that encompasses the entire surface on the cliff. It appears as if it is an extension of the rock itself. Presently, fifteen Greek Orthodox nuns inhabit this beautiful monastery. Upon our return to the hotel, we celebrated Holy Mass, thanking God for the blessings of this day, and then partook in Adoration, adoring the Holy Monstrance, kneeling down, while Father Rolf blessed each of us with it. Vassula spoke to us at the tail end of this day, telling us that the Lord promises to raise new apostles as the modern day pillars of the faith. Through our weakness Christ will show His power and reveal the condition of our soul. We are unworthy in our state of sin; our sin even endangers the entire cosmos. Moreover, the division within the Christian church has led Christ’s body to experience paralysis. What will save our souls is a pure heart, a child’s heart. God wants to fill us with Himself, so that we possess God within us. Vassula’s personal, captivating talk enlivened us. Vassula’s big desire, even though it wasn’t possible for her to do it, as she told us in conclusion, is to speak with each and every one of us individually. (https://ww3.tlig.org/events-and-activities/international-retreats/meteora-2023-the-day-of-the-lord-is-at-hand/)
The Varlaam Monastery The Roussanou Monastery
Our Meteora True Life in God Retreat gave us a clear vision and an impetus to focus on God’s Love in our lives. One of our participants, Annick, confessed that she had a conversion during this retreat. This is what her friend, Nathalie imparted: “I had sent a photo of Meteora to my friend Annick, telling her that I was going to do a retreat. I knew that Annick was not practicing in the faith, so it was my surprise when she told me that she felt a call to come to the retreat three weeks before the departure date. She told me that she would come to visit Meteora and participate in the retreat a little. As it turns out, she participated in absolutely everything at the retreat; she loved it so much. At the healing session, Annick had an extraordinary experience; she felt the love of God invade her so strongly that she started crying with all her heart. Now she is in love with Christ and has started going to Mass and praying every day. Glory to God!” Overall, twenty-two countries were represented, with one hundred fifty-two people in total. Included were ten clergy members: two Catholic nuns, five Catholic priests, an Orthodox monk, an Orthodox Archbishop and an Orthodox Deacon. Glory Be to our Saving Lord who allowed us to be nurtured by His Wisdom and Love through this remarkable retreat in Meteora.
You hear those Footsteps? They are Mine; you hear the sound of My Breath already? It is the sweet sound of My Holy Spirit blowing through your wilderness and your aridity; you felt a Breath slide over your face? Do not fear; like the Dove’s wings, My Holy Spirit touched you slightly while hovering above you;
O come! Come to Me and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, I too will lift your soul up to Me and revive you! As I was lifted up in Heaven you too will be lifted up to Me to be nursed on My Breast; O come to Me! Get thirsty again, thirst for My Everlasting Wells, thirst to be with Me, your God! I will without hesitation offer you to drink and turn My Water into a spring inside you, welling up to eternal life, for from My Breast flow fountains of living water, an inexhaustible Source; O come to Me! Hunger again for My Bread, and you will not die! Today, as yesterday, I stand up and cry out:
“if any man is thirsty, let him come to Me!
let the man come and drink who believes in Me!” (TLIG Message, September 19, 1991)
https://ww3.tlig.org/messages/656/
Here is a link to the album of photos from Meteora: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAx3ad
Written by:
True Life in God Volunteer-Maggie
