TLIG YOUTH CHOIR
TLIG YOUTH CHOIR
The youth from TLIG Children Choir met with Vassula in Switzerland and they are sharing their experience of God’s Love poured out through the Messages of True Life in God. Children were invited to sing during TLIG meeting in Dietikon (Switzerland) in April 2023. The lyrics of the songs are all taken from the Message of True Life in God.
Iuliana
Iuliana
My name is Iuliana, I am 29 years old and I’m from Romania. I would like to share with you my testimony, the way God changed my life through The Messages.
I was raised in an orthodox family. My parents raised me to be a good Christian. My dad had many problems in his life and his only hope and comfort was The Lord. He sought after God for 30+ years, reading a lot and visiting different churches, to discern which one is the ‘good’ one.
I remember praying since I was a little girl, but throughout the years, my prayers became lip-service and I thought I had a very good relationship with God, when in fact I was a hypocrite. I was saying that I was a Christian, yet I was sinning a lot. I was selfish, cold, perverted, numb to other’s sufferings. Only now I realize how God must have been near me when I was ignoring Him. I wish I would’ve come near Him sooner.
During my school years, most of my time was spent studying, and I lost my relationship with my parents. I was mad at dad and I did not talk to him for 10 years, besides ‘hello’ and him trying to impose on me his faith.
In 2011 something weird happened. I started to have anxiety, depression and a whole list of other symptoms. The scariest part was that the doctors didn’t know what I had,because my symptoms were so strange. I tried to go to the psychotherapist, but problems were still persisting, because I didn’t have God in my heart.
Now about The Messages. Somewhere between 2014-2015, dad, being fed up with the Orthodox Church, wanted to go to the Protestants. Before he made his decision though, he asked God: “Please, Lord, send me a prophet of Yours that talks to You nowadays”. God immediately made him discover dear Vassula on the internet. So God stopped dad in time before he lost his way and made him understand unity.
He tried to convince me and mom that the Messages were true but I simply thought he was crazy and that he should not read something like that, lest he gets tricked by ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’.
One day, I was tired of this ‘Messages talk’. I said ‘let me go on the internet and find proof that Vassula is a liar and to prove once and for all to dad that he’s wrong and is being mislead’. To my surprise, all the articles against Vassula seemed ridiculous and I didn’t believe them. So, driven by curiosity (and of course, God), I started to try to read the Messages and at first I felt joy. My impurity was at work though, because I found the way Jesus spoke to Vassula and their relationship to be so inappropriate, that I put the Messages away for a while. I read them on and off.
I reached a dark point in 2017 when I thought about suicide. But God never gave up on me. Immediately He put His Words in my mind: if I commit suicide, I’ll betray the Lord, because the most amazing gift that He gave us is life. My dark thoughts stopped at that moment. After a month or so, part of my gastritis was healed by the Lord and I was off medication, after 7 years.
Still, my psychological disorder progressed and my anger towards the Lord persisted because I thought He punished me.
In 2018, God converted me to a true life in Him. For a couple of weeks, He made me feel His presence and He made me think about all the sins I‘ve done, when I thought I didn’t have many. I became very close to Jesus. I went to confession after a long time. I started going to church, and dad brought me to the Catholic Church too, because God showed us in the Messages that we have to be one flock. I started feeling compassionate about others, I started acknowledging and praying to Our Lady, I felt like my personality changed. Last but not least, God repaired my broken relationship with my dad in a matter of minutes. Our family was one again. I felt that somehow, the Messages are alive. It’s like every time you read them ,something in your soul or life changes. Probably that’s why they say that The Word of God is alive.
Fast forward to present day, since 2018 the Lord performed other miracles: after my first general Confession and receiving Holy Communion, my depression disappeared and after a while, anxieties started to vanish one by one. Plus, one of the most precious things He taught me (besides loving Him,of course) is how to suffer and the incredible importance of suffering. I was ALWAYS mad at Him for having ‘taken’ my life away from me when in fact, He gave me my life back, a true life in Him. To this day, although my psychological disorders diminished, my bodily illness is still there and He gives me incredible strength, support and love to be able to carry the Cross further. I still have a ton of things to learn, I rebel against my Cross sometimes, but He is always there for me, teaching me- we, us?
For anyone reading this who is suffering from psychological disorders or any suffering, know this- turn to God, go to a general, truthful Confession (my Confessions of before didn’t help me much because I was superficial) and then every month, like the Lord advises, receive Him as often as possible and turn all your life to Him. He will become your best Friend and your everything. Know that your suffering, when offered to the Lord, becomes priceless. And for anyone who doubts these Messages, pray to the Lord from the bottom of your heart for discernment and He will show you the truth.
All Glory be to God and His Blessed Mother and may Vassula and all who work with her be blessed!
Iuliana
Jack Matusiewicz
Jack Matusiewicz
I would like to share with you, what I would call: the beginning of a conversion of heart.
A little about me. I am a life-long Catholic, and although I attended Church regularly all my life, in the past few years I was slowly drifting away in my relationship with Jesus. Basically, I never lost my faith, but I stopped placing God as first in my life, and so I drifted further and further away from God and His ways.
So last year, at a very low point in my life, I stumbled upon the True Life in God messages. (of course, now I believe all this was by the grace of God). After, what I believe was my «Day of Purification», I was slowly able to understand the messages as being completely non-sensational and all-spiritual.
After my purification, I started to recall some moments/situations from my past and felt strong remorse for them, even things that happened maybe over a decade ago or even longer, things I would never have thought before to be actual sins, but I felt strong remorse for them. Soon after this, I felt a strong urge to go to confession, and so I did.
Ever since this occurrence, I have had a very strong thirst for the Word of God, and for the TLIG messages themselves, a thirst that seems unquenchable. I have already read the TLIG messages a few times, completely through, and now I am reading the Bible completely from beginning to end. The TLIG messages do satisfy this thirst the most, but I feel that even if I would read them 10 times it would not be enough.
My life has not changed, exteriorly speaking, although my passions of the past, about earthly/carnal things, are emphatically, much diminished. I attend Mass, as always, every Sunday, but now I partake in the Eucharist at every Mass, rather than for only a few weeks after Easter or Christmas, as I always use to do. In addition, I now feel more willing to go to confession, I do so every month, instead of being reluctant and going just twice a year, as I did before. I now pray the rosary daily, which I never did before. I also am learning to pray ceaselessly, and have recently started to evangelize around my community by sharing with others the TLIG Messages. And although I do still sin, I now seem to be more aware of my sins, and I’m also sincerely trying my best, in every moment, to follow God’s commandments of love.
Jack Matusiewicz
Arlene Angela Roncal
Arlene Angela Roncal
On the TLIG writings and their Ecclesiastical Approval
Dear True Life in God Readers,
It was recently brought to my attention that a website which is not in receipt of any endorsement, support or authorization of the Church, and is run by an anonymous non-theologian, has posted numerous false statements against the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and the True Life in God messages of Mrs. Vassula Rydén.”1
To obtain clarity on this matter, I contacted His Excellency Bishop Toppo who, on April 25, 2018, provided me with the following answers that once and for all expose the falsehoods posted on said unauthorized website.
Bishop Toppo’s answers are of great service to Christians around the world who continue to receive spiritual teachings and nourishment from the TLIG messages.
+ Rev. J.L. Iannuzzi, STD
April 26, 2018
Written Interview with His Excellency Bishop Felix Toppo, S.J., D.D.
Fr. Joseph: Your Excellency, on the unauthorized website2 there is the public statement that affirms as follows,
“The nihil obstat and imprimatur were not sought in accordance with Canon Law dispositions. Although Vassula never resided in the Philippines nor was the TLIG One volume of messages published there, the imprimatur was granted by a bishop of that country (Archbishop Argüelles of Lipa). Canon 824 §1 states that the permission or approval to publish should be granted by the local ordinary (= bishop) of the author or of the publisher.”
Obviously this statement is false, as Canon 824 §13 clearly states that “the ordinary of the place where the books are published” is vested with the authority to grant the Imprimatur to a work that is circulated in his diocese even though the author does not live in his diocese.
Bishop Toppo: “I thank you very much for pointing out the false criticisms against Archbishop Arguelles of Lipa and Me (http://www.pseudomystica.info/tlignihilobstat.htm) with regard to Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat given by us to the TRUE LIFE IN GOD.
In response to the false criticisms against us I would like to say that Archbishop Arguelles of Lipa in giving the Imprimatur to the TLIG book did not go against Canon Law as it grants permission to any Bishop to give the Imprimatur for a book that is circulated in his diocese, even though the author does not live in his diocese.”
Fr. Joseph: Thank you for your response. May I ask you to address also the following assertion on the aforesaid website,
“Canon 830 §2 warns the censor that any favoritism should be laid aside, and only the doctrine of the Church as proposed by the Magisterium should be considered. This canon was blatantly ignored… Bishop Toppo of India is a regular participant at the TLIG pilgrimages and has declared that he believes the messages to be of supernatural origin.”
Bishop Toppo: “It is alleged that I, Bishop Toppo, S.J., showed favouritism in giving Nihil Obstat. It is absolutely false. I did not show any favouritism, nor can the contrary be demonstrated. It is to be noted that the CDF never condemned the TLIG writings but rather petitioned clarifications which were then accepted by Rome.
Before I gave the Nihil Obstat to the TLIG messages, I read many times and meditated upon them. The Nihil Obstat is the result of unbiased and uncoerced theological review of the TLIG writings. I found that the Messages were immune of all theological errors. I am a regular participant of the TLIG pilgrimages. The Canon Law does not forbid any bishop from attending retreats or conferences of those individuals whose writings they consider immune from error.”
Fr. Joseph: Lastly, Your Excellency, would you be so kind as to provide for the True Life in God readers a response to the below posting on said website, as it falsely suggests that a canonical advisor overrides your episcopal authority to pronounce matters of Church doctrine,
“Bishop Toppo told in an interview, that before giving the nihil obstat to Vassula’s books, he previously asked the opinion of a famous Canon Law expert, who clearly told him that according to Canon Law, he could not give the nihil obstat.”
Bishop Toppo: “It is alleged that before giving the Nihil Obstat to Vassula’s book, I said in an interview that I had asked for the opinion of a famous Canon Law expert who clearly had told me that I could not give Nihil Obstat. After a bishop has consulted with others for advice, he retains his authority to grant the Nihil Obstat. Some assert the opposite, but this is absolutely false. After I consulted with a canon lawyer and a renowned theologian who offered their respective advice, I then brought the matter to prayer before the Eucharist. I did not find anything in Vassula’s book that is contrary to the teachings of the Church, but found that it contains much good for the universal Church, that is, for all the baptized in Christ. It was after advice, prayer and discernment that I granted my Nihil Obstat.
Rev. Joseph Iannuzzi, thank you for your suggestions and support! Hope this will be useful to the TLIG readers!”
+Felix Toppo, S.J.
Bishop of Jamshedpur
Bishop of Babylon, Theofylaktos Egypt
Bishop of Babylon, Theofylaktos Egypt
At the beginning of the ‘True Life in God’ pilgrimage in Egypt all the participants of the ecumenical and inter-religious group were invited to a Divine Liturgy held at the Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. George in Old Cairo. Copied here is the address of Bishop of Babylon, Theofylaktos, given at the end of the Liturgy on 22nd October 2002: «My beloved brothers, bishops, elders of all the Christian denominations, I welcome you with special love in this holy monastery. I bring you the greetings and blessings of His All-Holiness, our Patriarch, Pope of Alexandria and all Africa, His Holiness Peter VII, who couldn’t be with you all because of other duties. He is wishing you a pleasant stay in the country of the Nile, Egypt.
The place in which you are today is not only holy but also ‘Theovadistos’ (walked by God). Here the Holy Family came and stayed for approximately 18 months, fleeing Herod’s terror. Here Jesus Christ took His first steps, here the little Emmanuel heard the first chirping of the birds. Our monastery is one of the most ancient monuments that North Africa has to show, built in the 4th century AC. Here is where St. George the great martyr was imprisoned for 30 months and from here his martyrdom started and ended in a small town in Palestine.
I’m especially glad for all of us gathering here today and raised our hands in common prayer and supplication towards God for peace for the whole world and for all the peoples on earth. Humanity is suffering from wars and other kinds of catastrophes. We, as the representatives of all Christian denominations and other religions, have the duty to teach our peoples to live in reconciliation with all people. Unfortunately, we all have forgotten that we have common roots, common Father, God and Creator of the Universe. Enough! The earth is tired of receiving, for centuries now, unjustly shed brotherly blood! Man must understand someday that differences aren’t solved with weapons but by the language of the heart and of love. Someday we all must work, and are obliged to do it with all our power, towards this direction: to try and reconcile man first with God and then with his fellowman, because in the Eyes of God we are all the same! St. Paul says there is no Jew nor Greek, slave or free man, man or woman. All, in the Eyes of Christ, are one.
Our gathering today should have a cause, so that all of us make it our daily program in our life to pray everyday so that peace prevails in the world. We should take the message of peace and love and carry it to the peoples of all the earth. We can indeed be the new apostles that will speak of love and peace. Everyday we hear by the media about catastrophes and violence among peoples. Wherever one might turn his eyes will see destruction, fires, human casualties and will hear weeping and laments. Maybe it sounds illogical, but we, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, for 2000 years now, coexist in harmony, in friendship, with love, with all the people of Egypt that are Muslims. We never had any problem. See every morning when the sun rises, it doesn’t differentiate where it will send it’s rays, either to the Christians, the Muslims, the Hindus or the Buddhists because we all live under the big sky, the love of God! If we put aside our personal interests, I’m sure that some day we will all be happy. We will shake hands in reconciliation. I believe and hope and pray that this day will come where the peoples of the world will meet at one point, will shake hands, will lament for the blood that was shed and they will reconcile for ever in their life.
From the land of Egypt, which is ‘Theovadistos’ (walked by God) exactly because Our Lord Jesus Christ walked on it, we are to send today to the ends of the world a brave message of love and peace: as we gathered today in the Church under the same dome and we didn’t differentiate Christians from non-Christians or of other religions. From today we will announce to the whole world that men can live in reconciliation as long as they learn to love first their God, whoever He is, whatever His Name is, and then I’m certain that love for their fellowman will spring also.
Pass on to the leaders of your Churches, to the leaders of your religions, to your people, to your communities, to your towns, to your villages, to your cities, to your countries our greetings and our blessings, our love. That we pray, a few Greeks, a few Christians, whatever the number, we pray for peace, for the whole world so that next year that I hope to have you close by, the smiles be wide! To reveal the message that there is no more war, no men are killed, there isn’t anymore unjustly brotherly bloodshed on earth!»
Amy Olsen-Davis
Amy Olsen-Davis
I was born in California, I was raised in Salt Lake City Utah. Born into a family of active Mormons who’s ancestors had been in the faith for 5 generations. I, myself was an active Mormon, raising my children in that faith. I came across the messages of True Life in God 6 years ago, through a mention in a book about Vassula Ryden. At that time in my life I had been searching for a deeper connection to God, and a greater understanding of Him. The way that God had been presented to me as a child and as a young person, is that He was very conditional. And the love He had for me was more of an impersonal love, He loved me from a distance, more of a lofty sense. And that caused me a lot of grief because I felt that I needed a deeper connection to the Lord. When I came into the True Life in God writings, the first time I read them, it was like a recognition process. I recognized instinctively in the deepest place in my heart, that was the Lord speaking directly to me through those pages. What the messages of True Life in God has shown me, is the tender, intimate, all-encompassing love of God our Father, His Son Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit has for each and every one of us! It is a love that is intimate, passionate, intense, and extremely personal. The knowledge of that has made a HUGE difference in my life. After many years of studying investigation and researching, I chose to be baptized into the Catholic Faith, and now come to Mass joyfully every Sunday to celebrate my connection to My Savior!
What does Christian unity mean to you?
Christian unity is especially meaningful to me because I live in a family where there is more than one religion. My husband is active in the Latter-Day Saint faith, and I now, though I used to be in that faith, am now a Catholic. So, Christian unity is everything to me, because it is what keeps my family united and loving towards each other despite some very significant theological differences. Unity for me is understanding that God sees all of us in a very different light than we see each other. When He (God) considers His Church on Earth, He is not referring to one denomination, He is referring to ALL of His children, who recognize and who love Him either through explicit knowledge of Him, or through the loving nature that they manifest in their lives.
Bishop Felix Toppo
Bishop Felix Toppo
May 28, 2007
»I am Bishop Felix Toppo of Jamshedpur diocese. My diocese is very close to Kolkata. In 2004, I was introduced with the True Life in God and when I first started reading, I immediately knew, a Spirit touched me deeply, that something… there is something divine in this reading. And so continuously I read. Continuously I read, read, read and finished all the volumes and I was very deeply moved, very deeply touched, and started meditating, reflected, and then I also started reading the second time. Vassula Ryden one day asked me whether I would give the Nihil Obstat for her books because she was planning to compile all the messages together and make one book. Now, I was hesitating because of the implications of it and also because of the Church authorities and one day as I was praying in the chapel, you know, something struck me. I said «Why not to give? After all, I believe that this is a revelation from God, I believe that this is a dialogue between God and human being through Vassula. And you know, it has done a lot of good to me and is doing good to others. Why not, you know, why not to give?» And when I decided that, I was very happy and joyful and immediately I wrote to Vassula a letter saying that this is a dialogue between God and human being through Vassula and also it is helpful for any Christian who reads it and there is nothing objectionable according to the Teaching of the Church. That letter I wrote, then I also wrote a letter of Nihil Obstat. I never regret it, I’m happy that I gave it and I’m hoping that many more people would read this and profit by it. »
Adrian Ortega
Adrian Ortega
Adrian Ortega Conversion Testimony
God be praised. After more than 18 years of rebellion against God, against my Holy Mother and the Church, my Lord went in search of my lost soul.
My first marriage was carried out in court and the Catholic Church, and after 2 years I had abandoned it. What happened was very painful and incomprehensible for me, because the foundation that should have been built was not based on my understanding of “The Love of God”. Due to my civil divorce, I learned of the annulment process of the Sacrament of Marriage. My first thought was, “The church is useless. How could the church DIVORCE what has been united by God?” and I thought this without considering the role that I had played. I had ended this relationship, and I had also entered it with my own ideas about marriage, without emotional maturity, and without financial responsibility. I just wanted to be with the person that I thought I “loved”. This led me to resentment with the church and with God. I made the decision that my intellect would be capable of making me understand that the processes of the church were absurd and that other religions and ideologies had some truth to them. That was how my war against God began. I began reading all different types of books following what people had once told me, “Read different types of books and your mind will comprehend their contents.” That is how I came to new age literature and secret societies that cultivated knowledge for one’s own growth. Now I know that God allowed my heart to toughen into a shielded organ that nothing and no one could hurt. However, my most harmful relationship ever had begun, my alcoholism was uncontrollable, and my anger was unstoppable. Nevertheless, my appearance was that of a normal, centered, educated, cultured, and ambitious person that could accomplish anything by simply thinking about it and being mentally focused. I had a lot of downfalls, but I thought, “I can reinvent myself.” My relations to the mundane were growing and I eventually reached complete rebellion without even kneeling for the Sacred Eucharist. The mercy of God, however, is greater than that.
I almost lost my life several times due to my lack of responsibility with alcohol and my lifestyle. One day I started to have a really high fever that did not go away. After a week I went to my doctor and was diagnosed with Typhoid which infected my liver and gave me hepatitis. Since my liver was not working I was not able to take any medication. I could only to hope to get better through rest and candy. One day, the pain from my liver was so strong that I was afraid I would die. My mother wanted to call the ambulance, but I told her not to. At that moment I looked in the dresser drawers of my bedroom and saw a figurine that belonged to my grandfather. It was a statue of San Antonio of Padua with baby Jesus in his arms. At that moment I looked up and said: “Saint Anthony since you are closer to God, tell him to give me more time so that I can see my daughter and change my life.” Like a miracle, the next day I started to get better which led to my recovery. Once I was better, I immigrated to the United States and began a new life. My ideals had not changed much, I remarried, God blessed me with two sons, however, I did not have the intention of reconciling with Him.
I believed that I did not need anything. I had a job, a house, a family, but there was a tremendous emptiness in my life that not even money or my home could fill. I continued drinking but at a different rate due to my liver damage. Once, on a good day, I tried to “help” a family member. I lied to them so that they would come with me to retreat. Of course, according to me, it was he who needed it, not me; and that is how I went through the most profound experience of my life because God had a surprise for me. He was in search of his prodigal son. After going through the experience of this retreat, my hunger for the Eucharist was so great that it motivated me to reconcile through the sacrament of confession. The following week, I heard the announcement for another retreat through the Catholic Church and that is where I went through another indescribable experience. The Holy Spirit receives me with its sublime warmth and takes away my fear of speaking openly about Jesus, my Lord and Savior. I began to research the process of annulment knowing that I could not continue living the way I was. My conscience had been awakened inside me making me look for things of God which led me to look on the internet about the lives of Saints: Padre Pio, San Juan Bosco, Madre Teresa de Calcutta, San Antonio de Padua and more. That is how I came to see a very peculiar film that caught my attention. At first, I had to check various sources to verify the authenticity of what I saw and heard. So I checked web links from the Vatican to see if they corresponded. The film was about a person named Vassula Ryden, who said that she had been receiving messages from God since 1986. The messages are translated into dozens of languages, so I began reading them in Spanish and personalizing them with my name as Vassula had mentioned. My body began to tremble during the reading.
I had begun the marriage annulment process by now. At times my mind was hesitant with doubts, but God filled me with peace. I also had the support of the group with which I lived my first spiritual experience, who helped me to balance my feelings and emotions. The annulment process came to its final stage. The nun who was managing my case contacted me to see if I still wanted to testify my case in the church. For a moment I felt a spiritual power to change the course of the verdict. I told the nun that I would like to testify, and in that moment, she mentioned that we would have to speak with the judge so that I could be assigned a day, and that the process would be further delayed. The case was already ready to be examined. My Mother Santa Maria has nourished me through the rosary to obey my Church. I advised the nun that I trusted in the decision of the judge without my testimony.
At that moment I remembered one of the messages to Vassula that follows:
Yahweh Is With You
December 23, 1990
O Father,
like thirsty land I yearn for You.
Rest me for a while on Your Knees now and console me.
Let me feel enveloped by Your Consoling Heart.
I need Your warmth.
repose your head on My Heart, rest and feel consoled… your Abba is caring for you; your Abba is happy to have you near Him; repose your head on My Heart, My child, and listen to the Desires of My Heart: My Heart is still seeking, longing, pleading for the rest of My children’s love; …
(A few seconds’ pause.)
child? 1 what would you give to console your Abba?
O Lord, anything you want. My love, my will, my heart and my soul.
and what more?
My life, as an atonement to Your Desires.
descend then from My Knees and go and bear witness in My Name; go and tell the nations of My Great Love; remind them that My Promise is very near to its accomplishment and that My Return is imminent; the New Jerusalem2 is at hand; I am going to renew My Church and My people;
so My child, descend from My Knees and go out into the world for My Sake … and make My Love known to the world; let the world realize how I love My children; as it is, you have not sought Me, it is I who found you and have chosen you to go out to the world before My Great Day; it is I who formed you and although you were aloof to Me, I have chosen you and revealed My Holy Face to you; so when you have accomplished all the work I have commissioned you for, My child, I shall take you up to Me and you may then rest on My Knees;
I shall, in the meantime while you are in the world, protect you from your oppressors; I want you for your part to look up in Heaven constantly for Me and talk to Me; «Yahweh is with you», have always these words engraved on your mind and on your heart, for I-Am-With-You; now let your heart treasure all that I have told you and remember: offer Me prayers to reach Me like incense, for the conversion of souls and the revival of My Church;
1 Suddenly the Father’s Head turned and looked at me.
2 Church.
Soon after, I spoke with the sister and asked her if I could send an email with my final testimony. She told me I could and after several attempts she told me that she was unable to receive emails. So, in my own thoughts I told God, “I tried.” A couple minutes after I had hung up the phone with the sister, she called me and told me I could send it by fax. My heart was filled with joy.
This was my final testimony in English which I had to write with my cousin’s assistance in the translation:
Dear Sister Clare,
The following Message explains my conversion. I was fighting against God, but now He brought me back. I did not understand the process of annulment and therefore did not accept it, even though I knew about it 20 years ago. My resentments against God and the Church were so big that I created my own God, became a Free Mason, read up on occultism and so on. Please read this Message. God explained everything to me. I am hungry for the Eucharist
God Bless you.
You Were Wrestling With Me
December 22, 1990
My Jesus?
I am;
I treat you very gently so that you, as My flower, grow; I want you strong and believe Me I shall make it possible; you shall be strong, daughter(Son), since you carry My Word; in front of you, I Am, to break all barriers that come up while you are witnessing; I am the Most High, and I tell you, daughter(son), that I shall see to it that no power from beneath stops you from proclaiming My Message;
I have taken you out of the land of Egypt to respond to Me in a foreign land and witness to a people not your own; so although your behaviour was appalling and your senses blemished, unabling you to see the Light, Mercy1 and Compassion was seized by your astounding misery, guilt and wretchedness and came to your rescue;
no-o Vassula (Adrian), you have not deserved any of My Gifts; why, I had servants in My Hand who honoured Me, never uttering but My Name in holiness, who blessed Me without cease, who praised the Holy Trinity wholeheartedly; but yet My Heart, an Abyss of Love, cried out for you; you had accumulated sorrow upon sorrow in My Heart, treason upon treason; you were wrestling with Me, puny little creature … but I knew that your heart is not a divided heart and that once I conquer your heart, it would become entirely Mine; an object of your era, you were wrestling with Me, but I have thrown you down in the wrestle and dragged you in the dust and into the desert where I left you there, all alone;
I had provided you with a guardian angel, since the beginning of your existence, to guard you, console you and guide you, but My Wisdom ordered your guardian angel to leave you and to let you face the desert on your own; I said: «you are to live in spite of your nakedness!» 2 because no man is able to survive alone; 3 Satan would have taken over completely and would have killed you; My order was given to him too; I forbade him to touch you then; in your terror, you remembered Me and looked up, in Heaven, searching desperately for Me; your laments and your supplications suddenly broke the deathly stillness surrounding you and your terrified cries pierced through the heavens reaching the Holy Trinity’s Ears …
«My child!» the Father’s Voice, full of joy, resounded through all Heaven;
«Ah…I shall now make her penetrate My Wounds4 and let her(him) eat My Body and drink My Blood; I shall espouse her(him) to Me and she(he) will be Mine for eternity; I shall show her(him) the Love I have for her(him) and her(his) lips from thereon shall thirst for Me and her(his) heart shall be My Headrest; she(he) shall eagerly submit daily to My Righteousness; I shall make her(him) an altar of My Love and of My Passion; I, and I only, shall be her(his) only Love and Passion; and I shall send her(him) with My Message to the ends of the world to conquer an irreligious people, and to a people who are not even her(his) own; and voluntarily she(he) will carry My Cross of Peace and Love taking the road to Calvary;»
«And I, the Holy Spirit, shall descend upon her(him) to reveal to her(him) the Truth and the depths of Us;5 I shall remind the world, through her(him), that the greatest of all the gifts is: LOVE;»
«let Us6 then celebrate! let all Heaven celebrate!»
… I have taken you by the hand and formed you to become a living sign of My Great Love; — a witness of My Sacred Heart, and of the renewal of My Church;
(The Father, then the Son, then the Holy Spirit spoke.)
I am the Resurrection;
1 Mercy and Compassion = The Lord.
2 I became «naked» as soon as my guardian angel and all Heaven had turned their back to me.
3 Abandoned by Heaven.
4 The Son then spoke.
5 The Holy Trinity.
6 The Holy Trinity spoke.
7 From purgatory.
The annulment process concluded, and my previous union was declared annulled, since there were irregular situations called vices and defects.
God transformed my life through a personal relationship with him, expressed in a deeper sacramental life in the Holy Catholic Church. On July 11, 2014, after 11 years of civil union, God gave me the grace of the sacrament of marriage with my wife Barbara and blessed my two children on the same day with the Sacrament of Reconciliation and First Communion. My daughter from the first civil union has given me two grandchildren and the Lord has healed the wounds between us.
Currently, my wife and I are celebrating 5 years as catechists at St. Nicholas Parish in Aurora, as well as giving testimony for the Glory of God on Channel 36 in Chicago, through a program called «The Harvest of Faith.» In giving my life over to God, I formally renounced Freemasonry in a written letter of resignation and gave testimony of the truth of Jesus Christ our Savior before the members of the Masonic Lodge to which I belonged in the past.
The Fire of the Holy Spirit impels me to bring more souls to God by sharing the Holy Gospel. At the same time, I work to expose the falsehood of Freemasonry’s doctrine, which the True Life in God messages illuminated for me by revealing the purposes and objectives of these false and dangerous teachings.
Sincerely,
Adrian Ortega
Australian people
The Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, Theodoros II
The Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, Theodoros II
The Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, Theodoros II, opened the doors of the Patriarchate in Alexandria of Egypt in April of 2008 with a welcoming embrace and gave a moving speech in the Throne Room to officially welcome TLIG and Vassula. Here is what he said:
«From the depths of my heart, I wish to welcome you all officially, here in the Throne Room, where our companion is St. Mark, the Apostle and Evangelist. In the morning, I received you at the monastery of St. Savvas, a humble monastery, which was founded in the 4th century. Today, I greet you officially here, in our Patriarchate, whose history spans 2,000 years from the time of Jesus Christ to the present. Thus, on the one hand, with the exception of the Apostle Paul, we have our history involving the great Apostles, whose successors were the Great Fathers of the Church. That history brings us to present times and, thus, you can see all the Patriarchs that have been appointed to Alexandria on your right and left.
All this is our heritage, the future lies before us: it is for us the entire land of Africa. That is why I want you to know that, before I ascended the steps to the Throne of St. Mark, I was a missionary in Cameroon, the Sudan, Gabon, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Botswana and Angola. As a missionary, therefore, I really got to know Africa: the difficulties that it faces and the enormous poverty issues but, most of all during my journeys, I meet people that are searching — searching for the love of Jesus. That is why, Vassula, I was very moved when you all sang to Jesus Christ a few minutes ago as my thoughts went immediately to all my African children who also raise their hands towards the heavens and sing in thousands of languages about Christ; the love of Christ that we so desperately need. I am planning shortly to make a long journey to Ghana, having recently returned from Madagascar.
And now, I would like to welcome you all from the bottom of my heart, especially you, Vassula, as I said in church this morning, welcome to your homeland, welcome to the country of your birth, and greetings to all who accompany you. As they say here, Vassula, «Anyone who drinks from the waters of the Nile never forgets this country.»
I would also like to greet the Bishop from India — welcome dear brother to our Apostolic Patriarchate. I wish to welcome the monk, you, Sister, you, Father and you, Father from the Roman Catholic Church and tell you all that with much love we receive you, we love you and that we are under the same protection and love of our Great Lord, Jesus Christ.
Vassula, I would like to thank you for this opportunity, to be together over the next few days. This evening, we will follow together the Passion of Our Lord. Tomorrow, we shall worship before His Epitaph and we shall live, in our devoutly beating hearts, His Passion and His Resurrection. And that joy — that is my wish — that the joy of the Resurrection and the Light may be with us always all the days of our lives. In the name of Jesus Christ I wish to bless you all and your families and please know that Alexandria’s and the Patriarchate’s doors will always be open to you. Thank you»
TLIG Participates in Greek Orthodox Easter Alexandria, Egypt — April 2008
G. S.
G. S.
Prof. Todor Sabev
Prof. Todor Sabev
Theologian, Church historian and former Deputy General Secretary of the World Council of Churches.
In His divine plan for the salvation of humankind, God, throughout history has been sending His messengers as prophets and apostles, teachers and guardians to lead all nations into the right path, to nourish faith, sustain peace and protect unity.
Nowadays, the prophecies of Isaiah (44:3) and Joel (2:28): «I will pour my Spirit upon your descendants»; «your sons and your daughters shall prophesy (and) shall see visions» come true in a variety of charisms. Gifts of grace are being bestowed on women and men for the enhancement of Christian life, worship and service to the glory of God.
Such a spiritual gift (charisma) has been granted to Mrs. Vassula Ryden for the fulfillment of a particular vocation. ‘From the depths of her obscurity,» Vassula has seen the Light. The Lord has touched her heart to cleanse and heal it. Since then, she is «seeing Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary interiorly» and «has been enabled to hear their Messages.» This unique experience of visions is testified in 70 notebooks published in seven volumes. The Messages that Vassula is receiving are written by herself but dictated «from on high.» Her human handwriting is completely transformed.
The Messages are God’s gifts of spiritual healing, love and mercy «directed to all.» Vassula was called to become an ardent witness of Christ, carrying His Cross «to the four corners» of the secularized world. Together with many other disciples, she has to be an instrument of divine providence, an echo of God’s Word, compassion, reconciliation and peace.
The Messages are not a new revelation but a reminder of the Gospel of Christ. The basic task of Vassula is sharing of the Good News through proclamation in communities and assemblies of prayer and meditation, diffusion of the Writings by publication, and «drawing souls to Jesus Christ.»
The surprising nature of this calling has raised questions and bewilderment for Vassula herself, as well as for friends and listeners. Some of the wonders will still accompany readers of True Life in God. Nevertheless, we are aware of the fact that many expressions of mysticism have encountered different assessments and attitudes within one’s Christian tradition. During the whole period of marxist militant atheism, imposed by state authorities in my country, Bulgaria, a woman with great gifts as a seer kept telling both native and foreign people secrets of their past, present and future. Her faith and prophetic voice have shaken atheistic conceptions and changed the lifestyle of tens of thousands. Bishops, priests and theologians have personally experienced and individually recognized the gifts of that woman. But it was not in the tradition of the Church to make an authoritative pronouncement on this phenomenon.
Several years ago, I was so much impressed by the story of the apparition of the Virgin Mary, which three of my very dear Protestant friends had seen simultaneously «without considering however this event an extraordinary spiritual experience» because this was not part of their church’s tradition!
«We walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7)» and «by faith understand…» (Fleb. 11:3f). Distinguishing between the Spirit of God and other spirits is a delicate Christian duty. Discernment is also a gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor. 12: 10-1 1; I jn.4: 1). The main criterion for testing the spirits is the faith in Christ as Incarnate Son of God and our Saviour (1 jn. 4:2f).
Basically, the content of the Messages in ‘True Life in God’ is in harmony with the Holy Scriptures and with the tradition of the Church. They are being distributed, read and meditated within the Church, aiming at a revival of Christian faith, renewal and unity. References are often made to the Bible as source of truth, knowledge and wisdom. The doxological part of the Messages is biblicallybased. Very dear to Orthodox spirituality are the numerous prayers, the urgent call to conversion and repentance, fast and a holy life. In the centre of Vassula’s vision are placed also many other fundamental truths, values and teachings of the Church. Prayer, humility, charity, generosity, peace, reconciliation and mutual love in Christ’s name are continuously underscored in all notebooks. God’s abundant grace and tenderness are often presented in the context of concern and care for the groaning creation, a warning about sin corrupting humanity, and a call to awakening for «the battle against Satan and his followers.» Thus one can feel the «prophetic tone» and the appeal to all Christians.
Remember the Beatitudes! Follow the Ten Commandments! Now is the time of repentance! «Live as though it is your last day on earth.» «Have you reconciled with your brothers and sisters?» «Share My Cross.» «Search for justice and help the oppressed.» «Wealth is to be converted.» «Evangelize with love, for love.» Your era of little faith is dead. «Do not accept Satan’s fruits which are … disunity and impurity.» Be vigilant and prepared for «the last days,» because the Lord is «on the Path of Return.»
And again we hear the Message of hope and Iife: «Shake off the dust that covers you and rise from the dead.» «The Holy Eucharist will keep you alive.» The «time of tribulations» shall be followed «by a new era of love and peace.» «My Kingdom is at your very doors.» God wants everyone to be saved (cf. Rm. 10:12-13).
The Messages are a hymn of God’s love which is «like a fountain, a well of living waters.» Love is «the Root of the Tree of Life» and of all virtues. Therefore, «sow the seeds of love in all directions.» «Judge nobody, and repay evil with love.» The Source of love is the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life. He guides us «into all truths,» transforming the darkness into Light. He uplifts and purifies our hearts, sanctifies us through the Sacraments, drives out ill spirits and brings renewal to the Church. The Holy Spirit creates community in which love rules. He gratifies the poor and the humble people of God.
One of the strongest elements in Vassula Ryden’s visions is the gravity of the divisions between the churches, the urgency of the work for unity of the Church, and the importance of the ecumenical movement.
The sin of division and wounds in the Body of Christ are so often due to lack of fidelity, humility and mutual love. «Rivalry and competition for earthly power,» egoism and pride cannot bring about unity. Those who endeavor to gather together the scattered sheep of Christ «should lower their voices» in order to hear the voice of the Lord; they should «bow down their heads» for blessing by the Head of the Church — Jesus Christ. Then He shall lift all and draw them to Himself. «Blessed are those who do not differentiate themselves» under Christ’s Holy Name. «Pray for the World Council of Churches» and for the world-wide ecumenical movement. Let us always remember that «the keys to unity are love and humility.»
The real unity is and will be in the heart, not «of the letter but of the spirit.» It is a gift of God, but requires also human commitment and effort: «where there is division give peace and love, where there is confusion ask for Light.» «Unity shall come upon you like Dawn … It shall come from God, and your nations shall name it the Great Miracle, the Blessed Day … In this day all Heaven shall … rejoice.» «Behold, what joy I will have when around One Altar you will gather … and praise Me; acknowledging your mistake, repenting for your rebellion and remembering My love for you.» God’s plan is «to unite all nations, from East to West, from North to South.»
In several Messages a great desire is expressed for a simultaneous celebration of Easter — «the Feast of Feasts,» and the «Triumph of Triumphs.» May this become a new impetus for bringing back such a tremendous issue on the ecumenical agenda. Actually it comes from the heart of the decision made by the first Ecumenical Council (325) to strengthen unity and inspire common witness.
While many Orthodox rejoice at Vassula’s gift and appreciate the texts referred to, they are prudent about accepting all points and details. I personally still struggle with some of the questions which had troubled me before. But cannot we find relief in the understanding that the Messages come to us also through the limited human nature, and are perceived according to our own spiritual capacity? The reading of Vassula’s Writings requires a mystical soul, prayer for «knowledge and all discemment» (Phil. 1:9), seeking for truth in the power of love and resisting any easy judgment.
The gifts of the Spirit should be spiritually distinguished (1 Cor. 12:10). Let us measure the value of the tree by its fruits (Nlt. 3:10; 7:16f). The great quality of the numerous fruits of ‘True Life in God’ has been acknowledged by many people. The Messages have deepened spiritual life, strengthened Christian faith and opened the sight of a certain number of non-believers. And we have yet to see the fulfillment of God’s promises: «I the Lord, will multiply the visions … (and) will pour the Holy Spirit without reserve on all humankind. » You will grow like grass in the areas where there is plenty of water.»
Let us give thanks to God for all charismata.
Heavenly Father,
Kindle our hearts with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
Give us the Spirit of wisdom and faith,
of daring and of patience,
of humility and of firmness,
of love and of repentance.
Geneva, Easter 1994
Reverend Sverker Trônet
Reverend Sverker Trônet
(from a Protestant point of view)
This talk was given to the international gathering of True Life in God in Jerusalem, May 1998
I have been asked to speak from a Protestant point of view about the Unity of the Church and Our Lady. First I must say something about being a Protestant or Lutheran.
The Church of Sweden as a whole was severed from the Church of Rome and the Pope during the Reformation in the sixteenth century. It was the king who wanted to be the sole ruler of his country and he did not want any interference from abroad, that is from the Pope and the bishops who really had a good deal also of worldly power.
The teachings of Martin Luther suited the king’s purposes very well. The king took the place of the Pope. From Germany, the mainland of the reformation, was imported the most important of the reformation confessions — the Augsburg Confession, which was critical of abuses in the late medieval Church but was otherwise very traditional, with no intention of teaching anything new, but only being a witness to the faith of the one, holy, catholic (also Roman) and apostolic Church. The Augsburg Confession is today considered, by the official Catholic and Lutheran Ecumenical Commission, to have a catholic intention and an ecumenical will.
There certainly was a great change of the Church in Sweden and for the faithful in the reformation time, but there was also a certain continuity. Some priests and bishops left the country, but some stayed and saved what could be saved.
After the turmoil of the reformation there was just one Church in Sweden. There still were bishops and priests, who by now could be married. The Mass was celebrated, but it was in Swedish instead of Latin and the people could now communicate also from the chalice. Mary and the saints soon disappeared. And so did the monasteries, often by violence. The Bible was translated and there was catechetical work in the schools. For three hundred years there was no alternative. Being a Swede meant being a Lutheran.
Today, despite a radical secularisation, most Swedes belong to the Church which is no longer governed by the king but by democratically voted politicians and their parties. I cannot call myself a Protestant or a Lutheran, but I belong to the Church of Sweden.
I don’t think the reformation in Sweden, from a religious point of view, could be justified or was necessary or for the good of the Church, but I can see some good things in it, despite the undisputedly bad things, and also what these good things came to mean for the future.
The Bible, read within the horizon of the old tradition and the Augsburg Confession, was kept as the first and last authority for the faith. This is what preserved the Church in Sweden as a fairly orthodox Christian Church, despite its severance from Rome. But you can imagine what happens today when the Bible, at least in practice, is no longer an authority and if it is taken notice of at all, it is interpreted according to the opinions of the day.
In the example of the Church of Sweden you can see, both positively and negatively, the vital necessity of the unity of the Church, both in space and time, being in communion with all the other local Churches all over the world, in the bishops unity with the Bishop of Rome, but also being in communion with the saints of all times, which means an active remembrance of the tradition. When a Church both has lost its memory and is cut away from the universal Church it is exposed to the pressure of the world and modern secular opinion without the God-given defence and corrective. I believe only the reunion with Rome could save and preserve the Church of Sweden as a Christian Church.
This is said as an example. Now something more general about Christian Unity. There certainly are many things that keep all Christians together, also from different denominations. We believe in and pray to the same triune God. We believe in the incarnation of God the Son. We all believe in the saving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are baptized with the same baptism, Even if all Christians can’t go to communion together we believe that we receive and are joined to the one and same body of Christ in the different churches. With slight variations we share the same beliefs. Isn’t that enough? Our Lord prays to the Father, in his priestly prayer in St. John’s seventeenth chapter and says: «May they all be one … so that the world may believe it was You who sent me.»(v.21)
The unity that Jesus prays for is not only a spiritual unity, but a visible unity in this visible world, «that the world may believe». The Church certainly is an instrument in God’s hands for the salvation of the world. It is God’s Church. He has made it according to his plan and for his purposes. That the Church should be one and visibly one is certainly part of the founder’s will and intention. The visible unity belongs to the nature of the Church and is very important — a top priority. Visible unity demands a visible center of unity. For the local community there is the parish priest. For the diocese the bishop. For the patriarchate there is the patriarch. And for the whole fold, for the universal Church, there is the Pope.
That there should be a pope is part of Christ’s plans for his Church. This is not what was in dispute from the beginning by the reformers, only the misuse of the papal power. That there is and should be a petrine primacy is clear from the gospels. And as certain as there is an apostolical succession from the apostles to the bishops, there is a petrine succession from St. Peter to his followers on the apostolic throne in the Church of Rome.
Can a Protestant really say so? There are liberals who wouldn’t, because they would say the papacy is part of a patriarcalistic structure. There are others who would reiterate the confessional formulas from the sixteenth century and would eventually say the pope is the antichrist. But if by ‘Protestant’ you mean a person who wants to be true to the Bible, read with the glasses of the old orthodox and catholic tradition, a Protestant certainly could say that the papacy is instituted by Christ.
In the papal encyclical letter from 1995, «Ut Unum Sint», John Paul II asks the non-Roman Catholic Church leaders to consider with him the forms in which the Petrine Primacy could best serve its mission, «that they all may be one … so that the world may believe ..» With regard to the Church of Sweden and the Anglican Churches this invitation should have been very interesting three years earlier, but in 1995 there had already happened things in these churches that made dialogue seem impossible.
The ecumenical dialogue between The Church of Sweden and Rome was for some years, between 1989 and 1993 very promising. The Swedish archbishop declared from the high altar in St. Peter’s in the presence of John Paul II: «The moment has come to declare that the denunciations from the time of the reformation are no longer valid.» The Pope visited Sweden and Cardinal Cassidy the head of the Papal secretariat of Christian Unity wanted an examination of and a dialogue about the apostolic succession in the Churches of Finland and Sweden, to see what was needed for a full recognition.
In the question of the important reformation doctrine of «Justification by faith» a consensus has been reached between Rome and the Lutherans. A dialogue at least as promising was also going on between Rome and the Church of England. But in both cases it came to an end because of new divisive developments. John Paul II declared at Pentecost 1994 that the Church has no right whatsoever to ordain women for the priesthood and that this decision is definitive for all the faithful in the Church. Only four and a half months later the Bishops and other leaders in the Church of Sweden declared that «You cannot be ordained to the priesthood unless you acknowledge women as priests.»
The Lutheran World Federation declared that they would not be without or sacrifice women priests for the sake of unity. After this, two women have been made bishops in Sweden and more women than men are ordained and on their way to ordination. There is also a very vocal feministic theology, which makes new interpretations of the faith and also, of morals. This development has made a total relativism necessary. You cannot criticize and say that it is not according to the Bible. They will answer: It is just pictures and symbols and anything will do. You could just as well say that God is our mother as our father.
This development (in Sweden and England and also in other countries) has made divisions within the Churches of Sweden and England seem necessary and groups are now trying to find their way. The eyes are of course on Rome. The situation is felt to be so serious for the Church of Sweden that many people ask whether it will survive at all. My personal feeling is that only being with the Church which Christ has built on Peter could save us from being transformed into something else than a Christian Church or from annihilation. Only a Church in communion with Peter could rightly put its trust in the promise of Christ: «You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it» (Mt,16:18)
Our Holy Mother Mary is together with the Pope, by the typical Protestant, considered to be what is typically Catholic, and therefore to be shunned. The Pope was by one blow of the sword severed from the Church in Sweden. Mary probably remained in the hearts of the faithful of the first reformation-generation. That was a thing the king couldn’t do anything about. But as the Rosary was forbidden and most of the Marian statues were removed, neither was there any place for our lady in the Protestant Swedish hearts. You can only speculate about what this has meant. To live without the Mother Our Lord has given to his Church.
Typically enough in liberal Protestantism Jesus is not Immanuel, that is God with man, but he is man with God and that is what Mary in reality is. To live without Mary as mother and ideal has made Protestant Christianity more of a teaching to understand, than a life to live. The Church in the reformation became more of a school than a place for prayer and adoration. At the same time it must be said that Mary wasn’t banished from the Church’s teaching, although her place was very much in the background.
So you can find in the confessional writings, in the hymns and in the writings of Martin Luther, sentences that in one way or other affirm the teaching of all the Marian dogmas, although not as dogmas. This, together with other similar catholic elements, has not been without consequence for a Marian renaissance in the Church of Sweden and it has also made it possible to remain in the Church of Sweden with a Catholic faith, without a conflict with the official teaching.
As there are no problems with Peter and the pope, there are no difficulties for a biblical Protestant, of what our old ecumenical archbishop Nathan Sderblom called the evangelical-catholic tradition, to share the catholic and orthodox beliefs about Our Lady. The problem with present day Protestants is that very many of them, I speak first of all about the Church of Sweden but perhaps it could be said also about Lutherans and Anglicans in Western Europe and the USA, that they don’t seem any longer to believe in Gods revelation nor in the Bible as the Word of God. But if The Word of God is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path, it will lead you to honour and bless Mary.
We can take it for certain that all of Our Lord’s actions and words had a meaning, not just for the singular situation in which they were performed or uttered, but were meant for the Church he founded and therefore had a universal meaning and were to be valid until the end of time. Therefore it is very natural to see that Jesus, from the Cross, gave Mary to be the mother not only of John, but of all the apostles and of all the Church in all times and places.
Next we are led by the word of God to see with John «the great sign which appeared in heaven: a woman adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown». Of course this is Mary. She is alive, She is taken up to heaven with her body and crowned to be the Queen of heaven and earth. We can turn to her and ask for her motherly care and her prayers for us. Mary is the Mother of the Church, but she is also The Church — Our Mother. She is a personification of the Church. In her everything that we are waiting for is already fulfilled and she is already there, where we hope to meet her and her Son, in heaven.
In this way I could go on, from the Bible to the Catholic dogma. And in the case of, for example the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, where it isn’t absolutely self-evident, from the Bible, that «Gratia Plena» — «full of grace» — means that there was not ever any place for sin in Mary, I am fully confident that the Holy Spirit has led the Church to the complete truth according to the promise of Jesus. (Jn,16:13)
Among the many titles of our Lady and among all the things She is, let us ask her to be, for the Church, the Mother of Unity. That unity which Jesus prayed for and which seems to be so very difficult, sometimes even impossible. Let us confide it to her care and to her prayers, that it may come soon, at that time and in that way which is according to the will of God.
I have also been asked to say why I support the messages of True Life in God. If somebody had told me about Vassula before I myself had heard her or had read the messages, I would probably have been uninterested, supposing it was another silly sect. I would not have said it was impossible with prophesies, revelations or messages like these, but I never had met anything like it. But since I for the first time heard Vassula in Rome in march 1995 I have been convinced that it is all true.
Perhaps I could say that I recognized the voice, I was very moved and had tears in my eyes. Since then I have read the messages and I have never come across anything that sounded strange or foreign to what I have learned from the Bible and the tradition of the Church. What has meant most to me is of course the intimacy of the messages. The important position of Mary. The centrality of the unity of the Church around the Pope and also the admonitions to be one with John Paul II. As you may have understood, I think I have seen instances of that apostasy, which Jesus has spoken of in the messages. What is not unimportant to me is also the fact of Vassula not being formally a Roman Catholic, but living a Catholic life and having the catholic faith. That is my situation also and with me many in the Church of Sweden.
Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi
Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi
On this day of May 13, 2017 I wish to address the Catholic Church’s present-day position on the prophetic revelations of God to Vassula Rydén contained in the publication, “True Life in God”. This present-day position is summarized in the following five points:
- The TLIG prophetic revelations enjoy the Magisterium’s Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat – official ecclesiastic seals of approval.
- The Church’s Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat are an exercise of the Magisterium.
- The Church requires of the Christian faithful “adherence with religious assent”1 to the Church’s Magisterium, which is particularly exercised by those bishops teaching in communion with the Pope.
- The teachings of those bishops in communion with the Pope and exercising the Magisterium2 have granted to the TLIG prophetic revelations said seals of approval (11/28/2005 Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur) that remain in full force this day.
- By virtue of the conferral of the Magisterium’s Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat upon the TLIG prophetic revelations, Christians are prohibited from setting themselves up as their judge and from publicly condemning them.3 On the contrary, inasmuch as all Christians are to “concur with their bishop’s judgment concerning faith and morals” and “adhere to this” judgment and to the Magisterium “with a religious assent of the mind”,4 the Magisterium’s Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat upon the TLIG prophetic revelations elicit from the Christian faithful said religious assent.
Below I elaborate on these five points.
1) The TLIG prophetic revelations enjoy the Magisterium’s Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat – official ecclesiastic seals of approval.
Because the Magisterium of the Church has the duty to “preserve God’s people from deviations and defections, and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error”,5 as well as “expound it faithfully”,6 it examines publications, particularly works on faith and morals and pronounce whether they are free from doctrinal error.
On March 19, 1975, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued norms for pastors of the Church who have the duty to be vigilant with publication of materials on faith and morals, which should be submitted to the Church for “approval.” This mandate was reiterated in the 1983 Code of Canon Law, canon 823. This approval occurs through a process that begins with the author submitting the manuscript to the censor librorum or deputatus, who is appointed by the bishop or other ecclesiastical authority to make such examinations. If the censor finds no doctrinal error in the work, he grants a Nihil Obstat (“Nothing obstructs” its publication) attesting to this. If the bishop grants his Imprimatur (“Let it be printed”), this ecclesiastical seal constitutes an „approval‟ of the work that allows it to be “displayed and sold in churches”7 and a declaration of “both a juridical and a moral guarantee for the authors, the publishers and the readers”8 that the work “contains nothing contrary to the Church’s authentic magisterium on faith or morals” and “that all the pertinent prescriptions of canon law have been fulfilled.”9
On November 28, 2005 His Excellency Bishop Felix Toppo, S.J., D.D., granted the Nihil Obstat to the TLIG writings. On November 28, 2005 His Excellency Archbishop Ramon C. Arguelles, STL, DD, granted the Imprimatur to the TLIG revelations.
Moreover on November 24, 2005 Bishop Felix Toppo penned the following letter that accompanied the Magisterial Nihil Obstat underscoring the supernatural nature of the TLIG revelations:
“I have read all the TRUE LIFE IN GOD books and meditated on their contents. I truly believe that the books contain the Divine Dialogue of the Holy Trinity, Our Lady and the Angels with humankind through Vassula Rydén. I have not found anything objectionable and anything contrary to the Church’s authentic authority on faith and morals. Reading these books and meditating on the contents are spiritually beneficial to all. I recommend these books to every Christian.”
On September 30, 2004 Archbishop of Lipa Ramon C. Arguelles, STL, DD, who granted to the TLIG prophetic revelations the Magisterium’s Imprimatur, wrote the following letter further attesting to the supernatural nature of the TLIG prophetic revelations10:
“Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger showed such Christ-like open-mindedness when he spearheaded the review of Mrs. Vassula Ryden’s case. Through Fr. Prospero Grech, Consultant of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the good Cardinal asked Vassula to respond to five questions (see letter dated April 4th, 2002) to clarify some difficulties suggested in the Notification of 1995, regarding the writings of True Life in God, and about her activities related thereto. The responses will immensely help some doubting Thomases, who are entitled nevertheless to peace of mind…
Cardinal Ratzinger asked P. Joseph Augustine Di Noia, O.P., Undersecretary of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, to provide Mrs. Ryden with a copy of that same letter to enable her to inform everyone about the exchange of clarification letters. I am extremely happy that Cardinal Ratzinger perfectly mirrors the attitude of the Holy Father whose great obsession and probably the reason for the life and energy he manifests is the UNITY OF CHRISTIANITY…
No matter what Mrs. Ryden’s past life may be, she can and already is an instrument of God in our days to bring to reality God’s dream, the Holy Father’s dream, the Church’s dream which may be the greatest event of the early years of the Third Millennium: THE UNITY OF ALL DISCIPLES OF CHRIST! People like Vassula who suffer for Christian unity with the Holy Father need encouragement, understanding and prayer. I am willing to give her that if only to join the Holy Father, Cardinal Ratzinger and many unknown souls who sincerely desire a renewal of Christianity, a renewed thrust of Evangelization, and unity of all Christian brethren. May Mary help us grow in the TRUE LIFE IN GOD.”11
2) The Church’s Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat are an exercise of the Magisterium.
It is noteworthy that the Church’s Magisterium enjoys three gradations of teaching authority which the Christian faithful are to uphold, and which elicit from them respectively the “assent of faith” (the first two gradations of her teaching authority) and “religious assent” (the third gradation of her authority, e.g., to the Magisterium’s Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat).
Of these three levels of magisterial authoritative teaching which establish “the order of the truths to which the believer adheres,”12 there are 1) truths taught as divinely revealed (depositum fidei13),14 2) definitively proposed statements on matters of faith and morals closely connected with the divinely revealed truth,15 and 3) non-definitive teaching that a) aids in the better understanding of the divinely revealed truth and makes explicit its contents, b) recalls how some teaching is in conformity with the truths of faith, or c) guards against ideas that are incompatible with these truths16.
In the official Vatican document, Donum Veritatis, from the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith entitled, a fourth category of magisterial teaching is mentioned, i.e., ordinary prudential teaching on disciplinary matters.17
- To the first gradation of magisterial authority belong “truths taught as divinely revealed.” This is an exercise of the “supreme Magisterium”,18 commonly referred to as the “extraordinary Magisterium and it is universally binding. These truths are de fide credenda doctrines,19 often referred to as “infallible dogma” or “definitive dogma”, that require from the faithful an assent of “theological faith;” they are contained directly in the Word of God and the Magisterium has declared them to be divinely revealed. These truths are infallible and to them the faithful owe the “obedience of faith”.20
- The contents of the second category belong to the Magisterium proposing “in a definitive way truths concerning faith and morals, which, even if not divinely revealed, are nevertheless strictly and intimately connected with Revelation.” These truths are not immediately contained in the Deposit of Faith (Depositum Fidei), but are rooted in the primary teachings of the depositum fidei as secondary truths, or secondary objects of infallibility, that necessarily follow from them logically or historically, and which are needed to expound them faithfully. The proclamation of these teachings constitutes an exercise of the “ordinary Magisterium”21 and they are binding universally. These secondary truths are de fide tenenda doctrines,22 which “must be firmly accepted and held”23 by all and anyone who rejects them “sets himself against the teaching of the Catholic Church”.24
- The third category of the Magisterium is non-definitive teaching that serves a) to aid in the better understanding of a divinely revealed truth and make explicit its contents, b) recall how some teaching is in conformity with the truths of faith, or c) guard against ideas that are incompatible with these truths25 (e.g., the Magisterium’s Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat).
I wish to emphasize that these three levels of magisterial teaching constitute Catholic doctrine26 through an „assent of faith‟ or a „religious assent‟. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reveals how Christians are to receive such doctrines: “To this ordinary teaching the faithful „are to adhere to it with religious assent‟ which, though distinct from the assent of faith,
is nonetheless an extension of it.” The passage in Lumen Gentium 25 addresses a “religious assent (assensus religious) of mind and will” – required for the third category; it is distinguished from the „assent of faith‟ (assensus fidei) – required for the first and second categories.
While such distinctions of assent emphasize the gradation in adherence to Magisterial teaching, the Magisterium places no lesser emphasis on the obligation of all Christians to submit loyally to the Church in all aforementioned categories of her magisterial teaching authority: “The willingness to submit loyally to the teaching of the Magisterium on matters per se not irreformable must be the rule”.27
3) The Church requires of the Christian faithful «adherence with religious assent» to the Church’s Magisterium, which is particularly exercised by those bishops teaching in communion with the Pope.
The reason why the Catholic Catechism affirms „religious assent‟ is to be given by the faithful to those official but non-definitive teachings of the ordinary Magisterium (e.g., the Church’s official Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat), is articulated in the following statement of the Catholic Catechism:
“Divine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles, teaching in communion with the successor of Peter, and, in a particular way, to the bishop of Rome, pastor of the whole Church, when, without arriving at an infallible definition and without pronouncing in a ‘definitive manner,’ they propose in the exercise of the ordinary Magisterium a teaching that leads to better understanding of Revelation in matters of faith and morals. To this ordinary teaching the faithful ‘are to adhere to it with religious assent’28 which, though distinct from the assent of faith, is nonetheless an extension of it”.29
Although the Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat may be given by the local bishop for his diocese, one ought not to lose sight of the fact that these official seals, though given locally and within one diocesan jurisdiction, customarily30 transcend juridical boundaries by virtue of episcopal collegiality and their acceptance by other bishops the world over. Despite the confusion within the Church foretold in various approved Marian apparitions, the following affirmations of the Church articulate the enduring collegiality and the mutual relations among bishops:
“This collegial union (of bishops) is apparent also in the mutual relations of the individual bishops with particular churches and with the universal Church… The individual bishops, however, are the visible principle and foundation of unity in their particular churches, fashioned after the model of the universal Church, in and from which churches comes into being the one and only Catholic Church. For this reason the individual bishops represent each his own church, but all of them together and with the Pope represent the entire Church in the bond of peace, love and unity.”31
“The collegial spirit (of all bishops) is the soul of the collaboration between the bishops on the regional, national and international levels. Collegial action in the strict sense implies the activity of the whole college, together with its head, over the entire church.”32
“Through episcopal consecration itself, bishops receive with the function of sanctifying also the functions of teaching and governing; by their nature, however, these can only be exercised in hierarchical communion with the head and members of the college.”33
In light of the foregoing, should one choose to publicly condemn the works that presently bear this Magisterium’s seal – whether at the hand or mouth of a priest or a lay person – that individual’s actions would be considered by the Church nothing short of „reprehensible‟:
“While the freedom remains for a member of the Church to reject a private revelation which has received official ecclesiastical approval, it would at the same time be reprehensible to speak publicly against it.”34
I here recall that in the history of the Catholic Church, there is no existing public knowledge of a case where a positive decision of Constat de Supernaturalitate (it is evident to be of supernatural origin) by the local bishop concerning a nationally or internationally known prophetic revelation was later changed to the prohibited category of Constat de non Supernaturalitate (evident to be of non-supernatural origin) by the Holy See. Admittedly, when considering the plethora of reported prophetic revelations and apparitions throughout the world, positive or negative judgments by the Holy See are rare, take much time and the Holy See is often silent on such matters. However, in order to avoid leaving the final judgment up to each individual Christian, the Church offers, as the best course of action, recourse to doctrinal safety through the conferral of the Bishop’s Imprimatur and/or Nihil Obstat, which, and as noted earlier, constitute an „approval‟ of the work so that it may be “displayed and sold in churches”35 and “a juridical and a moral guarantee for the authors, the publishers and the readers”36 that the work “contains nothing contrary to the Church’s authentic magisterium on faith or morals.”37
One is also reminded of the letters of the Bishops who conferred upon the TLIG prophetic revelations the Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat, which attest to their supernatural nature when affirming that they “contain the Divine Dialogue of the Holy Trinity, Our Lady and the Angels with humankind through Vassula Rydén”,38 who “is an instrument of God in our days to bring to reality God’s dream, the Holy Father’s dream, the Church’s dream which may be the
greatest event of the early years of the Third Millennium: THE UNITY OF ALL DISCIPLES OF CHRIST!”39
4) The teachings of those bishops in communion with the Pope and exercising the Magisterium40 have granted to the TLIG prophetic revelations said seals of approval (11/28/2005 Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur) that remain in full force this day.
Because the duty of faithfully interpreting God’s divinely revealed Word is “entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome”41 who, even when not arriving at an infallible definition and without pronouncing in a „definitive manner‟,42 nonetheless exercise the ordinary Magisterium, and the faithful are to „concur‟ with their decisions on faith and morals. Consider the following statement of the decree of Vatican II Council:
“The bishops, when they are teaching in communion with the Roman pontiff, are to be respected by all as witnesses to the divine and catholic truth; and the faithful ought to concur with their bishop’s judgment concerning faith and morals which he delivers in the name of Christ, and they are to adhere to this with a religious assent of the mind.” 43
Insofar as the conferral of the magisterial seals of the Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat upon the TLIG prophetic revelations and the letters of the Bishops who granted them express respectively an approval and guarantee, and a positive judgment on their supernatural nature,44 and the Christian faithful are to concur with their bishop’s judgment, the faithful may confidently approach these as an authentic revelation given by God for our times.
5) By virtue of the conferral of the Magisterium’s Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat upon the TLIG prophetic revelations, Christians are prohibited from setting themselves up as their judge and from publicly condemning them.45 On the contrary, inasmuch as all Christians are to “concur with their bishop’s judgment concerning faith and morals” and “adhere to this” judgment and to the Magisterium “with a religious assent of the mind”,46 the Magisterium’s Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat upon the TLIG prophetic revelations elicit from the Christian faithful said religious assent.
In his treatise on the beatification and canonization respectively of the Servants of God and Blesseds, Cardinal Prospero Lambertini (later coronated Pope Benedict XIV) affirmed that while one may not choose to follow a given Church-approved prophetic revelation, as God has blessed us with several to choose from, one is absolutely prohibited from doing so without reason, without due modesty and with contempt – to publicly condemn what the Church has judged positive with her official seals of approbation is nothing short of „reprehensible‟:47
“It is possible not to give assent to such revelations and to turn from them, as long as one does so with due modesty, not without reason, and without contempt”.48
Conclusion
In these End Times when many biblical prophecies are being fulfilled, in particular, Dan. 9:27; Mt. 24:15; 2 Thes. 2:3-13; Rev. 13, more attention than ever is demanded of God’s shepherds whom he calls to tend his flock with sound teaching that not only preserves the Church’s Deposit of Faith and living Tradition, but develops it, “penetrates the meaning of the revealed Word and communicates it to others”.49 During this third millennium in which all priests are exhorted to “set out for deep waters”50 and undertake a “new evangelization”,51 the Church’s approved prophetic revelations occupy a quintessential role, as they bear a divinely urgent appeal that will impact the future of mankind and alter the lives of millions. Let us recall that when our Lady of Fatima foretold that many nations of the earth would be
annihilated if mankind did not convert, she did so after she made an urgent appeal to the Church and to mankind at a pivotal time in its history. A parallel appeal to the Church and to mankind today is discovered in the ecclesiastically approved True Life in God prophetic revelations. More significantly, the consequences of this appeal, if unheeded, will be global. As a shepherd of souls, I warmly invite all Christians of good will to meditate upon the True Life in God divine revelations for their own spiritual welfare and for the betterment of mankind.
Rev. J.L. Iannuzzi, Ph.B, STB, STL, STD
Bishop F. Toppo - Bishop R. C. Argüelles
Bishop F. Toppo - Bishop R. C. Argüelles
The True Life in God prophetic revelations enjoy the Magisterium’s Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat – official ecclesiastic seals of approval. The Church’s Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat are an exercise of the Magisterium and the Church requires of the Christian faithful „adherence with religious assent‟ to the Church’s Magisterium, which is particularly exercised by those bishops teaching in communion with the Pope.
Read
☩ The TLIG prophetic revelations enjoy the Magisterium’s Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat
Read also the
☩ Interview with Bishop Toppo on the TLIG writings and their Ecclesiastical Approval
Fr John Corbett, Jo Ann Miller, Tim and Vanessa
Fr John Corbett, Jo Ann Miller, Tim and Vanessa
«My Presence in the Eucharist»: TLIG Malibu, CA in the Serra Retreat Center owned/operated by the Franciscans
Oct 2017
Serra Retreat Center — Set in a monastery in Malibu, California, on land owned by a rich family that went bankrupt. In 1942 they sold the land and castle to the Franciscans. Since 1943 the monastery has been a retreat house. It began as a men’s retreat house, with retreats only for men, then came women, now people of all faiths or no faith come for spiritual renewal. There is a peace that is tangible here. People feel that and are deeply touched. People from all over the world come here for retreats.
Fr. John Corbett:
I took the kindergarteners or 1st graders into the church, and I was talking to them about God, and I asked them, “do you want to hold God?” They said, “of course!” they were all excited to hold God! So I brought them into the sanctuary of the church, and I unlocked the tabernacle, and I took a Host from the ciborium, and I had one of the little children hold out his hand and I put The Host in his hand. And I said, “now you’re holding God”. And the child was SO excited, and all the other children around him were so excited, they believed INSTANTLY that they were holding God in their little hands! So why as adults do we have such a doubtful faith when it comes to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. We have to remember The Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, first of all there have been Eucharistic miracles, the bread and the wine have been changed into Blood and Flesh from a Living Human Heart, one not too long ago happened. A LIVING Human Heart! We must always remember as we approach the Blessed Sacrament that there is a Heartbeat IN the Blessed Sacrament, it is not an inanimate piece of bread, but it is Christ Himself Whose Heart is beating for US!
Jo Ann Miller
I was at noon Mass, and I had just received the Eucharist, and after Mass the priest came to the altar and we were going to have Adoration in the Church, and he was very reverent and just did a beautiful job of putting Jesus up on the altar, and it took a long time and usually they don’t take that long. I was contemplating Jesus in the Eucharist and I thought, “The God that created the WHOLE universe, is WITHIN me, right this minute!” and I thought, wow, I’ve never thought of it exactly like that. The God of the whole of creation is within me, feeding me, nourishing me, Food for my journey. That’s what it is, it is His way of being with us, like He said He would be with us forever. He’s so Smart, He figured out we have the Most Favorite Thing, we have the Bread of Life and It will feed us on our journey, back to Him. I opened the book (TLIG messages) just because, and I look and it was the message from Oct 12, 1989:
Contemplative Adoration
October 12, 1989
Lord, I thank You for saving me. I love You and I adore You and You only, my God.
ah, let Me hear this often, let your heart speak to Me; come and meditate on Me, meditate on He who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, come to contemplative adoration, for this is what pleases Me; I and you, you and I, face to face in total silence; I, revealing My Beauty to you, and you, praising Me;
learn that My Heart languishes after every soul; I have now taken you back to Me, but how many more souls will I have to bring back!
come and rest in My Heart and allow Me to rest in yours, Love loves you;
Lord! how I love You, how I desire You, how I thirst for You, how I need You!
free at last! 1
(Here I squealed with joy!)
1 Jesus said this with great joy!
Tim
I read the message, the daily message (from True Life in God) and I was absolutely knocked out when I read the message, He (Jesus) spoke to me in volumes! And I read it again and it spoke to me another way. Every time I read it (the TLIG messages) it does that to me and I thought, oh My God, the Eucharist, because a lot of people take the Eucharist for granted and some even don’t believe in the Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and I thought, we should have a retreat on it, and reflect and really pray on it, and really that is what we are doing here. Christ is Present, the Holy Spirit is Present, at every Mass, but we are experiencing it here in a wonderful way.
Vanessa
The question that has been put to me is: what does the Holy Eucharist mean to me?
Well for most of my life I did not know about the Holy Eucharist because I was a Protestant. At some point I felt like I was searching for more than what I knew and what I had learned in the church that I was going to, so I started seeking, what is the best church, the right church, where did the Lord want me to be to serve Him the best? How could I be closer to Him? Eventually I ran across information for the Catholic Church and True Life in God. After I started reading the messages, I could just feel…I knew that God was speaking and I needed, I needed more. And because He wanted us to partake of the Eucharist and venerate His Mother and do some other things, I knew that I needed to be Catholic. I felt that I really wanted to participate and partake of the Sacraments. And The Holy Eucharist was, to me, the most important part, specifically when the Bible talks about “eating His (Jesus’) Body, and drinking His Blood” in the book of John, I just knew that it was VERY very important. So, I became Catholic, and I think it is the wonderful, the most glorious thing in the world, that God, would give Himself to us in that way. So, the Eucharist has become extremely important for me, and I just can’t imagine living a life without it.
Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi
Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi
Rhodes September 2012
This is a transcript from a 12 minute interview has been provided courtesy of True Life in God Radio
My name is Reverend Joseph Leo Iannuzzi, from Rome, Italy where I’ve been studying for the last twenty one years, interspersed with pastoral assignments abroad. I recently finished a doctoral dissertation at the pontificial university in Rome entitled, “The Operation of the Divine and Human Will in the Writings of the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta – an Inquiry into the Early Ecumenical Councils and Patristic and Scholastic Theology”. I’m here to speak on the importance of the True Life in God Messages as dictated by Our Lord to his scribe, Vassula Ryden.
Why are these messages important? Because the one public revelation that Christ preached to his apostles and that his apostles transmitted to us (kerygma ton apostolon) is continually being explicated by the Holy Spirit that Christ promised to send us so that we may come to the knowledge of “all the truth”. Before departing from this world Jesus told his disciples: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will teach you all the truth” (Jn. 16:12). Among these “things” Jesus did not tell his disciples are the teachings of the TLIG messages, which the Holy Spirit of truth continues to explicate to Vassula. Although such TLIG messages on unity, love, mercy, intimacy with the Trinity and a holy fear of God are implied in Scripture, they are explicated in Vassula’s messages.
We find in Sacred Scripture that if everything that Christ said was contained in Scripture, there would not be enough libraries on earth to contain all of his teachings (Jn. 21.25) – to suggest that although Christ gave us everything we need for salvation and holiness, not everything is fully understood or fully “explicated”. I here recall the Catechism of the Catholic Church which states the following: “No new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet even if revelation is already complete, it had not been completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries” (CCC, 66).
In this article, one discovers the progressive disclosure (explication) of public revelation. If, on the one hand, article 66 relates that Jesus revealed to us everything we need for salvation and no new “public” revelation (the Deposit of Faith) is to be expected, on the other hand, it affirms that not everything in the public revelation of Christ was revealed to us “explicitly”!
Church documents of the past 2,000 years further testify to the continuing, ongoing disclosure of public revelation, as such documents never affirm God’s revelation has “ended” with Christ, but rather that Christ’s public revelation is “constituted”. In point of fact, the term constituted doesn’t signify “end” at all, but instead it means that the foundation of revelation is established in Christ once and for all. While private revelation can never match Sacred Scripture, for Sacred Scripture is forever the irreplaceable and inerrant foundation of our faith, private revelation assists Scripture and even Tradition in their role of continuously explicating “over the course of the centuries” and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, God’s revealed truths. Now, the work of the Spirit’s explication of revelation occurs through the official teaching voice of the Church (Magisterium) and through the office of prophet (e.g., Vassula, through whom the Church today receives private revelations) whom St. Paul lists immediately after the office of apostle: “God has appointed in his Church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, fourth miracles…” (1 Cor. 12:28).
To better grasp the complimentarity between public and private revelation, let the human eye represent public revelation, and a magnifying glass represent private revelation. Now, if I were to look at a blade of grass with the human eye, I would not see all the veins in that blade of grass as closely and with as much detail as I would with a magnifying glass. So public revelation, represented by the human eye, is clarified and is explicated by private revelation, represented by the magnifying glass. And it is in this sense that private revelation reveals to the human mind those truths of Christ that, while contained in the one public revelation of Christ, were never fully disclosed or comprehended.
That private revelations contributed to certain doctrinal formulations among the scholastic theologians is evident in the writings of Ss. Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure, both of whom referred to private revelations when postulating the institution of the Sacrament of Confirmation. Also, the female mystics Ss. Bridget of Sweden and Catherine of Siena exhorted the true pope to return from Avignon to Rome, and guess what, the pope listened to them, thereby punctuating the importance of private revelations.
These are but few of the many examples that tell us why the Church’s private revelations – when they are well respected by scores of theologians and bishops, like those of Vassula – are of such tremendous value today, which constitute the continuing and ongoing unfolding of Christ’s public revelation. Their importance is further witnessed in the spiritually devastating consequences that would have ensued if the Church had ignored them: Had the Church ignored the private revelations of St. Margaret Mary, we would not have Christ’s assurance that we may peacefully die in the state of grace with the grace of final repentance (cf. 12th promise of the 1st Friday Devotions); had the Church ignored the private revelations of St. Faustina, we would not have the Feast of Divine Mercy that grants a total remission of all sin and punishment; had the Church ignored the private revelations of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, we would not have the new mystical gift to the “Living in the Divine Will”.
As in the past, so today Christ comes to us through his prophet Vassula with a message of unity. He wants us to join under the one banner of Jesus Christ. Christ is calling all of us to unite through these the TLIG messages by way of love. However, he asks us all to bend. He reminds us that he would never break our human will. Therefore, he wants us to freely bend our wills so that we might choose unity, and in so doing, forge together our love and compassion in order to join under the one banner of Christ.
Now, this unity doesn’t in any way denigrate the independent rites of different denominations of the Orthodox, of the Protestants, or of the Catholics; it respects these rites. Such rites are encouraged to continue, but we are to join in our common belief. Why? Because Satan’s dictum is “divide and conquer”, whereas Jesus’ dictum is “unite and conquer”! So in uniting in one belief, we will stave off the impending disaster that threatens our world today and the faith of our children. If we unite, we will have more impact in the political world and in religious arena, and dispose ourselves for the era of peace that our Lady prophesied at Fatima.
Therefore, we can respect and eagerly embrace the iconography of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which they look to in many respects as a font of revelation, and to their profoundly rich patrimony of literature on “divinization” and mystical union with the Trinity; we can respect and embrace the scriptural contributions of the Protestants and their well-preserved charismatic gifts that enable us to deepen our faith and develop our gifts received in Confirmation. In sum, the Catholics, the Orthodox, the Protestants, all of us who are in God’s eyes Christian brothers, are asked by the Son of God himself to join NOW under the one banner of Jesus Christ. Without placing superiority or inferiority on these different roles that we all occupy in the Church, we can humbly acknowledge that we are all equal in God’s eyes, while carrying out different roles. And all we need to do is freely bend our human wills so that God’s Divine Will can reign in us. All it takes is two things: intention and desire; we have to have an intention to unite and a desire to make it happen. Then, little by little, we will begin to establish on earth the New Jerusalem, the New Heavens and the New Earth.
Given the foregoing, one can readily see that the True Life in God messages are part and parcel of the Church’s scriptural teachings and traditions. They are messages not meant for a thousand years ago, but for today! The way God spoke through his apostles and through his prophets, is now being spoken through the messages of Vassula. Let us thank God the Father for these revelations of his Son Jesus Christ through his secretary of True Life in God, Vassula Ryden, who writes under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and let us receive them with spirit of docility to the Spirit of truth who is speaking to his Church today. May God bless you.
Rev. J. L. Iannuzzi
Fr. Dr. Michael Kaszowski
Fr. Dr. Michael Kaszowski
Unity According to the Second Vatican Council and Vassula Rydén
Fr. Kaszowski has taught dogmatic theology at the Archdiocesan Seminary of Katowice, Poland for the past 20 years.
Vassula Ryden, the author of True Life in God, is called the apostle of unity. In effect her mission to unify the Church of Christ, torn by schisms, appears as her principal task, the most clearly delineated in the messages.
However, a short time ago, Vassula Ryden was reproached for allegedly proclaiming a false ecumenism that is rejected by the Catholic Church. For this reason, it is worthwhile to compare her teachings with those of the Second Vatican Council, because the latter lays out the doctrine on unity which must be accepted by all Catholics.
I. WHERE IS THE TRUE CHURCH TO BE FOUND?
The Second Vatican, Council, which sought to accelerate the process of the unifying the Church, first of all had to resolve a problem which is at once important and difficult. That is, how to define the relationship between the One Church founded by Jesus Christ and the many churches which exist today.
The Church of Christ and the many churches
In order to respond to this difficult question, the Council avails itself of the notion of the Church of Christ which subsists in the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Churches. Thus, the Council explains:
«This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in the Catholic Church, which was governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him. Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside its visible confines. Since these are gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, they are forces impelling towards Catholic unity.» (Lumen Gentium, 8)
This affirmation constitutes a basis for the conciliar doctrine on unity and ecumenism. An example will make this more clear: suppose that in each country there are several libraries, some large and some small. In comparing them, we could say that certain books are found in all of them, and other books only in the largest library.
The Catholic Church and other churches
We might also say, in line with the Second Vatican Council, that the Catholic Church might be equated to the largest library; the Orthodox Church as being a bit smaller, and the other churches as still smaller libraries.
Similarly the churches, as is the case with the libraries, are not equal because they do not always possess all the means of salvation given by Christ. Nonetheless, the members of all religions are equal in that they are all persons created by God. It is somewhat similar with the libraries: although in the smallest, one can find precious books, but the libraries themselves are not equal by reason of the quantity of volumes that each possesses. Nonetheless, the people who borrow the books from the libraries are all equal from the standpoint of their human dignity.
Thus the Council expresses, on the one hand, its conviction that the Church of Christ subsists in its fullness in the Catholic Church. On the other hand, the Council perceives and appreciates the numerous elements of sanctification and truth which belong uniquely to the Church of Christ but are, nonetheless, found in the non-Catholic churches.
What comes from Christ and the Holy Spirit sanctifies and saves
The Council declares that all the elements of sanctification and of truth, including those found outside the Catholic Church insofar as they come from Christ and the Holy Spirit, lead to sanctification and to salvation. In fact, the decree Unitatis redintegratio 3 explains: «Moreover some, even very many, of the most significant elements and endowments which together go to build up and give life to the Church itself, can exist outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church: the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope and charity, along with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements. All of these, which come from Christ and lead back to Him, belong by right to the One Church of Christ.
«The brethren divided from us also carry out many liturgical actions of the Christian religion. In ways that vary according to the condition of each church or community, these liturgical actions most certainly can truly engender a life of grace and, one must say, can aptly give access to the communion of salvation.»
One might explain the Conciliar teaching thus: in the small libraries many books are missing. Nonetheless, those found there can be well utilized: they can be borrowed and read profitably.
Good elements but also distortions
The Council doctrine cited above is very optimistic because it recognizes elements of the one unique Church of Christ in all churches and ecclesiastical communities. Unfortunately, there remains another side of the problem of which the Council is well aware. Certain means of salvation are missing to varying degrees in non-Catholic churches, such as ordination and the sacrament of penance; their veneration of the Virgin Mary and the saints is fragmented; and all the non-Catholic churches have rejected the very precious gift offered by Christ to His Church to protect their unity and faith and the truth: the ministry of the Bishop of Rome.
Citing once again the example of the libraries, one could say that certain churches are like libraries that have been damaged by fire that has not completely destroyed them but has burned completely, or at least partially, many books. It is necessary, thus, to replace the ruined books because it does no good to loan them out: they are unreadable.
The Conciliar doctrine on the Church of Christ which subsists in the churches shows the road toward true ecumenism and indicates several practical steps noted in Unitatis redintegratio, 5-12. Let us examine them and compare them with what is brought out in the messages transmitted by Mrs. Vassula Ryden.
II. THE ROAD TOWARD CHURCH UNITY
The Council and the True Life in God messages show us a unity which can be brought about by conversion, love, and a humility that respects the dignity and the equality of the other. It is a unity created by all the good which comes from Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is based on truth that is respected and never rejected.
Unity by sincere conversion
«There can be no ecumenism worthy of the name without interior conversion,» declares Unitatis redintegratio, 7. Indeed, unity must be authentic; it cannot be reduced to a signature on an agreement- to a declaration which touches neither the heart nor the spirit.
Unity must, therefore, originate first of all in the hearts of men turned with love and esteem toward each brother and sister in Christ. For this reason, the Council speaks firstly of spiritual ecumenism which comes about through a change of mentality by conversion, holiness of life and by prayer. «This change of heart and holiness of life, along with public and private prayer for the unity of Christians, should be regarded as the soul of the whole ecumenical movement and merits the name, ‘spiritual ecumenism»‘ (Unitatis redintegratio, 8). This spiritual ecumenism is thus produced in the heart. It manifests itself in love, respect for the other person and in profound and sincere conversion.
The message of Jesus given through Vassula also speaks to us of a «spiritual» ecumenism which begins in the heart of man. Here are some examples:
September 23, 1991:
«The Kingdom of God is love, peace, unity and faith in the heart. It is the Lord’s Church united in one inside your heart…. I implore My children to unite in heart and voice and rebuild My Son’s primitive Church in their heart. I am saying My Son’s primitive Church, since that Church was constructed on love, simplicity, humility and faith. I do not mean for you to reconstruct a new edifice, I mean for you to reconstruct an edifice inside your heart. I mean for you to knock down the old bricks inside your heart-bricks of disuruon, intolerance, unfaithfulness, unforgiveness, lack of love, and to reconstruct My Son’s Church by reconciling. You need intense poverty of the spirit and an overflow of wealth of generosity…»
October 13,1991:
«The real Christian is the one who is inwardly a Christian, and the real unity is and will be in the heart. Unity will not be of the letter but of the spirit.»
October 14, 1992:
«Unity will be in your heart…and not by signed treaty.»
Love and humility create unity
Lack of love, pride and rigidity cause division. In contrast, complete love, gentleness and humility lead the Church and humanity toward perfect unity. Vatican Council II reminds us by emphasizing the importance of humility. «We should therefore pray to the Holy Spirit for the grace to be genuinely self-denying, humble, gentle in the service of others and to have an attitude of brotherly generosity toward them.» (Unitatis redintegratio 7).
The singular importance of humility for unity of the Church is enhanced also in messages of True Life in God which could be considered the perfect commentary on the conciliar decrees.
«Humility with love is the key to unity: Love and Humility will be the other key for Unity. Take those keys and use them, use them My beloved and be one, be One Holy People.» (T.L.I.G., August 9, 1989).
Humility rejects pride and rigidity born of excessive ambition. It bends man to become the servant of those around him. It is thus that unity must be built:
«Not until you understand that you will have to bend, will you be able to unite.» (T.L.I.G., September 23, 1991).
«Blessed are those who do not differentiate themselves under My Holy Name, but show their unity through their humility and love. They shall be called Pillars and Foundation of God’s sanctuary.»(T.L.I.G., April 14, 1991; cf. August 4, 1991).
«So long as you do not reconcile in humility with each other and love one another as I love you, your separation will remain.» (March 27, 1992)
«…I am one, yet each one of them made a Christ of their own. I am the Head of My Body, yet all I see are their heads, not Mine. Tell them to lower their heads and the will see Mine, tell them to lower themselves so that I may be able to lift them to Me.» (T.L.I.G., October 7, 1991)
Recognize the equality and dignity of all
Although born into different religions, all men belong to God who created the soul of each one consciously, directly and with love. «All men are endowed with a rational soul and are created in God’s image; they have the same nature and origin. Being redeemed by Christ, they enjoy the same divine calling and destiny; there is here a basic equality between all men and it must be given ever greater recognition.» (Gaudium et spes 29.1)
Unless one recognizes this equality, it is impossible to construct an authentic unity of the Church. Thus therefore, in each Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic it is necessary to see first of all their human dignity: of the creature who comes from God and who belongs to Him. This fundamental truth one finds in the messages of Christ written by Mrs. Vassula Ryden:
«Orthodox! Catholics! Protestants! You all belong to Me! You are all One in My Eyes! I do not make any distinction…»(T.L.I.G., October 27, 1987)
«Tell Me, are you not all alike, made by My Own hands?… Who has not been made according to the likeness of My Image?… Many of them talk of unity and brotherhood but their words are fallacious, void.»(T.L.I.G., November 25, 1991)
We are ‘one’ in the eyes of God who loves equally the people of all religions, and this is why we must respect them also if we are to have a unified church.
There is yet another reason for the equality of all Christians emphasized by the Council; that is baptism. «Baptism, therefore, constitutes the sacramental bond of unity existing among all through it are reborn.» (Unitatis redintegratio, 22).
Thanks to baptism, communities-Catholic as well as non-Catholic-constitute the real Mystical Body of Christ; that is to say, the Church of Christ. For this reason, in the message given through Vassula, Jesus declares to us on the subject of Christian communities:
«All are the same in My Eyes»(October 27,1987).
From the expression «the same» one could understand that they are the same mystical body of Christ which is torn and divided by people and is still often deprived of the necessary means given by Christ for Its development.
The context of the writings of Vassula indicates that certain communities or denominations are «the same» and «alike» in that they are part of the mystical body of Christ. But they have splintered throughout history, often thereby becoming impoverished in rejecting part of the truth and certain means of salvation given by Christ to His Church. They are like the libraries which, while still remaining libraries, allow a part of their books to be destroyed.
Appreciate and share the gifts of God
The Council recalls «moreover, some, even very many of the most significant elements and endowments which together go to build up and to give life to the Church itself, can exist outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church…» (Unitatis redintegratio, 3). Since the elements of the truth, of endowments coming from Christ and the Holy Spirit build up and give life to the Church, they must be shared. The dogmatic constitution (Lumen Gentium, 15) mentions certain of the values present in non-Catholic churches: veneration of Holy Scripture; religious zeal; faith and love for Almighty God the Father and for Christ, the Son of God, our Saviour; the grace of baptism; prayer, the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit; and witnessing to the point of shedding one’s blood. Paragraph 15 of Unitatis redintegratio enumerates values which can be found in the Eastern Churches: the true sacraments, above all the Eucharist, the veneration of Mary, Ever Virgin, and of the saints; the riches of spiritual traditions which are expressed above all by the monastic life, the liturgical patrimony, etc.
The Council not only points to the workings of the Holy Spirit which operates in the sister Churches but, furthermore, counsels Catholics to draw profit from them. «Therefore, it is earnestly recommended that Catholics avail themselves more often of the spiritual riches of the Eastern Fathers which lift up the whole man to the contemplation of divine mysteries (Unitatis redintegratio 15)
Thus, according to Vatican II, it is very useful for the unity of the Church to recognize and to share all of whatever comes from Christ and the Holy Spirit within or from outside the Catholic Church. However, it is necessary to share only the works of God, because those which have been deformed by man are no longer capable of personal enrichment.
One finds the same path to unity — by mutual enrichment and sharing — in the True Life in God message. Jesus says:
«Unity, My Child, is to give to each other your riches.» (T.L.I.G., April 13, 1991)
By His messages, Jesus reveals to Vassula, an Orthodox, the riches found in the Catholic Church. He counsels her to accept these riches and to profit from them.
Indeed, Jesus asks her to practice that which is not to be found in her Orthodox Church: the Way of the Cross (for example, T.L.I.G., May 29, 1987), the Rosary (for example, T.L.I.G., December 28, 1987); veneration of His Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of His Mother (for example, T.L.I.G., January 25, 1988).
Jesus desires that through Vassula’s example, all Christians will profit from the spiritual benefits found in the Catholic Church. For instance, meditating on the Way of the Cross as a source of grace for everyone.
«…You are to transmit and show how to do the Stations of My Cross (the way it pleases your Lord) to all those who bear witness for me.»
«All Christians, Lord ? «
«Yes, to all those who love Me. I the Lord do not want any divisions in My Church.»(T. L. L G., March 19, 1988)
In the same way the Rosary can spiritually enrich every Christian. That is why Jesus says to Vassula:
«…for my sake, Vassula, will you learn the Rosary? Hail My Mother at all times-will you do this for Me, Vassula?»
«Lord I have never been taught.»
«Do I not know this Vassula, this is why I come to teach you and all those who never heard the Rosary.»
Yes Lord, I am willing to learn, Lord-help me learn.
«This is what I desire to hear from all of you who do not know; the same words: «Yes Lord, I am willing to learn, help me learn.»(December 28, 1987)
In teaching Vassula the devotion to His Sacred Heart, Jesus wants to fill her-and also all who will follow her example-with graces, with joy and with peace: «…come and abide in My Sacred Heart, where in its depths you will find peace and will feel My ardent Love I have for all of you. You will be able to tell them of My love for them. (January 24, 1987)
Jesus is anxious that pastors, in the communities for which they are responsible, not reject any means which could help to better comprehend His incomprehensible love; and since that is not always the case, He gives notice that:
«My Church I will clean; I will sweep away all those that obstruct the way to divine love and…My Sacred Heart.»(T.L.I.G., December 2, 1987)
«…it is Love speaking to a hostile world; it is Love knocking on every locked door; it is Love calling from the other side of the wall separating us, built up by My enemies; it is Love pleading as a beggar for a return of Love…a smile…a regret…a sigh. It is I, the Sacred Heart. I come once more to revive this dying flame in your heart into a consuming fire of tenderness and love. I descend to outpour lavishly all the treasures of My Heart on you humanity and give light to those who live in darkness and the shadow of death….Ah, creation! What will I not do for you?»(T.L.I.G., September 12, 1990)
The messages received by Vassula bring out not only the forms of prayer and devotions known in the Catholic Church, but above all the truths of the faith forgotten or else rejected by non-Catholics and, unfortunately, by many Catholics of our day.
Among the truths rejected are those of the primacy and infallibility of the Pope. This is why in the message of March 18, 1991, the Blessed Virgin Mary reminds all Catholics and non-Catholics that it is necessary to be in union with and cooperate with the Bishop of Rome: «Every priest has been given the grace by God to act and represent My Son, and so I pray for those who are not yet submitting humbly to the Vicar of the Church to submit and be willing. Jesus is faithful and true. (T.L.I.G., March 18, 1991)
The message of True Life in God recalls at several junctures the necessity to unify the Church around the Pope. This is one of the major themes of the writings (for example: T.L.I.G., December 12, 1987; May 5, 1988; May 16, 1988; June 3, 1988; June 4, 1988; June 21, 1988; November 8, 1988; December 3, 1988; February 9, 1989; March 17, I993, etc.)
The messages given to Vassula recall not only the role of the Bishop of Rome but also other truths and traditions forgotten not only by non-Catholic churches but also by many Catholics today. These lost values are above all:
— faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist (for example: T.L.I.G., June 3, 1989; April 13, 1991);
— faith in the Perpetual Eucharistic Sacrifice of Christ (for example: T.L.I.G., January 30, 1989; October 22, 1990; May 2, 1991; June 2, 1991; June 6,1991; July 16, 1991; November 25, 1991; April 19, 1992; May 27, 1993; June 1, 1993; December 13, 1993; December 20, 1993; December 22, 1993; August 23, 1994; October 14, 1994; October 24, 1994);
— the value of frequent sacramental confession (for example: February 15, 1987; November 3, 1990; March 20, 1991);
— veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary (for example: December 12, 1987; December 22, 1987) and of the saints (for example: September 27, 1987);
— the efficacy of using images and statues representing God and the saints (for example: October 26, 1987; August 6, 1988)
Thus, the messages received by Vassula encourage her to accept not only some precious prayers and devotions but again, all the doctrine entrusted to the Catholic Church, including the primacy of the Pope.
However, Jesus does not oblige Vassula to break with uniquely Orthodox liturgy and prayers. On the contrary, He asks her to make known to other Christians that which is most precious in her Orthodox Church. As an example, Jesus asks Vassula teach the non-Orthodox the Orthodox Rosary called the «Prayer of Jesus»:
«Ask Me every day, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner’. Daughter, teach your brothers this prayer…»(T.L.I.G., January 18, 1990)
Thus, the unity proclaimed by True Life in God is to appreciate all the existing inspirations of the Holy Spirit in the churches and to share these values for mutual enrichment.
This concept of unity is identical to that of Vatican II. The conciliar decree on ecumenism, (Unitatis redintegratio, 16) says that unity of the Church does not require renouncing the diversity of liturgies, prayers, customs and dress. «To remove all shadow of doubt, then, this Holy Synod solemnly declares that the Churches of the East, while keeping in mind the necessary unity of the whole Church, have the power to govern themselves according to their own disciplines, since these are better suited to the character of their faithful and better adapted to foster the good of souls.» (Unitatis redintegratio, 16).
Furthermore, the Council emphasizes that a certain diversity created by the Holy Spirit constitutes a richness for the Church: «far from being an obstacle to the Church’s unity, such diversity of customs and observances only adds to her beauty and contributes greatly to carrying out her mission.» (Unitatis redintegratio, 16).
Never reject any truth, but accept it completely
While calling for respect of all Christian churches and the works of the Holy Spirit found in them, the Council does not ignore the differences which divide these communities. It is above all a matter of different interpretations of the revealed truth. Indeed, in speaking of the Protestant churches, the document Unitatis redintegratio declares:
«We are indeed aware that there exist considerable differences from the doctrine of the Catholic Church even concerning Christ’s Word of God made flesh and the work of redemption, and thus, concerning the mystery and ministry of the Church and the role of Mary in the work of salvation.» (Unitatis redintegratio, 20).
One cannot unite the Church by distancing it from the Truth of Christ, but on the contrary, by drawing closer to it. In the domain of truth no concession is admissible: it must be loved and sought after as the Council reminds us:
«Furthermore, in ecumenical dialogue, Catholic theologians standing fast by the teaching of the Church yet searching together with separated brethren into the divine mysteries should do so with love for the truth, with charity, and with humility.» (Unitatis redintegratio, 11).
Thus, unity of the Church is built on the acceptance of the entire truth given by God. This is a thesis of the Council and, at the same time, of the message of True Life in God which can be considered as an urgent appeal to the faithful to follow the truth-a call that is addressed as much to non-Catholics as to present-day Catholics.
«Always defend to death the truth» says Jesus, not only to Vassula, but to each of His disciples (T.L.I.G., September 23, 1991).
In these messages there is nothing of the false ecumenism which would seek to unite Christians by rejecting a part of the truth because it displeases one church; for example, the unique role of Mary in the work of redemption, or that of the Pope in the Church. One could compare a false ecumenism to an absurd situation in which libraries wanting to become completely alike would destroy their most precious books of which the other libraries had been deprived or else it would send copies of the books which have been totally destroyed and charred by the fire in order to «enrich» the other libraries. Hence, false ecumenism proposes unity by the exchange of that which is least good and precious in the Church, for example a lack of respect for the Blessed Virgin. It is ready to sacrifice truth and even the commandments of God in order to overcome differences between the churches. This is inadmissable: one cannot transmit to others errors and distortions that arose during centuries of human meanness.
There is not a trace of this false ecumenism in the writings of Vassula which call for an acceptance of the whole truth without rejecting any part of it. As an example of this attitude, one could cite a stern dialogue of Jesus with Vassula on the subject of Protestants who reject the royal dignity of the Blessed Virgin and the ministry of the Pope.
«My God, the Protestants will be shocked!» says Vassula.
Jesus answers: «Vassula, I have been waiting years for them to change, now leave Me free to write down My desires. (…) listen, can one hear Me only when it is convenient for him, then shut his ears when what I say does not suit him?(…) I have come to unite you all. Would any disciple of Mine deny My appeal?»
«No, not if they are sincere, Lord.»
«By this statement you gave Me hangs all that there is to say; ‘if they are sincere’ then they will listen. I come to shine on you all and enlighten you to be able to unite you, but to My great sorrow there will be those who would prefer darkness to the light because their deeds are evil. They would refuse to come under My Light for fear of exposing their deeds, but My devoted ones and those that sincerely acknowledge My Works and follow Me will come under My Light exposing without fear their deeds, because they will show that what they do is done in Me, their God. I have said that if you make My Word your home, you will indeed be my disciples; you will learn the Truth and the Truth will make you free.»(December 23, 1987).
This dialogue makes clear that unity of the Church will not be realized by rejection of the truth nor by «diplomacy» which avoids speaking of differences, but rather by a sincere openness to all the truth of the Gospel. The whole truth must be accepted for perfect unity of the Church, not only that of the Holy Trinity of Christ Our Saviour, but also that of His Real Presence in the Eucharist, His Perpetual Sacrifice; of the special role confided to the Blessed Virgin Mary by God; of the primacy and infallibility of the Pope; of frequent personal confession, etc.
Thus, unity of the Church requires acceptance of the whole truth by all: if a Catholic or a non-Catholic rejects it, it is a betrayal. Errors, rationalism and moral relativism must be rejected to the same degree by all believers in Christ.
Accept the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
The Council teaches that ecumenical efforts must culminate in full Eucharistic communion. «The results will be that, little by little, as the obstacles to perfect ecclesiastical communion are overcome, all Christians will be gathered, in a common celebration of the Eucharist, into the unity of the one and only church… (Unitatis redintegratio, 4).
Unfortunately, there are certain obstacles at present impeding the way toward a perfect community of all Christians around one Eucharistic table. Among these obstacles is the false doctrine which denies the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and which rejects His Perpetual Sacrifice. These obstacles must be overcome by prayer and ecumenical dialogue.
The message transmitted by Vassula also shows the importance of the Eucharist. It is paramount for unity to recognize the Real Presence in the Eucharist of He who wishes us to unite around Him.
«My Sacred Heart is calling you all to come to Me in holiness. Lean on Me and I shall guide you to My tabernacle, where I am waiting for you day and night. I am offering Myself every day. Come, come and receive Me in holiness and in purity; do not offend Me. Be pure and holy when you receive Me; recollect yourselves and recognize My Living Presence in the little white host, let Me feel your holiness and purity.»(T.L.I.G., June 3, 1989; cf. April 13, 1991; October 14, 1991).
Believe in the Eucharistic Sacrifice
Another truth which must be accepted by all Christians is that during the Eucharistic celebration Christ’s unique sacrifice on Calvary is brought into the present. Unfortunately, this truth -heretofore always taught by the Catholic Church — is denied not only by some non-Catholic churches, but also by certain Catholic theologians.
For this reason, Jesus reminds us in the message of November 25, 1991: «The greatness of My Church exceeded everything and every living creature because the Eucharist made the life of My Church. If My Church today lacks brightness it is because many of My Churches have abolished My Perpetual Sacrifice.»
Full unity of the Church will be realized the day when all peoples gather around Jesus really present in the Eucharist and around His unique salvific sacrifice:
«the nations shall then speak one language and all of them shall worship Me around One Single Tabernacle, this One of the Sacrificial Lamb, this One of the Perpetual Sacrifice that My enemies are trying to abolish and replace by their disastrous abomination.»(T.L.I.G., May 2, 1991) (Daniel 11:31)
The disastrous abomination is at once the work of Satan and of men who allow themselves to be led by him. This abomination is among other things the lack of faith in Christ really present in the Eucharist and in His Perpetual Sacrifice which saves generations of every epoch. The disastrous abomination is again the absence of the spiritual sacrifice in the temple of our hearts. There the filial attitude of obedience to the will of God-which constitutes the essential element of every spiritual offering-is more and more replaced by rebellion, disobedience and unbelief. Thus it is nothing less than a disastrous abomination when the Eucharist is put off to the side in our lives and the sacrificial attitude dies in the temples of the hearts of men.
«The disastrous abomination is the spirit of Rebellion that claims to be My equal. It is the spirit of evil that enthroned itself in My sanctuary taking the place of My Perpetual Sacrifice, turning your generation Godless. It is the spirit of rationalism and naturalism that led most of you into atheism, this is the spirit that makes you believe you are selfsufficient and that you can achieve everything by your own efforts and by your own strength. This disastrous abomination turned you into a waterless country of drought, a desert. My Perpetual Sacrifice you have abolished from within you because you have lost your faith generation.»(T.L.I.G., June 6, 1991)
Recognize the special role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the work of salvation
Fidelity to the truth-so important for the perfect unity of the church-requires recognition of the singular role confided to the Blessed Virgin by God himself in salvation history.
The decree Unitatis redintegratio of Vatican II declares with joy that in the Eastern Churches the Blessed Virgin is venerated; that she is «paid high tribute, in beautiful hymns of praise» (15). In speaking of Protestants, the Council declares the divergence between them and the Catholic Church regarding the role of the Holy Virgin in the work of salvation (cf. Unitatis redintegratio, 20).
Certainly, perfect unity in love and in truth demands the recognition of all the salvific duties confided by God in His love to Mary and all the special graces that She has received. All believers must also unite in veneration of the Blessed Virgin.
This necessity is very strongly emphasized in the message given to Vassula. Indeed Jesus insists: «My Mother’s Immaculate Heart is united to Mine. I desire from each one of you the devotion Her Immaculate Heart deserves. You see, daughter, how our Divine Hearts are covered by thorns from men who only show Us ingratitude, sacrilege, lack of love-it is the whole of their sins. Vassula, I who am the Word, love and respect Her. I desire you to approach My Mother and honour her as I honour her. I desire that every knee bend, honouring her, I desire you to pray the Rosary and Hail your Holy Mother. I want you to repair your sins; asking her to teach you.»(January 25, 1988)
Jesus who loves and respects his mother Himself gives the example to all believers-not only to Catholics-of how to love and respect her. In the name of truth one cannot diminish the grandeur of the one chosen by the Heavenly Father Himself who entrusted to Her without the slightest hesitation His well-beloved Son. He knew She would not disappoint Him. And indeed it was so.
Remain in unity with the Pope
True Life in God reminds us that perfect unity of the Church can only be realized around the Pope. This truth is repeated courageously at many points throughout the writings of Vassula. With courage because the primacy and the infallibility of the Bishop of Rome is among those truths which have very little popularity, not only among Orthodox and Protestant, but lately also among many Catholics, even theologians, who dispute it.
Jesus therefore says in some of His messages: «Purify yourselves, repent. Obey the Vicar of My Church, John Paul II, who never fails you, but whom you push aside and ignore. All you who are still scoffing at Him are weighing ever so heavily on My Sacred Heart…»(T.L.I.G., June 1, 1989)
«I come to unite My Church; I come to remind you to whom I, the Lord, have given the Authority and the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.»(T.L.I.G., May 23, 1988; cf. March 19, 1988; February 9, 1989)
Purify yourself often in the Sacrament of Reconciliation
The Council reminds us that divisions in the Church were often due to the errors of men on both sides (Unitatis redintegratio, 3). Again today, lack of love and pride divide the Church, or at least slow down the process of unity. For this reason, all Christians must be always conscious of their sins and not those of others. This is why the Council reminds us: «The testimony of St. John the Evangelist can also be applied to sins against unity: ‘if we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us’ (1 John 1:10). Thus, in humble prayer we beg pardon of God and of our separated brethren, just as we forgive them that offend us.» (Unitatis redintegratio, 7)
Consequently, if one wishes to unite the Church, purification by sincere repentance and sacramental confession is necessary. Unfortunately, the sacrament of penance is not accepted, not only by Protestants, but in our day by many Catholics. Less and less advantage is taken of this sacrament by which Jesus frees us from our sins, purifies and unites us with the Father and the Church. It is only through this sacrament that unity of the Church is to be realized.
The messages transmitted by Vassula remind us of this sacrament so forgotten and neglected and of the necessity for frequent individual confession.
Jesus says: «I have given you confessors; when My beloved ones you are confessing to him, you are only confessing to Me-it is to Me you are confessing»(T.L.I.G., September 29, 1988).
«Be constant in your confessions little children; to be able to come and receive Me in the Holy Eucharist as often as you can. Fast on bread and water two days a week to make reparations and sacrifice.»(T.L.I.G., August 2, 1991)
«When you come to me make sure before how you will receive Me. Examine yourselves, recollect yourselves. Honour Me fully by repenting and often confessing.»(T.L.I.G., September 29, 1988)
«Alas for him who offends Me by refusing confession and absolution and comes to receive My Son guilty! Repent! Repent for your sins!»(T.L.I.G., March 20, 1991)
A sincere dialogue
Thus-according to Vatican Council II and True Life in God-unity of the Church can be realized through profound change of heart by men who begin to love sincerely. Another requirement of authentic unity is absolute fidelity to the truth, even to that which is no longer popular. One can achieve unity in following the path of love of God, of men, and of truth.
This love is indispensable when one engages in the ecumenical dialogue which according to Vatican II is very important for unity. Besides conversion, love, humility, mutual respect and communal prayer, this dialogue can be considered the most important means toward unity. Its goal is better mutual awareness and rediscovery of what Christ is really transmitting to His Church. (cf. Unitatis redintegratio, 4)
This dialogue leads toward unity but on condition that it is sincere, profound and with an increasingly ardent and authentic desire for unity. Otherwise, it will degenerate into endless discussions, polemics, quarrels or polite conversation without meaningful results. The messages through Vassula warn against such a fruitless dialogue. Jesus says:
«I am weary of hearing their noble language; perhaps it is suitable and eloquent for them, but to Me it sounds like a stroke on a gong because it is empty with emptiness. I have come to talk to them-first out of concern, then out of pity; but no one yet to this day has lowered his voice to hear My Voice. Alas for you who say you are at My service yet prevent My Kingdom from finding unity and stability!»(T.L.I.G., December 21, 1992)
«Go from country to country and tell those who speak of unity yet never cease to think the contrary and continue to live the contrary that their division has separated My Heart from theirs.»(October 7, 1991)
A common date of Easter
For different reasons it is still not possible for all Christians to celebrate the Eucharist together. This is why the Council advises us to unify at every level where it is possible: in action and above all, in common prayer. For all Christians to celebrate on the same day the Mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ would be an important sign of unity. Unfortunately, until now, Catholics and Orthodox have not established a common date for Easter.
The Council strongly desires unity in the celebration of the Paschal Mystery. The Conciliar decree Orientalium Ecclesiarum expresses this desire: «Until all Christians agree, as is hoped, on one day for the celebration of Easter by all, in the meantime as a means of fostering unity among Christians who live in the same area or country, it is left to the patriarchs or to the supreme ecclesiastical authorities of the place to consult all parties involved and so come to unanimous agreement to celebrate the feast of Easter on the same Sunday.» (20) In the True Life in God messages an accord between Orthodox and Catholics on a common date of Easter appears to be a very important thing. Indeed, Jesus complains:
«Will I, brother, one more season go through the pain I have been going through year after year? Or will you give Me rest this time? Am I going to drink one more season the cup of your division? Or will you rest My Body and unify for My Sake the Feast of Easter? In unifying the date of Easter, you will alleviate My pain, brother, and you will rejoice in Me and I in you, and I will have the sight of many restored.»(T.L.I.G., October 14, 1991)
Unifying the date of Easter would express good will and a sincere desire for unity because there are no doctrinal reasons which impede celebrating at the same time the death and the resurrection of our Lord. On the contrary, from a theological point of view, it is the simplest thing and but, alas, up to the present has not succeeded! It is probably for this reason that the plea of Jesus is so dramatic:
«Am I, Father, to drink one more season of the cup of their division or will they at least unify the Feast of Easter, alleviating part of My pain and sorrow?»(T.L.I.G., October 25, 1991)
«When will they all pass a decree by unanimous vote to celebrate the Feast of Easter all on one date?»(December 21, 1992)
«…pray for the urufication of the dates of Easter.»(April 8, 1993)
Unity will survive
The Council, fully cognizant of the difficulties attached to ecumenism, fully believes in the future unity of the Church which will, however, be the work of the Holy Trinity. «It therefore places its hope entirely in the prayer of Christ for the Church, in the love of the Father for us, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.» (Unitatis redintegratio, 24) One finds this same hope also in the writings of Mrs. Ryden: we must journey toward imminent uruon by our conversion, love, humility and prayer, but it will be achieved by Christ and the Holy Spirit.
«My beloved ones, the day is near when every vision will come true, every vision will soon be fulfilled and in your own lifetime, too. So open your hearts and try to understand why My Spirit of Grace is poured on this generation so generously. The Day is drawing near, when all generations shall be one, under one Shepherd, around one Holy Tabernacle and I, the Lord, shall be unique for them. So pray My beloved ones, pray for this unity which I, the Lord, am in full preparation for.»(T.L.I.G., June 19, 1989)
«Let Me tell you once more that My Body I will glorify and unite.»(October 18, 1987)
The vision of the three bars also shows that unity will be accomplished by the power from on high. Thus, Jesus says to Vassula:
«Draw three iron bars with a head on the top. These represent the Roman Catholics, the Orthodox and the Protestants. I want them to bend and unite but these iron bars are still very stiff and cannot bend on their own, so I shall have to come to them with My fire and with the power of My flame upon them they shall turn soft to bend and mold into one solid iron bar, and My Glory will fill the whole earth.» (T.L.I.G., October 26, 1989) «This is how My Spirit will unite every single one of you in the end and everyone will believe it was the Father who sent Me, everyone will recognize Me as the sacrificial lamb.»(May 30, 1993)
III. CONCLUSIONS
Analysis of Vatican II documents and of the writings of Vassula Ryden imposes the following conclusion: there is a perfect concordance between the two in their teaching on unity. However, the difference in style and in the ideas used exclude any hypothesis that Vassula took advantage of the documents of the Second Vatican Council. This concordance can only be explained, therefore, by its coming from the same Person who influenced the Fathers of the Council and Vassula Ryden. One could say that we see the same principal Author of the Conciliar documents and of the writings of Vassula.
The teaching on the unity of the Church which emerges from the writings of Mrs. Ryden is identical to that of Vatican II. Hence, those who impute to her a «pan-Christiari’ unity thereby prove that they are not at all familiar with her writings.
There is also a moral aspect to the accusations against the teachings of Mrs. Ryden. Anyone who accuses her of a doctrine on uruty that is contrary to the teaching of the Church is telling a lie and spreading calumny. Consequently, if one wishes to be faithful to Christ-he must do justice and rectify the wrong done not only to her, but also to the work of unity so much desired by Jesus and by Vatican II.
«This Sacred Council firmly hopes that the initiatives of the sons of the Catholic Church, joined with those of the separated brethren, will go forward, without obstructing the ways of divine providence, and without pre-judging the future inspirations of the Holy Spirit.» (Unitatis redintegratio, 24) This desire of the Council at the same time sounds a warning to those who through their thoughtlessness and imprudent zeal cause harm to the progress toward unity (cf. Unitatis redintegratio, 24).
The author of this article, Father Doctor Michael Kaszowski, received his doctorate from the Catholic University of Louvain and has taught dogmatic theology at the Archdiocesan Seminary of Katowice, Poland for the past 20 years. He has written several books of a pastoral nature, including works on deepening the faith among children and youth. As the editor of the Polish edition of True Life in God, he knows the messages in depth. He is an firmly orthodox theologian of stature who has consistently affirmed that there is no trace of error found in the writings of Vassula. He has expressed this conclusion in two prefaces and in a defense of Vassula which appear in the Polish edition. An article he wrote on private revelations is reprinted in volume 8 of the original handwriting edition of True Life in God.
Bishop Rodolfo Bertran
Bishop Rodolfo Bertran
On the morning of the following day, Wednesday March 16, Vassula had a meeting with Bishop Rodolfo Beltran DD, the current Chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Ecumenical Affairs of the CBCP, who was rather excited to meet Vassula in-person. Bishop Beltran would have liked to, but was not able to attend the TLIG Pilgrimage in Rome, in October 2015, due to medical reasons. The atmosphere between him and Vassula was pleasant. The discussion with Bishop Beltran focused on Church unity, unity in diversity, and the reinforcing of the Church. Vassula mentioned the recent, sad events of the murdering of Christians, saying: “When they killed the Christians, they did not ask them their denomination. They just asked them ‘are you a Christian?’” She then went on to ask Bishop Beltran: “How do you see complete unity, where one can say that ‘now we are united and one: in full communion?” The bishop replied: “Unity is when we all believe in the Word of God.” May God help us unite so that the triumph of both Jesus’ and our Blessed Mother’s Hearts triumph! It was a pleasant surprise for everyone present to see Bishop Rodolfo Beltran. The Bishop talked about his work as Chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Ecumenical Affairs in the Philippines. The bishop said: “when I was elected, “I did not have much idea about what I’d be doing, but when I started to work and I started to be associated with other people like the leaders of the different denominations in our country, I started to be more interested in it. And when I met also the members of Focolare and True Life in God, I said to myself: Oh, I have a lot of people collaborating with me, journeying together. (…) In my diocese now we have started to go from parish to parish to be able to meet with the leaders and members of different Churches, so that we pray together. And I was more interested and amused when I met this group, this community of TLIG. I know, they are doing a lot, not only in the Philippines, but for the Universal Church… He went on to say that conversions are required and that we should ask the Lord to forgive us, especially for our division, for the sin of division that inflicts wounds on Jesus…”
Archbishop Frane Franić
Archbishop Frane Franić
The following introduction by retired Archbishop Frane Franić, the great supporter of Medjugorje, was first published in 1993
But I am on Vassula’s side…
When I received two books written by the visionary Vassula Rydén, and translated into Croatian by Mrs. Marija-Dragica Vukić, I was pleasantly surprised, all the more because the translation was made from English in Belgrade, where Mrs. Vukić lives. She asked me to write a preface for the third book which will appear in Croatian. There are already five volumes in English entitled True Life in God written by Vassula Rydén. It is a great pleasure for me to write this preface.
The first news I heard about Vassula was two years ago, in 1991, in a Canadian Catholic review, L’Informateur Catholique. A great deal of that particular issue was devoted to Vassula. Thereafter, the review published information about her regularly. A good Catholic lady living in Canada, who is very interested in Medjugorje, a leader of frequent pilgrimages, directed strong criticism against Vassula, alleging that there were false theories in the messages which she is transmitting: for example, that Jesus calls Himself «Eternal Father» of men, as if He identifies Himself in every respect with the Father, thus denying the distinction between the Father and the Son. This devoted admirer of Our Lady is not happy either with the manner in which Jesus transmits His messages through Vassula’s hand; she thinks of this in terms of spiritualistic transmission of messages.
This critic of Vassula, about whom I read in the review I have mentioned, was Mrs. Darija Klanac, nee Skunca. I had the honor to meet her on her way as a pilgrimage leader from Canada to Medjugorje. She visited me in Split, in St. Peter’s Co-Cathedral, where I have lived since 1983. I spoke in French to the pilgrims about the Medjugorje messages of peace. Mrs. Klanac also talked with great zeal about Our Lady. I was very happy that Mrs. Klanac, one of our Croatians married in Canada, had such a high reputation among the Catholics of that country. Later on, when she had difficulties with the review I have mentioned because they supported Vassula, I noticed with what respect they wrote of her personality, that is, the experts working for them. This pleased me.
But I am on Vassula’s side, especially since I was given three books of her messages in Italian, entitled Peace and Love. A group of Italian pilgrims on their way to Medjugorje stopped in Split and visited St. Peter’s. They invited me to Italy. So, on September 23,1992, I celebrated Holy Mass in a large church in Como. The church was full and there I met Vassula. Before Mass she gave a testimony about her mystical experiences and messages, which, with the greatest conviction, she attributed to Jesus. I gave the homily on the Gospel of the day. I spoke about private revelations, and the importance they have for the Church and today’s world. I added some words of support for Vassula, leaving the final judgment to the Church. I always use this precaution when I talk publicly about the Medjugorje messages.
On the other hand, when I talk privately I express my constant conviction of the authenticity of the Medjugorje apparitions and messages; I rely on the Gospel test which says that a good tree may be recognized by good fruits. This is especially true of religious conversions, miracles in the moral order, and, most frequently, experiences in Medjugorje. This happens also through Vassula, who herself is a miracle, an object of wonder. True, she does not cause wonders in the physical sense, for she makes no claim to a charism of healing.
I was given a copy of the fourth book of Vassula’s messages by the translator personally. I was delighted to note that the preface was by Fr. Rene Laurentin, whom I value highly; I have met him many times in Split on his way to and from Medjugorje.
As I read Vassula’s books, my first impressions of her were very much confirmed. Her messages, actually for me Jesus’ messages, are alive and authentic. These messages can help us toward a better understanding of Jesus’ messages in the Gospel, and also help us experience them in a personal way. These must always remain the authentic criteria in judging private messages, in recognizing healthy mystical experience. There always have been, always will be, mystical experiences in the Church. These we must not minimize, but we must leave the final judgment to the church.
When I met Vassula in Como, on 23rd September, 1992, I had the feeling that she was under attack by many critics; they wrote disparagingly about her. This is understandable as through Vassula, Jesus is passing judgment on extremist theologians of our time, who distance themselves from divine revelations by too great proximity to the world. This, Pope Paul VI found out, a short time before he died; he began to speak of the «devil’s smoke» which had entered the Church and clouded fundamental truths of God’s revelation.
It seems to me the. more I understand these things, that Vassula’s main charism is to show the PURITY OF THE INTEGRAL REVELATION OF GOD. Nothing must be taken from, nothing added to the Revelation; there must be no yielding to the world and to the permissive civilization of our time, which penetrates even into the Church, causing disorder in her saving mission.
Inculturation is necessary as the basis of a new evangelization. So Pope John Paul II says, following the Council. We must respect cultures that we may plant in people of all nations God’s revealed truths, strengthening them with love, always with due regard to human, national and social rights, and attention to social situations. This is the truth; Second Vatican Council says it; so do Popes of the Council and after it. But there is the truth which tells us that Christ and His Word judge all cultures, all human, national and social rights. It is not, on the contrary, cultures which judge Christ, but Christ who judges them. Christ protects, promotes, dignifies, raises to a higher level, to God’s level, all cultures.
Because of that do not be afraid to «open the door to Christ». He is our Creator, our Friend, He is our «Eternal Father» together with the Father and the Holy Spirit; He knows what we need to achieve our small earthly and great heavenly happiness.
The Church, together with the Pope, and under the Pope, as the visible head of the Church and the Vicar of Jesus Christ, transmits the saving teachings of Christ. That is what Jesus is telling us through Vassula, though she makes it clear that she is of the Greek Orthodox Church. In this way she shows the way to healthy ecumenism, ecumenism which, today, is passing through its Calvary. But ecumenism is God’s work, so it must pass through its Calvary like Christ Himself. May God protect us so that the Calvary does not spread over the whole world.
Ecumenism will, through its Calvary, have its resurrection. It seems that this is the core of all the messages that Jesus is giving us through Vassula Rydén, Greek Orthodox, living now in Switzerland.
Frane Franic, Retired Archbishop of Split
formerly President, Episcopal Theological Commission, Yugoslavia
Split, Yugoslavia
Immediately after the Notification in 1995, the Archbishop wrote the following in a letter to Patrick Beneston:
«Before God I declare that Mme Vassula has not deserved condemnation for her books but praise, because of the integrity of the faith contained in her books, especially as to the complete primacy of the Roman Pontiff, about the Blessed Virgin Mary, the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the sacred Hearts of Christ and of the Immaculate Blessed Virgin Mary; I have not been able to find any false doctrine in what are now seven volumes of the series entitled True Life in God, which I have read carefully. I am embarrassed to read that such a worthy person has been condemned by the Holy See, and that without being given an opportunity to defend herself. For this reason I humbly beg the Holy See, if the condemnation in question is authentic, that it be withdrawn, or be declared inauthentic as soon as possible so that the confusion arising among the faithful be averted»
Since the writing of this letter, Cardinal Ratzinger has made it clear that Vassula has not been condemned in any way. For more information, please see Dialogue with the CDF in the Background Information section.
Father Nobuo Masakawa
Father Nobuo Masakawa
March 12th, 2016 — Fukuoka Retreat
My Seminary Years:
After finishing my philosophy studies, I went into training (novitiate) for a year before going into theology. This was to confirm my decision of giving my life to serving God.
I didn’t have a strong calling, and you could say I was doing it for the wrong reasons since I chose to become a priest because that’s what I wanted to do as I felt attracted to monastic life. Of course I couldn’t write anything about being approached by God like Vassula. It was difficult but I tried really hard to write something.
I could only say that I would be willing to serve in any way and would be even willing to do any miscellaneous or leftover work if they accepted me as a priest.
I started crying and the sound of my cry woke me up. I sat down in my bed, feeling down. I then felt God telling me, “Nobuo, dress yourself with Me rather than with vestments”.
Two months after my ordination, I suddenly had a panic attack. It felt like there was no escape for me and that I was all alone without God. This was mentally agonizing and it was almost like being thrown in hell. I then came to my senses when I realized that God was telling me, “The only thing that can save you is living a life of love”.
Four years later, God allowed me to work with homeless people with a Brother in Kamagasaki.
One time when I was walking around Kamagasaki, I noticed a man being turned away at a shelter because he was drunk. When the Brother saw this, he said, “In this place that we serve, I feel that the 99 sheep in Jesus’ parable represent 99 people who are weak but have friends and are happy. The unhappy lost sheep represents people who live in the misery of isolation with no friends”.
From that time on, we stopped working in shelters and decided to go outside and serve the “one sheep”, the people living in isolation. I started collecting disposed cardboard boxes with a lonesome homeless, pulling a trailer, while the Brother would go and collect old thrown-away furniture. This was how we could earn the friendship of street vendors in the area.
My Spiritual Crisis and Exodus from Kamagasaki:
At that time, I had one problem, and that is not being able to have a personal spiritual director. I could find no spiritual directors around me, among the social activist priests, nor among contemplative prayerful priests who could pour some water into my thirsty soul.
I was so touched by his gentleness that I started to read the messages straightaway and came to feel God’s Holy presence.
In the messages, God was talking directly to me and giving me catechism. I didn’t seriously take all the Sunday school stories, the Sacraments, guardian angels, purgatory, and the teachings of honoring Our Lady when I was a child in Gifu. They were all just stories to me.
Overcoming my crisis:
The Bible was my source of faith; however, my faith was shaken at one point in my seminary years when I read a Bible critique’s comments that claimed that the Bible could give no legitimate foundation for one’s faith.
My level of faith was basically based on the “words of the Apostles” and when I started reading the TLIG messages, I could finally find my true spiritual director in them. All of my anxieties disappeared and I was able to continue my work as a priest.
However, Jesus talks of priests who use the Bible as an excuse to not take any interest in “personal revelations”. He says in the messages, “This is because the Holy Spirit is not working in them”.
My mother’s last words:
I was able to look after my mother when she was dying. I whispered into my mother’s ears, “We will be so sad when you leave us, but I will always live in peace with my brothers”.
Looking back at my life, I see that I have forsaken my parents and have only lived for my own self. However, God has a plan for each one of us from the time when we are created and God patiently waits and looks forward to the day when this plan is fulfilled.
I would now like to say a prayer.
Thank you Lord for being my Spiritual Director, for changing me and helping me find You through the True Life in God messages which You have entrusted to Your apostle, Vassula. I still have a long way to go in my spiritual journey and I ask you Lord to forgive me for all the times I failed you. Please take away all the selfishness in me and pour Your Wisdom into my wretchedness.
Thank you!
Father Nobuo Masakawa
Various people in Tampa, Florida
Various people in Tampa, Florida
Multiple people from a TLIG retreat in Tampa, FL, USA in Feb 2016 offer who the Holy Spirit is to them. The theme of the retreat was «The Holy Spirit Giver of Life»
We began our retreat by having our Priests bless our conference room with Holy Water and an Orthodox Prayer to the Holy Spirit.
“Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, present in all places and filling all things, Treasury of Goodness and Giver of life: come and abide in us. Cleanse us from every stain of sin and save our souls, O Gracious Lord.”
Our unified exaltation further prepared us for our prayer retreat when we all sang the Orthodox hymn «Christos Annesti» («Christ is Risen»), as it was still within the 40 days after Easter in the Eastern Orthodox church.«Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!»
We were blessed to have with us four Priests representing the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. We commenced the two-day retreat with a TLIG prayer from the message dated, Dec. 29, 1989, then read the February 13, 2016 message, along with a random message from the Canticle of the Holy Spirit. We subsequently prayed the Holy Rosary and meditated on TLIG passages.
Two inspiring presentations by one of our Clergy further illuminated our day. He presented a talk on The Holy Spirit and another on the “Discernment of Spirits”.
Following the inspiration was given by Georgia Klamson, retreat attendee, and long-time friend and advocate of TLIG, presented a talk on the history and the miracles of The Saint Michael Taxiarchis Shrine in Tarpon Springs, FL (that we would be visiting), and the correlation of it to The Archangel Michael Taxiarchis Monastery Panormiti on the island of Simi. Georgia also showed a video of Vassula on the island of Simi, Greece, along with a message that the Archangel Michael gave Vassula on the island of Simi on August 19, 1996.
You can view this video here: Video of Vassula Speaking on the Island of Simi about St. Michael, and here to read about the Shrine in Florida and here to read about the Monastery in Panormiti, Simi.
Tim
The more we sin less, the more we experience the Holy Spirit in our lives.
If you would like to read a full report of the retreat, here is a link: The AATLIG 9th Ecumenical Retreat, Tampa, Florida, USA
Jamie, Mark Chanelle and Chuck
Jamie, Mark Chanelle and Chuck
Here are testimonies from a few of the people who attended a True Life in God retreat in Chicago, USA on Jan 8, 2016. The theme of the retreat was «My Holy Spirit is the Breath of the Church»
My name is Jamie, I’m from Kansas City, MO., I was a lukewarm Christian. I never really truly understood how to be completely committed and dedicated to Jesus, and how to love, and how to be a Christian, and how to forgive, and have mercy. Through these messages, my spiritual growth exploded! I live my life through scripture and through these messages. These messages from True Life in God are so powerful and such a gift from God!
My name is Mark, from Independence, MO., I’ve been following the True Life in God messages of for 24 years. It (the messages) is a guide for my day, it is oftentimes an answer of what has happened in the past day, questions that I have, concerns that I have that I have brought to Jesus. Jesus has given me the grace to understand, to take Him with me always, and further He has developed that to start with His Father, so that I say, “Come Lord, let us go together” and ask the Holy Spirit to be with us, and Jesus, and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
My name is Chanelle and I’m from Kansas City, MO., I’m all about love and peace and want everyone to get along. It made me feel so much better to know that there are these people (the TLIG followers) out there that want EVERYBODY not just Catholics, not just Roman Catholics, not just Protestants, but EVERYBODY to be in UNITY in Jesus! What the TLIG retreats and what the messages are all about is totally fascinating and compelling and you can just tell that Jesus is in this (TLIG messages). I love it. I’m glad that this came into my life because it’s totally changed me, my relationship with Jesus is closer than it’s ever been. I think I know Jesus more now, than I have ever known (Him).
My name is Chuck Morton, Jesus, through the True Life in God messages says, “spread My message, let My people know, you are the messenger, just plant the seed, and let Me take it from there, let the Holy Spirit will water it from there. True Life in God taught me to love others, love my family, love my friends, you may not LIKE what they do, but you still LOVE everybody. So It’s (the TLIG messages) changed my life. God knows where I would be if I didn’t find the True Life in God messages, but it saved my life and it IS my life, my breath, everything to me. And my family, my friends, my neighbors, I want everybody to know about it but praise God and glorify His Name!
Fr. Rene Laurentin
Fr. Rene Laurentin
Father Rene Laurentin, a well-known theologian, teacher, and great author, having won many awards for his writings. He is a pioneer in the methods of theological investigations, approved by the Vatican II council. He was one of the founders of the Vatican II council. He holds a double doctorate in History and Theology. He is known also for his scientific search for the Truth and authenticity of mystics.
Fr. Laurentin:
Sure my opinion is positive of Vassula, but I have to be precise, for the Church, the Revelation is The Gospel, The Revelation of Christ. After that, after the Gospel, there are only private revelations, and very difficult to appreciate, and never The Church considered posterior revelation to ascent like a new revelation! It is a free service of the faith, it is the freedom of the Christian to believe or not believe the private revelation. For me, it is very important the discernment of the private revelation because it is the life, the daily life of the Church. And for this reason, I was interested in the messages by Vassula.
When she came to me, by France, the first time, when some person called me saying, “We were converted by this message, our life has changed.” I tried to understand, and when I gave a document to introduce the message of Vassula, it was not a preface. I only gave an interview saying “who was Vassula”. I think, so the little facts I noted, it seemed to me that everyone could understand that she was sincere. That she had a very original experience, she hoped to live with Christ alone. This is very original because very few persons of the world would say that. And if you read the preface in the messages of Vassula, you will find many things like that.
After that, during many years I could follow her, I could see some more special experiences for example, during one year or a little more, it was a Friday, Vassula shared the Passion of Christ, she could live all the Passion of Christ, and she suffered as Christ, terribly, and I was present once to this experience. It would be too many things to explain it all. For me, perhaps the last, not the least thing, is when she was so persecuted, by many persons, some Orthodox in Greece, they said, “she is too Catholic!” and by many Catholics, they said, “She is not Catholic!” and so on. And Vassula was very calm, very peaceful. When you are persecuted, generally, you are not calm. And so calm, after many times, and Vassula she is a woman, she has sensibility, now she lives so much with God, with Christ, she has like an insensibilization, and she said to me, “Fr Laurentin you see, now with all of that, I don’t suffer so much as Christ suffered so much for the salvation of the world, I have also to suffer, what can/will God invent for me to suffer? Because I must suffer!” This seemed very characteristic to me, because in the Catholic Church, in many victim souls, the person will live the Passion of Christ in many manners, and suffering is a terrible thing, a not-understandable thing. And this peace before the suffering, this desire to suffer not by masochism, by the love of suffering, but by the love of God, love of man and of humanity, for me is a great sign of holiness and authenticity.
TLIG retreat in Mexico
TLIG retreat in Mexico
Mexico Retreat: here are some excerpts of what people said:
“When she talked about unity, how unity is not just in the Churches, but for everything, our relationships, families, and things like that.”
“Unforgettable, when Vassula speaks its incredible, unforgettable.”
“Very inspiring, very enriching retreat.”
“I’m from Los Angeles, and I came to Mexico City for this retreat, I’m very blessed to be here, and it’s really reviving…; When she (Vassula) said that we come here and we take; we take all this information and we take all the blessings, but it is so important for us to also give! And that touched me because I started questioning myself if I am really giving despite the fact that I talk to a lot of people about TLIG, but I still question myself, but I will take that back home and think about it and try to work more for Our Lord. ”
“My name is Sema, it is not my first retreat, I was in Medjugorje (with Vassula), and I read the messages (of TLIG), I know Vassula, I know these blessings (from TLIG), I’ve repented myself and follow Jesus’ Way.”
“My name is Rosemary Garza, I live near Austin, Texas, what I’ve really enjoyed is all the diversity here. All the different countries (represented), all the different languages, it feels like a family; everyone has been so very kind, I’ve never been to a place where everyone is so nice to you and helpful. It has been awesome.”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Many people experienced visions of Jesus, Jesus with Vassula, Jesus’ face over the face of Vassula, etc.
Many life-changing experiences.
People from Columbia, Peru, many Hispanic countries sharing their experiences at the retreat in Mexico.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI Emeritus, then, Prefect to the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith
Vassula in a private meeting with Cardinal Ratzinger shortly before he became Pope. The meeting was the conclusion of the fruitful dialogue that took place
TRANSLATION
CONGREGATIO PRO DOCTRINA FIDEI
10 July 2004
Prot N. 54/92-19631
Eminence/Excellence,
As you know, this Congregation published a Notification in 1995 on the writings of Mrs. Vassula Rydén. Afterwards, and at her request, a thorough dialogue followed. At the conclusion of this dialogue, a letter of Mrs. Rydén dated 4 April 2002 was subsequently published in the latest volume of «True Life in God», in which Mrs. Rydén supplies useful clarifications regarding her marital situation, as well as some difficulties which in the aforesaid Notification were suggested towards her writings and her participation in the sacraments (cf. Attachment).
Since the aforementioned writings have enjoyed a certain diffusion in your country, this Congregation has deemed it useful to inform you of the above. Concerning the participation in the ecumenical prayer groups organised by Mrs. Rydén, the Catholic faithful should be called to follow the dispositions of the Diocesan Bishops.
In communicating to you the above, I use the occasion to assure you of my lasting and profound esteem.
Yours Emminence’s/Excellency’s
Most Devout
(Signed)
Joseph Card. Ratzinger
Prefect
(With attachment)
To the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences of
France, Switzerland, Uruguay, Philippines, Canada
Bishop João Evangelista Martins Terra S.J.
The Message of the «True Life in God» and Pope Francis
In my opinion, the great theological charisma which Vassula possesses is to prepare the dialogue, or Christ’s encounter with all humankind which, in all regions of the earth, is sincerely seeking God. Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a man who passes through life seeking a precious pearl (Mt. 13, 45).
Pope Francis in the Encyclical on faith, «Lumen Fidei», states that «the religious person is one who seeks to know God in the daily experiences of life (LF 35). An image of this search, are the Three Kings from the Orient being led by the star to the manger in Bethlehem (Mt. 2,1-12). The light of God manifested itself to them as the way; as a star that guides them along the path yet to be discovered… Hence, finding oneself along the way, the religious person must be ready to allow oneself to be led, to give up one’s own self so as to encounter God who never ceases to astonish us. «Jesus’ confession, as the one and only Savior, affirms that the Light of God concentrated itself in Him, in His «luminous life» by which He reveals the origin and the consummation of History» (LF #35). There is no human experience, no human itinerary for God which cannot be embraced, illuminated and purified by this light. The more one penetrates this open circle guided by the Light of Christ, even more so will one be able to comprehend and accompany the path of each person that leads to God (LF #35).
The focus of Pope Francis’ Encyclical, which speaks of the value of the search for God in religions and of the polarization in Christ, the only Savior, is in complete attune with the writings of «True Life in God».
All of Vassula’s efforts to encourage the dialogue of faith among the diverse christianities has now acquired a definite backing from the teachings in the Encyclical «Lumen Fidei». I will now transcribe some of the affirmations of paragraph #47 concerning «the unity and the intelligence of faith».
«Today it would appear to be quite realistic the union of Christians based upon a common commitment: through friendship, a sharing in the same successes having the same goals; but we still feel great difficulty in conceiving a unity in the same truth. It seems to us that a union of this kind would be in opposition to the freedom of thought and to the persons own autonomy. To the contrary, the experience of love tells us that it is possible for us to have a common vision precisely in the experience of love. Hence, we learn to see reality through the eyes of the other; and this, far from impoverishing us, enriches our way of seeing things. True love, in so far as divine love, demands truth and in the common understanding of truth, which is Jesus Christ, becomes firm and profound. This is also the joy of faith: the unity of a vision in one body and in one spirit. In this sense, Saint Leo the Great was able to affirm: «If faith is not one, it is not faith».
«What is the secret of this unity? 1) In first place, faith is one through God’s Unity, known and professed. All articles of faith refer to Him; they are paths which lead us to the knowledge of His being and His action. In this way they possess a superior unity in regards to all else.» (LF #47). 2) Next, faith is one because it directs itself to the One and Only Lord, to the life of Jesus, to the concrete history which He shares with us. (#47) 3) Finally, faith is one because it is shared by the entire church, which is one body and one spirit: in communion with the only subject which is the Church. Hence, we receive a common view. Confessing the same faith, we support ourselves on the same Spirit of love. In this way we shall radiate a one and only light having a one and only view in order to penetrate reality» (LF #47).
All efforts of the «True Life in God» for the purpose of fulfilling the Priestly Prayer of Christ: «Father, that they all may be one, as We are one» (Jn. 7), are now being affirmed by Pope Francis’ first Encyclical «Lumen Fidei».
+ João Evangelista Martins Terra, SJ
Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Brasilia-DF-Brazil Fone: + 55 61 3223.9452
Brasilia, 24.08.2013.
Fr Petar Ljubicic from Medjugorje
Fr Petar Ljubicic from Medjugorje
Father Petar Ljubicic is the priest to whom the Medjugorje visionary, Mirjana, will give the Secrets, ten days before they occur so that he announces them to the world.
Fr. Petar participated in the True Life in God ecumenical pilgrimage held in Rome on September 2011, where he agreed to give this interview.
Fr. Petar:
Going on a pilgrimage to me means searching for God. More of less every pilgrimage helps a man in searching to find the Person of Jesus Christ. That is something I consider the most important thing in a man’s life. This pilgrimage is a great experience for me. We are here in the “Eternal City” with different people and different denominations, where we are trying to get to know each other to fulfill Jesus’ desire “That all be one!”
There are a few things that Jesus told us we have to do – of which one is to pray for a spiritual vocation, to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit! He Himself prayed for Unity. Because He was able to look into the future He knew, as He is God, that people will separate, they will go their different ways. So He prayed for Unity. And we are here to pray this, His prayer will be heard, which will lead us to the Unity fo all people, that all be One, to have One Shepherd as Jesus wanted.
Could you tell us how you first came into contact with Vassula and the True Life in God Messages?
I met Vassula for the first time in Switzerland when I was a missionary. We met together over dinner. I was a missionary from 1995 to 2000. I had already read several of the books by myself and was convinced that it was an authentic revelation. Reading these books we discover how the Person of Jesus Christ is the Person who should be our source of life, the goal of our life. One feels that Jesus is again here on earth. Jesus wants mankind to open his heart and accept Him, and allow Him to become man’s happiness and joy. Jesus is trying to help us to become happy here on earth, while, of course, promising us the heavenly happiness of paradise. That’s why for Him, as the Divine Savior, man’s disunity is so painful. If we fall in love with Jesus Christ, if we surrender ourselves to Him, then there is nothing better to do but work for unity, that we all become one. That is why this Message [True Life in God] is so essential, so important, and everybody should read it to open himself and accept it.
Often people who follow the Medjugorje Messages are opposed to the True Life in God Messages. Is it normal for you, can it be justified?
I think the main reason for it is that people don’t know the Messages and this is probably the reason they don’t understand them and oppose them – they haven’t read them.
Probably they hear the negativities from others?
People have heard that Rome – The Vatican – was against the Messages, so they are ‘a priori’ against the Messages. But everybody who reads these Messages and meditates on them would be able to see that there is nothing against the faith or the Church, they simply help a man to love the Church and to get to love Jesus and to live with Him.
Moving on to your responsibility of announcing the Medjugorje Secrets in advance, could you say a few words on this matter?
As far as the Secrets are concerned, if anybody is interested to know, I could say that Mirjana has received all ten Secrets and on behalf of all the Medjugorje visionaries, she will reveal them when the time comes. It is also confirmation that as the Secrets have been gifted to Mirjana, so each visionary will receive all ten Secrets. The first two Secrets are warnings for all those who believed in Medjugorje. When the Secrets are fulfilled all will know that the visionaries were telling the truth and that Our Lady was in Medjugorje. The Third Secret is the visible sign on Apparition Hill which will be a great joy for those who believed and who were living the Gospel and in accordance with the Messages which Our Lady gave in Medjugorje. Ten days before the Secrets all will know what is happening and the priest together with Mirjana will fast and pray. Then three days in advance it will be possible to declare it, ‘Urbi at orbi’.
You will be in personal contact with Mirjana? You will be together?
She knows my phone number and it will not be a problem to get together. The first two Secrets and also the third one are connected to Medjugorje, so we will be obliged to be in Medjugorje for the fulfillment of these Secrets.
Are you anticipating that when the first three Secrets have been announced and fulfilled that the world, as a whole, will believe in the authenticity of Medjugorje?
I hope that it will help many people to settle their lives, to convert, to believe, and become new people. In any case, we all know – when Jesus came two thousand years ago, many miraculous signs occurred. And the Holy Mass itself is a miracle, a sign which is occurring every day. We see how difficult it is to turn people back to God, it is so difficult to convert people. I think and hope that when these signs and the Secrets are realized, that they will help everybody, at least to those who visited Medjugorje. Of course many people have hoped, prayed and lived according to the Holy Gospel although they have not visited Medjugorje yet. I hope it will be a final call to the people for conversion, to return to God and to start to rely on God.
Thank you, Fr Petar, for giving this interview!
Fr: thank you very much, God bless you, Jesus loves you!
Archbishop Jeremiah, Ukranian Orthodox Church in South America
Archbishop Jeremiah, Ukranian Orthodox Church in South America
Archbishop Jeremiah /FERENS/
Archbishop of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in South America
Curitiba, January 17th, 2006
Glorification of the 70 Apostles
Testimony of the True Life in God
«May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of our God Father and the Communion with the Holy Spirit, stay among us forever!»
In this third Millenium of the Christian era, the world experiences the Apocalypse reality predicted by God in the Holy Writ. The transformation of Nature, the violence, terrorism, wars, conflicts, hatred, misery and the loss of the human dignity created in the image and likeness of God, day by day worries and terrifies the human being. The man distant from his Creator lives unsafe and fearful. God speaks to the humanity through His prophets and through His Own Son Jesus Christ, and the man, instead of hearing the Divine Message, follows his ambitions.
The movement of «True Life in God» created by Mrs Vassula, is calling the attention of the world and arousing the curiosity among the Christians of many religious organizations. Thousands of people from different places in the world are honoured … graced with the Grace of God, after reading the messages transmitted by Mrs Vassula, and the biggest blessing to the human being is the grace of conversion. Constantly God is calling us to repentance and conversion, so that the enemy of our souls does not destroy us, we , that are created in the image and likeness of God.
In the «True Life in God» there are many people that, like the prodigal son, come back to the home of the Father.
The Ecumenical Pilgrimage of the «True Life in God» that took place last May, 2005, in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria was an explicit testimony of the Christian Unity, where the purpose was our unity with Jesus Christ. We have experienced unforgettable moments feeling the touch and lead by the Grace of God .
I pray God and beg Our Father to Bless and Protect Mrs Vassula, so that always she has strength, courage, discernment and Divine Illumination to perform this noble and hard mission with integrity.
With the Apostolic Blessing,
+ Archbishop Jeremiah /FERENS/
Archbishop of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in South America
Pope John Paul II
«May God bless her»
The following is an account of a private meeting with Pope John Paul II on February 14, 1998.
The Pope can be seen reading Vassula’s dedication, written on the first page of a volume of True Life in God messages.
Together with two friends, Anu and Abhay George, originating from Kerala in India, but presently living in Denmark, I, Niels Christian Hvidt, had the opportunity to participate in the mass of the Holy Father in his Private Chapel. It was the 10th of February 1998.
Ten priests were concelebrating with the Holy Father, and altogether we were a number of 23 lay-people present. After a very beautiful and austere mass the Holy Father received us in the Audience-Hall close to the Private Chapel, distributing Rosaries and blessing and greeting each of us. About five people had brought gifts to the Holy Father.
I had with me the 10th Volume of True Life in God in French. Some months before, Vassula had dedicated it to the Holy Father and given the book to me. Inside, on the first page it said:
Pour le Saint Pere Jean-Paul II.
Que Dieu vous benisse et vous protege,
VassulaTo the Holy Father John Paul II.
May God bless you and protect you,
Vassula.
When he came to me, I had the book in my hand. Having received the Rosary and kissed his hand, I said in German: «I have brought a very important book for you. It is the book of Vassula.» The Holy Father, with interest replied «Ah! Vassula!» Also Mons. Stanislaw Dziwizs, for decades the personal Secretary of the Pope and three days before this audience appointed a bishop, with interest said: «Vassula!» Both clearly recognised her name.
I then went on to say: «She has dedicated it for you». With sincere and warm interest the Pope looked at the book, opened it and saw Vassula’s greeting and then said «Gott segne sie»: «May God bless her». He made the sign of the Cross over the book. Then he handed it on to Mons. Mietec, who collects the gifts, that the Holy Father may take a look at them after the audience.
Before he passed on to the next person of the group, I said to him: «We pray very much for you, Holy Father», to which he replied «Thank you!»
Niels Christian Hvidt
The following quote of Pope John Paul II, given at a special general audience at Castelgandolfo, is taken from the Spanish language edition of L’Osservatore Romano, dated the 16th August 1996.
(This Apostolic blessing came, of course, 9 months after the Notification)
«I cordially salute the persons of the Spanish language present here, especially the religious of the Congregation of ‘Saint Teresa of Jesus’ and THE SPIRITUAL GROUPS OF ‘TRUE LIFE IN GOD’. I wish to all of them a spiritual summer which will help them to reaffirm their Christian promise so that their generous answer to God can be the witness to His love in the world. I give you, with affection and to your loved ones, the Apostolic blessing»
See a video of the above event HERE
Archbishop of Lipa, Philippines
Click to enlarge
FOREWORD
God’s favorites are not free from controversies. In the film FIDDLER ON THE ROOF the Jewish patriarch, the protagonist of the beautiful musical, in the face of persecution of the Russian Jews, addressed God in an amusing way: «Lord, I know we are your favorite people. But can’t you favor other people once in a while?» St. Bernadette of Lourdes would have preferred another young girl to be the visionary rather than herself. Bernadette affirmed the opinion of the Mother Superior who never believed the illiterate Bernadette. If God and the Blessed Mother should favor anyone it should be one, like her, who had lived all her life in the cloister in the midst of selfless dedication and self-sacrifice.
The New Testament shows Jesus praising the pagan and non-Jewish centurion who asked his help for his ailing servant. His words: «Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof…» became a timeless statement worthy of being repeated in the Eucharistic Liturgy. Certainly among God’s most favored ones is Mary Magdalene who became the apostle to the Apostles. Can it be that even in our days God uses a non-Catholic (although deeply faithful to the Pope and a great believer in all that Catholics must believe in, especially regarding the Eucharist and even more profoundly attached than most Catholics to the Blessed Virgin Mother) and one whose marital past is under question, not of course like that of the Samaritan Woman, another favorite of Jesus whom He had to see by all means at noontime near Jacob’s well?
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger showed such Christlike open-mindedness when he spearheaded the review of Mrs. Vassula Rydén’s case. Through Fr. Prospero Grech, Consultant of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the good Cardinal asked Vassula to respond to five questions (see letter dated April 4th, 2002) to clarify some difficulties suggested in the Notification of 1995, regarding the writings of True Life in God, and about her activities related thereto. The responses will immensely help some doubting Thomases, who are entitled nevertheless to peace of mind.
It will help many to know that the Congregation sent a letter dated April 7th, 2003 to the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences, wherein Cardinal Ratzinger asks them to provide him with information about Mrs. Rydén, and the influence she might have had on their faithful in their respective countries. Of all responses received, five countries, unfortunately including my own country the Philippines, replied negatively. Cardinal Ratzinger deemed it convenient to inform the bishops of the said countries, that the Congregation had reviewed Mrs. Rydén’s case and that the suggestions made in the Notification towards the writings of True Life in God and her marital situation were clarified. This latest communication, dated July 10th, 2004, mentioned the said countries at the bottom of the said letter.
Cardinal Ratzinger asked P. Joseph Augustine Di Noia, O.P., Undersecretary of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, to provide Mrs. Rydén with a copy of that same letter to enable her to inform everyone about the exchange of clarification letters. I am extremely happy that Cardinal Ratzinger perfectly mirrors the attitude of the Holy Father whose great obsession and probably the reason for the life and energy he manifests is the UNITY OF CHRISTIANITY. One very touching event is the Holy Father’s coming back from a visit to Armenia. He brought with him to the Synod Hall a gift of the Orthodox Patriarch of Armenia, a precious lamp with a plea for the unity of all Christians.
No matter what Mrs. Rydén’s past life may be, she can and already is an insrument of God in our days to bring to reality God’s dream, the Holy Father’s dream, the Church’s dream which may be the greatest event of the early years of the Third Millennium: THE UNITY OF ALL DISCIPLES OF CHRIST! People like Vassula who suffer for Christian unity with the Holy Father need encouragement, understanding and prayer. I am willing to give her that if only to join the Holy Father, Cardinal Ratzinger and many unknown souls who sincerely desire a renewal of Christianity, a renewed thrust of Evangelization, unity of all Christian brethren. May Mary help us grow in the TRUE LIFE IN GOD.
Archbishop Ramon Cabrera Argüelles
September 30, 2004
107th Year of the Entry into Life of the
Patroness of the Universal Mission
His Eminence, Wildrid Cardinal Napier of the the Archdiocese of Durban, South Africa
This is the message from His Eminence, Wildrid Cardinal Napier concerning Vassula Ryden, who visited Durban recently and presented a talk to many of the faithful at the City Hall. The message of the Cardinal was printed in the Catholic News Bulletin of the Archdiocese of Durban, June 2009, No.464. This is the official communication disseminated to the Parishes and Religious Communities in the Archdiocese of Durban.
«The Latest on Vassula Ryden»
In May Vassula Ryden visited our country including Durban where she spoke to a number of groups of the Faithful. Because some of the following questions were being asked about her — whether her «revelations» are regarded as genuine, whether she is orthodox in her writings and what her standing is vis a vis the Catholic Church as well as the Church of her birth, the Greek Orthodox, I invited her to the Chancery for a conversation over lunch.
Our conversation made it clear that her calling, to be a mouth-piece whom Jesus Christ is using, took place in extraordinary circumstances. But what is even more challenging is her relationship with the Catholic Church.
In 1995 the Holy See made it known that it had serious doubts about the authenticity or genuineness of the revelations published by Vassula. These doubts were expressed in a Notification on the writings of Vassula Ryden published on 25th October 1995.
In a letter dated 16th July 2004 Cardinal Ratzinger, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, explains that in response to a request by Vassula the Congregation had made a thorough investigation. At the conclusion of the dialogue that followed, in a letter published on 4th April, Mrs Ryden supplied useful clarifications regarding her marital status, as well as difficulties raised by the Holy See in the aforementioned Notification regarding her writings and her participation in the Sacraments.
Attached to Cardinal Ratzinger’s letter were the answers to all the questions put to her by the Congregation. He went on to state that Vassula had answered satisfactorily the questions which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had put to her.
Sadly the matter has been confused anew by Cardinal Levada’s 2007 statement, which reaffirms the 1995 notification, but totally ignores the 2004 statement.
It was therefore with keen interest that I awaited the opportunity to engage her in conversation. What struck me from the start, and what remains a lasting impression, is her total openness, especially when asked to explain what happened to her, or why it should have happened to her at all. She is just as puzzled why she should have been chosen since she had completely lapsed from the practice of her Greek Orthodox faith.
Another matter of interest is her relationship with the Holy See. She enjoys cordial relations with many of the top officials at the Vatican, who are anything but negative towards her.
It is therefore reasonable to state categorically that as far as the Church is concerned Vassula poses no threat to the Catholic Faith whatsoever. Indeed the messages which are communicated through her are consistent with the Church’s own call to repentance and a return to the basics of the faith, in particular the basic prayers such as the Rosary and other devotions once so common in the Catholic family and parish spiritual life.
As is customary in such cases, the Church has not declared the «Revelations» to be authentic, as they are claimed to be still occurring — a situation very similar to Medjugorje.»
See also a similar article on the Catholic Archdoicese of Durban website.
Pope & Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria,Egypt
Pope & Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria,Egypt
True Life in God Celebrating The Greek Orthodox Easter & meditating on Christ’s Passion
Participating together in the Greek Orthodox Easter while contemplating the Mystery of the Passion of Our Lord
Easter of the Christians, of Unity, of Love, of Sorrow and of Piety. 158 persons of different confessions from 24 different countries, united in the Word of God, joined together for the celebration of the Greek-Orthodox Easter, in Alexandria in Egypt.
He opened the doors of the Patriarchate with a welcoming embrace and gave a moving speech in the Throne Room to welcome us officially as he said:
«From the depths of my heart, I wish to welcome you all officially, here in the Throne Room, where our companion is St. Mark, the Apostle and Evangelist. In the morning, I received you at the monastery of St. Savvas, a humble monastery, which was founded in the 4th century. Today, I greet you officially here, in our Patriarchate. whose history spans 2,000 years from the time of Jesus Christ to the present. Thus, on the one hand, with the exception of the Apostle Paul, we have our history involving the great Apostles, whose successors were the Great Fathers of the Church. That history brings us to present times and, thus, you can see all the Patriarchs that have been appointed to Alexandria on your right and left.
All this is our heritage, the future lies before us: it is for us the entire land of Africa. That is why I want you to know that, before I ascended the steps to the Throne of St. Mark, I was a missionary in Cameroon, the Sudan, Gabon, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Botswana and Angola. As a missionary, therefore, I really got to know Africa: the difficulties that it faces and the enormous poverty issues but, most of all during my journeys, I meet people that are searching — searching for the love of Jesus. That is why, Vassula, I was very moved when you all sang to Jesus Christ a few minutes ago as my thoughts went immediately to all my African children who also raise their hands towards the heavens and sing in thousands of languages about Christ; the love of Christ that we so desperately need. I am planning shortly to make a long journey to Ghana, having recently returned from Madagascar.
And now, I would like to welcome you all from the bottom of my heart, especially you, Vassula, as I said in church this morning, welcome to your homeland, welcome to the country of your birth, and greetings to all who accompany you. As they say here, Vassula, «Anyone who drinks from the waters of the Nile never forgets this country.»
I would also like to greet the Bishop from India — welcome dear brother to our Apostolic Patriarchate. I wish to welcome the monk, you, Sister, you, Father and you, Father from the Roman Catholic Church and tell you all that with much love we receive you, we love you and that we are under the same protection and love of our Great Lord, Jesus Christ.
Vassula, I would like to thank you for this opportunity, to be together over the next few days. This evening, we will follow together the Passion of Our Lord. Tomorrow, we shall worship before His Epitaph and we shall live, in our devoutly beating hearts, His Passion and His Resurrection. And that joy — that is my wish — that the joy of the Resurrection and the Light may be with us always all the days of our lives. In the name of Jesus Christ I wish to bless you all and your families and please know that Alexandria’s and the Patriarchate’s doors will always be open to you. Thank you»
If you would like to read more about this event and pilgrimage click here: http://tlig.org/en/spirituality/pilgrimages/egypt2008/
Paul Datta, India
Paul Datta, India
Paul Datta from Kolkata, India
All Glory and praise to Jesus!
I was born in an Indian Hindu family in the city of Kolkata. I never knew about Jesus or visited any Church before. At the age of 18, I decided to go to another state, Maharastra for higher studies. I got admission to an engineering college in a small town known as Kolhapur. My college was in the outskirts as normally all the colleges are. It was in the third year that I suffered from depression within myself and everything was going wayward. As I stayed in a boy’s hostel, everything happened there except God. Somehow through someone I got a TLIG message book, Part IV. I didn’t have a clue what it was all about. It was in 1999.
As I went through the book, all I understood that Someone named Jesus is on the way to His return. As I went on I had a fear deep down in my heart. I was beginning to understand His divinity and realized if He returns now and sees me in this state, it will not be nice for me. That night I felt His powerful presence in my room, and understood that He is my Saviour, and that He loves me. Later on from the messages I learnt that this is called as “The Visitation of The Lord”. I began to look at the picture on the cover of the book and prayed. His Gaze penetrated deep within my soul, and tears rolled down from my eyes. The tears gave me so much relief and joy, that I liked it. The seed has been already planted!
Later what followed, was like a flow of a river. I flowed with the River. I was not able to understand what was happening to me. I understood what is sin and what is not. I got a Bible and started reading. I have read many books before but never ever found a book (TLIG), so divine, so pure and joyful to read. More to come!
During my vacation, I didn’t go home, as usually everyone goes, but went to The Divine Retreat Centre in Kerala. Those ten days over there transformed me completely. I read through the messages, I knew they were written for me. Jesus used Vassula’s hand to write, so that I can read them. Even before I read the instructions, the Holy Spirit inspired me to take Vassula’s name out and put in my name. I wept bitterly for days. I was not able to lift my eyes to the crucified Lord, as looking at the cross gave me so much pain deep within. I felt the suffering of my Jesus. I heard Jesus calling me by the name Paul (I never knew who was Paul in the Bible). I was shaken from within. By then I was totally engulfed by Jesus. His Spirit enveloped me completely. I was able to convey the messages from the Lord to certain persons there. They were surprised of how I knew about their life. The Holy Mother was there during my purification. It took me a single day to learn to say the Rosary and learn the prayers with the help of Our Mother. Jesus, one day, through the messages gave me the Spirit of Unity, and asked me to defend it to the last day. When all of these incidents were going on there was no one who had told me about Jesus or counseled me. All I had was the Rosary, the Bible and the TLIG book. Jesus inspired everything.
In a vision I was assured by Jesus that no opposition was coming from my family and so it was! My earthly mother has been very supportive and helped me a lot.
The best thing that happened to me after knowing Jesus through the messages was the Eucharist. There is so much power and grace that comes out from the Blessed Sacrament! It was because of the Eucharist that I was drawn closer and closer to the Mother Church. When I went back to my home, I surfed the net for more messages and information and about TLIG. The messages taught me many truths about the Church and helped me to penetrate into the Mysteries of God.
I thought that everyone knew about Vassula, but to my utter surprise no one did! In the meantime, I got baptized. And later, I managed to get the rest of the TLIG books.
The amount of graces and blessings I received by reading the messages is enormous and cannot be written down on papers, but can only be felt within. It was out of nowhere that He just picked me up, and revealed His face to me. All I know is that this Love Hymn is true and if these messages cannot change the heart of a person then nothing can. May His Kingdom come! Amen.
Paul Datta
Kolkata,
India
Archbishop Frane Franić
Archbishop Emeritus of Split and Makarska and former President of the Episcopal Theological Commission of Yugoslavia, Split, Yugoslavia
The following introduction by Archbishop Franić was first published in 1993:
The Purity of the Integral Revelation of God
When I received two books written by the visionary Vassula Rydén, and translated into Croatian by Mrs. Marija-Dragica Vukić, I was pleasantly surprised, all the more because the translation was made from English in Belgrade, where Mrs. Vukić lives. She asked me to write a preface for the third book which will appear in Croatian. There are already five volumes in English entitled True Life in God written by Vassula Rydén. It is a great pleasure for me to write this preface.
The first news I heard about Vassula was two years ago, in 1991, in a Canadian Catholic review, L’Informateur Catholique. A great deal of that particular issue was devoted to Vassula. Thereafter, the review published information about her regularly. A good Catholic lady living in Canada, who is very interested in Medjugorje, a leader of frequent pilgrimages, directed strong criticism against Vassula, alleging that there were false theories in the messages which she is transmitting: for example, that Jesus calls Himself «Eternal Father» of men, as if He identifies Himself in every respect with the Father, thus denying the distinction between the Father and the Son. This devoted admirer of Our Lady is not happy either with the manner in which Jesus transmits His messages through Vassula’s hand; she thinks of this in terms of spiritualistic transmission of messages.
This critic of Vassula, about whom I read in the review I have mentioned, was Mrs. Darija Klanac, nee Skunca. I had the honor to meet her on her way as a pilgrimage leader from Canada to Medjugorje . She visited me in Split, in St. Peter’s Co-Cathedral, where I have lived since 1983. I spoke in French to the pilgrims about the Medjugorje messages of peace. Mrs. Klanac also talked with great zeal about Our Lady. I was very happy that Mrs. Klanac, one of our Croatians married in Canada, had such a high reputation among the Catholics of that country. Later on, when she had difficulties with the review I have mentioned because they supported Vassula, I noticed with what respect they wrote of her personality, that is, the experts working for them. This pleased me.
But I am on Vassula’s side, especially since I was given three books of her messages in Italian, entitled Peace and Love. A group of Italian pilgrims on their way to Medjugorje stopped in Split and visited St. Peter’s. They invited me to Italy. So, on September 23,1992, I celebrated Holy Mass in a large church in Como. The church was full and there I met Vassula. Before Mass she gave a testimony about her mystical experiences and messages, which, with the greatest conviction, she attributed to Jesus. I gave the homily on the Gospel of the day. I spoke about private revelations, and the importance they have for the Church and today’s world. I added some words of support for Vassula, leaving the final judgment to the Church. I always use this precaution when I talk publicly about the Medjugorje messages.
On the other hand, when I talk privately I express my constant conviction of the authenticity of the Medjugorje apparitions and messages; I rely on the Gospel test which says that a good tree may be recognized by good fruits. This is especially true of religious conversions, miracles in the moral order, and, most frequently, experiences in Medjugorje. This happens also through Vassula, who herself is a miracle, an object of wonder. True, she does not cause wonders in the physical sense, for she makes no claim to a charism of healing.
I was given a copy of the fourth book of Vassula’s messages by the translator personally. I was delighted to note that the preface was by Fr. Rene Laurentin, whom I value highly; I have met him many times in Split on his way to and from Medjugorje.
As I read Vassula’s books, my first impressions of her were very much confirmed. Her messages, actually for me Jesus’ messages, are alive and authentic. These messages can help us toward a better understanding of Jesus’ messages in the Gospel, and also help us experience them in a personal way. These must always remain the authentic criteria in judging private messages, in recognizing healthy mystical experience. There always have been, always will be, mystical experiences in the Church. These we must not minimize, but we must leave the final judgment to the church.
When I met Vassula in Como, on 23rd September, 1992, I had the feeling that she was under attack by many critics; they wrote disparagingly about her. This is understandable as through Vassula, Jesus is passing judgment on extremist theologians of our time, who distance themselves from divine revelations by too great proximity to the world. This, Pope Paul VI found out, a short time before he died; he began to speak of the «devil’s smoke» which had entered the Church and clouded fundamental truths of God’s revelation.
It seems to me the. more I understand these things, that Vassula’s main charism is to show the PURITY OF THE INTEGRAL REVELATION OF GOD. Nothing must be taken from, nothing added to the Revelation; there must be no yielding to the world and to the permissive civilization of our time, which penetrates even into the Church, causing disorder in her saving mission.
Inculturation is necessary as the basis of a new evangelization. So Pope John Paul II says, following the Council. We must respect cultures that we may plant in people of all nations God’s revealed truths, strengthening them with love, always with due regard to human, national and social rights, and attention to social situations. This is the truth; Second Vatican Council says it; so do Popes of the Council and after it. But there is the truth which tells us that Christ and His Word judge all cultures, all human, national and social rights. It is not, on the contrary, cultures which judge Christ, but Christ who judges them. Christ protects, promotes, dignifies, raises to a higher level, to God’s level, all cultures.
Because of that do not be afraid to «open the door to Christ». He is our Creator, our Friend, He is our «Eternal Father» together with the Father and the Holy Spirit; He knows what we need to achieve our small earthly and great heavenly happiness.
The Church, together with the Pope, and under the Pope, as the visible head of the Church and the Vicar of Jesus Christ, transmits the saving teachings of Christ. That is what Jesus is telling us through Vassula, though she makes it clear that she is of the Greek Orthodox Church. In this way she shows the way to healthy ecumenism, ecumenism which, today, is passing through its Calvary. But ecumenism is God’s work, so it must pass through its Calvary like Christ Himself. May God protect us so that the Calvary does not spread over the whole world.
Ecumenism will, through its Calvary, have its resurrection. It seems that this is the core of all the messages that Jesus is giving us through Vassula Rydén, Greek Orthodox, living now in Switzerland.
+Frane Franić, Archbishop Emeritus of Split and Makarska
formerly President, Episcopal Theological Commission, Yugoslavia
Split, Yugoslavia
Immediately after the Notification in 1995, the Archbishop wrote the following testimony:
Integrity of the truths revealed in the messages of Vassula Rydén, very faithful daughter of the ancient and Holy Greek Orthodox Church
In reading the books of the divine messages and knowing that the author, Mrs. Vassula Rydén, is a daughter of the Greek Orthodox Church, I was very impressed to find in them a fidelity, and I am firmly convinced, an absolute fidelity to all the revealed truths as taught and expounded by the Catholic Church.
I would like to humbly point out that in 1941 I received a Ph.D. from the Gregorian University, which was at that time very faithful to Thomist theology and philosophy and that I have myself taught this theology for 38 years, from 1942 until l980, at the Interdiocesan Theological School of advanced studies in Split. I have come to know about the various objections that were formulated by certain Catholic theologians concerning the messages of the books of «True Life in God». But these objections are certainly not able to put in doubt my conviction that all these books contain authentic messages coming from Christ Himself, messages that include the truths concerning faith in the supernatural, truths in which both the ancient Byzantine Orthodox Church and the Roman Church believed, up until the painful moment of their separation. Consequently, the messages correspond well with the ancient faith of the Holy Greek Orthodox Church, which implies that Vassula does not have to formally abandon her belonging to the Orthodox Church in order to become Catholic.
I maintain this firm conviction even today, notwithstanding the «declaration» (notification) of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, published in the Osservatore Romano dated 23-24 October 1995.
I pray to the Lord that this «declaration» be clarified, thus removing any confusion in our Church as well as removing the difficulties that have cropped up because of this «declaration» in the ecumenical relations between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church.
Furthermore, I feel I must declare that in the messages of Vassula’s books one finds certain truths that are today in a state of crisis in our own Church. These truths are very clearly stated in these messages and asserted in a surprisingly firm and decisive way. Truths such as the Virginity and the Holy Motherhood of the Blessed and Immaculate Virgin Mary, the real presence of the Body and of the Blood with the Soul and the Divinity of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
According to my humble but firm conviction, there is no error and there have never been any errors, either in the first books of Vassula nor in those that followed. There is no error when Vassula speaks about Christ calling him Abba or Jahweh, neither when she says that Christ will come in the world to bring a period of His peace, because it has to do with the historical return of Christ into this world through His Church, who during that period of Peace will be renewed; and then, the presence of Christ will be even more visible to all mankind in this world, as the Holy Virgin and Queen of Prophets was saying at Fatima, and as she is still prophecying now in Medjugorje.
Therefore, I unite myself to all those Catholic bishops and theologians that defend the authenticity and sincere veracity of Vassula Rydén, seer and mystic, one of the greatest of our times.
+ Frane Franic, Archbishop Emeritus of Split and Makarska
Archbishop Seraphim
Archbishop Seraphim
Archbishop Seraphim
His Eminence Archbishop of Johannesburg and Pretoria Seraphim
Traveling from Washington, USA to Johannesburg, May 1, 2006
I am in a South African Airlines plane on my way back to Johannesburg from Washington, where, as Vice President of the Pan-African Board of the Churches, I participated in a very important inter-religious conference at Georgetown University. The emphasis was on the importance of religion in the protection of human rights and the priority which should be given to dialogue in finding solutions to both local and international differences that threaten the cause of world peace. This journey lasts for seventeen hours with a one hour stop in Accra, capital of Ghana. Usually, when I am not tired, I take the opportunity to jot down some issues.
At the end of the conference I had the opportunity and the pleasure to be the guest of some good friends, the Rydén couple, whom I had also had the honour of hosting at home in the past. During my stay, the Rydén couple, hosted as well two more friends, one from New York and one from Monaco, both Greek ladies and both called Georgia. Georgia from New York was second generation of Mani origin and we were meeting for a second time.
Vassula Rydén grew up in a Greek emigrant environment where the emphasis was secular but importance was also given to the family as a social institution and to religious convictions through the Orthodox tradition which included attendance at church services during Christmas and Easter as well as weddings, christenings and funerals.
Vassula had a typical society life-style with the usual everyday problems until, one day, in a strange and mysterious way, she heard a sweet and unknown voice that was actually a call to a mission — to testify to God’s presence among us. At first, she was mystified and had no idea what to do. God, however, helped her understand her mission and with obedience and humility and a lot of prayer, Vassula started to record the messages she received interiorly from God. At the same time, she changed and started to live her life in a different way. Loving God and praying to God became her life. Thus began her mission to bring people closer to God.
In fact, if one studies with great care the messages that Vassula receives, they will realize that the messages emphasize the basic teachings of the Holy Bible and the Tradition of the Holy Fathers of our Church. All the messages refer to a spiritual preparation for repentance, to a call to live a holy, mystical, ecclesiastical and eschatological life, to alleviate the suffering of our fellow human beings, especially defenseless children, and in particular those that are killed before they are born through the fatal sin of abortion. Another important indication in the messages is the need to support the unification of the Mystical Body of Christ, in other words the unity of the Churches and, in addition, the visible strengthening of the spiritual bonds between the Churches beginning with all Christians celebrating together on the same date the Resurrection of Christ.
Although many people have benefited spiritually from Vassula’s prayers and the messages by giving priority to God in their lives, there are a considerable number who officially or unofficially oppose her.
It seems that somehow the way that Vassula says that she receives God’s messages has been misunderstood, and some are ready to throw stones at her and to insist that she be burnt alive. This kind of religious fanaticism, which recalls extreme situations prevalent in medieval times, is unacceptable.
If one reads Vassula’s messages with care from a theological and ecclesiastical point of view and, specifically, having in mind the Orthodox dogma, it is hard to find erroneous belief. And if for any reason such an impression is given, that is because of the negative prejudice that some people have by interpreting a message not as Vassula would have, but as they wish to interpret it in order to condemn her as a heretic. Vassula has never objected to discussing any message that people might have misunderstood and which causes them to reject her. The propaganda war against Vassula is so strong that whoever, with good intentions, wishes to approach her, without prejudice and wishing calmly to read the messages, will immediately also be accused of heresy. Lord and Virgin Mary, what a curse to fall into the hands of fanatic religious people, the contemporary fanatic Pharisees and Secretaries. Full of hatred, they will bury you alive.
Thus, Mani-origin Georgia from New York, and Georgia from Monaco, and many other Georgias, who were untouched by the church with its clergy and theologians, have been touched by Vassula and the Messages. There are millions of souls who lived far from the light of God and, after reading the messages, became deacons and deaconesses of the living testimony of the presence of God’s love amongst us, in the social life of the contemporary world in this troubled era of ours.
Of course, in this statement, in no way do I depreciate the huge and complicated parish mission of our Church from a pastoral, philanthropic and missionary perspective. There are, however, other ways that souls can be saved. Lay charismatic members of our Church, with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, can lead souls to come closer to God and live a spiritual life. This does not mean that they replace the holy work of our clergy; on the contrary they complement it, and they offer with their ministry, their spirituality and their testimony, an equally important mission to the vineyard of the Church.
In the end, at both a local and international level, through an appointed committee, our Church will have to consider Vassula’s messages with integrity and through discussion in order to formulate a responsible opinion and put a stop to this «contradictory phenomenon». When many members of our Church and other Christians benefit spiritually, while other lay people and clergy fight Vassula and tell lies about her, if the messages are from God, they are actually fighting God.
Personally, as an Orthodox Bishop, I find no doctoral errors in the content of Vassula’s messages with respect to the Orthodox dogma and I am sure that if a message has been wrongly perceived by someone, Vassula is willing humbly and with love and good intention to explain it to us according to the Revealed Truth of the Church, as it is expressed in the Holy Bible and our Church Tradition.
Vassula’s messages are not a new Revelation of God and mention nothing different to what is in the Holy Bible and the Ecclesiastical Tradition, which are complete and our salvation. Rather, they are like some texts of the Fathers of the Church and other ecclesiastical texts that help us comprehend and experience the content of the Divine Revelation of the Holy Bible and the Tradition of the Church. Vassula’s intentions are pure and redeeming.
By reading and meditating on the teaching in Vassula’s messages, many Christians may obtain maximum benefit by uniting and by giving their testimony to the contemporary world in order to heal wounds that present a critical threat. In order for my own words not to be misunderstood, I should emphasize that when I refer to the spiritual benefit to be gained from reading Vassula’s messages, I am not saying nor wish to give the impression that I do not support the priority that every Christian should give to the reading and study of the Holy Bible in their lives, as well as the Tradition of the Church. Moreover, this very important point is something that is also stressed in Vassula’s messages.
I also have to mention that, even in the past, many ecclesiastical writers moved away somewhat from the Church’s teachings in certain parts of their texts or they gave the impression that they differed from the doctrine of the Church. When ecclesiastical authorities pointed this out to them, the explanation of the teachings of the Church was given with humility and docility so as to protect the redeeming plan of Christ. I believe that Vassula has the humility and goodwill to do the same where some part of the messages gives the impression of a dogmatic deviation or erroneous belief.
Dialogue is the means by which people will overcome all these misunderstandings for the glory of our Saviour Jesus Christ. The glory of God coincides with Christ’s redeeming plan and Vassula’s messages contribute to this purpose.
Arcbishop Vincent Concessao, Arcbishop of New Delhi
Arcbishop Vincent Concessao, Arcbishop of New Delhi
Vassula spoke at St. Columbas School Ground in New Delhi in 2006. When she was finished, Archbishop Concessao, who was present during the talk, also spoke. The following is an excerpt from his comments.
«All that we have heard is what is written in the Bible, but this is in a very personal way and shows that the Lord continues to speak. He is wonderful in His ways — He is a God of surprises and we do not know who He will use to communicate His messages. There was a time when Vassula did not practice — the Church meant nothing to her. This is a tremendous source of hope for all of us. The Lord is concerned about us and accompanies us on our pilgrimage here on earth. She emphasized the place of love in our lives and the Lord’s desire that we are all united, and to be disunited is in itself a state of sin. In a few days we will be celebrating the Christian Unity octave. The theme is «Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am among them». The gathering is taking place. There was a time when we were enemies to one another. There is a long way to go because Jesus prayed «may they be one» — that is the unity that the Father wants among us and, as Vassula said, «This unity of peace does not imply more expenditure — she managed to come with one ticket!! This is the kind of unity the Lord wants and I request all of you to pray for Christian unity. We do not know the way the Lord wants us to unite but the goal is clear — He wants one Church, one Shepherd.
Vassula, thank you. God bless you and your ministry.«
Archbishop Vincent Concessao, Arcbishop of New Delhi
Bishop Karl Sigurbjörnsson
Bishop Karl Sigurbjörnsson
January 2006
I met on October 3rd, last year. Vassula Ryden, a greek-american woman, who on her own accord has been travelling around the globe preaching the Christian faith in a simple and modest manner. She delivered a sermon in Hallgrímskirkju and the national shrine was filled to capacity by people in quiet anticipation. Her sacred gift is God’s dispensation to his church, a soothing manifestation of faith. Christ’s message to her was the encouragement to pray unification of the Christian faith, praying for people seeking solace in God, that they lean to him and listen to his unwavering heartbeat of compassion.
Bishop Karl Sigurbjörnsson
Bishop of Iceland
Bishop Georges Kahhale
Monsignor Georges Kahhale Zouhairaty, Bishop — Exarca & Apostolico of the Greek — Melkite Catholics of Venezuela
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| Presiding at a Divine Liturgy at the 2005 TLIG Ecumenical Pilgrimage |
«With her openness and relationships, on an international level, Vassula has created, through prayer and “True Life in God”, an ecumenical relationship and solid bases for the interreligious dialogue of the XXI Century for human unity.»
The original testimony was written in Spanish and reads:
«Con su apertura y relaciones a nivel internacional Vassula ha hecho a través de la oración y la ‘Verdadera Vida en Dios’ una relación ecuménica y sólidas bases para el diálogo interreligioso del siglo XXI para la unidad humana»
Testimonies from Clergy & Religious
I have no dramatic testimony to offer for Vassula, but I would like to say that reading her messages puts me in a spirit of prayer. I find myself quite convinced that Jesus is indeed speaking through them. To that, I would like to add that, as a professional theologian, I have always been watching to see if these messages diverge in any way from the teaching of the Church. Never have I found any doctrinal error in them. That is very impressive. For a lay person, with no theological training, without even any serious catechetical instruction, to write so many volumes about some of the profoundest spiritual matters, and never make a mis-step, is an extraordinary achievement. It is a powerful confirmation that it is indeed the Lord himself who is the source of these writings. I am aware that she has been accused of doctrinal error by high authorities in the Church. After careful reflection on this matter, I am convinced that the so-called «errors» reduce simply to the fact that she fails to use the language of professional theologians when seeking to express the divine mysteries. I don’t think she can be blamed for this, as the Scriptural authors did the same.
(Fr. Edward D. O’Connor, CSC Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame, December 1999)
In reading the books of the divine messages, and knowing the author, Mrs Vassula Ryden, a daughter of the Greek Orthodox Church, I was very impressed in finding there, according to my firm conviction, an absolute fidelity to all the revealed truths as taught and expounded by the Catholic Church……… Therefore I unite myself to those Catholic bishops and theologians who defend the authenticity and sincere truthfulness of Vassula Ryden, one of the greatest mystics and seers of our times.
(Frane Franic, Archbishop Emeritus of Split and Makarska, November 1995)
(Vassula) travels the world evangelizing for Christian unity; obedience to the Pope; veneration of the Eucharist; devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; and especially, a Gospel morality of life; as well as for deep religious conversion of the world. Vassula Ryden has met with the Pope, with cardinals and with bishops around the world. This is a matter of private revelation and we allow her to speak because what she says conforms to Gospel truth.
(Cardinal Franjo Kuharic, Archbishop of Zagreb, February 1995)
The testimony is convincing, joyful and stimulating. Everywhere in her writings we feel the Breath of Love … The Holy Spirit is everywhere at work, giving profusely … every day Vassula’s testimony is taken more seriously and is more fully accepted. This simultaneously facilitates and accelerates the final judgement of the entire Church, which judgement will, without doubt, consider the many fruits of Vassula’s message.
(Fr Lludevit Rupcic, OFM)
It can be said that Vassula Ryden is in «moral security» under the spiritual counselling of Fr. Michael O’Carroll. His obvious competence should suffice to dispel the doubts of those who blindly and violently attack Vassula Ryden and her writings. Furthermore, she has the support of Fr.Rene Laurentin … For my part, having studied ascetical and mystical theology both in theory and in practice over more than fifty years, I do not hesitate to stand alongside these two «experts» and with the many priests who know Vassula Ryden and her writings very well … We must cease calling our fear `prudence’ and our skepticism `wisdom’.
(Rev O. M., C.S.C.)
It is a hieratic writing, in other words, a sacred writing … clothed in such a majestic solemnity … the writing itself inspires a great peace … radiating light and serenity. Truly this writing is beautiful and can only be good!
(Rev. C. C., OFM)
I feel that the evidence in favour of Vassula is very strong, and so I would urge especially those who have come to realize that Vassula may in fact be a prophet for our times to pray, fast, and reflect; in any event, to avoid spreading rumours or engaging in any attacks. With each passing day this matter will become clearer and clearer.
(Fr. «X», PIME)
The message in these volumes is powerful indeed. It has touched me and others deeply.
(Brother E.C., New Mexico)
I have been blessed to read these books. They have helped me tremendously in my spiritual life, and they have also helped many more and have brought them closer to God. Tears of repentance are many … it is not something really new, but based on scripture.
(Sister I.B., Chicago)
There is a growing response to these messages here in Hong Kong.
(Father F.E., Hong Kong)
I have actually met Vassula in Manchester, England when I began reading her revelations and I have read and meditated all the volumes up to number 5 … I would very much like to continue to immerse myself in the Lord’s words to us. I’m totally convinced of the authenticity of these words. They have helped me immensely in my own spiritual journey. I’m passing on this revelation to people I know will be open to it … I would like to write to her personally if only to encourage her.
(Father M.M., Bolivia)
People are so hungry here for the True Life in God books that I am giving them away faster than I can keep track of them. I haven’t yet succeeded in keeping one for myself.
(Sister T.R., Ukiah, California)
I am hoping to convert a few fellow-priests with these books.
(Rev. B.C., Toronto)
Father Michael O’Carroll, who is presently her spiritual director is adequately qualified and competent in the area of ascetical and mystical theology … the testimony of Father O’Carroll should inspire great reassurance.
(Father O.M. Canada)
I managed to get our parish priest, a priest visitor and my priest confessor interested in Vassula’s life … they were happy and I was very happy … What I long to hear now is Vassula’s talks on the Holy Spirit. [I prayed] «Oh God, if it is possible, in Your Almighty Power, cause Vassula to visit India.»
(Sister A.T., India)
Quelle joie! J’ai reçu trois volumes écrits par Vassula Ryden. Combien de détails de ses entretiens avec le Christ. Déjà la lecture d’un seul cahier me permets à vivre dans la plus grande intimité avec Jésus. La lecture des ses écrits aide beaucoup à prier et méditer sur le Christ. Ces mots son tellement vivants et concrets que presqu’on peut Le toucher. Que ce livre inspire les coeurs des prêtres. Le livre de Vassula m’aide à découvrir comment vivre avec le Christ. C’est un nouveau trésor qui nous approche du Christ. Pourvu que beaucoup de croyants puissent goûter et se nourrir par les précieux et vivants écrits de Vassula.
(K.S., prêtre)
Les écrits „La Vrai Vie en Dieu» m’ont attiré mais pendant un certain temps j’ai abandonné cette lecture. Alors Dieu a voulu que je me suis trouvé dans un état de la crise spirituelle. J’ai reçu une lumière intérieure; retourner aux écrits de Vassula. D’un coup les paroles de Jésus — qu’elle note — sont devenus pour moi une source de lumière et d’espérence. Tout d’abord je ne les lisais pas systématiquement pour enfin revenir et commencer par le début. Quel changement! Les difficultés ont disparues et les paroles de Jésus m’ont émerveillé … J’y retrouve maintenant une nourriture don’t j’avais tant besoin et aussi un renforcement. Grâce à „La Vrai Vie en Dieu» un bien se fait à l’intérieur de mon âme, un bien dont j’ai déjà douté.
(P.J., prêtre)
Les livres „La Vrai Vie en Dieu» sont magnifiques. Ils nous approchent la Personne de Jésus et nous aident dans notre vie intérieure. J’ai lu tous les volumes et je les recommencent de nouveau.
(s. H., religieuse)
Ce magnifique livre occupe chez moi la place juste après la Ste Écriture. Pour moi et aussi bien pour beaucoup de gens que je connais, „La Vrai Vie en Dieu» c’est une lumière et une nourriture et même un médicament pour l’ âme. Surtout le 4ème volume m’aide à connaître l’immensité de la Miséricorde Divine. Ce livre guérit les malades par la joie que Dieu verse sur les lecteurs.
(s. M.K., religieuse)
Nous sommes tellement heureux que les livres de Vassula se trouvent dans notre communauté! Ils nous aident à vivre, plus profondément la Bonté sans mesures, l’Amour et Miséricorde que Notre Seigneur Jésus Christ a pour chaque âme … Ils nous aident à connaître plus profondément l’Amour sans limites que Jésus ressent envers nous, les hommes, Sa douleur et Sa préoccupation pour que «tous soient un», J’ai compris combien Il désire notre amour réciproque et notre union avec Lui par les sacrifices, pénitence, souffrance pour sauver les âmes et le monde …
(s. M, religieuse)
Le cercle de plus en plus grand de gens est attiré vers le bien, grâce aux livres de Vassula … Ce qui est vraiment grand et a une grande valeur doit traverser par les preuves douloureuses et parfois rencontrer les immenses difficultés. Ayant confiance que Jésus vaincra aussi cette fois-ci. Je remercie toujours Dieu le Père qu’il y a des gens simples ouvrant leurs coeurs aux exigences de Jésus …
(s. I., religieuse)
Les écrits „La Vrai Vie en Dieu» constituent comme une „somme mystique». Les éléments caractéristiques: la simplicité évangélique, accessibilité et lisibilité pour les âmes „simples». Ces mots peuvent sembler une exagération, mais pour moi c’est une vrais voix du Seigneur. La même voix qu’Abraham avait entendu, les Patriarches et Prophètes, enfin les Apôtres. La même voix qui résonne dans la Liturgie, dans la quelle Dieu parle aux hommes et les hommes parlent à Dieu. J’espère qu’un jour cette voix soit reconnue.
(s. M.N., religieuse)
Tous ce qui lisent ces livres, les plus beaux livres, commencent une nouvelle vie, reçoivent le don de la joie intérieure et la connaissance de Dieu de Bonté et de Miséricorde. C’est vraiment pour le temps contemporain — le temps du froideur au niveau de la foi — le Feu de l’Amour Divin qui fait revivre les coeurs humains si froids. Je remercie la Miséricorde Divine pour l’aide salvatrice qu’Elle nous donne pour approfondir notre foi en Miséricorde de Dieu, en Amour de Dieu envers l’homme … Pendant la lecture de ce livre l’âme se repose … Si on lit tous les volumes, puis le livret de prières, la lumière de Dieu resplendit et éclaire l’homme. Alors dans le coeur s’allume l’amour et la reconnaissance à Dieu Trois Fois Saint pour Sa Miséricorde pour nous, Ses enfants — pécheurs.
(s. M.K. religieuse)
Vassula’s messages I find challenging and I have made a decision to listen very carefully and weigh all that she says, for it would be terrible to live at a time when the Lord spoke and not to have heard him. … My advice to one reading these messages is that if they are read with only a passing curiosity they will be meaningless and become like ashes. However by allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to the reader, rereading the passages several times and place oneself as the recipient of the message, the passages will become more of a passing curiosity and their purpose revealed. These messages are for laymen, through a layman given by God.
(Fr. D. H., York, UK,)
J’ai déjà lu le premier tome de la Vraie Vie en Dieu. Je l’ai lu pourtant comme un prêtre qui se trouve devant une révélation privée : avec circonspection et toutes les antennes dressées pour le discernement. Mais j’ai découvert un appel très fort à la conversion et à la rencontre personnelle avec le Seigneur Jésus. J’ai même retransmis dans l’anonymt certains de ces appels dans mes homélies. J’ai constaté combien les coeurs ont été touchés.
(Père R. H., Ivory Coast, July 1991)
Vassula veio me clarear mais ainda a experiência da Universalidade da salvação de Deus. Inicialmente deixei-me levar pela simplicidade e profundidade bíblica desta espiritualidade que eu não conhecia. Pouco a pouco descobri um caminho de oração idêntico ao de Santa Terezinha do Menino Jesus, que volta o coração à intimidade efetiva com o Eterno Deus. Vassula é mais um modelo que me ajudou a ter mais carinho com a vida de oração e valorizar a busca de Deus, ou melhor, as formas corretas e variadas com que o ser humano pode se relacionar com Deus. Conheci a Vassula e a espiritualidade foi o incentivo à fidelidade, à vida de oração mais constante.
(Pe. N. M., Brazil, 1991)
J’ai le coeur rempli de joie d’écrire à la personne qui me redonne le goût de la prière et j’y consacre un peu plus de mon temps ; ma façon d’aller à Jésus est plus respectueuse. Je vous écoute dire le Chapelet car nous avons des vidéocassettes et votre façon de le prier est une méditation.
(Soeur T. P., Quebec, Canada, June 1992)
On te connaît comme ‘une grande amie’ pour avoir écouté, voire même savouré le contenu de ces belles cassettes que nous prêtons à d’autres. Merci pour ces messages pleins du Sacré Coeur et d’Esprit Saint. Merci à toi, pour cette fidélité à les transmettre à notre pauvre monde en désarroi qui ne sait pas où se trouvent les vraies valeurs. Nous prions beaucoup pour toi afin que tu passes à travers les difficultés inhérentes à cette Mission reçue. Que le Seigneur soit avec toi, pour Sa Gloire.
(Soeur G. R., s.c.c.m., Quebec, Canada, June 1992)
First let me tell you (Vassula) that we believe totally in the Sacred Heart’s messages to you and have been praying for you since we read them. We especially felt sorry for you that few priests and religious supported you. Thus we wanted to write to you expressing our support of messages which we know are from the Sacred Heart.
(Brother J-J, USA, July, 1992)
Je Lui rends grâces aussi d’avoir entendu à travers vous et vos livres Sa voix… entendu en moi, avec une telle puissance ‘Moi Dieu, Je t’aime’.
(Père Réginald Tardif, September 1992)
Vassula is one of the most balanced and transparent seers that I know. I would even be tempted to say that she is, in a most satisfying way, more normal, more balanced than most others.
(Fr. Rene Laurentin, France, 1993)
In March 1993 during my yearly retreats, as I was reading messages of Jesus, something wonderful happened to my spirit as I was filled with supernatural phenomenon penetrated my whole soul with love to my God and Saviour. I couldn’t hold back my tears, it’s something like falling in love with God, asking forgiveness and purification for passed sins.
The messages of Jesus are now for me a regular part of my daily spiritual reading, reading them its like falling into spiritual coma. I have no doubt that these messages are of supernatural origin and that powerful wonderful revivement I received during my yearly retreats, Jesus be blessed and loved from all of us for His graces.
(Fr. V. W. P., OSBM, Canada, May, 1993)
Prêtre depuis bientôt dix ans, je suis actuellement curé, responsable de cinq petites paroisses rurales. J’ai entendu parlé de vous, il y a quelques mois. A l’époque, je n’ai pas attaché d’importance à ce que l’on me disait jusqu’au jour où j’ai pu lire les cahiers 62 et suivants. Je fus bouleversé par les messages que Jésus, notre Bien-Aimé, nous transmet par votre intermédiaire. Par la pensée, par la prière, je vous suis très uni. Béni soit Jésus de vous avoir mise sur notre route. Que Notre Bien-Aimé vous bénisse et vous protège.
(Abbé A. B., France, October 1993)
Je suis une passionnée des messages de Jésus à Vassula. Je crois même pouvoir affirmer que j’ai été convertie par ces messages. Je possède, j’ai lu et médité les quatre volumes de la Vraie Vie en Dieu et les quatre suppléments parus à ce jour, ainsi que le petit livre Prières de Jésus et Vassula extraites de ces ouvrages. En outre, je recopie les cassettes que l’on me prête pour les faire écouter autour de moi et, quand cela m’est possible, je vais avec quelques soeurs voir des vidéo-cassettes chez des voisins. Moi qui vivais très superficiellement, moi plus que peu fidèle à ma vocation, j’ai vu se lever une grande lumière et QUELQU’UN m’a tendu la main. Je revis et ma joie est profonde, indescriptible. Mes supérieures et mes consoeurs s’étonnent : elles ne me reconnaissent plus. Comme je voudrais que Vassula le sache pour l’encourager à continuer vaillamment l’oeuvre que Jésus fait avec elle, par elle et en elle ! Je crois que des milliers et des milliers de personnes retrouvent et retrouveront encore le Seigneur à cause de l’Amour qu’Il a pour elle (et pour nous : c’est ce qu’elle nous montre) et à cause de sa merveilleuse réponse au Seigneur, qui est un exemple et une force. Par deux fois, en regardant et écoutant une vidéo-cassette, j’ai vu le visage de Jésus et de Marie à la place de celui de Vassula. J’étais bouleversée.
(Soeur M-C. P., Switzerland, January1994)
Sceptiques, malgré tout, comme eux, nous sommes allés vous (Vassula) entendre à Laval. Sceptiques, mais le coeur ouvert. Et Jésus nous a comblés. Vous n’y êtes pour rien, vous le savez, mais dès le début de la conférence, j’étais saisie par votre visage et ne comprenais pas. J’avais, devant moi, une femme élancée mais don le visage était étrangement masculin et le temps passant, je remarquais que ce visage masculin, que je connais mais ne pouvais identifier vraiment, s’affirmait surtout quand vous parliez au nom de JESUS. C’est alors que mon ami, prêtre non romain, me poussa du coude : ‘Mais, ne voyez-vous pas le visage de Jésus?’ Exactement ‘la Sainte Face de Jésus’. Je sortais alors cette Sainte Face de mon document, c’était cela ! et, jusqu’à la fin de la conférence nous avons vu et entendu Jésus. A la fin, le Père O’Carroll a fait allusion à ce phénomène déjà arrivé ailleurs, c’était pour nous une confirmation. Nous écoutions autour de nous ce qui se disait, mais, apparemment, seul notre petit groupe a reçu cette grâce, deux prêtres, un jeune couple et moi-même.
(Sr. J. L., France, June 1994)
Since I met you (Vassula) I have experienced a genuine closeness to Jesus and you every day.
(Fr. J. B., USA, November, 1994)
Vassula is for me a good friend, who tells me about the Love of God for all mankind. The messages are a hidden manna Jesus has reserved for our times of wilderness and iniquity. It is a powerful manna! And I am always hungry to re-read it. I pray that many, many others open their hearts to these beautiful Words from God.
(Sr. J, Holland, 1996)
The messages contained in True Life in God are unique, extraordinary and very special. They reveal to us the most exalted treasures in the Sacred Heart of Jesus hidden in the past and reserved in a special way for our time. They are the most important private revelations ever made.
(Fr. Robert Hughes, SM, San Jose, California, USA, January 1996)
I must say that I believe in Vassula Ryden as an authentic Visionary. I have had no physical healings but am sure that through her beautiful Messages from Jesus, both merciful ad pertinent, that my love for Jesus and the Eternal Father has been enhanced and has become a stronger and more vital part of me.
(Sr. M. R. N, USA, January, 1996)
I had personal love for Jesus but after reading Vassula;s books (messages of God) I come to know Jesus better and my love for Jesus grew deeper — These messages went to deep into my heart — Two or three, in fact 4 people told me their life also has changed.
(Sr. St. J., India, February, 1996)
About five minutes after the beginning of the tape and during Vassula’s talk on the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I saw blood form in the hair at the top of the right side of her head, soaking the hair. The blood ran down from the top of her head to her ear, down her cheek, right down to under her chin, soaking both under the chin and neck. I could see this quite plainly. Then as I saw Vassula begin to gesticulate with her hands, she turned the palms of her hands towards me and I saw both palms covered with blood which ran down all of her fingers to her finger tips. I saw this every time she turned her palms towards me. … The video lasted an hour. The vision lasted right until the very end of the tape until she had finished speaking — about 55 minutes. I was amazed at what I was seeing and lost in awe and wonderment — but very much at peace. I don’t know why I was chosen to witness The Passion revealed to me through this chosen instrument Vassula, whom I reverence and respect; even after 24 hours I am still lost in awe and wonderment.
I feel, through this vision, Christ is revealing to me the sufferings Vassula is going through at the present time.
(Brother M. A., Ireland, November 1996)
She (Vassula) was totally in touch with her audience in focusing on the first essential steps: establishing a warm basic intimacy with God — Father, Son & Holy Spirit. It was sensitive, concrete, warm and emminently practical. … The great sign of the success of her talk was the fact that, except for a few cripples and very elderly, all stayed for the blessing. That was a great sign that should not go unnoticed. Not only that — the owner of the theatre, the management, the technicians, the service people — ALL came and listened to the talk and lined up for the blessing. I wish you could have heard their remarks!
(Fr B., USA, December, 1996)
Que le Seigneur soit votre Tout. Merci pour votre fidélité, votre exemple. J’ai eu la joie de participer à la réunion de Lausanne le 18 décembre 1997. Quelle surprise, en montant sur le podium pour la bénédiction, de sentir un très fort parfum d’encens. Que le Saint Esprit vous couvre de son ombre et vous donne la grâce de vous conduire au Père.
(Soeur V. B, Switzerland, 1997)
What happened is not for me; it is to testify that what Vassula is saying is true. What I have just experienced, proves it to me. I have never had experiences like this, this is the first time. In fact, I never pray out loud and today before the Healing Service I said a prayer out loud. I felt that I had to say it. There was a power in me, which made me pray out loud to thank Vassula for being here. I have prayed to be able to see Jesus and my prayer was answered, I saw Him in Vassula. As she was blessing me I kissed her hand because I saw Jesus in her. She repeated several times: «it’s true, it’s true, it’s true.»
(Nun, Holy Land, 1997)
I started to read True Life in God, published by Obor at the end of 1995. When I read the book, I felt Jesus spoke to me directly. I became enthusiastic and read it till finished in a very short time. And I felt that my faith strengthened. So when Vassula was planning to come to Jakarta giving her testimony, I tried to get the ticket for myself and for some others straight-away. When I heard her words, I felt like reading True Life in God once again. And when I saw her appearance, my impression was: that lady is simple, honest and humble. Her simplicity can be seen from the way she dressed. Her honesty can be observed from her testimony that she was a nothing before Jesus came to her. Her humility can be observed from her style of conversation that she never boasts about her ability. Because of all this, I was very certain about the words that Vassula has been telling us cannot be from the evil spirit.
(Fr. I., Indonesia, March 1997)
I am indissolubly tied to believing in Vassula. I am tied to the evidence that she cannot be the author of all those wonderful messages, for I believe that there really is Jesus, God and Mary in she who writes, making themselves known and heard. This continuous dialogue occurring in her is real. I am sure of this. I have the evidence because I have been reading and meditating Vassula’s books for years.
(Father Guido Sommavilla SJ, Milan, April 1997)
Toute notre communauté religieuse vous reste profondément reconnaissante de votre passage à notre maison de Marseille et de ce que vous nous avez transmis. Bien souvent, nous nous unissons à votre prière et nous prions pour votre mission dans l’Eglise.
(Soeurs de Notre Dame des Neiges, France, October 1997)
Ce que Vassula dit sur la prière continuelle demandée par Jésus est merveilleux et nous montre qu’elle est à un niveau mystique très élevé. Vassula nous pousse à l’intimité avec Dieu et à la réunification de tous les chrétiens dans l’unité d’une seule Eglise, sous l’autorité du Pape de Rome. Il faut rester fidèles à l’Eglise, chargée par le Christ de diriger les fidèles, mais aussi fidèles à la Volonté de Dieu qui, pour nous, s’exprime à l’évidence par l’intermédiaire du prophète qu’Il nous envoie maintenant et qui s’appelle Vassula.
(Père J. R., France, February 1998)
I have also been asked to say why I support the messages of True Life in God. If somebody had told me about Vassula before I myself had heard her or had read the messages, I would probably have been uninterested, supposing it was another silly sect. I would not have said it was impossible with prophesies, revelations or messages like these, but I never had met anything like it. But since I for the first time heard Vassula in Rome in march 1995 I have been convinced that it is all true.
(Reverend Sverker Trônet, Sweden, May 1998)
Présent à la réunion de prière de Vassula tenue à Lyon le 17 octobre 1998, j’eus à la fin de la conférence la grâce particulière d’être appelé par elle pour la seconder dans sa longue prière sur les personnes présentes à la conférence qui se présentèrent en foule pour la lui demander. J’étais à ses côtés pour bénir pendant qu’elle priait intensément, gravement et en silence sur chaque personne. Or à deux reprises me tournant vers Vassula, je devais constater la modification totale de son visage dont les traits s’étaient non seulement masculinisés mais tels qu’ils apparaissaient à ce moment précis présentaient une ressemblance frappante avec ceux du visage du Christ restitué par l’élaboration de la NASA à partir du Saint Suaire. Le «phénomène» dura quelques secondes à chaque fois. Dès qu’il cessait, les traits du visage redevenaient ceux de Vassula. Très proche de Vassula, puisque à ses côtés pour devoir prier avec elle sur les personnes présentes, je n’ai pas pu être trompé par une quelconque illusion d’optique ou erreur de vision. D’autre part, je n’ai recherché d’aucune manière à «voir» ni même imaginé qu’un tel fait pouvait survenir à ce moment précis et en ma présence. J’atteste donc en conscience avoir été témoin direct et oculaire de cette transformation du visage de Vassula qui m’est apparu à deux reprises avec les traits propres de celui de Jésus, un visage de lumière, au regard brûlant d’amour, empreint de douleur et de grande fatigue, comme s’il était en sueur.
(Père R.-M. M., Toulon, France, November 1998)
Soy una Carmelita Descalza española y estos escritos me han ayudado mucho. El primer fruto fue hacerme experimentar el Señor cuánto me ama, con una alegría tan profunda, que las cosas no me afectan más que exteriormente. También en mi vida de oración me han ayudado: desde entonces me he sentido estimulada a hacer más ratos de oración que los que marcan nuestras Reglas. Desde que conocí estos mensajes, todo me parece poco para el Señor. Y todo esto con una gran alegría y paz interiores, que me ayudan mucho a mejorar la convivencia con las Hermanas. Ahora me sucede que cuando pasa la oración personal y tomo el método dado por Vassula para las reuniones, se me pasa el tiempo sin distracciones, lo que no es así cuando no sigo este esquema. Para mí los otros cristianos eran «hermanos separados» por los que había que rezar, aunque sin mucha esperanza. Ahora son hermanos muy queridos. La división del Cuerpo de Cristo me duele mucho más profundamente.
(H. M. D. del C. de Jesús, Carmelitas Descalzas, Spain 1999)
Je porte tout dans la prière quotidienne et l’Eucharistie — je suis un prêtre en retraite -. Toute ma reconnaissance pour cette oeuvre (la Vraie Vie en Dieu) tellement importante qui émane du Coeur de Jésus. Malgré toutes les oppositions «les fidèles resteront fidèles» et se multiplieront. Je prie avec vous tous. Loué soit Jésus-Christ !
(Père R. D., France, February 1999)
Je suis une carmélite déchaussée espagnole et ces écrits [la Vraie Vie en Dieu} m’ont beaucoup aidée dans ma vie de prière. Depuis que je connais ces messages, tout me paraît peu pour le Seigneur. J’éprouve une grande joie et une grande paix intérieures qui m’aident beaucoup à améliorer ma vie en communauté. Un autre thème sur lequel j’ai été éclairée en lisant ces messages est l’œcuménisme: la division du Corps du Christ me blesse beaucoup plus profondément; j’ai compris que par l’humilité, en reconnaissant nos propres fautes et en demandant pardon, et par l’amour, signe distinctif des chrétiens, nous obtiendrons l’unité de Son Église.
(Sr D., cd, Spain, August 1999)
My daily conversion is being assisted by Jesus’ messages given us through Vassula. These messages are not the only means Jesus is using but they do play a major role in guiding my life toward Him. I am especially helped by living my day with Jesus and Mary using ‘We, Us’ to remember that I am always in the presence of the Holy.
(H. S. B., OSB, Mexico, September 1999)
About this time I heard of Vassula and became slightly acquainted with «The Messages». Easter ’96 I wet to hear her speak in Limerick and realised that «the Pearl of great price» was within reach. Thereafter things happened very rapidly. In October’96 Vassula came to speak at «The Point» in Dublin. At that time we had the privilege of having her stay for a few days here in our Convent in Rathmines. The impact she made on me was tremendous. I felt awed by the fact that we were in the presence of a very special favourite of the Lord’s. Through the good offices of Frank Reynolds on November 24, ’96 we had a prayer meeting in Rathmines at which Sula and a companion from Rhodos were present. The events of that day changed my life. True Life in God became the focus of all my energies. The sins and failings of my earlier life had always been a burden of guilt that kept me looking back at me instead of into the loving face of my beloved Abba.
(Sr. N. D., Dublin, Ireland, September 1999)
I was introduced to True Life in God in November of 1997. I can only BEGIN to speak of the difference it has made in my life. How I pray, who I pray to, what I pray for, what brings me joy, what grieves my heart, what gives me life, how I spend my time, what I talk about, how I relate with others, all this has changed since TLIG.
I am a cradle Catholic and a Benedictine Sister. Brought up in a faith filled family, I was privileged to have a relationship with God from a tender age. Still, it seems by comparison, that I never knew the Triune God before. I have fallen in love with the Thrice Holy and this has changed my life. I have a greater love and deeper appreciation for Scriptures, the Sacraments (especially the Eucharist and Confession), my faith, Mary, the church and my vocation.
(Sr. J. H., OSB, USA, September 1999)
I am a cradle Catholic and a Benedictine Sister. I was privileged to have a relationship with God from a tender age. Still, it seems by comparison, that I never knew the Triune God before. I have fallen in love with The Trice-Holy, and this has changed my life. I have a greater love and deeper appreciation for Scriptures, the Sacraments (especially the Eucharist and confession). My faith, Mary, the church and my vocation. I have always experienced the mercy and compassion of God in ways I never experienced them before-in me, effecting my own healing; and through me, into the lives of others. My knowledge and understanding of life and faith has deepened. I pray for Vassula, grateful for allowing herself to be used in such an incredible way.
(Sr. S.J.H., USA, September 1999)
In my mind and heart there was no question that Jesus was speaking to me through Vassula. Then I became as a sponge reading everything the Lord put before me. I experienced tremendous sorrow for my sins and cried for weeks. I sometimes still experience that. I had such a longing for God and a fear of sin that I actually wanted to die then to be with God. . . . . I can’t even begin to tell you the kindness and goodness of Our Lord and Our Lady to me! I would be forever writing. Suffice it to say They continue to lead me. Worldly things mean nothing to me anymore.
(Sr. M. A. of Jesus (novice), Fort Wayne, USA, September, 1999)
I have been a Carmelite contemplative nun for over 28 years. It is important, I feel, for me to say at the outset of this that from when I was 18 years I have tried to give myself totally to God — never to refuse Him anything. However, as a result of becoming acquainted with Vassula I have experienced a radical conversion. As I began to read Jesus words to Vassula (and particularly after she prayed over me) I became aware to my amazement that my heart was quite hardened to God. Without my knowing it, a spirit of the world and rationalism under the guise of an «incarnational spirituality» had crept into my soul. Reading, allowing the words of Jesus through Vassula sink into my heart has helped me … to «convert» my «whole» being — especially my heart with all the hitherto dormant fires of its God given passion over to True Life in God.
(Sr. T. A. McC., Santa Clara, USA, September 1999)
I believe that the messages of TLG are almost self-validating, for I cannot imagine how they could have been written except under the control of the Spirit. The aspects of the messages which strike me most are the sense of intimacy with Jesus and the Father which they convey, the help they supply in learning to trust them, and the sense of how God works step by step in the souls of Vassula, myself, and others. I have a
doctorate in physics, have spent a great deal of time studying theology, and have had a fair amount of experience in giving spritual direction. I would like to confirm Fr. Edward O’Connor’s opinion expressed in his response to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Although isolated snippets from TLG could be understood in a negative way, the general context of the work makes it clear that TLG is not only free of error but is a profound, brilliant, and loving exposition of the gospel.
(Fr. R. J. P., S.J., USA, September 1999)
About a year ago I started to read TLIG thanks to a member of my community. My life in general had been very dry for years. This included attitudinal problems with the Vatican and Church leadership in general and a weak stance on abortion. Changes began immediately within me after reading TLIG. First I began praying the rosary everyday and the more I read, the more conscious I became of God, our Blessed Mother and the angels in my daily life. The messages also clarified for me what the call to pray, pray, pray meant and have been given the grace during conscious moments day and night to invoke God more than I ever had in the past.
(S. R. V., OSB, USA, September 1999)
It is now nearly three years I am in touch with the TLIG news which has brought about a remarkable change in my attitude towards my relationship with Jesus and Mary. It is an attitude of utter simplicity after knowing the mind of Jesus and His expectations of us humans, especially from those who have dedicated themselves by religious vows to strive after perfect love, which I picked up from the conversations between Jesus and Vassula. I have implicit faith in the authenticity of the messages that come to us through Vassula Ryden. The spiritual enlightenment that I have received is that spiritual the journey towards religious perfection isn’t as complicated as I formerly thought, but it is so very simple. Praying constantly means being aware of the living presence of Jesus at our side when we are busy at our work and not necessarily to be on our knees in our Chapel as I formerly understood. The T.L.I.G. books taught me that Jesus is so easily pleased and He is simply longing for our constant love and thought of Him. This has been a gradual process but is a new light with conviction.
(Sr. A., India, October 1999)
Sou sacerdote, procurei sempre viver meu sacerdócio com dignidade, amor e obediência a Igreja. Não andei a procura de revelações, visões. Por fruto do acaso me deparei com os livros de ‘A Verdadeira Vida em Deus’, fui tentado a lê-los, foi a melhor experiência que tive em toda a minha vida como sacerdote. Sempre que vou celebrar a Eucaristia, antes, por alguns minutos, leio alguma mensagem de Jesus contida naqueles livros. Percebo claramente a força interior e a intimidade de Jesus em toda a celebração, de uma maneira muito especial no poder da palavra, pois minhas pregações se tornam mais convincentes, mais cheias de fé, tocando mais os corações dos ouvintes. A ‘A Verdadeira Vida em Deus’ tem sido vida em meu sacerdócio.
(Pe. J. C., Brazil, October 1999)
Today I am enrolled in the Permanent Diaconate program within the Archdiocese of Boston, seeking to further serve The Lord, to work in His vineyard at a greater depth than ever before in my life. In many ways this is the direct result of Vassula’s visit to Boston when as part of my work on her visit I came to know the Director of Spirituality for the Archdiocese and drew closer to the PD program. TLIG has opened the door, shown me the way to becoming more deeply enveloped within His Sacred Heart. While many influences in my life have helped me to arrive here, primarily my wife with her love, it was TLIG that was the catalyst which helped move me to take these recent steps in my continuing journey to better serve the Lord.
(F. C., USA, October 1999)
Vassula prend le relais de saint Jean, de sainte Gertrude, de sainte Marguerite-Marie et elle devient un livre où Jésus écrit son hymne d’amour. La Vraie Vie en Dieu m’apprend le regard que Jésus jette sur notre monde refroidi dont «les ossements sont desséchés». Elle m’éclaire sur son dessein de le ressusciter en lui présentant son Cœur, abîme d’amour et de miséricorde. Elle est aussi une lumière sur la vie mystique, la vie d’union à Dieu. J’ai sentique Dieu nous attire dans les profondeurs de la vie intérieure. Cette œuvre intensifie ma relation avec le Saint-Esprit. Elle annonce le «baptême de feu» que vit l’Église et qu’elle vivra de plus en plus. L’Esprit Créateur est à l’œuvre avec Marie pour préparer des colonnes dans cette Église chancelante à nos yeux. La victoire est à nos portes et quel aliment pour l’espérance que l’enfantement «des cieux nouveaux et de la terre nouvelle».
(M. Ethier, s.a.a., Canada, October 1999)
Le cercle des gens est attirés vers le bien est de plus en plus grand, grâce aux livres de Vassula… Ce qui est vraiment grand et a une grande valeur doit traverser des épreuves douloureuses et parfois rencontrer d’immenses difficultés. Ayons confiance que Jésus vaincra cette fois-ci également. Je remercie toujours Dieu le Père qu’il y ait des gens simples ouvrant leurs coeurs aux exigences de Jésus…
(Sr. I, Poland, October 1999)
Les écrits „La Vraie Vie en Vie» m’ont attiré, mais pendant un certain temps j’ai abandonné cette lecture. Alors Dieu a voulu que je me trouve dans un état de crise spirituelle. J’ai reçu une lumière intérieure : retourner aux écrits de Vassula. D’un coup, les paroles de Jésus — qu’elle note — sont devenues pour moi une source de lumière et d’espérance. Tout d’abord, je ne les lisais pas systématiquement, pour enfin revenir et commencer par le début. Quel changement! Les difficultés ont disparu et les paroles de Jésus m’ont émerveillé… J’y retrouve maintenant une nourriture dont j’avais tant besoin et aussi un renforcement. Grâce à „La Vraie Vie en Vie» un bien se fait à l’intérieur de mon âme, un bien dont j’avais douté.
(Fr. P.J., Poland, October 1999)
Tous ceux qui lisent ces livres — les plus beaux livres -, commencent une nouvelle vie, reçoivent le don de la joie intérieure et la connaissance du Dieu de Bonté et de Miséricorde. C’est vraiment pour notre temps contemporain — le temps de la froideur au niveau de la foi — le Feu de l’Amour Divin qui fait revivre les coeurs humains si froids. Je remercie la Miséricorde Divine pour l’aide salvatrice qu’Elle nous donne pour approfondir notre foi en la Miséricorde de Dieu, en l’Amour de Dieu envers l’homme… Pendant la lecture de ce livre, l’âme se repose… Si on lit tous les volumes, puis le livret de prières, la lumière de Dieu resplendit et éclaire l’homme. Alors, dans le coeur, s’allume l’amour et la reconnaissance à Dieu Trois Fois Saint pour Sa Miséricorde pour nous, Ses enfants — pécheurs.
(Sr. M. K., Poland, October 1999)
Nous sommes tellement heureux que les livres de Vassula se trouvent dans notre communauté ! Ils nous aident à vivre plus profondément la Bonté sans mesures, l’Amour et Miséricorde que Notre Seigneur Jésus Christ a pour chaque âme… Ils nous aident à connaître plus profondément l’Amour sans limites que Jésus ressent pour nous les hommes, Sa douleur et Sa préoccupation pour que «tous soient un». J’ai compris combien Il désire notre amour réciproque et notre union avec Lui par les sacrifices, la pénitence, la souffrance pour sauver les âmes et le monde…
(Sr. M., Poland, October 1999)
Les écrits «a Vraie Vie en Vie» constituent comme une «somme mystique». Les éléments caractéristiques : simplicité évangélique, accessibilité et lisibilité pour les âmes «simples». Ces paroles peuvent sembler une exagération, mais pour moi c’est la vraie voix du Seigneur. La même voix qu’Abraham avait entendu, les Patriarches et Prophètes, enfin les Apôtres. La même voix qui résonne dans la Liturgie, dans laquelle Dieu parle aux hommes et les hommes parlent à Dieu. J’espère qu’un jour cette voix soit reconnue.
(Sr. M.N., Poland, October 1999)
I was first exposed to the writings that come from the hand of Vassula Ryden about two and a half years ago, in Peru. I also was able to meet her several years ago in Peru. I was especially impressed by the ‘ordinary-ness’ of Vassula, the simple clarity of her message, and the humble fidelity of her presentation. I did not see a person who was promoting herself. Rather she maitained a faithfulness to what the Lord had told her. Nothing added on. I did not begin to read the messages themselves, however, for a couple of years after first meeting her. I would not say that they provoked a dramatic change of my life, but the messages came to me like a breath of fresh air. The words I began to read sounded to me like the voice of the Lord that I already knew and loved, and came to renew me and draw me closer, to him and to his Holy Mother. I was astounded by the depth of the spirituality of the writings — touching those places that only those greatest mystics of the Church have been able to talk about
(Rev. J. H. P., C.S.C., USA, October 1999)
Quelle joie! J’ai reçu trois volumes écrits par Vassula . Combien de détails de ses entretiens avec le Christ ! Déjà la lecture d’un seul cahier me permets de vivre dans la plus grande intimité avec Jésus. La lecture des ses écrits aide beaucoup à prier et méditer sur le Christ. Ces paroles sont tellement vivantes et concrètes qu’on peut presque Le toucher. Que ce livre inspire les coeurs des prêtres ! Le livre de Vassula m’aide à découvrir comment vivre avec le Christ. C’est un nouveau trésor qui nous rapproche du Christ. Pourvu que beaucoup de croyants puissent goûter et se nourrir par les précieux et vivants écrits de Vassula !
(Fr. K. S., Poland, October 1999)
After reading TLIG, striving — despite Satan’s terrible oppressions — to live it, and finding it so helpful in making myself faithful too to the spirituality of St. John Bosco, I re-decided to be either a good Salesian priest or nothing at all and re-committed my self again to offer my life for the young persons God will send me as a Salesian and for any soul He wants me to guide for his or her salvation in Christ. Since then whatever God gave me to do: Holy Masses, confessions, retreats, catechetical sessions, classroom activities, conferences, counselling, homilies and spiritual directions — all for saving souls- have been powerful and grace-filled experiences. Never have I felt myself as a real instrument of His as now! Praised be Jesus Christ!
(Fr. R. S., SDB, Philippines, October 1999)
Empecé a leer porque me dijeron que hablaba de Garabandal, más tarde a colaborar en su traducción. Ese contacto palabra por palabra me llevaba a menudo a interiorizarlo personalmente, a tener para mí los criterios de Jesús acerca de la vida y de la situación del mundo de hoy, tan distintos del pensamiento habitual en ambientes cristianos, pero que coinciden con otros mensajes del Señor o Marianos. He visto cambiar a personas que han tomado esta Obra en sus manos y ha puesto en mí el mismo deseo.
(L. M. T. de C., S.J., Spain, October 1999)
Three years have passed since. I have read all 8 Volumes meanwhile not only once but several times. I consider these messages to be truly Gods word for our times and the most important readings for this world, especially for the clergy. My sacerdotal vocation has come back into full life and a new joy has filled my heart never dreamed of. Now I have become a fervent missionary in my country for the Pope, for unification of the churches and for the new Pentecost which is soon coming unto us. Praise be to God!
(Fr. G. Wenzel, Germany, October 1999)
Cardinal Sfeir
His Eminence Cardinal Mar Nasrallah Peter Sfeir, the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and all the East addresses TLIG Pilgrims
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We welcome you to Lebanon. The ecumenical movement is dear to the Universal Church, and you know that the Catholic Church has tried its best to achieve unity among Christians. The Catholic Church has a special commission headed by a Cardinal, and this Cardinal is striving to contact all factions of the Christian faith to seek the path of unity. You know well that the Maronite Church is a Catholic Church and has no equivalence in Orthodoxy. Since it’s birth (the Maronite Church) was, and will stay, with God’s blessing
as it is. The Maronites are scattered all over the world, especially in the Western World.
I believe that some of you have met Maronites in various countries, whether in Brazil, Australia, Canada, the United States or Venezuela. We are longing like you for this unity wanted by our Lord Jesus Christ when he said, «be one as I and You my Father are one». We know that Mrs. Vassula has come before to Lebanon and is seeking to achieve this unity. We know as well that she has presented her doctrine and thoughts to the Apostolic Chair who published some writings concerning this subject. We intend that our faith be one in Jesus Christ who is our Redeemer and Saviour. If there were disagreements that happened throughout history for whatever reasons and purposes, We ask God to forgive us all our offenses and to bring us back to unity. This unity is our testimony to those who do not believe in Christ, as any divisions among us cannot generate belief, which is exactly what Our Lord Jesus Christ already pointed out. We pray with you for the sake of this unity, may God fulfill it in the image and date he deems appropriate.
I ask God to open up the right paths for you and for us, so that we gain His approval, and so that we’re able to testify to the world a testimony of unity and not of divisions, as the world now is in dire need of this unity, especially that of the Christians. Thank you for coming to Lebanon. Lebanon is the land where Christians of all factions have gathered, and as you must know, there’s a total of 18 denominations. Yes, these denominations consist of 6 Catholic ones, 5 Orthodox ones, the rest being Muslim ones, as they also vary. As you know, Muslims are divided into Sunnite, Shiite, Druze and so forth. That is why Lebanon is considered the melting pot for all people. They know that they have to live with one another in mutual understanding, faith, and love, assisting each other with sincerity. We ask God to be with you, may He bless you and assist you in this endeavor toward the accomplishment of this Unity. Thank you.
The Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem
The Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem
The Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem
Bishop Riah came to London in September 2005 to accompany Vassula during her evangelisation meeting. This testimony is in reference to that.
The event in London was most encouraging. Vassula’s Testimony, the gracious way of sharing her life and experience with God and with the Lord Jesus Christ, was most inspiring. I continue to believe that the age of seeing visions is not over. Jesus in His Beatitudes did say that the pure in heart will see God. And as long as people have a pure heart, and a pure mind, God will open their eyes and they will see Him face to face — not as someone up there in heaven, but active in our midst, in our world. This is what True Life in God endeavors to present. I pray God’s blessing upon all who are committed to the cause of life which is Christ’s major concern for the human race. May God continue to bless Vassula and use her and her testimony to bring hope and promote the Gospel of Christ.
Bishop Anil Joseph Thomas Couto
Bishop of Delhi, India addresses TLIG Pilgrims in May 2005
(…) St. Catherine of Sienna and all the other great Saints once who have made a big mark in History I don’t have to tell you about that. And who challenged and who convinced the Pope’s and so on to come back to the Gospel way of life.
I must confess that I was not too much into this at the beginning. I had an experience of Vassula in Delhi in 1990 before I became Bishop. I had just returned from Rome after my Ecumenical studies. We had a very nice meeting with all the Pastors and so on. But at that time I did not take it so seriously I said there are many people like this in the world today and so on. But as I began to read her writings her messages and so on I said she is true she is real and a way to Unity as I was reading yesterday there is nothing else but Repentance, Humility, Love and to understand and except one another at the level of the heart and I can watch for it.
It has been happening during the last 4 days for the first time in my life and I am sure that is the experience for so many of us. For the first time in our life we have been experiencing the Eucharist together. The Orthodox, the Catholics, the Anglicans, and so on. Of course, we were saying the other Protestant groups are not there and how if they were there, they would have also taken the Holy Eucharist. We could think of getting them into the next Pilgrimage, focusing on the Word of God. And seeing how the Word of God, how our own experience, the faith in Jesus Christ, our Christian experience of discipleship, and so on can unite all of us together and then it would lead them to the Holy Eucharist and to the whole tradition of the Catholic tradition which we all share not just Roman Catholic. But, the Catholic tradition, of the Church that we all share. To lead them to the whole understanding of what the Church is .The whole tradition of the Church.
So, that can be our plan for the next Pilgrimage. To gather to get others who do not believe in the Eucharist as the center of Unity. But certainly the word of God, as the center of Unity. I’m sure for all of us; the Word of God is the foundation. We realized this in Delhi when our Holy Father Pope John Paul II died and we had an Ecumenical prayer service. We gathered so many of them together and all of them spoke so beautifully on death and resurrection the whole faith that we all share. So we said, we may not be able to unite at the Eucharistic table but certainly we can unite at the table of the word of God. Therefore, we can bring in the Protestants together and that will be a chance also for us to share the faith that we all have in common and finally to bring them to the Unity of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
So, thank you very much Vassula. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.
Fr. René Laurentin
Fr. René Laurentin
Response to Vassula’s detractors
«Vassula is one of the most balanced and transparent seers that I know. I would even be tempted to say that she is, in a most satisfying way, more normal, more balanced than most others.»
So writes Rene Laurentin in his book «When God gives a Sign», a response to objections made against Vassula. Copied below are two extracts from the book which deal with two of the most commonly repeated objections.
(For details of the book and sources of supply click here)
Vassula’s marriage status
«She is divorced and remarried. That seems to be the biggest problem. In fact, her marital status today is perfectly in order. She was married in church to a Protestant (1966) at a time when she was not practicing any religion. After a civil divorce (1980) she was remarried on June 13, 1981. She thought, at the time, that it was a Protestant ceremony according to her husband’s religion, but, in fact, it was a civil marriage. Only a nominal Christian, without contact with her Orthodox Church, she did not even know that her remarriage could be the source of problems. When she presented herself to her church to regularize her marriage, the first priest to whom she spoke could not even seem to feel that there was a problem since it was a mixed marriage. But she insisted, in order to be truly in accord with Orthodox legislation. It was then that she was referred to the priest in charge of marriage problems, and it was he who took care of the matter following the ‘law of economy’ that deals with broken marriages in her church.
«The marriage was celebrated on October 13,1990, in the Greek Orthodox Church of Lausanne. Thus, according to church law her situation presents no problems.»
Note also, Vassula was questioned by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith on this very matter. See her response to question number two in the article entitled Dialogue with the CDF.
Theological error
«The most serious attacks concern the Trinity. On reading them, I was impressed. Could I have badly read Vassula, I asked myself? The ambiguities that exist in all prophetic, poetic, or mystical texts; even biblical, would they be demeaned by assumed errors? I lost much time trying to find incriminating phrases. They appeared entirely different in their context, stripped of the distortions and the changed nature to which the passion of the heresy seekers had submitted them.
«The most reputed theologian among Vassula’s adversaries thought he had found in her the ancient heresy called «patripassianisme» of Noet, Epigone, Cleomene and Praxas, for whom the Father is himself incarnated and suffered the Passion; because to them, he only had one person, no Trinity.
«In the original manuscript, of which the edition has erased the references to render more difficult control over the accusations, the author gives four references to the original English text according to the first Edition. NB10:18+ (in his dactylographic text, Vassula’s adversary always cites the first English edition: the offset reproduction of the manuscript — not the second, nor the typographical); NB18:10+; NB54:29+; NB48:38+.
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On April 7,1987, it is not the Father who is speaking, which is, moreover, very rare for Vassula. It is Jesus, as she and her readers have always recognized him and as the context indicates. NB10:18
That which has led the author to confusion is that sometimes Vassula calls Jesus «Father», according to a title given to the King Messiah by Isaiah 9:10 (9:6). And if he is our brother as a man, he is Father as God; Author of our very existence. Thus he calls his disciples, «My little children» (John 13:33). Vassula saw this filial relationship at the same time as being brotherly and spousal. These diverse facets are very well articulated for this married woman, who does not confuse the human plan with the mystical. Happily, because if she used the language of the Song of Songs: «Let him not kiss me with the kisses of his mouth»(Sg1:3), or even of certain mystics, celebrating their spousal marriage with Jesus, she would receive a terrible avalanche of criticism. By the simple fact that she uses the verb to «feel» to signify the love she owes Christ or that Christ has for us, her fault finder accuses her of sentimentalism and eroticism quite displaced in its sexual overtones. However, Vassula is without ambiguity. If Jesus kisses her, it is on the forehead, like a father. Everything is as it should be, in the realm of opinion as in the realm of theology. Christianity has never endowed with guilt, neither the heart nor feelings.
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In the second incriminating passage:
November 8,1987, the heavenly interlocutor says; «My Cross is on you, bear It with love, My Cross is the door to true tife, embrace It willingly. Abnegation and suffering lead into a divine path.» NB18:10
It is Jesus who speaks, and it is clear, since he says in the first Me: «Me,(Moi) your Jesus.» Then why attribute it to the Father, why lance Vassula with the poison arrow of Patripassianism?
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In the third incriminating passage it is Jesus who speaks of his cross and the context is most clear. It is Jesus alone who speaks on that particular day, for the duration of several pages. NB54:15+
That which has permitted the inquisitor to find the heresy that he is looking for, is that in the preceding lines where Jesus echoes Jn 12:23-25, he calls to mind the moment where he announced the imminent arrival of his «hour» (Jn l2:23); and where the voice of the Father had just glorified him (12:24-25). But it is He who calls forth from the passage the voice of the Father, and not the Father who speaks in all the pages.
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The accuser believed he had found the erroneous attribution of the Passion to the Father in a fourth passage. In fact, in this passage, Vassula hears successively the voice of the Father; who alone says: «My child»; then that of the Son: «penetrate my wounds, eat my Body and drink my Blood…» NB48:38
Quotation marks, asterisks and a manuscript note at the bottom of the page indicate the change of interlocutor:
«Now, it is the Son who speaks» says the note.
The theologian, who read too quickly, attributes to the Father that which the Son says. He has, no doubt, the excuse of working on the handwritten text, worried about exactness. But after that he would have had to give attention to the least details to not distort the text.»
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Dear Ms Ryden,
It is an occasion of great pleasure and personal satisfaction for us to recognize in you a new catalyst of spiritual rejuvenation who can talk to our present generation in a most persuasive language, through the books you are publishing. Your inspired mission of bringing the message of Christ to others is a source of profound joy to the Church. And your indefatigable zeal of drawing strength from and seeking regeneration and reinforcement in your Greek roots, should set an enviable example of dedicated fidelity, to our tortured youth.
In our days, at time when crass materialism has taken such a deep root in the hearts of men, it is refreshing to know that all is not lost, that there still are among us people like yourself who are in communion with the Creator, and able to transmit to us the benefit of your inspiration.
We take pride in encouraging your ecumenical mission and pray for your success.
We look forward to reading your next book. Meanwhile, we send you our blessings from the Holy City of God and ask the Lord to keep you and guard you.
Archbishop David Sahagian
Chancellor & Grand Sacristan
Canon Law
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Dear Sir,
We have been asked from time to time for advice on the Canonical position of Roman Catholics who face hostility from their Parish priests or Bishops to the teachings and writing of Vassula Ryden, the Greek Orthodox Visionary.
The material facts are that the Church has never pronounced Vassula’s writings to be against the teachings of the Church. In his public statements the Prefect of the Congregation for Faith and Doctrine (Cardinal Ratzinger) has carefully avoided saying that there is heresy or error in the messages of Vassula. Far from criticising her teaching, the Cardinal told the Brazilian Bishops, for example, that they were to continue to promote Vassula’s writings with discernment. He has also said that the faithful should continue to view her writings with a prudent eye, maintaining a discerning attitude. In 1998, the Holy Father when given her latest book said, «May God Bless Her». The central theme of Vassula’s messages (the recovery of Unity between Christians) reinforces the untiring efforts of Pope John Paul II towards Christian Unity.
The relevant povisions of the Canon Law are as follows: —
(i) The duty to seek the truth — One of the most remarkable documents of Vatican II was the Declaration on Religious Freedom (Dignitatis Humanae). The following passage appears in paragraph 2:
«It is in accordance with their dignity as persons — that is being endowed with reason and free will and therefore privilege to bear personal responsibility — that all men should be at once impelled by nature and also bound by a moral obligation to seek the truth, especially religious truth. They are also bound to adhere to the truth, once it is known and to order their whole lives in accordance with the demands of truth».
And in paragraph 3:
«Hence everyman has the duty and therefore the right to seek the truth in matters religious in order that he may with prudence form for himself right and true judgements of conscience, with the use of all suitable means».
These principles inspired Canon 748 which obliges all persons to seek the truth and once having perceived it to accept the obligation imposed by divine law to observe it. The Canon goes on to entrench conscience and immunity from coercion in regard to the Catholic Faith. It is widely accepted that this Canon enshrines the stance of the Declaration on Religious Freedom and legitimised the notion that Revealed Truth is a developing concept, not something, which is held by the Magisterium in a fixed state.
(ii) The rights of the Faithful — It is a fundamental theological truth expressed in the juridical language of Canon 204 that all of the Christian Faithful incorporated in Christ through Baptism are involved in the mission of the Church, sharing in Christ’s priestly, prophetic and royal offices in their own manner. Following Vatican II (Lumen Gentium par 10) this Law reverses the old impression that only the hierarchy is entrusted with the mission of Christ and the Code of Canon Law clearly sets out the role of all Christians in the mission of the Church particularly that of lay persons.
(iii) The right to express an opinion — Whilst the Christian Faithful must follow the teaching of the faith as determined by leaders of the Church (Canon 212.1) they are given a specific right and even at times a duty to make known their opinion on matters pertaining to the good of the Church to their Bishops and to other Christian Faithful (Canon 212.3) and the Code of Canon Law proclaims that the Church is to safeguard and expound revealed truth, and to preach the gospel, but again following the Second Vatican council (Lumen Gentium paras 12, 31, 35) it is all of the people of God who share in the prophetic and teaching office of Christ, not only the hierarchy or the Clergy (Canon 747)
(iv) The Ecumenical Duty — Canon 755 acknowledges that the Church is bound by the will of Christ (the strongest mandate known to Christians) to promote unity. The College of Bishops and the Holy See are to direct the participation of Catholics in the Ecumenical Movement and the Bishops are to do the same in the Churches entrusted to them. This Canon which of course is routed in a Second Vatican Council Paper (Decree on Ecumenism) is cast in very positive terms «to promote.. the ecumenical movement, whose purpose is the restoration of unity among all Christians». It urges in the second part the local Bishops to promote Christian unity and to establish guidelines for action to that purpose. Given that this is the unity for which Christ Himself prayed (the Gospel of John Chapter 17) it is hard to underestimate the importance of these canonical duties.
It follows that Clergy should not attempt to fetter members of the Catholic Faithful from performing the duty to seek the truth, bearing in mind that Ecclesiastical approval is not required for them to attend Vassula’s meetings (she is after all a Greek Orthodox). They should not undermine the rights of Lay people to give their opinion on matters of importance affecting the Church and their Canonical right to be involved in the Mission of the Church. Indeed they have a duty to assist in the promotion of Christian Unity, as enjoined by Christ Himself, and set forth in the clearest terms in Canon 755.
Yours faithfully,
ANTHONY W JEREMY
Letter to Cardinal Ratzinger
To: Mgr Joseph Ratzinger Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of FaithAvignon, 28 January 1996
Your Eminence,
Allow me to come back to my previous letter to you, concerning Mrs Vassula Ryden because I am astonished and perplexed by the procedure adopted by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding this case.
Usually the Roman Curia, and especially your Sacred Congregation, treats these cases with a great deal of respect and kindness towards the persons brought to judgement, and in conformity with the demands of Code of Canon Law (especially articles 220 and 221) and we always remember the surprising patience and delicacy used with regard especially to Fr Schillebeeckx: and Fr Boff.
But with the present case, because of the disregard of Canon Law, is it certain that the Spirit of the Gospel has been respected? Was it really so urgent and was there such grave danger for faith and morals to set aside usual methods in reaching a judgement which resembles a condemnation on the faith, the communion with the Church and the Writings of Mrs Vassula Ryden, without having warned her beforehand (is it true that she learned of her condemnation through the press?) and without giving her the possibility of defending her cause, and without questioning the many Catholic priests who know her and especially her Spiritual Director, Fr O’Carroll?
Being an Exorcist Priest, I have many times encountered the enemy face to face, the real Anti-Christ and I have the painful habit of hearing from the mouth of this liar and rebel «Messages» which have no resemblance with what Mrs Vassula Ryden receives.
Being also a graphologist (with a diploma) I have been precisely in the «modalities» to which the Notification refers and I have closely studied Mrs Ryden’s handwriting in the messages, but they do not bear and are not in relation to the automatic handwriting or content of messages of spiritualists.
Mrs Ryden’s messages have a remarkable doctrinal rigour, agreement with the Bible and a spiritual loftiness which one never finds in spiritualists’ revelations.
Apart from the personality of Mrs Ryden, and of her Christian (Orthodox) and moral conduct which Fr O’Carroll can talk to you about and to keep strictly to the Messages which she receives from Christ Himself, allow me to submit my conclusions to you.
I leave aside deliberately the hypothesis of an ingenious and perverse trick, the content of the Messages is far beyond the personal possibility (theological and literary) of Mrs, Ryden.
In all unusual manifestations (mystical or pathological), three possibilities are open for discernment.
THE DIABOLICAL ORIGIN — this is to be totally discarded! Because the evil spirit cannot continuously imitate or mimic the voice of Christ. And the Dia-bolos would not risk to invite the divided Church to reconcile in Unity and under the primacy of «Peter» and far less to underline the vital importance of the Eucharist.
THE PSYCHIC ORIGIN — to be in a paranormal state — but the study of «modalities» (Bible, setting etc.) escapes completely the phenomena of medium use or of trance. To be in a state of unconsciousness, this would suppose an unconsciousness that was of genus theologicai intuitions (which surpass the memory content of the receiver), a harmonious constant and flawless logic.
This has never been found in my logic. All the more that this unconscious state, far from turning back on itself, remains constantly open to a mysterious Being whose personality in no way reflects what we know about Mrs Ryden, but on the contrary resembles Christ and the Faith of the Church. Could the unconscious be capable of the duration of such an architectural construction of such great literary beauty and profound theological teaching?
There remains THE SUPERNATURAL ORIGIN. Logic imposes this conclusion (for many reasons which I cannot develop here) and, I add, it commits us. For if it is really a question of the Lord speaking to His Church, then we are not allowed to treat these Messages with contempt and indifference, satisfying ourselves with a quick and superficial reading and still less by our refusal for which we should have to answer.
These messages are not centred on the person of Vassula who is only the instrument and the messenger, but on the Mysterium Fidei and the Mysterium Ecclesiae. At the heart of the Message: the primacy of «Peter» which is in danger. And you know better than I do of the constant and dangerous increase of the challenge and the confusion which endangers the Body of the Church.
This word which comes from Above invites us insistently to reconciliation of the whole Church which is one in the heart of God, but is divided with and by the disciples of Christ. A gesture is asked for (so desired by Paul VI) to celebrate together, on the same day, the Pasch of the Lord. If we accomplish this small step, the Lord will do the rest.
Your Sacred Congregation thought that it had to take a position regarding these Messages! But there is one question to ask! We, the priests of the Catholic Church (and Bishops, numerous outside France), who have believed in these Messages and believe that they come from the mouth of the Lord, are we really in error?
And are we disobedient to the Church by believing in recognizing the voice of its Master and Pastor, Who invites us to conversion and to Unity in the Faith «so that men believe»? Are we always in communion with the Church when we perceive in these Writings not a Call to the «Pan-Christian Community», but an invitation to all the Church, divided in its members, to unite under the guidance of ‘Peter’?
Also, pardon my daring, would it not be necessary to name a commission to study in a serene and objective manner the writings (published and unpublished) of Mrs Ryden which would question her in all justice. Too many Christians are really troubled by the Notification of your Sacred Congregation which gives no precise motivation for its judgement which strikes deeply at their gospel sensitivity and wounds their faith in Christ Jesus whose voice they believe and always think they hear through these messages!
That is why, Your Eminence, who is my Father in Faith and my Brother in Christ, kneeling before the Cross of the Saviour who destroys the powers of hell and who saves us from the «Father of Lies», I say to you: IT IS THE LORD! May we listen to Him!
As a son who is submissive to the Holy Church, my Mother, which alone possesses the Words of Eternal Life, but wounded in my heart before this decision which strikes at my faith in Christ and which I cannot understand.
Father Christian Curty
Guardian, Franciscan Monastery
Priest-Exorcist for the Dioceses of Avignon and Marseille, France
Father Miguel Contardo SJ
In defense of Vassula Rydén,
regarding an article of «L’Osservatore Romano«(no 44),
dated November 3, 1995.
Clarifying Notes
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The Lord warned Vassula, on several occasions, that she would have many detractors, both Catholics and mainly Orthodox.
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Father Gobbi, Director and Founder of the «Marian Movement of Priests», talked to us of the «Ecclesiastical masonry», as the «Beast coming out of the sea», referred to in the Revelation, and that it’s influence penetrates the social communication means, even within the Vatican.
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John XXIII and Paul VI talked about «the smoke of Satan» inside the Church, regarding infiltrations on the Vatican Council II.
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«Notification» does not mean «prohibition», but «warning» or «careful look», so as not to be deviated by false interpretations.
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The Holy Father, John Paul II, on several occasions, has blessed and encouraged the activities of Vassula, such as Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith has done.
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Great Catholic theologians, such as Father René Laurentin, Fernando Umaña, Michael O’Carroll, etc., etc., have studied and analyzed in depth the writings of Vassula, and have praised them, recommending the same to the faithful. Had they found any error in the writings, they would have warned about them and would not have risked to their publication.
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Vassula has as spiritual Director, a virtuous and wise Irish priest, who accompanies her in her journeys, approved by the Holy See.
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The article of «L’Osservatore Romano» does not have the signature of Cardinal Ratzinger. It is published as one more piece of news given by some member of said Congregation, and such member is not the Congregation. As such, it does not have value of «Document», but is simply a piece of news or mere opinion of some member of the Congregation. There is nothing official.
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It is not the first time that the aforementioned journal, «L’Osservatore Romano«, publishes something, not only without the authorization of the Holy Father, but even, in contradiction with his way of thinking.
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We must know how to «read between the lines» and not to be scandalized too much by the opinions of men who are subject to error. Neither should we be so «determinant» to believe that the opinion given by a journal, even a religious one, constitutes almost a truth of faith. Consequently, we should not submit blindly to what is said. We must know how to «discern correctly», asking the Holy Spirit for His Light.
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We will try to examine objectively what is said in the article published in such journal. For better clarity, we will carefully analyze each paragraph or issue of the same.
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The second paragraph states: «A calm, attentive examination of the entire question…». The examination is neither calm nor attentive, but quick and superficial.
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The third paragraph states: «…it is necessary to underscore several doctrinal errors…». Which are those doctrinal errors? If they are so important, the article should point them out and refute them. However, mention is only made to the same, without naming or enumerating them.
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Fourth paragraph: «…ambiguous language is used in speaking of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, to the point of confusing the specific names and functions of the Divine Persons«. There is no such confusion, since the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are One and Only God, no more. Vassula treats the Father as «Abba» (Daddy, dear Father), as Jesus Himself taught us when He talked with His Father, issue that scandalized the Pharisees of His time. And in this way, Vassula talks to the Eternal Father, Who during a long time taught her the «Our Father» prayer. She treats the «Son» as God and elder brother, trusting Him like a friend, and the Holy Spirit, as the Love between Them, and the inspirer of Their thoughts.
Now, if someone wants to find error with inquisitive eyes, he will also find errors in the writings of many Holy Fathers. And when acting in bad faith, he could search for errors even in the Holy Scriptures. For example, if a phrase said by Our Lord, is read trivially, such as: «I have come to bring fire to the earth», it could easily be deemed, simply interpreted, as praise to the pyromaniacs. Or when He says: «I have come to divide the mother in-law from the daughter in-law», this could be the subject of sacrilegious and tasteless jokes.
The same fourth paragraph continues: «In millenarian style, it is prophesied that God is going to make a final glorious intervention which initiate on earth even before Christ definitive coming, an era of peace and universal prosperity«. The phrase «millenarian style» seems esoteric and occult. And such phrase, wrongly used or distorted, can in fact induce to rejection and error. Vassula does not talk of the «millennium» in such way, as the person who read «attentively and calmly» tries to convey. This coming of Christ in Glory and Majesty is a phrase of the Holy Scripture, which has been carefully examined by many Doctors of the Church.
Further on, the same paragraph indicates: «…the proximate arrival is foretold of a Church which would be a kind of pan-Christian community, contrary to Catholic doctrine.» Never in the writings of Vassula does she mention a pan-Christian Church. This is a terrible interpretation of the desire of Christ to form «One Church» or «One Flock under One Shepherd». This is what Vassula says, such as Our Lord wants it, and not as a mixture of Churches, like such article interprets it. Consequently, the author of the article in «L’Osservatore Romano» says things that Vassula has not said and interprets, in a twisted way, her writings.
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«The fact that the aforementioned errors no longer appear in Ryden’s later writings is a sign that the alleged «heavenly messages» are merely the result of private meditations.» Such errors do not appear in any writing of Vassula, errors that the critic in question insistently wants to find.
«Moreover, by habitually sharing in the sacraments of the Catholic Church even though she is Greek Orthodox…» So what does the fact that she was born Greek Orthodox has anything to do with this? Are the Sacraments of the Greek Orthodox Church not valid and recognized by the Catholic Church?
Further on, it is stated: «She appears to be putting herself above all ecclesiastical jurisdiction and every canonical norm…» This expression is what is called a pharisaic scandal, a twisted interpretation, in an almost ridiculing way.
The text continues: «…and, in effect, is creating an ecumenical disorder that irritates many authorities, ministers and faithful of her own Church, as she puts herself outside the ecclesiastical discipline of the latter.» It is logical that Vassula annoys some Orthodox clergy, «by touching the open wound», since Our Lord tells them that they must obey Peter, that is the Pope, and that now such Peter is John Paul II. Our Lord has told Vassula that she would encounter the major difficulties, precisely, form the Orthodox ecclesiastical authorities, since they will not want to obey the Pope as Sovereign Pontiff.
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The sixth paragraph says: «Given the negative effect of Vassula Ryden’s activities, despite some positive aspects, this Congregation requests the intervention of the Bishops…». This is a request or petition, not an order or command.
It goes on: «…so that their faithful may be suitably informed…» Inform, explain, so that there are no error through their own misinterpretation, like it happens with all private revelation or movement of the Church. (For example, the Charismatic Renewal, the Schoenstatian Movement, Cevex, etc.). Furthermore, «suitably» means in a prudent, intelligent and mature manner.
The writer continues: «…and that no opportunity may be provided in their Dioceses for the dissemination of her ideas«. This refers to the dissemination of their misinterpreted ideas, like in any movement or private revelation.
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«Lastly, the Congregation invites all the faithful not to regard Mrs. Vassula Ryden’s writings and speeches as supernatural…» . And if they are supernatural, as we believe they are, what right do they have to dare dogmatize something that is still in the process of being studied and that is respected and meditated by great and solid theologians of the Catholic Church, including Cardinal Ratzinger himself, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith and His Holiness, Pope John Paul II himself?
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The article further states: «…and to preserve the purity of the faith that the Lord has entrusted to the Church«. We are all in agreement with this.
Consequently, the conclusions are obvious. There is no prohibition to read these writings; however, we must be careful to analyze them with due prudence, previously invoking the Holy Spirit so that He illumines our minds and encourage our will to always do the Will of God.
Father Miguel Contardo SJ
Chile
January 1996
Commentary on the Notification on Vassula Ryden
by Fr. Robert Hughes, SM Fr. Robert Hughes, SM Queen of Apostles Church San Jose, California 95129 January 25, 1996 (written in Scottsdale, Arizona, while on sabbatical)
Vassula Ryden
At a meeting with Pope John Paul II, Vassula Ryden presented him with several collections of her writings in various languages — one of which was in Polish. Later, Cardinal Sedano, the Secretary of State, reported that the Pope read her writings «with great interest».
Cardinal Franjo Kuharic, Archbishop of Zagreb, also received Vassula in private audience for over an hour. Afterwards the Cardinal said to her: «You are like Saint Paul…you declare the whole truth…» He blessed her saying twice: «I bless you and your mission». And then he added: «This is a matter of private revelation and we allow her to speak, because what she says conforms to Gospel truth». Archbishop Frane Franic, President of the Theological Commission of Bishops in the former Yugoslavia, came strongly to her defense during a conference in Italy. He called her «a miracle and an object of wonder». He went on to say: «Her messages are alive and authentic… These messages can help us toward a better understanding of Jesus’ messages in the Gospel… It seems to me … that Vassula’s main charism is to show the purity of the integral revelation of God».
A long line of Church Prelates and Bishops throughout the world have written personal letters to her inviting her to speak in their dioceses. The late Cardinal Posada of Guadelajara, Mexico, before his assassination, invited Vassula to speak in his cathedral. Here in California Bishop John Quinn, the former Bishop of Sacramento, and Bishop Donald Montrose of Stockton did the same. Likewise Bishops in Africa and South America. Eight Archbishops and Bishops in Brazil (the Cardinal wanted to participate but fell ill) alone received her enthusiastically, where she spoke to very large crowds (20,000). These Bishops requested private interviews with her, presided over assemblies where she spoke, presided at Masses where the homilist recommended her writings be read and meditated, had their pictures taken with her, and blessed her mission.
Vassula is also championed by leading Catholic theologians around the world: Fr. Michael O’Carroll, C.SS.P., her spiritual counselor (Ireland). Fr. «X», P.I.M.E., her first spiritual counselor (Bangladesh), Fr. Ljudevit Rupcic, O.F.M. (Switzerland), Fr. Christian Curty, 0.F.M. (France), Fr. Ovila Melancon, S.J. (Canada), Fr. Michael Kaszowski (Poland), Fr. Bianchi (Italy), Fr. Ed O’Connor, C.S.C. of Notre Dame, Indiana (USA), Fr. Robert Faricy, S.J. of the Gregorian University in Rome (Italy) and so many others.
Fr. Rene Laurentin (France), peritus at the Vatican II Council, one of the world’s leading Mariologists, and the most widely experienced in the discernment of apparitions/locutions, wrote an entire book defending her, the authenticity of her writings and the soundness of her doctrine under the title: When God Gives a Sign (click here for details)
Vassula is also heralded in the Eastern Church as well. Most importantly, she is in good standing with her Greek Orthodox Bishop Damakinos. Among her many supporters in the East are: Archbishop David Sahagian, Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem; Fr. Vladimir Zielinski, Russian Orthodox theologian; Todor Sabev, Orthodox theologian and Former Deputy General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (Geneva); Fr. Ion Bria, Orthodox theologian, Unity of Renewal, World Council of Churches. We add to that list our own Ukranian-Greek Priest-monk Joseph of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Redwood Valley, CA..
What is significant is that a number of Bishops and theologians have issued statements of support of Vassula since the appearance of the Notification. And I am happy to join them. I would like to make it perfectly clear that I am with the Pope and those Cardinals, Bishops and theologians in reading with deep interest and utter delight these amazing, all-important, and priceless revelations from heaven contained in her writings, which conform perfectly to Catholic doctrine and Sacred Scripture, and which celebrate fundamental values central and dear to our Catholic Tradition. One of the very great graces of my life was to attend the conferences given by Vassula Ryden and Fr. Michael O’Carroll, C.SS.P., at Our lady of Perpetual Help Church April 8-10, 1992 here in Scottsdale. For this sabbatical year I decided to return to the original place and pursue that unique grace. I meditate the messages before the Blessed Sacrament exposed several times a day; the remainder of file day I read and reflect on these same messages. If I have to leave town, the messages go with me. I will never forget the first week of February, 1994, when Vassula finally confirmed her coming to San Jose March 26-28, 1994. We began working on a flyer immediately, but before we could print it in less than a week from her phone call all 2000 tickets were spoken for. From the rain of subsequent calls and inquiries, it was clear we could have housed 10,000 if a hall big enough were available. And I remember the Greek Orthodox woman, away from her Church for 20 years, who burst into tears as soon as Vassula began speaking: «As soon as she started,» she said, «I knew God was speaking directly to me.» And who will forget the red rose suspended in mid-air for over two hours at the statue of the Sacred Heart, placed by Vassula into the invisible hand of Jesus. And then there is the special message Jesus gave to the people of San Jose: «My Heart is an Abyss of Love and Forgiveness». After Vassula delivered her first talk in Scottsdale (1992), during the intermission people rushed up to me asking if I had seen the face of Jesus in front of her. Unfortunately, I was buried into my note-taking and rarely looked up. But during a reception at the end of the week-end Vassula came up to me and made several suggestions how to read the messages correctly. Each remark was a correction for the way I was doing it. In Sacramento, CA. when Vassula spoke in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on her birthday, January 18, 1993 about the Sacred Heart, The Holy Spirit, and God the Father, I walked outside afterwards and watched three white doves circling overhead. Neither these little signs, nor the prophecies fulfilled in her messages, nor the mark of the stigmata she bears, nor the Passion she undergoes periodically, nor the variety and excellence of her extraordinary charisms — none of these are the central issue. Her greatest sign of authenticity lies in the conversions that take place as a result of her messages. I am witness to this at conferences when she speaks, but most of all as a spiritual director dealing with many people who find life in her messages, and an ever deepening conversion to Our Lord.
The Notification
This Notification or «warning» was issued at the request of the Swiss Conference of Bishops according to their Secretary, Father Roland Trauffer, O.P.
1. Statements by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith should command our utmost respect — but they are never infallible.
a. A good example is the case of Sister Faustina Kowalska, whose writings on Divine Mercy were banned by the Vatican (1959-1978). The ban was eventually lifted and her situation was completely reversed when Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1993. b. Cardinal Andrew M. Deskur wrote the following in the Preface to the Polish edition (1981) of The Diary of Sister Faustina:2. This Notification is a preliminary opinion and by no means a final judgment.1)»The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in its revision more than two years ago (1978) withdrew the censures and reservations advanced earlier by the Holy See… The withdrawal of the ‘Notification’ caused the devotion to the Divine Mercy … to grow in renewed vitality on all continents…» 2)»It is likewise necessary to stress that it was Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, the Archbishop of Cracow at that time, who made efforts to begin the Process of Beatification of Sister Faustina..»c. It should also be noted that it was Pope John Paul II. as Cardinal Archbishop of Cracow, who followed his conscience and objected to the ban on her writings and his relentless efforts with the Congregation caused the ban to be lifted. d. History is full of such reversals.
a. The present operation of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is basically determined by the motu proprio of Pope Paul VI, issued on Dec, 7, 1965, and entitled Inegrae Servandae («Preserving Intact»). One of the norms in that document is as follows: «When investigating the orthodoxy of writings, such writings are not to be condemned without having first heard from the author who has the faculty of defending himself» (ibid. n. 5). This norm was written into the law of the Church, promulgated as such and is binding. Neither Vassula Ryden nor her spiritual counselor, Fr. Michael O’Carroll, C.SS.P., have ever been consulted so far, which clearly indicates that we are at the beginning of a long process. b. Just as the Church renders no final judgment on an apparition until it is completely over, so the Church passes no final judgment on a book until it is finished and evaluated as a complete unit. Pope Benedict XIV emphasized this point in his Introduction to what we once knew as the Index of Forbidden Books: «We give warnhig that it must be diligently remembered that a correct judgment of the true sense of an author cannot be arrived at unless the book be read through completely and in all its parts…». Vassula’s True Life in God is a book still in the making and to this date has not been completed.3. This document indicates the beginning of a dialogue and not the end of a discussion.
a. That dialogue, if due process is to be served according to Church law, must begin with Vassula Ryden. How that dialogue will take place when her book is still not yet completed is a worthwhile question. Undoubtedly, her spiritual counselor, Fr. O’Carroll, will be brought in at this initial stage. Fr. O’Carroll is a first-rate theologian, author of five one-volume encyclopedias of theology, an acquaintance very familiar to the Pope whose doctoral thesis was on the spiritual life. b. The Congregation will also have to find some way to deal with the Church Prelates around the world who have already come to Vassula’s defense after the Notification was issued. c. And then there are statements of leading theologians around the world. What is most noteworthy is that in Fr. Laurentin’s book, When God Gives a Sign, it is immediately evident that he effectively answers every single one of the doctrinal objections of the Notification.4. This Notification opens up many questions rather than closes the book.
a. This statement is made in the Notification: «In addition to pointing out the suspect nature (emphasis mine) of the ways in which these alleged revelations have occurred…» In 1943 Pope Pius XII wrote the Encyclical Divine Afflante Spiritu which in part, tries to nurture true scholarship in the Church. He seems to have in mind the «suspicion» contained in the Notification: «Let all the sons of the Church bear in mind that the efforts of these resolute … laborers in the vineyard of the Lord should be judged not only with equity and justice, but also with the greatest charity. All, however, should abhor that intemperate zeal which imagines that whatever is new should for that reason be opposed or suspect» (emphasis mine). b. Another statement: «…the proximate arrival is foretold of a Church which would be a kind of pan-Christian community…». Vassula never uses the word «pan-Christian» in her writings. As Fr. Laurentin indicates, her stance is simple: recognition of the Pope. c. Again another: «…it is prophesied that God is going to make a final, glorious intervention which will initiate on earth…an era of peace…». Here are the words of Our Lady at Fatima (1917): «In the end my ImmacuIate Heart will triumph, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace«. d. Just one more: «Moreover, by habitually sharing in the sacraments of the Catholic Church, even though she is Greek Orthodox, Mrs. Ryden is causing considerable surprise in various circles of the Catholic Church.»5. This Notification is the fulfillment of a prophecy and not just a document.1) The New Code of Canon Law (C. 844#3): «Catholic ministers may licitly administer the sacraments of penance, Eucharist and anointing of the sick to members of the Oriental churches which do not have full communion with the Catholic Church, if they ask on their own for the sacraments and are properly disposed.» The 1993 Directory for Ecumenism (n. 125) by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity quotes c.844#3 verbatim. 2) The Balamand Statement approved June 23, 1993 by the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church in Balamand, Lebanon, upholds the principle of personal freedom: «…the inviolable freedom of persons and their obligation to follow the requirements of their conscience remain secure…» (n. 15)
a. Prophecy of January 18, 1991: «I Shall Have You Exposed as a Sign of Rejection, the Rejection for Unity…» «No, My Messages shall follow their course without you but you shall be tossed around. I shall permit your persecutors’defiled hands to strike you and mistreat you openly. I shall allow them to contradict you… and like crows ravaging the crop they will attack you. You will appear in their eyes as the loser because the wounds they will inflict on you will be impressive. «These wounds, My child, shall be given to you from within My House and by My Own, they will be given to you from Cain’s clan. I will allow them to strike an innocent child, but their gladness shall turn into mourning. Yes, you will appear as the Loser My Vassula, but have I not appeared as the loser too? I appeared to have failed My Mission, I appeared in the world’s eyes as the greatest loser ever. You are a sign given to them to arise questions that will be controversial.» b. Message of October 25, 1995: After the Notification appeared, «…see how My predictions come true? Flower of My Heart, flame of My Eyes, your mission will be accomplished only when I allow them to crucify you… I had told you that the Father had traced for you a road similar to Mine… Today as you see, you have been sold by your own people, as I was sold by one of My Own; precious one, your own people have betrayed innocent blood… You were handed over by one of your own to the Romans, so that they condemn you, and then be crucified. Vassula, you yourself keep My silence (do not defend yourself, you have enough witnesses who could defend you. The faithful will remain faithful. Your clothes My child will roll in your blood, and this too will be the evidence that you come from Me. You were born for this and your acceptance delights Me because through your sufferings I will save many. Through your torments I will be setting light inside My Church, giving birth to a renewal in My Holy Spirit thrice Holy… Vassiliki, look at Me in the Eyes… You will promise Me if you love Me, to forgive them all.»
How to Respond to the Notification
1. Renew Your Faith. «I believe in God, the Father Almighty…! — we say that every day. In the practical order that means that God is in absolute control of everything that happens on this earth down to the least detail. God has a Plan for our age, and His Will and Plan shall be accomplished inexorably. He often tests our Faith as He did with Abraham. And from time to time, we should remind ourselves that He writes straight with crooked lines. Listen…
a. «My Holy Spirit in your generation’s great apostasy is persecuted like never before…» (III-27) «I know that the most impressive wounds I will receive would be in the house of My best friends.» (IV-15) «Anybody who is My servant and comes from My household, is certain to be attacked…» (III-18) «One section of My Church has been blinded because of their rationalistic mind.» (V-8) b. «Do not assume that the Most High cannot find a way to carry out His Plan… I am doing a great work that no man can stop…» (III-44-45) «Let it be known that the Holy One is in command of everything.» (V-15) «I will sweep away all those that obstruct The Way to Divine Love.» (I-249) «Remember, I always reach My goals.» (I -206) c. «I have said and will repeat again and again these very important words: ‘Anyone who does not welcome the Kingdom of God like a little child, will never enter it’.» (I-328) «I know that My sheep who belong to Me will listen to My Voice and will never fail Me.» (IV-7) Those that have ears to hear let them hear, those who do not want to hear let them not hear.» (IV—58) Whoever keeps My Word will never see death». (III-13)2. Pray for the Members of the Congregation. They need the light of the Holy Spirit in their difficult task of discernment, particularly on the critical and difficult question of the supernatural origin of these Messages. In all justice and charity we owe them the support of our prayers, and in that way we will be working for unity.
a. «Satan is deceiving many by attacking revelations and apparitions which come from Me… Satan is desperate and is trying to confuse you and bring you all against each other.» (1-364) «So long as they follow their course intellectually they will remain in the dark and estranged to My signs and marvels; so long as they make recourse to their own spirit they will continue to cross-examine My Holy Spirit of Truth without recognising Him…» (V-8) b. «As for your oppressors… do not regard them as enemies but as people who are also part of the family and therefore dear to us needing prayers.» (V-58)3. Cooperate with Your Local Bishop. The Notification is addressed to Bishops and determine the most feasible application of pastoral directives according to the situation and common good of the Faithful. The Congregation acknowledges the role of the local Bishop by using the word «requests» and not such words as «directs» or «requires». The Congregation suggests two lines of action for the local Bishop:
(1) «that their faithful may be suitably informed,» (2) «and that no opportunity may be provided in their Dioceses for the dissemination of her ideas.»a. «that their faithful may be suitably informed…» This wording gives the local Bishop every right to adopt the stance that he feels is most responsible. As we saw in the case of Sister Faustina, Pope John Paul II as Cardinal Archbishop of Cracow decided to defend Blessed Faustina after the Notification on her appeared. He succeeded in pointing out the faulty interpretations of her writings. b. «that no opportunity may be provided in their Dioceses for thedissemination of her ideas.»
1) This statement is limited to Church property mainly. Bishops have every right to decide what does or does not occur on Church property. Those Bishops who decide to implement this ban warrant complete cooperation of the faithful. 2) Bookstores are at liberty to carry the writings of Vassula, publishers can distribute her books, conferences may be held on neutral ground to discuss her Messages, and the faithful are entirely free to read what she has written.4. Follow Your Conscience. As Catholics we do not question the Church’s responsibility to safeguard and promote the deposit of Faith. In fact, in certain instances there is a serious obligation to respond in full obedience, i.e., external compliance and internal assent, as in the case of infallible statements (the Pope speaking ex cathedra, all the Bishops in union with the Pope as at Ecumenical Councils) and in the exercise of the Ordinary Magisterium of the Church. The investigations and disciplinary actions of the Congregations are a bit different. They are neither infallible nor irreformable as we have seen. Since the presumption is that the Spirit guides and assists those to whom this ministry has been given, the Faithful ordinarily should give an internal assent. «However, this assent is not and must not be given blindly and mechanically, for in every case the adult Catholic has the right and duty to make a personaljudgment ofhis own.» (Art. «Teaching Authority in the Church» in the New Catholic Encyclopedia) There are three instances where internal assent may be withheld:
1) During the Process of lnvestigation. Since the lnvestigation of Vassula is in its beginning stage, we are entirely free to follow the dialogue and form our own opinion; 2) Serious Doubt. «In a particular case where there is not question of some truth being proposed definitively by the infallible teaching authority, if one has seriously grave reasons for suspecting that some doctrinal decree is false, he could suspend his assent and give merely external obedience…» (ibid. Art. «Teaching Authority in the Church»); 3) An Expert’s Contrary Opinion. «By way of exception, the obligation of inner agreement (assent) may cease if a competent expert, after a scientific investigation of all grounds, arrives at the positive conviction that the decision rests on an error.» (Fundamentals of Dogma by Ludwig Ott, p. 10) Father Laurentin in When God Gives a Sign, P. 42: «Vassula does not present any doctrinal problem. If a prior suspicion and an iconoclastic passion have found objections, they are not solid ones, as long as one interprets the tests in their context and in the entirety of the message, according to a solid hermeneutic and not according to the law that applies in witch hunts.»5. Read True Life in God. Our Lord has said: «The words that I have spoken are Spirit and Life.» (John 6:63) Any words from God, whether they be in Holy Scripture or private revelation, contain the power of God — a power continually operating to convert us more and more to our God. This occurs whenever anyone reads such words with an open mind and an open heart. Do this and you will experience the action of the Holy Spirit in your life. «Happy the man who opens his heart to My Holy Spirit… My Holy Spirit… will show Himself openly to the innocent, to the poor, and to the simple.» (III-59)
a. The messages contained in True Life in God are unique, extraordinary and very special. They reveal to us the most exalted treasures in the Sacred Heart of Jesus hidden in the past and reserved in a special way for our time. They are the most important private revelations ever made. St. Gertrude, when shown a glimpse of them, was caught up in ecstasy. «I have given you this Inexhaustible Treasure that was hidden from the eyes of mankind and was revealed to Gertrude… This Inexhaustible Treasure was reserved for your times: the end of times.» (V-84) «I have made a New Hymn of Love to… remind you of My Eternal Love I have for each one of you.» (III-52) b. These messages are also very important, because they announce the Second Coming of Our Lord with a clear description of the events that will precede. They describe the Great Tribulation of the Church (I-383), The Day of Purification (I -348) or Warning (I -330), The Great Conversion (I-339) or Great Return (I -353), The Great Sign (I-394), The Unity of the Church (I-231). The New Pentecost (I-356), The New Jerusalem (I-360), The New Heaven and the New Earth and much more… «This divine revelation will be the last warning.» B.V.M. (I-219) «Whosoever neglects to light his lamp this time and use it, it will be taken away from him and given to someone else.» (III-88) «We have come to offer you all Our Peace, and prepare you for your journey to heaven…» (III-7) The time of sorting has come, the time of reckoning is here…» (III-31) c. These messages are profoundly significant because they reveal God’s hidden plan of salvation for each one of us living today. Not only that they unlock the mysteries hidden for ages and indicate our port of entry, our means of participating in them: the divinization of our soul, our life in the Holy Trinity, our place of destiny — the Sacred Heart — our true home, the activity of the Holy Spirit in our life, the warmth and tenderness of God the Father, the infinite intensity of Jesus’ loyal love, the mystery of the Two Hearts. «My hidden Plan of Salvation; it is here,» (I-267) «Today more than ever before, I am asking you to consecrate yourselves, your families, your nations to Our Two Hearts.» (III-31) d. And there is so much more: the revelation of deep secrets hidden in God now taking place and the marvelous gifts and charisms present in Vassula who is a «sign» or «sample» of just how God will grace and lead all those who are open and present themselves.I pray that the Holy Spirit guides the Congregation members in all their inquiries, deliberations and decisions, and I pray especially that this same Holy Spirit embraces each one of you personally and leads you triumphantly into a True Life in God.
Rev. Robert Hughes, S.M.
Touched by the Spirit of God II: Vassula and the CDF
by Fr. Edward O’Connor
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In this book, Touched by the Spirit of God II: Vassula and the CDF, Fr. Edward O’Connor, retired Notre Dame University professor of theology, with grace, certitude and thoroughness, rebuts point by point every criticism directed at Vassula by the Notification of the CDF.
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Foreword
This is the second in a series of collected essays by priests writing about the True Life in God messages. The first volume began with an article by Father Francis Elsinger suggesting that the gift of prophecy had always been vital to the Church and that its value needs to be recognized more, not less in this age of unprecedented rationalism. The rest of the essays in that first volume spoke to the authenticity, urgency and orthodoxy of the True Life in God messages.
This present volume in the series focusses entirely on the Notification by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith dated October 1995 which cautioned bishops and the faithful against the same messages. This paradox seems to typify how Our Lord brings good out of painful trials. At Trinitas, we have been gratified to witness an outpouring of calls and correspondence from followers of the messages who would not have shared with us how the messages have touched their lives if the Notification had not been issued. At the same time, the Notification has stimulated many scholarly works by priests defending the authenticity and value of the True Life in God messages. “There are many who could defend you,” Jesus told Vassula in November 1995.)
Father Edward O’Connor, C.S.C is uniquely qualified to provide a reliable analysis of the Notification. He taught theology at the University of Notre Dame for 41 years. Moreover, he has made a rigorous study of the True Life in God writings, in the course of which he has had several extensive discussions with Vassula over the years.
His well-reasoned conclusion on the key issue of obedience and respect for the Church’s authority is unequivocal. He declares that faithful Catholics are allowed to read Vassula’s writings, to attend her lectures, and even to promote them. As the sampling of testimonies attests, his conclusions are shared by other authoritative clergy the world over.
Fr. O’Connor’s analysis responds definitively to the objections that were raised in the Notification which acknowledged, however, that the “errors” do not exist in the later writings.
Father O’Connor presents solid, informed evidence that the alleged “doctrinal errors” do not in fact exist anywhere in Vassula’s writings. His work will no doubt facilitate the Vatican review of the messages that Cardinal Ratzinger has indicated is underway.
Those of us who have come to know the messages intimately, and have seen the great fruits that have come to those who are trying to live them, have been pained to see the messages falsely accused of professing what they do not even say. It has been worth that pain, however, to be able to publish now this book by a theologian of the calibre of Fr. Edward O’Connor. His work in the second section, “Vassula and the End Times” raises scholarly investigation of the True Life in God messages to a new level. He brings out the essential consistency among these writings, the writings of Father Stefano Gobbi (founder of the Marian Movement of Priests) and references in the Old and New Testaments. Fr. O’Connor also makes some exciting discoveries wherein the True Life in God messages appear to uncover hidden, deeper meanings of certain Biblical passages that had not previously been apparent.
Other theologians and Biblical scholars who read Fr. O’Connor’s study attentively and with an open heart, even if they have not delved directly into the messages themselves, will begin to appreciate what they offer. There is priceless treasure in these messages that only a handful of theologians and exegetes have begun to mine.
To some, the fact that such treasure comes through “an ordinary housewife” with no training whatsoever in theology or even basic catechetics will be persuasive evidence that her claim to be divinely guided must be genuine—to others, it will be a stumbling block to their sense of intellectual propriety.
Fr. «X», P.I.M.E., Vassula’s first spiritual guide is a forerunner of the latter. He was and is today a teacher of philosophy and theology to seminarians. When Vassula came to his seminary in Bangladesh seeking guidance as to how or whether to present her messages to clergy, he tried initially to dissuade Vassula from continuing to take the dictation, convinced as he was that its source was evil. As a last resort, when all else failed, he read the messages for himself. When his in
tense scrutiny could find none of the errors he was sure would be there he came to believe that the work could only be divine. The outcome was that he became one of her unshakable defenders.
At one point, Jesus refers to His messages through Vassula as “this Reminder of My Word.” [19 January 95]. This “Reminder” comes at a time when both clergy and laity note a loss of a sense of the supernatural, not only in secular society, but among clergy and religious as well. Revealed truth is perhaps not as popular or “politically correct” as it once was in many seminaries or Catholic universities. Some see disturbing signs, in fact, of a systematic effort to root out the mystical spirituality that is the great heritage and tradition of the Catholic Faith.
Jesus told Vassula recently that some of His own in the Church were seeking to reduce all of it to “private meditations” and that His Holy Spirit is persecuted today as never before in history.
In such an atmosphere, it takes courage to profess and accept that God is still speaking to us today through His chosen messengers. It takes more courage and humility for priests and theologians such as Father O’Connor to defend those messengers.
Trinitas recently received a letter that we believe represents the heartfelt gratitude to God, to His messengers and to those who support and defend them. Besides the frequent phone calls expressing gratitude for these messages, letters like this have been arriving every day for almost seven years. To us, this is really what this ministry is all about: diffusing this “bread” from heaven to all who hunger for it.
To whom it may concern: True Life in God has done for me what no other book has been able to do. Jesus became real. I couldn’t get Him to become real in all these years (about 35 years). I’m groaning and moaning and longing to be near God.
This Message is truly Jesus speaking. But of course I’m just a small person speaking, as Vassula would say — I have no authority anywhere. Now through my Book Store…I ordered the rest of the volumes.
I am truly grateful to God that he found a messenger in Vassula.I read St. John of the Cross, St. Theresa of Avila and St. Theresa of Lisieux years ago. That’s when my journey started at about 35 years of age. I am now 72 and a half. But Jesus somehow always remained a myth.
I hope reading and praying and pondering “True Life in God” will continue to bring me and Jesus together as has been my wish it seems for a lifetime. Bless all of you who had a part in this Message.
And finally, this simple but profound excerpt of a letter from India received April 27, 1998:
…Since I have been reading Vassula’s books I seem to be getting more peaceful.…I am becoming a better person and when I lost my job I forgave my employer and did not even argue with him. That’s why Jesus rewarded me and gave me a new job within a month’s time. Even though this job does not have better benefits than the previous I thank Him for His kindness, at least it covers the rent for the month. Thanks for everything you send me. It gives me tremendous peace. God’s grace be with you all.
And may God’s grace be with all who read this book. It can reassure those who have already been touched by the messages but may have put them aside out of uncertainty about what the Church is asking of us with regard to them. Also, may Father O’Connor’s enlightening work lead others who have not yet embraced the True Life in God messages to look into them. As these foregoing letters attest, the messages are anointed. Jesus told Vassula, “My Message saves!” Vassula asked an audience in India, “If you truly believe it is God who speaks, wouldn’t you be interested to know what He has to say in our days?”
Robert Carroll Trinitas
The Position of the Catholic Person Faithful to the Church
by Father Guido Sommavilla, SJMeeting with Vassula at Teatro Carcano, Milan, 19 April 1997
My dear people, sisters and brothers in the Lord Jesus; my dear Vassula. Following the second notification by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (once known as the Holy Office) last December, I have been invited to give light to the consciences of the Christians who believe, who are Catholic and faithful to the Church, as I am and I hope as you all are.
Those who know me or my writings, know that I am Catholic, that I am a priest, a Jesuit, who is very faithful to the Church, who loves her and defends her — some say even too much. I know that the Holy Office truly is a sacrum officium, that is, a sacred and holy service, necessary to the Church and rightful for the Church and for the faithful. These pronouncements by the Holy Office are magisterial pronouncements, of the extraordinary or solemn type, or of the ordinary type which can be private or universal. In this case it is an ordinary, private one. All of us, especially us priests, know that when concerning the ordinary, private cases, the magisterium can err. Everyone knows it. They, of the Congregation, are the first to know it, starting from Cardinal Ratzinger. It is possible to err. Nothing is infallible and nothing is definitive in this sacred service. It has come to be that the Congregation has erred.
To give you an example, it erred when it declared that Padre Pio’s charismas and stigmata, etc. were bogus, i.e. fruit of sickness and fantasy (1920-22). It erred when it declared that the charismas of Sr. Faustina Kowalska were bogus; that Polish nun who was recently beatified. Thus, the Holy Office can err. These are two examples taken from this century. There is a third case belonging to this century, and other cases from earlier on, however, these are the exceptions to the rule, because most of the time it does not err. Thus, it could have erred this time too, and they also know this.
What does the notification concerning Mrs. Vassula Ryden say? It is not a precaution, but a piece of information, which after having briefly laid out a number of motivations, invites the faithful not to believe that there is anything supernatural in Vassula Ryden, and that it is not God who writes, speaks, dictates, appears, directly through her. I repeat, it is an invitation. Now, invitations, like recommendations (take for example the Gospel recommendations of chastity, poverty and obedience), are something which we are free to accept or not to accept. Our conscience is free to choose.
All of us, with regards to Vassula and her charismas, are free to believe that Jesus is in her, that He writes and communicates to her. Furthermore, this notification not only speaks in a certain sense against her, but it also speaks quite a bit in her favour by recognizing that there are positive aspects in the messages and prophecies. It also says that Vassula’s further writings do not contain the errors which they listed in the notification. Now this occurred when the first five volumes were available 15 months prior to the notification, however it is certain that the Holy Office has since seen the later volumes and noticed that there were no errors here either, otherwise they would have said. Therefore, from the fourth to the eighth volumes published, according to the Holy Office, there are no errors; everything is positive.
Consequently, according to the Holy Office, the positive aspect (this is to be intended in a religious, spiritual and moral sense) in Vassula is far greater than the negative part. The notification goes on to say, however, that the negative part, i.e. the errors, is such that the Vassula phenomenon on a whole is negative. Thus follows the invitation not to believe.
Now I would like to say something. I taught philosophy, among other things, in Milan for 40 years and I specializeded particularly in the logic of philosophy. Three of my books on the argument have been published, and so this is how I reason: if the Holy Office chose a simple invitation to tell the faithful of the negative side then I logically deduce that this negative part is weak; it is slight; it is fragile, otherwise they would have made an outright prohibition. Thus, if this negative part that we are called to be aware of is slight, then also the reasoning behind it is slight. The errors, singly and as a whole, are weak. (Today I do not have the time to point out the content of this slightness, however, if you care to read the third introduction to the eighth volume (of True Life in God) you will find a kind of analysis of the motivations of those who are against Vassula.)
So, if the reasons are slight and the negative part which we are warned about is slight, then the weight which could press on the consciences of those who choose not to accept the invitation (and I am one of these) can only be slight. Now I ask, and some of you may be wondering: could it be more perfect to accept rather than not accept this invitation; could God be given more glory by the acceptance of it; could He be more pleased by our acceptance of it? Well, the answer has to be this: it is like with the Gospel recommendations of poverty, chastity and obedience which also come from God, that is, from Jesus. [The invitation] is a recommendation; if you choose not to accept it you are not committing the slightest of sins.
So, each person must ask himself if he does better or worse by accepting or not accepting it. I think that all of us here are convinced that most people do the best thing by not taking vows, because most of the people are not suited to them. Furthermore, there are many people who cannot take them, i.e., who cannot follow these recommendations of Jesus, and these are all those who are married. Now, concerning this, I can say of myself that I am, in a certain sense, married. That is, I am indissolubly tied to believing in Vassula. I am tied to the evidence that she cannot be the author of all those wonderful messages, for I believe that there really is Jesus, God and Mary in her who write, make themselves be known and heard. This continuous dialogue occurring in her is real. I am sure of this; I have the evidence because I have been reading and meditating Vassula’s books for years.
Then in 1995, Avvenire (Italian Catholic daily), of which I am a correspondent, asked me to defend Vassula against the negative pamphlet written by Fr. Dermine. My article was published in Avvenire and following this, the Italian publisher of True Life in God asked me to study Vassula and write a book. I have been studying the matter for more than one year now and I have come to the conclusion that Vassula’s charisma is authentic. Thus, against the evidence of the truth no obedience holds.
In his famous letters on obedience, St. Ignatius of Loyola (who is perhaps the greatest teacher on obedience in the Church) says that before the evidence of the truth one cannot obey when obeying means to go against the truth. Perhaps each of you should ask yourself: do I have this evidence? Thus it depends on the degree of evidence of truth that each of Vassula’s readers have responsibly and intelligently acquired from the reading of the messages. It depends on each single person. I think, even hope, that the greater part of the intelligent and responsible people who read Vassula should be able to understand this evidence of truth.
Furthermore, in this notification there is not even the slightest mention that we should not invite Vassula, therefore, we can invite her, we can come and listen to her, come and pray with her. Neither does the notification say anything about prohibiting the information on her. Thus, we are free to be informed about her. Not even the slightest mention was made about this, and you see, her books are still being published. Introductions to her books and articles on her are being published by a Catholic publisher belonging to a religious community: the Priests of the Sacred Heart, the Dehonians. Any type of information, be it via the press, or via the television or the radio or any other communication system, is legitimate. It is all legitimate. This is how things stand.
There is another thing to consider: the invitation, or rather the reminder made to the bishops of the world. Vassula goes around the world a lot because she receives invitations to go. She does not go so as to place herself on show. It must be said that she does not like being the centre of attention. I recall that in a conversation with her angel she said: «Angel of mine, you know I don’t like being on show.» Vassula does it because it is her duty because it is Jesus Who wants it and she is more than certain that it is Jesus Who wants it. It costs her a lot to go, yet Jesus wants her to go and so she goes. So, there is a reminder to the bishops of the Catholic world to act accordingly. Now, this is something that regards the bishops. It is up to them to decide what action to take. Now the logic of things, however, brings me to observe that the bishops’ actions cannot go beyond what the Holy Office has already done. That means that they cannot do any more than to transmit the invitation, which leaves the faithful basically free.
There is one last thing to be said. It is something which gives us reason to rejoice and to be thankful for. The notification says that all these messages, all this dialogue, this poem of the life of God, true life in God, «are only private meditations of the woman.» With this choice of words, with this authoritative interpretation of the Holy Office, all other interpretations are excluded, or disqualified, and in particular, two interpretations which attribute all this prophetic phenomena to either the devil or to one’s subconscious. This, for instance, is what Fr. Dermine has been saying of Vassula in the transmissions on Radio Maria — yes, that «holy Radio Maria» which in this case is not so holy. Pychologists know that, were it true, she would be suffering from a terrible case of schizophrenia; her mind would be gravely ill. Now those who know her, even a little, know that this is not the case. Thus, when the notification says that the phenomena is to be attributed totally to her, it is excluding the other two attributions to the devil and to the subconscious. It is known that in the first years especially, Vassula had doubts herself that it may have all been coming from the devil or even from her subconscious. Now, we have the Holy Office which is ensuring her that it cannot come from her subconscious and neither from the devil.
We are thankful for this clarification by the Holy Office. Thank you.
Archimandrite Eugene Nicolau
Once in a long while an extraordinary event occurs that people mark in their minds and hearts, and date subsequent events from this marker. Such is the experience of an open heart reading «True Life In God» whose messages -I am convinced- are of Divinely inspired origin and are granted to us prophetically (Acts 2:17), through Mrs. Vassula Ryden.
I will not belabor the point that these writings are scripturally intact and correct. Nor will I dwell on the fact that those who approach these messages with skepticism will remain skeptics. Nor will I try to explain why God has chosen Vassula to convey to us His word, once more. No «new» Good News are being announced, yet, God’s children hear the voice of their Father and know that it is He who speaks. He speaks to remind us of His eternal truths and to explain those things of His Word that have been ignored or miscalculated. The effects of His message and the impact of His words to His children are extraordinary. They are transforming. They are rejuvenating. This is what I want to talk about -albeit briefly- in this note.
I want to let everyone who reads this to know of a remarkable event. It is my experience that those that read and follow the messages of True Life In God behave as if they have been reborn into Christ! They have put on Christ as if to be enveloped by Him. They embrace their faith with a fire that is akin to that of the early neophyte Christians! They are even more attracted to their Church and follow Church Traditions and Sacramental Life with a rare devotion! From what I have observed, they live a life that is a true life in God!
What else could I as a pastor want from my flock of God? If these messages make them better Christians; if as a result of their reading of True Life In God they flock back into the Church and its Sacraments; if they not only understand their faith better, but are totally focused on living a Christ-like life; if they overflow with love for God and their neighbor; if they embrace an intimacy with God that resembles those of the Saints; if they submit their will to God and become examples for others; if the True Life In God messages cause such transformations, what more could I ask of my spiritual flock and congregation?
This transformation I have witnessed is without a doubt a «good fruit» of the Holy Spirit and hence the messages themselves must come from God (Matt. 7:20). I therefore will continue to study and draw from the Spirituality I have found in True Life In God.
Archimandrite Eugene Pappas, Greek Orthodox Church, New York, USA February 20, 2001
Lectio Divina for Our Times
by Brother Andrew CSWG
Brother Andrew is a member of the Community of the Servants of the Will of God, a small community of Anglican monks living in Crawley, UK.
I thought I would discuss Vassula Ryden’s Conversations with Jesus with reference to Lectio Divina. Spiritual reading forms an important part of the life of prayer. A well-stocked library is a feature of every monastery. Specific times of the day are set aside for reading. The silence of the monastery and the curb on speech which it places upon even the most talkative is conducive to profitable rumination, as we go about our business, upon what is put before us in our reading. It is rare for a monk not to have a book (or two) ‘on the go’. We read in refectory, and the refectory thus becomes a place where both body and spirit are nourished and renewed, food on the plate and on the bookrest in front of us. In some houses the meal is taken in silence, while one member of the community reads aloud to everyone, but in ours, each reads silently the book in front of him. «A little reading well digested at each session,» as our Rule states, «is the best mental diet for a monk. He should therefore discipline himself to read slowly, contemplating what is written in the light of the Holy Spirit.»
In the earlier stages of our life of prayer we select a passage from the reading material in front of us — it might be a paragraph, a phrase or even just one word, — and ruminate upon it. The Holy Spirit, who always stands ready to guide us, approaches from his side and sheds his light on what we are reading. If we will allow him, he will grant us a depth of insight into what we are reading to which we could never attain on our own. John Henry Newman speaks of «an angel’s reach of thought.» St Paul refers to the gift of «wisdom, knowledge and understanding,» and has much to say about spiritual maturity.
En route, so to speak, to this spiritual maturity, something happens. We find that we are no longer able to meditate upon our reading the way we used to, indeed whatever reading matter we might select, we find it dull, boring, lifeless, and ‘closed’. We frequently pick up texts that used to grant us refreshment and joy, and find nothing in them. If we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us through what has now become something of a desert experience as far as reading is concerned, he will lead us on to a later stage in which God, from his side, selects what we are to think about, ruminate upon, meditate on, and leads us in our thinking on the subject he has given us. The initiative is now on God’s side. Truly, now, «God proposes, man disposes.»
It is a joy when this begins to happen, the more so for its being such an unexpected turn of events. I was on my rest one summer in St David’s Hermitage. I had open on the table before me a book by Father Gilbert. I alternated my reading with manual work in the garden and as I worked, I found myself thinking along certain given lines, and enjoying it hugely. I worked and thought for some twenty minutes then went inside and sat down to my book again, and there in front of me, as if highlighted, was the matter I had just been reflecting upon, lucid, clear, ‘open’, the meaning revealed. I spent much of that sunny afternoon thus occupied -working a little, reading a little, and each time it was the same — there in front of me as I sat down to read was what I had been thinking about outside, and as I subsequently resumed my work in the garden, I was given to reflect on what I was about to read, before I read it. I was being led in my reading by the spirit, and not just led, but taught as well. It was a happy man who sat down to tea later that afternoon and reflected upon the words of the psalmist,
«In the scroll of the book it is written of me, that I should do your will: oh my God, I long to do it, your law delights my heart.» (Ps 40)
Understanding received in this way is ‘perfect’, that is to say, it is not a conclusion arrived at after thought. It is complete as given, and this quality of ‘perfection’ is immediately perceived by the recipient. It reassures, it calms, it is steady, stable, serene, it needs no verifying, it is above controversy, and the wisdom and knowledge that come with it share these characteristics. It is discrete. It does not belong in the debating chamber. It belongs, rather, in the heart of those whom the Holy Spirit has been preparing to receive it. I often think that if people would allow the Holy Spirit to teach them in this way then all the controversies over the meaning of Scripture and how it is to be interpreted would cease and they would then be able to answer the only question that really matters, namely, «Do you believe this?» with a definite
«yes» or «no».Sometimes the Holy Spirit will lead us to think along specific lines for a short period before leading us to find its verification on the page in front of us, as I have just described. At other times his leading of our thinking may last considerably longer. If he wants to prepare us to read a work such as, say, St John of the Cross’s Dark Night of the Soul, we might be given to think and reflect for some weeks on themes as supplied by the Holy Spirit. Then, as we begin reading the book in question, we find laid out before us by the author the very themes we have been ruminating on over the previous weeks. It will be seen here that the reading of the book does not initiate a period of reflection, rather it concludes it. Reading the book becomes a matter of recognising what we have already been given, in the spirit, to understand. Primed, expectant, we have been looking out for what we now find before us, and we accept without hesitation, this, the fulfilment of our reflections.
Sometimes, depending on what the Holy Spirit has in mind for us, the lead period is even longer and he may lead us to think and reflect along given lines for years before bringing the work to its conclusion by putting the book he intends for us into our hands — and this is what he did with me concerning Vassula’s Conversations with Jesus. For a period of several years he gave me major themes to think about — the nature of salvation, purgatory and beyond, life in the new creation, the defeat of Satan and the ending of the Spiritual War, the transfer of the population of this world into the new creation, the raising of the shepherds needed to guide the flock into the new world, the Dark Night into which the world has been drawn in our times, the end of that Dark Night, and the central role, in all of this, of love, the love of God our creator for his creatures, and our response, in and through the power of love, to Him. Such was my food and drink during those years. Wonderful themes! Tremendous themes! As I went about my business around the monastery I kept them in my heart and reflected upon what I was being shown with what I can only describe as a great and secret gladness. I found in these meditations all the hallmarks of divine provenance which I have been taught by experience to look for and which I mention above — steadiness, stability, serenity and so on. So I went on quietly, and as I did so, I kept an eye open for the book that would draw these great themes together. Such themes! Such themes! Who could write them down? Who could even think of such tremendous matters and not be shaken to pieces? I frequently found myself reflecting upon the scroll, written inside and out, that St John was given to see in the book of Revelation, (5:1) or later (10:10) where the scroll is given him to eat, and in so doing I was restored to the peace, not of this world, that only our Lord can give.
These years of meditation and reflection were brought to their fulfilment the day Father Gregory suggested I read the Messages given by our Lord to Vassula, and I opened the first of twelve books of spiritual reading, the like of which I have never encountered before.
I do not intend to say much about the works themselves. As the psalmist says, and I use the phrase advisedly, «They are more than I am able to express», (Ps 40) but I urge you to read them and judge for yourselves. More than in any other work of theology I have read, the Holy Spirit, who is in them, will reveal to you both himself, and the other two members of the Trinity, the Father, and the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not for me to try to describe what this is actually like when it happens, find out for yourself as you read them. The reader of these works will find his own life in them, in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the very life of everyone, and who is the author of these works. You may not want to meet him, or see your own life laid bare and revealed in the light of his truth, but he himself will grant you the wherewithal to stand in his presence when he comes in his glory, with his holy ones with him. (cf Lu 21:36, Matt 25:31, Lu 21:27, Lu 9:26) This, after all, is what our life of prayer is for. If you find that difficult to cope with then these works are not for you. I was speaking to someone recently who told me that on a recent visit to the monastery she read nine books in four days, and this, she admitted, was to avoid having to look up from her reading and acknowledge the presence of our Lord whom she knew was standing before her as she read. Here indeed is that mis-use of religion so prevalent in our own day, where religious practice itself becomes a «place» in which to hide from God.As you read these works then, reader, when he who is their author appears to you, look up from your reading and speak to him, face to face. It is what you were born for. Once you have left this world you will no longer be able to meet him in this way, so make the most of the time given you. Give ear to what he says to you, look at him, smile at him, and read as he invites you. He has much to say to you, to us, and he says it in these volumes. Tremendous themes! The nature of salvation, purgatory and beyond, life in the new creation, the defeat of Satan and the ending of the Spiritual War, the transfer of the population of this world into the new creation, the raising of the shepherds needed to guide the flock into the new world, the Dark Night into which the world has been drawn in our times, the end of that Dark Night, and the means by which he accomplished, accomplishes, all of that, through love, the love God has for all of us, and our response to that love. It is all written in these books. It will be given to you at the time to respond in appropriate fashion. Your response will be a true one, either yes or no.
The theology to which these volumes introduce us is refreshing, lively, and candid. You do not need a PhD in Theology to understand it. Accessible to all who desire it, it is direct, simple, and a joy to read. It refreshes the parts that other theologies cannot reach. It is in fact everything you do not expect theology to be. I have a hunch that those who read it and take to it will be little inclined to argue about it, or enter into the theological polemic that has so riven the separated churches over the centuries and whose fruits are becoming so manifest in our day — their inability to bring their worshippers to the perfection I have been describing. This inability is remedied in these volumes. Our Lord Himself speaks in them, and for those willing to receive him he grants renewal, refreshment, life, and peace.
The work of True Life in God has hardly begun. I have a feeling that in this initial period the Messages are being presented to the churches, that they might give the simple response, yes, or no, that they elicit. Once this initial period is over they will be presented to the population at large, and then I think astonishing, astounding things will happen, things beyond the capacity of human thinking to encompass — huge numbers of people will recognise, in the reading of them, their author, the Lord Jesus Christ. They will see his face, hear his voice, smile at him, rejoice with him, and remember that they know him and love him, and have done, these many years. The amnesia into which the Prince of this world, Satan, has cast them, and which the churches in their present state are unable to remedy, will thus be overcome, and they will come back to the Church, since for those who love our Lord there is nowhere else to go. Their return will transform the Church out of all recognition.
There is a historical precedent for events of such magnitude. In the third century the Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire and a vast influx of the population into the Church took place. In a very real sense the Church has been coping with the aftermath of that event ever since. The future events I am pointing to will be the completion, the fulfilment, of that great work begun seventeen hundred years ago.
I think, in True Life in God, we are seeing the beginnings of great events. I suggest you read the Messages and think about them.
Andrew CSWG
(November 2004)
THE TRUE LIFE IN GOD MESSAGES
by Fr Gregory, Father Superior CSWG
Father Gregory is Father Superior of the Community of the Servants of the Will of God, a small community of Anglican monks living in Crawley, UK. Other testimonies from the community can be found here
These Messages Are From The Holy Trinity
The Messages, which Vassula has been receiving since 1985, have been studied by several eminent theologians, who have found them to be entirely consistent with the Scriptures and Tradition of the Church. They have been astonished to observe that Vassula, who had no previous catechetical training, could record teaching about the most profound doctrinal and spiritual matters with such ease and no trace of error. Moreover Vassula herself and the Messages have been investigated by the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who were satisfied by her answers to their questions. Cardinal Ratzinger asked Vassula to publish their questions with her answers, along with the related correspondence, which she has done; and the booklet, entitled ‘True Life In God: Clarifications With The Congregation For The Doctrine Of The Faith’, is now available gratis for all the clergy.
The Lord makes it clear in the Messages that they in no way add to the revelation, which is already complete in Scripture, but that they are intended to be reminders, to be heard in the Spirit, of what is now often ignored in that revelation, according to the provision He describes in John 16:12-15. In every age the Lord inspires His prophets for this task. Those who are enlightened by the same Spirit as moved the prophets to speak words from the Lord will discern the authenticity of the words of the prophets; and in the same way the Holy Spirit is the only Person who can finally convince the reader of the authenticity of the Messages of True Life in God. Indeed even those who have been satisfied, through external verbal criteria, that the Messages are genuine will still need to be taught by the Holy Spirit how to hear them from the heart, in a fully personal way, in order to benefit from them in the way that the Lord intends. Thousands of people from all over the world have already witnessed in this way to the authenticity of the Messages, and have found them to be, as the Lord has described them, His love hymn to His people.
The Messages Are A New Mode Of Evangelism
The Messages are intended primarily for the re-evangelisation of a generation that has been seduced by the prevailing rationalism of the age into apostatising from the Faith of their forebears; and since this rationalistic mentality is now spreading throughout the whole world, the Messages also present an effective method of evangelism for those who have not yet received the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel presented our pagan ancestors with an orderly and ‘rational’ universe that was apt for scientific study. By a profound ‘metanoia’ they adopted a mentality derived from the Word and Wisdom of God, the very Person who is the Son of the living God. For the creation can only be perceived and understood rightly, when it is being received and used as a good gift coming out of the love of God; and this true perception needs also to be fired and enlightened by a corresponding response of love to the Father-Creator for His good gift.
God never intended that humans should use the things of this world, nor their rational faculties, apart from a loving dependence upon His Holy Spirit of truth and His revealed purpose for His creation. The rationalism of this age is therefore a regression from the wisdom that derives from faith. It is satanic, in that it derives from the original temptation to misuse the human rational powers and the good things of creation for self-willed ends. As a consequence of this misuse, ‘the whole creation has been groaning and in travail together until now’. The primary aim of evangelism should be to restore the ‘sons of God’ to their faithful service of the revealed purpose of God for His creation (cf. Romans 8:19-23).
The Messages of True Life in God are accordingly an especially apt mode of evangelism for our day, because they begin with restoring the relationship of trust and loving dependence that the heavenly Father intends for each one of His children. All are invited personally to hear and respond to the Messages for their on-going self-knowledge, repentance and conversion of life. The Lord Jesus Christ would assure each and all of His ready forgiveness of those who turn to Him in repentance, and of His longing desire to be united with them in His Sacred Heart. The more faithless and disorderly the world becomes, the more essential it is that all Christians should strive for purity of heart, in order to be able to ‘see’ the loving presence and power of God at work in themselves and in the world around them, and to ‘hear’ His prophetic words of promise and warning. Here is a God-given opportunity to form and empower a ‘mission-shaped’ Church.
Restoring the Scriptural Language of Prayer and Worship
In the Messages the Lord restores the use of the typological language found in the Gospels, further developed by the New Testament writers, and refined by the Fathers and other spiritual masters of the Church. This typology unites the Old and the New Testaments by using words from the Old Testament, such as ‘serpent’, ‘Abel and Cain’, ‘Egypt’, ‘wilderness’, ‘promised land’, ‘temple’, ‘sanctuary’, etc., with renewed spiritual meanings, to relate the new people of God to the present spiritual realities of the Church, now fulfilled by the coming into this world of the Kingdom of God in Christ and the Holy Spirit. The key to the use of this typological language, as a means of profound spiritual communication, is the word ‘heart’, common to both Testaments and the whole spiritual Tradition of the Churches of East and West. The human heart has been created by God to serve within creation as a temple of the Holy Spirit, and the centre of unity for each person and humanity as a whole.
By His incarnation and redemptive work, the Lord Jesus Christ has restored the human heart to its God-given purpose for unity. Jesus now holds the whole world in His loving Heart for its salvation, and He shares this concern first of all with His Mother, Mary, whom He has appointed to serve as the Mother of all Christians (cf. John 19:26-27 & Revelation 12:17), by whose loving intercession we are nurtured in the Holy Spirit and protected from Satan. We are now in the era of Christ’s coming; not yet His final coming, but rather in that preparatory era when ‘all things are being put under His feet’, through the heart to Heart union with Him, in prayer and worship, of Mary and all the faithful members of His one Body, the Church; for He has triumphed over all His enemies on the Cross.
Why the Clergy Need to Read the Messages
The Lord claims the right, as the Head of His body the Church, to direct it in its obedient service to Himself , and to re-form its unity in the communion of the Holy Spirit. Accordingly He has much to say in the Messages to correct and encourage the shepherds of His Church. He wants them to share with Him the pain that wracks His Body, while the hierarchies still maintain their separate ecclesiastical identities. This sharing in Christ’s sufferings is necessary for overcoming the divisions and restoring the unity, and thereby making effective the evangelism intended by the Messages. For they are given for all Christians, and indeed for all of humankind, to prepare them for the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the fire that the Lord comes to cast upon the earth, to save His people from the darkness and death of separation from Himself. Moreover He wants His priests to restore the integrity of the Eucharist as the celebration of His Perpetual Sacrifice, so as to gather His whole priestly people into the unity of that Sacrifice, and to feed them on Himself at the heavenly Table of the Father; for He is true God and true Man, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, to whom be glory for evermore!
Father Gregory CSWG
Contemporary Messages of the One Great Tradition
by Father Peter of the Community of the Servants of the Will of God
Father Peter is a member of a small community of Anglican monks living in Crawley, UK, whose origins go back to 1938. The community has always had Christian Unity as a primary focus.
Messages of the Tradition
As I began to read these Conversations with Jesus, my first response was that of relief. They did not contain exaggerated or eccentric expressions of Christian Faith, as can sometimes happen in this kind of visionary literature. In fact, they seemed in their content to be quite ‘on-centre,’ even orthodox. It was as the reading progressed that the change occurred: I kept meeting words like ‘metanoia‘, ‘repentance’, ‘grow in holiness’, ‘love’, ‘joy’, ‘peace’, ‘forgive’, ‘reconciliation’, ‘constant prayer’, ‘the Holy Trinity’, ‘the Holy Spirit’, ‘abandonment’. The Beatitudes were invoked, as was the need for urgent prayer, in view of the imminence of the Lord’s coming. The whole culminates in a call for unity and a common date for Easter: ‘Orthodox! Catholics! Protestants! You all belong to Me! You are all One in My Eyes’, ‘Bend to be able to unite’, ‘unify, for My sake, the Feast of Easter’. I found prayers and love-songs that echoed for me the biblical Song of Songs, and the hymns of St Symeon the New Theologian (c.950 — 1022). Parts of the messages echo the Hebrew prophets (Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos) and one gets an intuitive sense of how their own words came to be given and written down. Other parts manifest an uncanny resonance to the Tradition in their prophetic character and exalted mystical and nuptial love-poetry: of St Symeon the New Theologian from the East, and St Catherine of Siena in the West. I concluded that this was no marginal expression of faith: this was everything I have been taught as a monk. This was the One Great Tradition and all encapsulated in these Messages from the Lord Himself. If before there had been any trace of uncertainty, from that moment it vanished, and I never looked back.
‘It is the Lord’
How do we know these messages are from God? When you read them, you will be convinced: they are in that sense self-authenticating. Personal confirmation came to me unexpectedly early as, following the received advice to begin at the beginning, I started to read Volume 1. I discovered on page 8 an account by the Lord himself of his Passion. I thought as I read it — and it is not easy reading: Vassula herself relates how difficult it had been for her to take down — no human being however inspired could have written this imaginatively. This comes from the inside, from the consciousness of the One who actually underwent it. Again, one morning as I was preparing the Gospel reading for Lauds — it was from St John’s Gospel — something suddenly hit me very forcibly. I realised that the Person of whom I was conscious as I read through those words was the very same Person I was conscious of when reading these messages. I found myself responding in the words of the Apostle John on the sea of Tiberias: «It is the Lord!» (Jn21:7).
What is the content of the messages?
Vassula’s own description of the messages is a «re-spelling of the Gospel» (Brighton Conference, October 2003), that is, a fresh statement of the Gospel. What you will find is the same Gospel we hear in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but with an immediacy and a contemporary ring. It is the Lord speaking to us now in 2004 with all the ethos and ambience of our modern world and culture. It is what the Church means by the Tradition: the Holy Spirit speaking directly to each age and culture through chosen instruments as well as the Church’s own teaching authority. It is the one original Gospel that is teased out, made explicit and clear. St John of the Cross once wrote that God has spoken to us in his Son and having thus spoken, he has nothing more to say. So there is no question of something new, even less, innovative. The messages then are a Reminder: The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you’ (Jn 14: 26).
A gift for the whole Church
The charism of Vassula is a gift (Gk. charis) from God for the whole Church, if only we will be humble enough to receive it from God. With God’s gifts come also a test and a challenge. First, there will be a real temptation to doubt. We will have to meet this doubt within ourselves as well as in the response of others, even those set over us in the Lord. Some will be moved to encourage, but from others there may be simply silence, an absence of response. Nevertheless, these messages are not for a few individuals (‘if you like that sort of thing’), nor for one particular part of the Church, which would divert from their true purpose. The Lord is quite clear that the messages are for everyone, every Christian, indeed every human being. A faithful response on our part is the guarantee that what the Lord purposed in giving them will come to fruition. For every doubt coming into our minds, or proposed to us, our question will need to be, Is this thought coming to me from Truth Himself, or is it something in my old nature, looking for a way to avoid such a challenge?’ There is the ever-present danger, especially for our age, of rationalising the event. The Lord has much to say concerning the Rationalism of our age.
A challenge to insincerity
In addition, one can understand that this presents a challenging word for the Church, not altogether unlike that presented to the Seven Churches by John in his Revelation (Rev: 2 & 3). As there, the Lord is calling for the purification of His Church — ‘I want you to live holy as I am holy’ — so it may become like the primitive apostolic church: ‘I intend to clothe you all in my garments of old and rebuild my church on its old foundation’. There is a continuing challenge to all insincerity in the Church, so it may become more truly servant to the world, proclaim the authentic Gospel, and minister healing and salvation to the world’s real ills. It is not comfortable reading at times. Tell my people that I do not want administrators in My House. They will not be justified in My Day because they are the very ones who have industrialised My House.’ The Lord is deeply concerned about those ‘who seek chairs and authority, rather than the salvation of souls’ and all ‘traders’ (cf. Mt 21: 12-13, and parallels).
Institution and charisma
For the Church, reception of these messages presents the age-old problem of the tension between the institution and the charisma of her members. St Paul bids his fellow-Christians: ‘Do not quench the Spirit’ (1 Thess 5: 19). He also urges the Corinthians: ‘Be eager to prophesy’ (1 Cors 14: 39). The prophetic role is deemed second only to that of the apostle: ‘The Lord has appointed first apostles, second prophets…’ (1 Cors 12: 28). ‘The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets…’ (Ephes 4: 11). The prophetic role has not readily been recognised nor accepted in the Church, as indeed the old Israel had difficulty in accepting those chosen servants with their message, sent to it from God. Those responsible for the institution are concerned to maintain proper order, yet there is the need to receive the challenge of the prophetic word and take it on board. This must happen if a way forward is to be found through dialogue and growth, working through love. Is not love after all the heart of the Gospel (1 Cors 13)? ‘Let love be present in all your acts. Your love should not be just words or mere talk but something real and active.’ The question remains whether the challenge can be met so that a charism is not kept under wraps for fear of the consequences.
Comfort and strength from heaven
These messages will be a strengthening for all who have wondered how God is viewing recent struggles in the church, and in the contemporary world. For it is that very world of wars, famine, oppression, abortion, and ecological imbalance that we meet in these messages. The same Lord who first spoke to (he Hebrews, and proclaimed his Gospel to the whole human race through his Son speaks to us with exactly the same urgency, compassion, searching penetration. ‘Love is missing among you.’ ‘Let love be the principle of your life, let love be your root. Beware of your thoughts. Do not judge each other.’ The messages like their ‘parent’ the Gospel, confront us with the unique challenge of Christian faith. This is the challenge of «hearing the word (will) of God and doing it.» ‘Live the messages’ is a continuing refrain spoken by the Lord’s mother. The call is that of our common baptismal calling, to grow in holiness and all its attendant elements: forgiveness, reconciliation, peace, humility, continuous prayer, those dispositions (poverty of spirit, meekness, mercy, purity of heart) which the Lord asks of us in order to receive the blessings (Beatitudes) he desires for us. It is an invitation for each one of us to become the man or woman in Christ we were baptised to become: a unified person within the Body of Christ, the local church to which we belong. That and nothing less would represent the completion and fulfilment of this ‘revelation’ from God.
Father Peter CSWGA Letter of Our Lord to His Church
Rev. Christian Curty OFM
Priest and Exorcist, Marian Movement of Priests
Marseilles, France
Automatic Writing Or Hieratic (Sacred) Writing?
It is widely known that Vassula writes messages that she transmits to us under the dictation of Our Lord. At that time her way of writing changes and becomes quite distinct from her spontaneous and everyday handwriting. The personal handwriting of Vassula is normally small and tense, though orderly and well controlled by her will that knows what she wants. Moreover, it is affected by her warm and very refined personality, which has a good sense of proportion. On the other hand, the handwriting of the messages is characterized by its order, its clearness, its regularity and a certain majesty. Here the personality of Vassula fades away and finally vanishes behind what, at first glance, seems to be merely a facade that is a bit rigid and artificial.
Consequently there arises the question that some people have, even though they judge positively the messages themselves. Quite legitimately, they ask themselves about the origin and authenticity of this «inspiration». Here, too, lies the origin of the suspicion of critical minds who find therein a significant argument for their objection to the messages as a whole. Thus they claim that it is a simple exploration of the psychic depths of Vassula herself. This interpretation reduces these writings to a phenomenon that is well known as paranormal writing. In that case, we would not be dealing with the Jesus of Christian faith and a revelation from Him. Instead, it would be something from Vassula’s own subconscious that is gradually coming to light. Perhaps, they would say, there might even be another «spirit», in which case, it could only be an evil one.
What then are we to think of all this? Are we, in fact, dealing with a revelation of the Lord, a letter of Our Lord to His Church, or is this simply an example of what is commonly called automatic writing? Is it the hand of Our Lord that writes to us through the hand of Vassula, or rather, is it Vassula who describes for us, in a state of trance, whatever arises from the depths of her subconscious? Is she guided by a parasitic spirit whom we had best identify so as not to be deceived by one who is presented to us as coming from the Lord? In the first case we would be dealing with an inspired writing. In the second case we would be dealing with the paranormal writing or automatic writing.
What is Automatic Writing?
It is a writing which involves either paranormal phenomena or some sort of divination. In our ministry as exorcists it is not rare to run across this phenomenon. The hand of someone who has given himself over freely to this sort of guidance writes by itself; it does not write by conscious thought or intelligence. Instead, it moves by an unknown force which is not subject to the will of the writer. Sometimes, in extreme cases, it is the instrument all by itself (a pen or pencil) which, by the mere contact of a finger, begins to write a message.
The message can be of a high literary value, even spiritual, or it can tend toward the bizarre, the ridiculous, or the vulgar. Sometimes it speaks of a world beyond, which is a marvellous kind of paradise, or else it can give some simple counsel to the writer, or give him a command regarding his daily, practical life. At times, it simply answers questions that are asked, whether it be its own identity: «who are you?» or whether it concerns things that tend to the dangerous area of divination. At times, automatic writing can predict future events which, in fact, can actually occur. Thus it can give rise to falsehood; it can also simply reveal an imaginary but plausible past which leads the writer to the false and heretical belief in reincarnation.
Let us ignore, here, the question of what we might call the problem of literary characteristics of automatic writing. It is quite unusual, in fact, that the speaker who, for example, claims to be Lamartine, actually writes lines of a quality worthy of Lamartine. For it is the subconscious of the subject who, though he may have some thoughts drawn from Lamartine, expresses only himself and not the well known author.
To remain within the framework of this introduction, let us also here put aside the sometimes grave risks that those incur who deliberately give themselves over to paranormal phenomenon of automatic writing. There are risks at the level of the personality which becomes split, inasmuch as the subconscious rises to the surface, while the psychological awareness is kept in a state of slumber or as a passive listener. In extreme cases, this can result in a kind of artificial schizophrenia. There are also risks on the spiritual level where an evil spirit can take advantage of this lack of vigilance in a person and then intervene, thus taking control of the person. On the one hand, madness or a state of trance results; on the other a demonic parasitism! These are the two great dangers from which it is, at times, difficult to escape.
What about the Case of Vassula?
Now let us carefully see what is happening with Vassula. There are three situations to consider.
- In the first situation, Vassula receives a «locution» of the Lord, an interior word. She can be, at the time, in a church or a public place. If this locution is a message for everyone, she will write it down when she has gone home. It is then that her hand is guided by the Hand of the Lord and the graphological characteristics of her personal handwriting are transformed. From her personal handwriting, which is small, animated and quick, with a slight inclination to the right, it becomes an upright, well ordered, calm, transparent handwriting with no particular emotion. In any case, it is not automatic writing, for there is first af all an interior word which is then followed by the actual writing of the locution. We are not here dealing with the paranormal.
- In the second situation, there is a dictation which is made by the Master to Vassula, who simply writes down what she hears. She is then in the exact situation of any secretary to her employer. That means that she maintaince her personal autonomy, her freedom and her full contact with her surrounding. She can thus interrupt the dictation at any moment; e.g. she can answer the telephone, and then take it up again where she left off. Here, too the grapholigical pattern of her letters is not her usual one. Instead, it is a vertical, upright handwriting which is easy to read and always peaceful and measured in its respiration. Even though her handwriting is different here, Vassula maintains complete control of herself and the free exercise of her conscious faculties. She simply writes down, by hand, what she receives in an inner vision of Jesus and what she hears by this Voice that inspires her. We are thus far from automatic writing.
- Finally, in the third situation, which, at times, blends in with the preceding one, Vassula receives an interior light which is infused and has no clearly pronounced words. This is what mystics call a «motion» of the Holy Spirit (whether spiritual or intellectual) which has to be put in our language with precise words and phrases and can require various expressions which, at times, are lengthy. Vassula then hastens to write down this «insight» or «understanding» that she has just received in this infused way. It is then, when she begins to write in her own spontaneous handwriting, that the Lord intervenes and shapes the letters made by Vassula’s hand into the beautiful handwriting of His own, as if to give this revelation a seal from on high. It is thus in no way automatic writing. As if to convince us of this, the Lord, at times, proceeds in another way. Sometimes the messages to be communicated are quite long and the time available is quite short. Then the Lord permits Vassula to write the dictation in her own handwriting, which is alert and lively. That shows quite well that Vassula is in no way conditioned by this way of writing nor guided by some «spirit». Her spiritual «experience» has, then, nothing at all in common with the phenomenon of automatic writing.
It is Hieratic (Sacred) Writing
Let us look carefully at this calm, dignified writing, measured in its movements and continually animated by a vertical tendency. The median letters or the vowels are not crushed by the loops and staffs which, nevertheless, are dominant, and move with ease in the space which is their own, like that of daily life, although they are, at times, a bit confined in the interior of words. But the text breathes in the space that is provided.
Above all, there is a continual movement of coming and going which gives the whole an orientation from high to low and low to high. The text of the handwriting gives a vertical impression rather than a horizontal one, with a very evident predominance of the heights. There is, thus, nothing that is denied in the deep and instinctive life, but this depth is mastered and dominated by the higher faculties. There is nothing, then, in this handwriting, that is directed to the Past, and amazingly, nothing directed to the Future, as if only the Present moment were important, or rather, as if everything is Present in a single TODAY.
There is no sign of any egocentric regression at this time. Nothing, indeed, indicates a falling back to the self; and the tendencies toward others are discreet, light, and always uplifting. There is an evident transparency everywhere of nobility, distinction, and marvelous clarity. The only thing that is important is this double upward and downward movement, which constitutes the continual interior rhythm. At times it descends to the earthly, human depths (which is the movement of the Incarnation), and at times, there is a perceptible elevation toward a superior being who can be none other than the Father. Moreover, there is a bit of rigidity and artificiality in this handwriting where, at least at first glance, it is difficult to discern a human temperament, so sensitive and subject to changes (as one finds, moreover, in the spontaneous handwriting of Vassula). Here this dimension is continually directed on high, relativized, and disappears behind what might seem to be a mask. In fact, as it stands, this writing makes one think of Hebrew, that sacred language par excellence, in which God spoke to Moses and his people on Sinai to reveal their Vocation. That is why we describe this writing as «Hieratic».
What is Hieratic?
In the ancient theatre, there was a mask worn by the actor to hide his human face and identify him with the «passion» of the person he played in the drama. Thus the individual, who was generally well known, disappeared behind whomever or whatever he represented. When Vassula writes under the dictation of the Lord, there is something like that in this writing that we can call «hieratic.» She disappears-she is effaced behind the One who writes to us. Let us go even further. In the Liturgy, the hieratic gesture is preserved in the Great Oriental (Orthodox) Prayer and up until the time of the Council, it was also in the Roman or Latin Liturgy. It is a sacred, or more precisely, a sacralized gesture. It does not express a human temperament (that of the priest or of his assistants) which it arrests or constrains. It is performed by a man of flesh and blood, who has his own character, his emotions, his faults, even his nationality, but it is, first of all, a divine gesture. All that is relative to the individual himself and his social or geographic origins should be effaced behind an attitude that perpetuates itself in an unchanging way through space and time: for the hieratic gesture is beyond time. It is a gesture of God that is performed by a man. Such a gesture remains always the same through the vicissitudes of the centuries and changing climates and nationalities.
This is the cause of its apparent coldness and rigidity. Here there is a risk, for if the gesture remains unchanging, it can perhaps fail to convey the Spirit and can come to resemble a branch where the sap no longer flows. That is the reason why the Second Vatican Council wanted to revitalize the liturgical gestures, giving them again a more human character that is closer to our modern sensibilities, but always under the condition that we do not forget that they are, above all, sacred gestures and not those of the media. The Liturgy is, above all, a prayer and not theatre. It is a work that is both human and divine, and it is thus not just an expression of our individual or collective sensibility. We cannot always be certain that this second risk is always carefully avoided in our conciliar liturgy.
Let us return now to the «Beautiful Writing» of the Lord, as Vassula likes to call it. It is thus a hieratic writing, in other words, a sacred writing that is without a human aspect. It is austere and not individualized, but at the same time it is clothed with such a majestic solemnity. Certainly one can see a sensibility here, but it is all directed on high. In other words, it is directed towards the spirit in man. Without taking into consideration the rational content of the message it conveys, the writing itself inspires a great peace in us to whom it is directed, radiating light and serenity. Truly this Writing is beautiful and can only be good!
What is the Reason for This Hieratic Writing?
There remains the question, why is it that, in these messages which he entrusts to Vassula, the Lord has chosen to use this hieratic writing, which, as far as I know, he does not use in identical situations. In fact, so many souls are also receiving revelations from the Lord without this way of writing.
First of all, is it truly the first time this has happened? In fact, one can ask oneself this question. Aren’t the Holy Scriptures by definition a work of God, written, of course, by human hands, but under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? It is good to recall this, for there are many times in Revelation where God himself makes use of the hand-written Scriptures to conserve the message and to better spread it, and above all to engrave it in our hearts of flesh.
That is what happened to the prophet Habakkuk who, like us, was troubled by the astonishing silence of God before the supplications of his people and the flood of Evil. He decided that: «I will take up my post-watching to see what the Lord will say to me, what answer he will make … Then Yahweh answered and said: ‘Write the vision down, inscribe it on tablets to be easily read, since the vision is for its own time only: eager for its own fulfillment … if it comes slowly, wait, for come it will, without fail … the upright man will live by his faithfulness.’ (Hab. 2:1-4) Compare also in the Apocalypse, the «letter» of the Lord to His seven Churches; Write to the angel of Ephesus….» (Rev 2:1). Note, too, this unexpected and very meaningful interruption: «When the seven thunderclaps had spoken, I was preparing to write, when I heard a voice from heaven say to me, ‘Seal the words of the seven thunderclaps and do not write them down.'»
Even if one cannot say that in these cases God himself was writing by the hand of his prophet, there are nevertheless two cases where this is explicitly said.
In fact, isn’t it God Himself who, by the hand of Moses, engraved the Ten Commandments on a hard rock to engrave them on the hardened hearts of his people? These Ten Commandments were «written by the finger of God» (Ex. 31:18), but of course it was through the hand of Moses. This is proven by the words: «Cut two tablets of stone … and I will inscribe on them.» But God says to Moses «Write the words yourself … and God inscribed on the tablets the words of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments» (Ex. 34:1, 27-28). Although we have not seen these two tablets engraved by the hand of God through the hand of Moses, it is clear that the typographical nature of the letters, their «Script» was in the Hebrew language, thus hieratic or sacred, depersonalized. They did not reflect the human temperament of Moses. Instead they reflected the power and the transcendence of God, who was not only the One who inspired them but also quite precisely the author; as it says, «God wrote….» Finally, we should also remember that Jesus Himself, the Man-God, the eternal WORD of the Father, one day wrote on the ground with His own hand! (Jn 8:6.) It is clear to the eyes of faith that any effort to make a graphological analysis here could only stammer before this writing that could not be classified in any known categories of writing which are necessarily limited. However, it is certainly closer to the hieratic writing of Vassula than to our own personalized handwritings which enter in well defined categories.
A Letter of the Lord to His Church
Therefore, if the Lord, when speaking with us, does not use the usual rapid, emotive and very moving handwriting of Vassula and instead prefers to use this hieratic and transcendent handwriting, He has His reasons. In all humility, and without exaggeration, it seems that I can say these things:
In other messages which have been entrusted to other privileged souls, the Lord is speaking to all souls of good will, at times to specific persons, at times to communities, or even to all the faithful (the shepherds and lambs). However, here He is speaking, first of all, to the shepherds, to those who are responsible for his Church, those whom the Apocalypse calls «The angel of the church of….» It is thus a LETTER TO HIS CHURCH, so very much divided for such a longtime and still menaced by internal schisms, caused quite often by personal reasons rather than different liturgical traditions or different schools of theology. Moreover, who could claim, except for the God Man Himself, to sum up in a single spirituality, in a single theological vision, in a single sacred rite, the complete ineffable mystery of the Three Who are One!
Jesus, in this End of Times, in this Time of the Nations, wishes to make us come in direct contact with the fact that it is truly He who is speaking with us and writing to us. The secretary in this case is without importance and should vanish from our eyes. This is true to such an extent that even her personal handwriting, which reveals her deepest being, should vanish behind this handwriting which is apparently impersonal and artificial but is on the contrary transcendent. Just as the individual personality of the typist-secretary reflected in her handwriting disappears totally behind the printed letters of the typewriter.
Here, it is therefore the Lord who speaks, the Man-God. It is He who bursts through all the categories of character or graphological order in which one might enclose Him. He is the one who goes beyond all our psychological categories, all our schools of theology that we use to define Him. He is the One about Whom all our sacred rites and our diverse liturgical traditions try to stammer out the mystery without ever being able to exhaust it.
And He speaks to His Divided Church. He is writing a letter to it to announce that His Return is close and He invites us to a conversion of Our Hearts to His Heart in union with the Heart of His Mother by taking the path to Unity, especially in the united liturgical celebration of Easter. Then all mankind can believe that Jesus is Risen and is indeed, the Son of God and Savior of all. (Jn.17:21-23)
In giving His writing this hieratic and sacred form so close to icons and evocative of Hebrew, the language of Revelation, does not the Lord perhaps wish to say something still more profound! Does He not wish to remind us that He is the Author of the Holy Scriptures that illumine all our human history and that as we arrive at the end of this Sacred History, He is intervening personally to open up the Book of the Apocalypse to reveal for us the mystery contained therein?
One cannot fail to be reminded of the passage in the Book of Revelation which is so evocative of the spiritual experience lived by Vassula: «I heard behind me a strong voice like a trumpet that said to me: ‘What you see, WRITE IT IN A BOOK and send it to the seven Churches. I turned to see who the voice was that was speaking to me, and I saw in the midst of the seven Lamp stands of gold (the seven Churches) someone who looked like a son of man who said to me: I am the First and the Last, He Who is LIVING… l was dead, and behold, I live forever and ever, holding the keys of death and the underworld… «‘ (Rev.1:10).
«Yes, happy are those who listen to what the Spirit says to the Churches and who faithfully keep its contents, for the time is near»(Rev. 1:3).
I might add that normally Vassula, the secretary, out of respect for her Master, writes His Dictation on her knees. Might we not also receive (at least figuratively) on our knees, this letter of Our Lord to His Church, to the Seven Churches which we are?
Fr Ion Bria, Professor of Orthodox Theology
A former Director of the Unit 1 Unity of Renewal of the World Council of Churches, Geneva, discusses the book, «Fire of Love», a collection of extracts from «True Life in God» which speak of the Holy Spirit.
Within the fellowship of God’s people, commitment to Christ constitutes the foundation and core of the life and ministry of all believers, priests, teachers and bishops. Some are called to a discipleship in which their personal identity and faithfulness to Christ is of paramount significance, or to a distinctive calling which may represent an intensification of a close familiarity with the Risen Christ. Out of this intimate proximity and abundant dialogue, the faithful disciple is committed, under a solemn vow, to echo this unique joy. He/she is not sent to disclose a new revelation, but to re-tell and re-write anew what has been already revealed and manifested; «I find it necessary to write and to appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints»(Jude 3).
Fire of Love is a story written by a reminder of The Reminder. At this stage of history and in this particular place and situation, the reminder’s name is Vassula. Her analysis is realistic. Facing the present human unbelief, disobedience to the church, false prophecy, all speaking «the language of the world», there is no time for complacency and lack of discipline. Christ wants a disciplined community with disciplined faithfulness to God. Where there is faith, God works through the feeble and the powerless, but where there is no repentance and faith, the weakness is weakness. There is an urgency of time, for the intruders and «traders» of Christ are increasing the ignorance of God, perverting and undermining the grace of God, and rejecting our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (Jude 4). By saying: Christ is risen, one goes beyond denouncing this world. One becomes a witness to the new world which will not pass. This introduction is not meant to canonize the content and method of Vassula’s Spiritual Conversations, nor to judge her as a skilful writer in various styles: doxological, sentimental, poetical, penitential. Rather it is to see how the two arms of God, the Son and the Spirit, (St Irenaeus about 130-2) take a disciple and do mighty works through her.
Jesus Christ taught us the Word of God, being Himself the living Logos of God. When the Jews reproached Jesus for not himself having been taught, He answered: «My teaching is not from Myself: it comes from the One who sent Me; and if anyone is prepared to do His Will, he will know whether My teaching is from God» (John 7:16). Jesus insisted on the content of love: «If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word…. Those who do not love Me, do not keep My words. And My word is not My own: it is the word of the One who sent Me» (John 14:23-24). And the Good News has a certain objectivity. He refers to «My commandments», to what is written in the Book of Psalms (Luke 20:42), in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets (Luke 24:44). Jesus did not remain in the desert, but explained the passages from the Scriptures in the Temple, and in encounters on the road (Luke 24:27-32). It is precisely by His teaching that He created a circle of disciples: «Because He taught them with authority, and not like the scribes» (Matt 7:29). All His life and ministry are in «conformity» with the oikonomia of the God of Salvation. He was absorbed by His Father’s affairs, (Luke 2:49). He went about the Holy Land but finally He turned back to Jerusalem, where His Crucifixion became His glorification.
The Risen Christ is now active in the Spirit, as becomes clear on the day of Pentecost. He needs the Spirit to communicate with us, therefore He enjoins on us: «Do not suppress My Spirit». The Spirit is the Truth, who «will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you» (John 14:26). The Spirit is His witness, «another witness» (John 5, 6), since He will not speak as from Himself, but will say only what He has learned, and will teach you of the things to come» (John 16:13). But the Spirit is freedom, like a wind blowing where it pleases. Where there are false teachers and teaching, the Spirit repeats strictly what Jesus said. Where there are faithful disciples, the Spirit reveals the hidden jewels of God’s wisdom. The Spirit will complete in us the perfect love of the Risen Christ. «do not say that all I had to say to you has been said; why limit me as yourself?» Jesus imparts gifts, abilities, ministries, through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, who is present everywhere and fills all things, goes out to reach the whole world.
«For you too will be my witnesses». Here is the role of the reminders of The Reminder and witnesses to The Witness, who are not selected and appointed to an office, but blessed and anointed to testify that Christ is Risen! «I am free to send you new portents and fresh wonders». Their quality is perfect love and loyalty, and when it is necessary Jesus Christ asks them to rewrite His message. What a lesson about the «schola» character of Christianity! The Gospel is not imposed by imperial edict, decree of a magisterium, decisions of a council, by intellectual oppression or cultural conformism. The Christian is a scholastics absorbed in a master-disciple colloquium and gracious mutual communications. It could be turned into conversion, renewal of mind and heart. The scholastics will then say: «I vow to remain faithful to You; this is my solemn vow; help me keep this vow forever and ever.» The disciple of the Master remains a student, a pupil.
Fire of Love utters a heavy word and warning for ecumenical Christianity. The symbol of » three iron bars» is true, and corresponds with the «rigidity» of Churches petrified in the sleep and lethargy of division. This is also here a matter of commitment to Christ. In His Message, Christ asks for some urgent «reparations», at least to celebrate Easter on a common date. Only the fire of the Spirit can melt and bend the immobile bars. If not, Jesus will reject Christians like «rotten wood». In an age when so many sectarian and fundamentalist groups retain all our attention and leave no time for remembrance of God, Christians cannot be completely deaf to the persuasion and advice of Vassula in regard to new signs of unity, here and now. There is something universal in this message, recalling that «all of you are one in Christ Jesus» (Gal 3:28).
Tradition specifies no limits to the material and medium to be used in communicating the Gospel message, requiring only that it be appropriate. The historical practice retains a strict number of teaching ministries: pastors, priests, teachers, theologians and bishops. Could we interpret Tradition as being concerned with other kinds of communication, e.g. exceptional charismatic reminders? Does it provide sufficient ground for taking as comprehensive a view as possible of those who are bearers of a vision of Christ, communicating through written words, received from above? The Church then has to recognize the gifts of the faithful, to develop and integrate them into the life of the whole Body. Discerning them, restraining some and encouraging others.
The author of Fire of Love possesses a visible testimony of her experience through her hands. The task of the voice and hand of the Reminder is not a mechanical one. She has to cope with her humanity, strengths, failures and weakness. She needs to come before God in penance and prayer. She needs to be sustained by the communion of believers and saints. Her stubbornness to say «Christ is Risen» as an unceasing prayer can irritate many. She is under the scrutiny of those who are questioning the objectivity and history of her apparitions, revelation and prediction. Her strength pointing beyond herself to Christ. She must be aware that she takes a great risk, because her authority is a subject-authority, itself under the judgement and correction of God. The Risen Christ, like the widow, keeps bothering her (Luke 18:5). Her availability, as a late comer, is already a grace, allowing the Lord to transform and to use her: «I have pleaded with the Lord three times for it to leave me but He said ‘My grace is enough for you: My power is at its best in weakness’. So I shall be very happy to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay over me, and that is why I am quite content with my weaknesses, and with insults, hardships, persecutions and the agonies I go through for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong» (2 Cor 12:8-10).
Fr Ion Bria, Professor of Orthodox Theology
A former Director of the Unit 1 Unity of Renewal of the World Council of Churches, Geneva, discusses the book, «Fire of Love», a collection of extracts from «True Life in God» which speak of the Holy Spirit.
Within the fellowship of God’s people, commitment to Christ constitutes the foundation and core of the life and ministry of all believers, priests, teachers and bishops. Some are called to a discipleship in which their personal identity and faithfulness to Christ is of paramount significance, or to a distinctive calling which may represent an intensification of a close familiarity with the Risen Christ. Out of this intimate proximity and abundant dialogue, the faithful disciple is committed, under a solemn vow, to echo this unique joy. He/she is not sent to disclose a new revelation, but to re-tell and re-write anew what has been already revealed and manifested; «I find it necessary to write and to appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints»(Jude 3).
Fire of Love is a story written by a reminder of The Reminder. At this stage of history and in this particular place and situation, the reminder’s name is Vassula. Her analysis is realistic. Facing the present human unbelief, disobedience to the church, false prophecy, all speaking «the language of the world», there is no time for complacency and lack of discipline. Christ wants a disciplined community with disciplined faithfulness to God. Where there is faith, God works through the feeble and the powerless, but where there is no repentance and faith, the weakness is weakness. There is an urgency of time, for the intruders and «traders» of Christ are increasing the ignorance of God, perverting and undermining the grace of God, and rejecting our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (Jude 4). By saying: Christ is risen, one goes beyond denouncing this world. One becomes a witness to the new world which will not pass. This introduction is not meant to canonize the content and method of Vassula’s Spiritual Conversations, nor to judge her as a skilful writer in various styles: doxological, sentimental, poetical, penitential. Rather it is to see how the two arms of God, the Son and the Spirit, (St Irenaeus about 130-2) take a disciple and do mighty works through her.
Jesus Christ taught us the Word of God, being Himself the living Logos of God. When the Jews reproached Jesus for not himself having been taught, He answered: «My teaching is not from Myself: it comes from the One who sent Me; and if anyone is prepared to do His Will, he will know whether My teaching is from God» (John 7:16). Jesus insisted on the content of love: «If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word…. Those who do not love Me, do not keep My words. And My word is not My own: it is the word of the One who sent Me» (John 14:23-24). And the Good News has a certain objectivity. He refers to «My commandments», to what is written in the Book of Psalms (Luke 20:42), in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets (Luke 24:44). Jesus did not remain in the desert, but explained the passages from the Scriptures in the Temple, and in encounters on the road (Luke 24:27-32). It is precisely by His teaching that He created a circle of disciples: «Because He taught them with authority, and not like the scribes» (Matt 7:29). All His life and ministry are in «conformity» with the oikonomia of the God of Salvation. He was absorbed by His Father’s affairs, (Luke 2:49). He went about the Holy Land but finally He turned back to Jerusalem, where His Crucifixion became His glorification.
The Risen Christ is now active in the Spirit, as becomes clear on the day of Pentecost. He needs the Spirit to communicate with us, therefore He enjoins on us: «Do not suppress My Spirit». The Spirit is the Truth, who «will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you» (John 14:26). The Spirit is His witness, «another witness» (John 5, 6), since He will not speak as from Himself, but will say only what He has learned, and will teach you of the things to come» (John 16:13). But the Spirit is freedom, like a wind blowing where it pleases. Where there are false teachers and teaching, the Spirit repeats strictly what Jesus said. Where there are faithful disciples, the Spirit reveals the hidden jewels of God’s wisdom. The Spirit will complete in us the perfect love of the Risen Christ. «do not say that all I had to say to you has been said; why limit me as yourself?» Jesus imparts gifts, abilities, ministries, through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, who is present everywhere and fills all things, goes out to reach the whole world.
«For you too will be my witnesses». Here is the role of the reminders of The Reminder and witnesses to The Witness, who are not selected and appointed to an office, but blessed and anointed to testify that Christ is Risen! «I am free to send you new portents and fresh wonders». Their quality is perfect love and loyalty, and when it is necessary Jesus Christ asks them to rewrite His message. What a lesson about the «schola» character of Christianity! The Gospel is not imposed by imperial edict, decree of a magisterium, decisions of a council, by intellectual oppression or cultural conformism. The Christian is a scholastics absorbed in a master-disciple colloquium and gracious mutual communications. It could be turned into conversion, renewal of mind and heart. The scholastics will then say: «I vow to remain faithful to You; this is my solemn vow; help me keep this vow forever and ever.» The disciple of the Master remains a student, a pupil.
Fire of Love utters a heavy word and warning for ecumenical Christianity. The symbol of » three iron bars» is true, and corresponds with the «rigidity» of Churches petrified in the sleep and lethargy of division. This is also here a matter of commitment to Christ. In His Message, Christ asks for some urgent «reparations», at least to celebrate Easter on a common date. Only the fire of the Spirit can melt and bend the immobile bars. If not, Jesus will reject Christians like «rotten wood». In an age when so many sectarian and fundamentalist groups retain all our attention and leave no time for remembrance of God, Christians cannot be completely deaf to the persuasion and advice of Vassula in regard to new signs of unity, here and now. There is something universal in this message, recalling that «all of you are one in Christ Jesus» (Gal 3:28).
Tradition specifies no limits to the material and medium to be used in communicating the Gospel message, requiring only that it be appropriate. The historical practice retains a strict number of teaching ministries: pastors, priests, teachers, theologians and bishops. Could we interpret Tradition as being concerned with other kinds of communication, e.g. exceptional charismatic reminders? Does it provide sufficient ground for taking as comprehensive a view as possible of those who are bearers of a vision of Christ, communicating through written words, received from above? The Church then has to recognize the gifts of the faithful, to develop and integrate them into the life of the whole Body. Discerning them, restraining some and encouraging others.
The author of Fire of Love possesses a visible testimony of her experience through her hands. The task of the voice and hand of the Reminder is not a mechanical one. She has to cope with her humanity, strengths, failures and weakness. She needs to come before God in penance and prayer. She needs to be sustained by the communion of believers and saints. Her stubbornness to say «Christ is Risen» as an unceasing prayer can irritate many. She is under the scrutiny of those who are questioning the objectivity and history of her apparitions, revelation and prediction. Her strength pointing beyond herself to Christ. She must be aware that she takes a great risk, because her authority is a subject-authority, itself under the judgement and correction of God. The Risen Christ, like the widow, keeps bothering her (Luke 18:5). Her availability, as a late comer, is already a grace, allowing the Lord to transform and to use her: «I have pleaded with the Lord three times for it to leave me but He said ‘My grace is enough for you: My power is at its best in weakness’. So I shall be very happy to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay over me, and that is why I am quite content with my weaknesses, and with insults, hardships, persecutions and the agonies I go through for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong» (2 Cor 12:8-10).
Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo, Archbishop of Ranchi
Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo, Archbishop of Ranchi
Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo
Archbishop of Ranchi
Cardinal Toppo introduced Vassula when she came to speak in his Diocese back in November of 2004. Below is an excerpt from his speech:
«The surprising thing is that Vassula did not have any catechetical instruction, leave alone theological training what so-ever and yet her charismatic teaching seems to be in conformity to Scripture, Tradition and the writings of Scholars and Saints…»
Ven. Suddhananda Mahathero
Ven. Suddhananda Mahathero
Copied here is the address given by the leader of the Buddhist group to fellow participants of the TLIG pilgrimage in Egypt in October 2002:
It is indeed an honour for me to be present here on this historic occasion of today. At the outset, I wish to convey my sincere thanks to the organizers for inviting me to this conference and making all the arrangements for our visit to Egypt. On behalf of the peace loving people, the members of our Bangladesh delegation and on my behalf, I wish to convey my best wishes and sincere greeting to you all.
It is beautiful for all of us that Egypt has been chosen as the host country of such an historic occasion of today. Egypt, the great country is a symbol of religious tolerance in which Article 40 says all citizens are equal before the law. I have the opportunity to come and attend in such a country where there is freedom of religious belief and of practice of religious rites.
With regard to our homeland Bangladesh, let me give a very short statement. Bangladesh is a land having the burdened population of more than 130 million people. The major religious are Muslim which are 83%, Hindu which is 15.5%, and Buddhist, Christian and others are about 1.5%. We got our freedom in 1972 and secularism was one of fundamental points. Afterwards our constitution declared Islam as the state religion but it guarantees that other religions may be practiced. Discrimination of religion by the state is forbidden and our government positions are open to people of all faiths. We are enjoying full freedom of speech, freedom of thoughts. We have much religious tolerance. I am tempted to mention here that the recent communal disharmony in Guzrat of India did not at all affect our country. Last week I had the opportunity to call on our President who is thankful to all of us for the peaceful religious co-existence in Bangladesh.
We all are gathered here with our individual faiths and religion aiming at sitting together with our own prayer. Prayer concentrates and purifies our mind, controls our ego, encourages the performing of good deeds and keeps us away from the anti-social activities. Prayer reminds us, we can make our lives sublime. The Christians have their prayer in their way, Muslims pray five times a day, the Hindus pray in their own way, the Jews have their own way of prayers. The Buddhists pray in the morning and in the evening apart from the mass prayers during some specific full-moon days. Today all the channels have mixed together with one single stream. Today we have forgotten the sense of discrimination. Today’s prayer will be marked as a symbol of total solidarity for the sake of humanity.
In concluding my short remarks, I once again express my heartiest congratulations to the organizers who have undertaken the tremendous efforts and dedication. I sincerely hope that this joint prayer will strengthen the concept of peaceful co-existence which will contribute in cementing the world peace thus making the world a land of non-violence.
May all beings be happy.
Ven. Suddhananda Mahathero
Head of the Bangladesh Delegation Team
President Bangladesh Bouddha Kristi Prachar Sangha
& Vice-President World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB), Bangkok,Thailand
Bishop Ramon Cabrera Argüelles
Bishop Ramon Cabrera Argüelles
Bishop Ramon Cabrera Argüelles
To all beloved chaplains and pastoral workers of Filipinos overseas.
Praised be Jesus and Mary!
It is probably one of the signs of our times that many in the lay sector sense a special calling from God to be in the service of the Gospel. Mrs Vassula Rydén, I believe, is one of them. The Church will take long before officially recognizing the authenticity of so-called private revelations. It normally makes no definite judgement while the ‘privileged’ ones still live. Even after declaration of the orthodoxy and effectiveness of so-called divine insight it obliges no one to adhere to them. But the Church acknowledges the contribution people like Vassula does to its evangelization work.
Vassula is not even a Catholic. She was not even a devout member of the Greek Orthodox Church. But sometime in her life, sensing heavenly intervention, she became an intimate believer in Christ and, without being aware of it, started working for Christian Unity. Her movement, ‘True Life in God’, is doing a lot of good to all, most especially, for the renewal of many Christians and the evangelization of those who have never heard of Jesus before.
I do not hesitate to recommend her to you. Please allow her to speak to Filipino migrants about her faith experience. I want our ordinary Filipino folks to be edified by her and become more convinced about their potentialities as Third Millenium evangelizers. Please know that the move to propagate ‘True Life in God’ among migrant Filipinos has my approval and encouragement.
Thanking you for your continued cooperation, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous and grace-filled New Year 2004
Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary
Bishop Ramon Cabrera Argüelles
December 20, 2003
Unnamed from New Zealand
Unnamed from New Zealand
This testimony comes from New Zealand.
About nine years ago I was working as an agricultural contractor — which was not a very lucrative past-time.. the deeper in debt I got the more work I took on, ending up trying to do 30 hours work in 24. I went to Church once a week to fulfil the Sunday obligation; which I now realise was only lip service to God, and my prayer life was virtually nonexistent. One thing that I had learnt was that the deeper I got into trouble, the more fervently I prayed, then when the crisis was passed I did not feel the need to pray any further.
I began reading TLIG at night whilst looking after the grain drier. Jesus’ words to Vassula completely changed my way of thinking and I was foolish enough to share them with two priests. I have never been so humiliated in all my life. I have purchased about 15 copies of TLIG and given them out to whoever wanted to read them. I read the Bible and ‘Poem of the Man-God’ twice. In the last nine years I have not read a ‘normal’ book, and I soon understood that all that was now appearing in print was not always from God. I then prayed to the Holy Spirit for the gift of discernment and now I get a ‘sense’ or ‘feeling’ as to which is right or which is wrong.
When the notification came out from the Vatican, I read TLIG again and was more firmly convinced than the first time. If TLIG is false then where am I heading? My prayer life has undergone a major change and I now renew the sacrifice of the Mass daily and go to Confession monthly, I love spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I have not got into ‘celebrating the Liturgy’ as most do these days. To me the Mass is a re-enactment of Calvary and not a memorial celebration. I no longer work on Sundays and lead a much more relaxed life. I have consecrated my life to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I took all my children (6), to Medjugorje and gave them to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
A number of people have approached me and said ‘help’, and Jesus has helped them, using me as an instrument. A priest recently told one of those people that miracles do not happen in this day and age. I have got news for him! My life has been full of miracles in the past few years, because I now believe. It has not been easy to accept the ridicule, false accusations and judgements of people, but I would not have it any other way, after all, He died for love of me, which never ceases to amaze me.
When I hear the noise in Church after Mass and the noise in the world in general, I am reminded of Jesus’ words to Vassula ‘Tell them to lower their voices and they will hear Mine.’
How different the world would be, if people stored up riches in Heaven
| with the same zeal with which they pursue money in this life. Jesus for TLIG. May God bless you all. Be at peace. |
Fr. Laurentin
Fr. Laurentin
Fr. René Laurentin is well known for his promotion of Medjugorje and for his investigations into the widespread apparitions of Our Lady throughout the world in recent years. He has written many definitive works on Church life, the Second Vatican Council and Marian theology. The following is taken from ‘When God gives a Sign’ a response to objections made against Vassula and published in 1993 by Trinitas in the United States (see sources of the books)
Vassula is one of the most balanced and transparent seers that I know. I would even be tempted to say that she is, in a most satisfying way, more normal, more balanced than most others. Nevertheless, she has excited more opposition than any other. Why? Is it because she is Orthodox? A woman? Remarried? Is it the extent of her influence such to make one fear that the fruits of her activity give rise to persecutions from Satan? It is difficult to measure the role of each of these factors as well as several others.
Vassula is Orthodox, thus it is presumed that she is certainly a heretic. The Orthodox are separated from the Catholics by a schism, not by a heresy. They acknowledge all the dogmas before the separation of 1054. That leaves the Pope and the Immaculate Conception. The latter comes to us from their oriental tradition, but it is now rejected by most due to the papal definition. In these two points, Vassula adheres fully to the Catholic doctrine, and that creates a problem for certain Orthodox people. An Orthodox theologian who had been invited to write a preface for her messages declined the invitation, saying: «It is too Catholic.» Vassula’s ecumenism is not minimal; it is whole.
Another prejudice: She is a woman who speaks of theology. That is still not accepted by all. She is of Greek origin. She comes from another culture. That causes misunderstanding for others.
She is divorced and remarried. That seems to be the biggest problem. In fact, her marital status today is perfectly in order. She was married in church to a Protestant (1966) at a time when she was not practicing any religion. After a civil divorce (1980) she was remarried on June 13, 1981. She thought, at the time, that it was a Protestant ceremony according to her husband’s religion, but, in fact, it was a civil marriage. Only a nominal Christian, without contact with her Orthodox Church, she did not even know that her remarriage could be the source of problems. When she presented herself to her church to regularize her marriage, the first priest to whom she spoke could not even seem to feel that there was a problem since it was a mixed marriage. But she insisted, in order to be truly in accord with Orthodox legislation. It was then that she was referred to the priest in charge of marriage problems, and it was he who took care of the matter following the «law of economy» that deals with broken marriages in her church. The marriage was celebrated on October 13, 1990, in the Greek Orthodox Church of Lausanne. Thus, according to church law her situation presents no problems.
One might ask, but why did Christ not begin by asking her to straighten out this matter? It is because he has led her progressively, like a teacher, as he has done since the Old Testament. He did not ask Abraham and the Patriarchs to give up their polygamy. It was a tolerance that gradually disappeared by the spiritual progress of revelation. It was thus that Vassula gradually re-entered her church and took on values of Catholic teaching, including the Sacred Heart, the Pope and purgatory.
Fr. José Eduardo Pérez Valera SJ
Fr. José Eduardo Pérez Valera SJ
My name is Perez Valera. I am a Jesuit priest. I was asked by a friend one day in October, 1997: What do you think of Vassula? This was the first time I heard the name «Vassula». I had no idea of the person at that time. To be able to answer him, I began reading My Angel Daniel and Vol. I of True Life In God. No doubt, I read them in a prayerful spirit.
In less than one month I was convinced that the person who wrote the book must be authentic. And consequently, I realized that the main author of the messages was not Vassula but Jesus Himself. Thus I answered to my friend who had asked me. But then I also thought I had better not express my opinion to others. I would keep it to myself. But soon I had to change my attitude: we Jesuits make our own retreat once a year, some of you may know. So I made mine in January, I used Vassula’s messages as my text.
After 10 days of prayer, I realized that I had to take the responsibility, and assert Vassula’s authenticity before Japan and the whole church. This is why I wrote the Preface for Volume II of True Life In God.
Later, I met Vassula in Jerusalem. Having had all kinds of unforgettable experiences, I received several signs in regard to her authenticity. Also, I experienced the joy of having found an elder sister in the spiritual sense. Back in Japan I have had the chance to look after those using her manual in their prayer groups. Today I am asked to give an introduction. I have done my best to summarize the essence of her messages. It is a short text. … impossible to get bored. So, listen carefully. All right?
Welcoming Vassula to Tokyo, I have been asked to introduce her to you before we listen to her. It is a great honor for me to do this.
15 years ago, Vassula was losing her soul. That is, steeped in worldly life, she was enjoying earthly pleasures, and living a superficial life. She also did not realize that her heart craved for higher more precious things. But one day, she received the surprising visit of a surprising guest. That is, Vassula met with the one who is Light Himself, …the Creator of heaven and all things. As time went by, this conviction became more profound. And through the new found contact, she began to recover her lost soul.
But her experience is meaningful for us too, because we can learn from her. That is, we do many things spontaneously, but we exercise our highest spontaneity, when we love with our whole being, with our whole strength. However, though it may sound paradoxical, it is only through the gift of grace that we can exercise our highest spontaneity. I would like now to dwell a bit on this point, central to Vassula’s messages.
Man has the ability to enjoy Nature and its beauty and this is through his ability to see. The same thing can be said about music or dancing. We enjoy music through our ability to listen, dancing through the natural movements of our body. We have then the ability of doing many things spontaneously, using the faculties naturally given to us. But we also have a spontaneity that is different from all these spontaneities. Let us think for a moment on this. Most of us probably think that it is natural for the heart to love. For instance, we naturally love our country, our parents, or our friends. We are also drawn to the green of the leaves, the whisper of the stars, to the sparkle of dewdrops. But this is not all. For we can also love with an unrestricted love, without any reserve, condition, limitation, in virtue of a gift bestowed on us by a Person who transcends our human world. This love is focused on the One who is the source of our being and our life. To love in this way is to exercise our spontaneity to its highest degree. I am convinced that such love is the common element giving life to all the authentic religious traditions of the world.
It seems to me that Vassula has received the gift to love in this way. And to this day, all her efforts have been directed to cooperate fully with the Love. The ten volumes of True Life In God record her response to this Grace. They reveal how this Grace is not only for her personally — they are also a gift for the whole of humankind.
Vassula is visiting us now to convey this message to Japan. Her visit is not for her own interest or by her own will. This is the nucleus of the message she is trying to communicate us. Open your hearts to love the One who is the Source of your being. You can love Him, in virtue of the grace He is offering you. If you love this way, you will be able to recover your life as I recovered mine.
Vassula came to Japan, being urged by the One Who wishes to hand over to each one of the Japanese people a detailed account of His message, through True Life In God.
I have found true Peace; Love reading TLIG; and have shared it with others and know that it has touched their hearts as well. My sister tried to get me to read one of those books. … then I got arrested … the wheels of justice turns real slow in TX. She finally got you to send me Volume 1. At first I was weary-until I decided to really sit down and read it. I’ve always believed in the Spirit of God, but had a problem praying to Jesus (a man). But after I started reading I felt the love and the pain Jesus is going thru. He talks with such feeling that it made me love him. And feel guilty for not trusting and loving him earlier….. After I read the books I let other guys read them, and you could actually see the change in a person that really opens up their heart and mind to God-Lord Jesus and his sweet Mother Mary. May the Lord Jesus bless the World that we all live in and have mercy on those whose ear and eyes are closed.
(G. S., Fort Worth, TX. USA, January 1996)
B. O'S, UK
B. O'S, UK
(Since reading the Messages) I certainly have become more detached from all material things — I believe it is no coincidence that my friend Maria (who I pray with according to True Life in God guidelines) and myself both independently of each other chose to give up television — this has created a were peaceful environment in our homes creating an atmosphere more conductive to prayer. Many years ago I had a vision of the Sacred Heart — I did not know why or what it meant — I also had a second vision of the Heart of Jesus not long after I began to read True Life in God messages — March 1994.
(B. O’S, UK, December 1994)
G. B., UK
G. B., UK
The Jesus that I knew for most of my life was not the Jesus that Vassula as talking to and as I read each page of her first book I became entranced with this new God that I had never understood or known at all, and yet He was always there! I felt my heart responding powerfully to Jesus’ words through Vassula and I devoured each page as if I were a starving man — you could say that I had been searching for this understanding all my life because I was never content with my faith as it then stood. Suddenly, I wanted more, a sincere love that would truly change me and lead me along the road I’m travelling now.
(G. B., UK, December 1994)
M. K., USA
M. K., USA
The experience happened one afternoon as I was playing with my 3 year old granddaughter Krystal, who at the time was reciting names of family members from pictures hanging on my living room walls. Among these portraits was a picture of Jesus. She pointed to Jesus, said his name, turned to me looking directly into my eyes said `Vassula’, for a moment I was stunned, I had to ask her what she had said and looking still in my eyes, the name `Vassula’ was stated. Knowing that my granddaughter had never heard this word or would have been able to pronounce it in such clarity as she had done. I called my spiritual priest (Rev. Paul NM. Williams, OF) and told him what has happened, with great understanding, the priest explained that it was a message of confirmation from our Lord to him. He said he was asking God to give him a sign, `and He gave me it through a baby’.
(M. K., USA, October 1994)
E. U, Germany
E. U, Germany
I hereby declare that I saw, on the 9th day of October, the face of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The face of Jesus was one with Vassula Ryden as she spoke during the Marian Conference. I saw the face of Jesus throughout her talk. I did not expect it, I did not look for it, I did not ask for it. I completely surrender it for God’s Glory.
(E. U, Germany, October 1994)
G. B., Monaco
G. B., Monaco
In October, 1994 during Vassula’s conference in New York at `Pray, pray, pray activity’ while I was looking at Vassula on the screen, her face suddenly seemed to fade out slowly and the face of a man was appearing. I recognized the features of Jesus Christ with beard, moustache and His hair darker than Vassula’s. While Vassula was speaking Jesus was moving his lips too as though he was speaking as well. At first I did not believe what I was seeing, so I picked up my glasses to see whether I was mistaken. When I wore them I still saw Jesus and this time I recognised the face of the Shroud. The one that is on the covers of True Life in God. I noticed His fine long nose while he was still moving His lips. After a few seconds, He faded away so that I could see Vassula’s feminine face again on the screen. Then again He appeared and so forth, back and forth several times and finally Vassula’s face reappeared till the end. I was so happy ad I bless God for this grace.
(G. B., Monaco, October, 1994)
S. C., USA
S. C., USA
She began watching the first tape and shortly after the tape began Vassula’s head was replaced by the head and face of our Lord Jesus. There was no aura or halo about or around our Lord’s Head. It was as if our Lord simply replaced Vassula. During the tape, Doloras got up quietly and went into the bathroom to freshen up. She said she was atraid she was becoming «obsessive» by seeing this vision and thought that a break from the tape might get things back to «normal». When she returned to her place, Jesus was still there so she decided to just sit through the tapes and figure it out later. When the tapes were finished, she said to her friends that she thought that the «special effect» of Jesus’s head replacing Vassula’s was a nice touch. Everyone looked at her. No one else in the group had seen the apparition except Doloras.
(S. C., USA, 1994)
S. A. P., Orange, USA
S. A. P., Orange, USA
I saw Vassula Ryden for the first time at a home in Fairfield. I was seated in the audience about 50 feet away from her as she spoke. After she had been speaking about a half hour, I began to see the face of Jesus in Vassula. Her face changed to the face of Christ similar to one that she has painted. He had a beard and long hair, and there seemed to be a mist surrounding him. I should point out that at this time I had not seen the face she painted. It was not until the next day someone showed it to me, and I realized the similarity. … Then, several minutes before her talk ended, I saw Christ’s face again, but this time He had a crown of thorns, and I could actually see blood dripping down the sides of His face. … Vassula’s face returned as she was ending her talk.
(S. A. P., Orange, USA, June 1994)
A. F. F., Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
A. F. F., Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
On Vassula’s talk, the 12 of February, 1994 at Manates, Puerto Rico, she was explaining and reading the messages she receive from Jesus. As I was sitting on the front seat close to the podium, I could see her better than the rest of the people sitting far away. All of a sudden, when I look at her, I didn’t see her face, I saw the face of Jesus, a very clean cut face with his hair in a pony tail. … I looked around seeing other faces but then I looked at Vassula again I kept seeing Jesus face. I shivered and was filled of deep emotion. … After this, at one point, of the Conference instead of Vassula’s face I saw her head covered with the mantle of the Blessed Virgin. I didn’t see her face or any face, just the mantle, the way some sculptures make her statue in heavy thick layers of clay showing the folds of the mantle.
(A. F. F., Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, February, 1994)
Dr. N. E. A. M., Puerto Rico
Dr. N. E. A. M., Puerto Rico
At the time I was introduced to her, her face faded out and changed to look like Jesus face. At that moment I realized I was in front of her but also and as well in front of Him, this was for about thirty seconds. I looked around and again at Vassula’s face and still His face was there looking at me with the greatest kindness I have ever seen, and a crown of thorns was on His head. Despite smiling at me He was in some sort of deep pain; I wanted to kneel. Then a soft voice coming from Vassula said something to me but I could hardly answer. Again I saw His face. By this time the group noticed something was happening; I was speechless. Now, as Thomas, I also repeat «because I have seen, I believe».
(Dr. N. E. A. M., Puerto Rico, February 1994)
A lady from Brazil
A lady from Brazil
Your interview is making many conversions, even among the clergy. I know a priest, here in Brasilia, that does not believe in Heaven, In Purgatory, in Hell, in Lourdes, in Fatima, in Medjugorje and in you. After he saw your interview, he became another man (at least about you). He phoned to many friends of his saying that he now believes in you. And he cried: `It’s wonderful! I believe, it’s Jesus really that’s talking to her! She’s not lying I’m sure! I saw her, it’s truth!
(A lady, Brasilia, Brazil, February, 1994)
R. A. Arroyo, Puerto Rico
R. A. Arroyo, Puerto Rico
I closed my eyes and started to cry and to pray. I could not believe in that moment what I was experiencing. When I opened my eyes I saw Vassula levitating, holding all her body just with the tip of her feet and the top of her head. She had both arms stretched. She was some 4 inches from the floor for about 4 to 5 minutes. She gave a message and it was written.
(R. A. Arroyo, Puerto Rico, February, 1994)
H. and R. A, Denmark
H. and R. A, Denmark
We thank you (Vassula) for this wonderful meeting with you (Copenhagen 3 September 1993). I can tell you that there was 2 persons, who were healed; a lady, who was going to be operated for cancer and the following day she was cured, which the doctors confirmed. Another man was mentally ill but now he is healed.
(H. and R. A, Denmark, October 1993)
M. T., Philippines
M. T., Philippines
After the talk I had the chance to tell Mrs. Aquino that I saw her rubbing her eyes during Vassula’s talk. Mrs. Aquino told me that she saw Vassula’s face look like the face of Jesus with a beard, which is exactly the way I saw her too. Mrs Aquino said she could not believe what she saw so she kept on rubbing her eyes. The lady beside her had told her that she also saw Vassula’s face change and it was only then that she found out that she really saw what she did.
(M. T., Philippines, 1993)
A lady from New Mexico, USA
A lady from New Mexico, USA
Vassula, I first heard of you and of the messages that Jesus dictated to you in May of the present year, and from that very first moment my heart filled with joy because I recognised Jesus way of speaking and loving in your writings. The first thing that came to my mind was: «it’s Him!»
(A lady from New Mexico, USA, 1993)
M. L. B., Philippines
E. V. L., USA
E. V. L., USA
The conversion of our daughter Lisa (Milligan) was an answer to our prayers. She had so many problems and we never lost our faith that she would return to Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother. It will be a month in two days that she attended your lecture. Thank you for being so kind to her and for you taking time to talk to her in private. You should see her now! She is radiant with happiness and joy! She went to confession and now she is going to Mass (which she had stopped going) and most important receiving the Blessed Sacrament Our Lord. Praise be Jesus!
(E. V. L., USA, February 1993)
P. W., Australia
P. W., Australia
Since reading TLIG books, in 1992, since then, my life has changed as I have learnt many things. I want to go to Mass, and go to make visits to be with Jesus in The Tabernacle, and I want to pray for hours and go to Reconciliation each month at least. It seems to me that I cannot go on without prayer. It has become my strength, even though I have finished all the TLIG books, I read parts of the books over and over again, and every time I do, it seems brand new again.
(P. W., Australia, 1992)
J.C. K., Australia
J.C. K., Australia
Since reading TLIG books, although already converted, I have a gradual improvement in my prayer life and above all, a much better understanding and love of the Triune God. Also I have a more loving relationship with the father and the Holy Spirit. When Vassula was in Sydney Australia in 1992 and standing close to me, I perceived Jesus talking to us through her.
(J.C. K., Australia, 1992)
V. H., Australia
V. H., Australia
As a Christian I have been Baptised in the Holy Spirit. My husband left me, as he could not stand my religion and Christianity. Praying brought him back after seven years and we remarried. Vassula’s TLIG books came into my hands soon afterwards, in 1992 by a miracle. From the start of reading the books, I felt Jesus was speaking to me personally. Only after reading the first book, did I read that Jesus said to put our name in the place of Vassula’s. TLIG has taken away all my confusion. I know where I’m standing with God. I read my bible nearly everyday, and my husband is now reading Vassula’s books, and has become more soft towards me now, so I have the freedom to express my spiritual life without the former limitations.
(V. H., Australia, 1992)
J. V., USA
J. V., USA
I cannot begin to express my personal gratitude for you and for the Lord’s work in you. Your books are the clearest expression of God’s boundless fire of love for all of us, that I have ever seen. It’s also very important that we don’t have to be perfect first! it is a powerful testimony! … I wanted you to know how far and wide your work is reaching. We are in a small town in very poor, very rural, southeast Louisiana. Your work and the Lord’s words are known here and are spreading every day. Our worlds are far apart but we are united in Christ’s love and with the power of the Holy Spirit!
(J. V., USA, July 1992)
Y. B, USA
J. Mika, USA
J. Mika, USA
On January 11, 1992, at the St. Francis convent in Independence Missouri, Vassula Ryden, chosen handmaiden of the Lord was the guest speaker. Immediately concluding her speech, Sr. Mary Lucille Sterbenz directed my daughter, Janie & four year old grandson Curt to Vassula. It was there that my grandson was immediately & miraculously healed of crippling Junior Rheumatoid Arthritis. He had been diagnosed at Children’s Mercy Hospital in KCMO at the age of two. On this day, as on many others he was unable to walk, or to even wear shoes. He was feverish & in great pain. Vassula, asked `What is the problem’. Vassula then prayed to God, Jesus & the Blessed Mother for healing. Through her prayers Curt was healed. He is drug free and all health problems related to the arthritis have vanished.
(J. Mika, USA, January 1992)
F. W., Australia
F. W., Australia
Since 1991 I have read all the books of TLIG. I have found them very beautiful. I am trying very hard to follow what Jesus wants from us. Despite my many misfortunes and feelings of isolation I have found the strength to trust in Jesus. I know that there is a reason for everything that happens in life. Through TLIG I know Jesus is in control. And that he gives us strength. Trust has been my big improvement.
(F. W., Australia, 1991)
A M., Australia
A M., Australia
After reading TLIG in 1991, I realized the beauty, love and elegance of the words of God towards us, and experienced a deepening of conversion because of TLIG. After reading I was more aware of God in His sweetness, gentleness, and how forgiving He is towards us. I am now vibrant and alive, because of my awareness of His personal Love for me in my life. My love for God has grown, and TLIG is a love Hymn from heaven.
(A M., Australia, 1991)
M. V., Johannesburg South Africa
M. V., Johannesburg South Africa
Reading the messages of True Life in God my life and conversion changed most profoundly. If I may add that I fell in love with the Catholic Church and all it represented to the Christian world. My faith has deepened to levels I did not believe was possible. Especially my love for the Blessed Trinity and Our Lady. Furthermore just as was experienced by Vassula via her son, one early morning at 01:00 hours Jesus asked me three times via my then toddler son Roberto who somehow sleep walked to me whilst I was reading the TLIG messages asking me if I loved Him. This happened three times in succession every time I took my toddler son back to bed. This event only dawned on me as to what transpired that early morning many weeks later. I thank the Blessed Trinity for that.
(M. V., Johannesburg South Africa, 1990)
Fr. René Laurentin
Fr. René Laurentin is well known for his promotion of Medjugorje and for his investigations into the widespread apparitions of Our Lady throughout the world in recent years. He has written many definitive works on Church life, the Second Vatican Council and Marian theology. The following is taken from ‘When God gives a Sign’ a response to objections made against Vassula and published in 1993 by Trinitas in the United States (see sources of the books)
Vassula is one of the most balanced and transparent seers that I know. I would even be tempted to say that she is, in a most satisfying way, more normal, more balanced than most others. Nevertheless, she has excited more opposition than any other. Why? Is it because she is Orthodox? A woman? Remarried? Is it the extent of her influence such to make one fear that the fruits of her activity give rise to persecutions from Satan? It is difficult to measure the role of each of these factors as well as several others.
Vassula is Orthodox, thus it is presumed that she is certainly a heretic. The Orthodox are separated from the Catholics by a schism, not by a heresy. They acknowledge all the dogmas before the separation of 1054. That leaves the Pope and the Immaculate Conception. The latter comes to us from their oriental tradition, but it is now rejected by most due to the papal definition. In these two points, Vassula adheres fully to the Catholic doctrine, and that creates a problem for certain Orthodox people. An Orthodox theologian who had been invited to write a preface for her messages declined the invitation, saying: «It is too Catholic.» Vassula’s ecumenism is not minimal; it is whole.
Another prejudice: She is a woman who speaks of theology. That is still not accepted by all. She is of Greek origin. She comes from another culture. That causes misunderstanding for others.
She is divorced and remarried. That seems to be the biggest problem. In fact, her marital status today is perfectly in order. She was married in church to a Protestant (1966) at a time when she was not practicing any religion. After a civil divorce (1980) she was remarried on June 13, 1981. She thought, at the time, that it was a Protestant ceremony according to her husband’s religion, but, in fact, it was a civil marriage. Only a nominal Christian, without contact with her Orthodox Church, she did not even know that her remarriage could be the source of problems. When she presented herself to her church to regularize her marriage, the first priest to whom she spoke could not even seem to feel that there was a problem since it was a mixed marriage. But she insisted, in order to be truly in accord with Orthodox legislation. It was then that she was referred to the priest in charge of marriage problems, and it was he who took care of the matter following the «law of economy» that deals with broken marriages in her church. The marriage was celebrated on October 13, 1990, in the Greek Orthodox Church of Lausanne. Thus, according to church law her situation presents no problems.
One might ask, but why did Christ not begin by asking her to straighten out this matter? It is because he has led her progressively, like a teacher, as he has done since the Old Testament. He did not ask Abraham and the Patriarchs to give up their polygamy. It was a tolerance that gradually disappeared by the spiritual progress of revelation. It was thus that Vassula gradually re-entered her church and took on values of Catholic teaching, including the Sacred Heart, the Pope and purgatory.
Fr. Michael O´Carroll CSSp
Fr. Michael O’Carroll, Vassula’s spiritual adviser for many years, travelled widely with her on her speaking missions. He is a renowned theologian and member of the Pontifical Marian Academy. He released the following statement at the beginning of 1997 after having had to relinquish his travelling role.
I wish my support for Vassula Ryden to be known, as is already evident from the two books which I have written: Vassula of the Sacred Heart’s Passion and Bearer of the Light and a third in preparation which is: Vassula: Apostle of the Holy Trinity. It is scarcely necessary to add anything to this statement but I wish to make it clear that this priest, who has been her counsellor so far, wishes any listener to be relieved of any suspicion or doubt of any kind whatsoever about my belief in the divine origin of the messages given to Vassula.
This question has been discussed and an affirmative conclusion amply expressed by theologians around the world in North and South America, as far away as Japan, and by many in Europe. And I am pleased to state that I am in total agreement with all those who have voiced their fidelity, their faith in the messages, expressing this to the highest authority available; that is to the Cardinal Prefect of the Congragation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger, who eventually, after many letters had been sent to him, made an important statement to our friends in Guadalajara who have assured us that they are prepared to testify under oath what he had said to them, and I quote the essential words of his message: «You may continue to promote her writings…»
This, it seems to me, is sufficient evidence and I wish to affirm my total acceptance of this position which does not in any way compromise my attachment to the Holy See. I am known as a defender of the papacy.
When I met the present Pope on the 29th November 1995, I asked him for a blessing for Vassula. I had previously offered to him my two books on himself, one on his Polish origins and one on his life and teachings and I assured him, «I am your defender.» To this he replied, «There are many enemies.»
He gave me then a blessing, at my request, for Vassula. It is also known that when he knew there were representatives of our Spanish friends in an audience with him on August 11, 1996 he publicly gave them his encouragement and he asked them to continue to witness to the love of God, as we know is so beautifully expressed in the messages.
I think this ought to reassure anyone who may be tempted to think that I have changed my opinion in regard to the messages in True Life in God.
Father Michael O´Carroll CSSp,
January 2, 1997
Black Rock College
Dublin, Ireland
Vassula Ryden’s writings
by Fr. Michael O´Carroll, CSSp
More has been written on Jesus Christ in the last fifty years than in all the previous Christian centuries. This immense volume of writing, with its echo in the spoken word, in pulpit and lecture room, constitutes undeniable testimony to His might; His uniqueness within human experience and the flow of history is manifest. A very different kind of testimony with a tragic overtone is the fact that, at the present time, more than twenty thousand churches, communities sects, groups and splinter groups claim Him as their nominal central figure or their founder. Within a cosmic or worldwide setting it is noteworthy that though He was a Jew, a Semite and an Asiatic, his following is minimal among His own people and race, and in His continent. The temptation is to settle for this in a fatalistic spirit; to do so deliberately would be to surrender belief in his universal mission and message.
Will the immense intellectual ferment, the labours of scholars, effect the change so desirable, not only among those who do not explicitly accept Jesus as their Saviour, but among those who do but pay little heed to his teaching? We have had so many Christologies; so much has been written on the «Jesus of history» and the «Christ of faith»; every possible detail and aspect of the Bible has been scrutinized; marginal disciplines like archaeology, the Qumran fields, inter-testamental and Jewish-Christian texts have been studied; we have recently had a whole new literature on the most obvious thing about Jesus, his Jewishness.
Having had to go through some of this literary forest I am convinced that all who search for Jesus Christ, who wish to share in his healing, transforming self-disclosure must seriously heed the claim of the mystics. I submit that to ignore their testimony is to miss a powerful, enlightening dimension of Jesus Christ. It is also to close his mystery to the sincere votaries of the great world religions, which we are invited to view with sympathy and understanding. They are open at times strikingly to the appeal of mysticism, have not allowed perversion of its meaning. On the level of history great mystics have profoundly influenced their times. Jesus Christ, by his action on them, discloses a psychic potential, deep, subtle, rich on which he alone can directly act. What history and psychology indicate, theology clarifies and confirms.
It is in such a deep perspective that I would wish to present this volume of Vassula Rydn’s writings. I would ask to be taken as speaking a strictly theological language, valid and accurate, when I describe her work as a valuable record of mystical experience. Irrespective of terminology the value is beyond question. Others like Maria Concepcion de Armida and Adrienne von Speyr have taken dictation directly from the Lord, or given it to another under his inspiration. Vassula’s case is singular in that the handwriting is directly controlled. We have the transcription of an intensely personal experience of Jesus Christ with the assurance that he was involved down to the physical element of putting the words on paper.
Readers who have not seen the scientific evidence for this phenomenon, in so far as there can be evidence, may be reassured. An expert graphologist, attached to the Paris Court of Appeals, J A Munier, examined the writing with no knowledge of the author’s identity and found it astonishing in many particulars; to the ordinary observer it is in marked contrast with Vassula’s normal handwriting.
To those who accept the message of Jesus in Vassula’s testimony, the contents of her books are thought-provoking, at times disturbing, overall elevating and powerfully encouraging. It is easy to see why her books have caused so many striking conversions. The leit-motiv throughout is the love of Jesus, expressed in the sponsal terms characteristic of mysticism, but manifested as an effulgence, an outpouring of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
I consider this revelation one of the most helpful, promising of all that have been recorded in recent times. It is so, for the Lord’s messenger is of the Orthodox Church, and we have never heard the language of the Sacred Heart from this communion. Historically unique for this reason, it is the long-awaited revival for Catholics of an ideal, an intuition of Jesus, which for centuries, especially since the age of St Margaret Mary, made countless saints and apostles. After Vatican II what really was an outlook, a total vision of the Saviour was dismissed by many as mere «devotion». Those who hoped for better days scarcely expected the dawn to appear in the East.
The message is thus an augury for the Christian unity which is a cherished theme and a promise in Vassula’s pages. Where could Christians meet more securely than in the Heart of Christ? He has made it clear that the miracle of unity will be seen as his work.
It is not the first benefit that we have received from the Orthodox. During the Second Vatican Council it was the Orthodox, notably one Greek theologian, Nikos Nissiotis, who kept pressing for a theology of the Holy Spirit, without this the Council Documents would have little impact in their world. Much has been done since then to make good any possible loss. It is noteworthy that Jesus instructs Vassula on the Holy Spirit, speaks to her of Him frequently.
The language which He speaks to her is that of love. But He does not dispense with the Commandments; the reader is urged to contrast the clarity of His utterance with so much that is hazy and vague in some popular presentations of the faith. Ecumenists would also read with profit the warnings against dilution of doctrine; as preachers should take to heart the advice not to give priority to social concern over the divine claim to adoration — they must not cut themselves off from God the source of life, nor minimize the divinity of Jesus Christ, nor the mysteries of his life, death and resurrection.
There are searing pages in Vassula’s communications on the present state of the Church. How are we to react to the application of Apocalypse XIII to our time? I would say with great humility, attentive to its realism, concerned to reap the reward of fidelity. There is much to console in the whole corpus. We have a word of reassurance on the many apparitions and visions which in our day the Spirit is bestowing on the faithful. We are reminded that the Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. Jesus cares for His Church with all the love of His Heart, realizes its dreadful need and intends to renew it.
At this stage I am reminded of another work which has some similarity with that of Vassula, Confidences de Jesus given to an Italian priest, Mgr Ottavio Michellini of the diocese of Carpi. He was given a very clear idea of the evils within the Church, but also a firm hope that through the intercession of Mary, through her triumph over the forces of evil, the reign of Jesus would be established. Pius XII, in a broadcast message to the International Marian Congress at Lourdes on 17th September 1958, three weeks before his death, spoke these words: `I wish to affirm my unshakeable confidence that the reign of Jesus will come through the reign of Mary.’
True to the great Orthodox tradition, Vassula believes in the power of Mary. How many people forgot this rich, living legacy when they spoke of Mary as an obstacle to Christian unity ! If Christian unity is to be complete it must include the Orthodox, who would never compromise on Marian theology or devotion. This was made crystal clear in the early days of Faith and Order by one of its most committed members, the giant of modern Russian Orthodox Marian theology, Sergey Bulgakov.
In Marian devotion Vassula is responsive to a particularly Catholic form of piety, the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Heart of Mary united to the Heart of Jesus is a theme to inspire and encourage. Pope John Paul II speaking of it used the phrase `Alliance of the Two Hearts.’ This was chosen as the title of an international symposium sponsored in Fatima from 14th to 19th September, 1986 by Cardinal Sin. The symposium enjoyed formal approval in a special message received from the Pope, who later received the participants in Rome and was given the complete proceedings. In these papers speciality theologians had supported with impeccable research the continuity of the theme through the centuries, noting obviously the high points; the great saints of Helfta in medieval times, the saints and teachers of seventeenth century France, notably St John Eudes, the awakening of the nineteenth century and then the culmination in our time, with the formal teaching of the Popes since Pius XII, the promise of Fatima that with the triumph of the Immaculate Heart over Russia, Jesus wishes it to be glorified along with his own Sacred Heart — and so many other private revelations at the present time.
I am convinced that we may expect an enriched theology of the heart within the Church from a close, profound fusion of the eastern and western traditions. It is well known that the idea of divinization, of man made in the image of God, is basic to the thinking of the Greek Fathers, especially those of the school of Alexandria. In the theological renewal which will precede the Christian unity which we long for, there must be serious reflection on the Heart of Jesus, God-man, as the means and model of divinization.
An immense perspective opens before us in Christian theology. John Paul II has shown how his philosophy of the human person, influenced to some extent by his studies in phenomenology, may be integrated in the theology of the heart. At the symposium of Fatima the theologians agreed that it is with the idea of the Holy Spirit that the fruitful synthesis will be achieved. There is here a sense of profound spiritual harmony. But the field is still open for theological research and reflection.
It is, meanwhile, a matter for deep satisfaction that Vassula Rydn, guided word by word by Jesus, joins the company of theologians and spiritual writers vowed to the regeneration and divinization of mankind through the mediation of the two Hearts. It is an honour to commend and by so doing to support the ideal which she proposes with such clear intuition and courageous candour, with the eloquence of simplicity, at times poignant: the Ideal who is Christ himself, the «Mediator and the fullness of all revelation» as Vatican II calls him, the One who is the Centre of all life and of all creation, for He is the Origin, the Alpha and the Omega. In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and understanding (Colossians 2:3); He is the first-born of all creation… in whom all things subsist (Colossians 1:15,17). To Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory from all creatures evermore, through the mediation of Blessed Maria Theotokos.
19th May, 1991 — Pentecost Sunday
Fr. Theophil Pelgrims
Testimony in front of an audience while accompanying Vassula in Russia, July 1999
Did not our hearts burn within us also while Jesus was talking to us through Vassula? In all events, Vassula, we have noticed how Christ, our God jealous of His souls, has seduced you. Yes, Vassula, you have been seduced by this considerate love of our Lord. Thank you for letting us discover Jesus as the divine tenderness of the Father for us. St. John the Evangelist invites us in his Gospel to imitate his gesture during the Last Supper. Let us also rest on the loving Heart of our Saviour our heads so often filled with torment and stress. Besides, what John teaches us is the gesture of Jesus himself toward His heavenly Father. For «no one has ever seen God; it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart, who has made him known» (Prologue of St John, verse 18). Lord Jesus, living euchologion of the Father, thank You for Your Love, thank You for Your messenger and bride Vassula. Yes, our Lord is King. He has robed Himself in the splendour of His devoted souls!
Unity and our Holy Mother Mary
(from a Protestant point of view)
by Reverend Sverker Trônet
This talk was given to the international gathering of True Life in God in Jerusalem, May 1998
I have been asked to speak from a Protestant point of view about the Unity of the Church and Our Lady. First I must say something about being a Protestant or Lutheran.
The Church of Sweden as a whole was severed from the Church of Rome and the Pope during the Reformation in the sixteenth century. It was the king who wanted to be the sole ruler of his country and he did not want any interference from abroad, that is from the Pope and the bishops who really had a good deal also of worldly power.
The teachings of Martin Luther suited the king’s purposes very well. The king took the place of the Pope. From Germany, the mainland of the reformation, was imported the most important of the reformation confessions — the Augsburg Confession, which was critical of abuses in the late medieval Church but was otherwise very traditional, with no intention of teaching anything new, but only being a witness to the faith of the one, holy, catholic (also Roman) and apostolic Church. The Augsburg Confession is today considered, by the official Catholic and Lutheran Ecumenical Commission, to have a catholic intention and an ecumenical will.
There certainly was a great change of the Church in Sweden and for the faithful in the reformation time, but there was also a certain continuity. Some priests and bishops left the country, but some stayed and saved what could be saved.
After the turmoil of the reformation there was just one Church in Sweden. There still were bishops and priests, who by now could be married. The Mass was celebrated, but it was in Swedish instead of Latin and the people could now communicate also from the chalice. Mary and the saints soon disappeared. And so did the monasteries, often by violence. The Bible was translated and there was catechetical work in the schools. For three hundred years there was no alternative. Being a Swede meant being a Lutheran.
Today, despite a radical secularisation, most Swedes belong to the Church which is no longer governed by the king but by democratically voted politicians and their parties. I cannot call myself a Protestant or a Lutheran, but I belong to the Church of Sweden.
I don’t think the reformation in Sweden, from a religious point of view, could be justified or was necessary or for the good of the Church, but I can see some good things in it, despite the undisputedly bad things, and also what these good things came to mean for the future.
The Bible, read within the horizon of the old tradition and the Augsburg Confession, was kept as the first and last authority for the faith. This is what preserved the Church in Sweden as a fairly orthodox Christian Church, despite its severance from Rome. But you can imagine what happens today when the Bible, at least in practice, is no longer an authority and if it is taken notice of at all, it is interpreted according to the opinions of the day.
In the example of the Church of Sweden you can see, both positively and negatively, the vital necessity of the unity of the Church, both in space and time, being in communion with all the other local Churches all over the world, in the bishops unity with the Bishop of Rome, but also being in communion with the saints of all times, which means an active remembrance of the tradition. When a Church both has lost its memory and is cut away from the universal Church it is exposed to the pressure of the world and modern secular opinion without the God-given defence and corrective. I believe only the reunion with Rome could save and preserve the Church of Sweden as a Christian Church.
This is said as an example. Now something more general about Christian Unity. There certainly are many things that keep all Christians together, also from different denominations. We believe in and pray to the same triune God. We believe in the incarnation of God the Son. We all believe in the saving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are baptized with the same baptism, Even if all Christians can’t go to communion together we believe that we receive and are joined to the one and same body of Christ in the different churches. With slight variations we share the same beliefs. Isn’t that enough? Our Lord prays to the Father, in his priestly prayer in St. John’s seventeenth chapter and says: «May they all be one … so that the world may believe it was You who sent me.»(v.21)
The unity that Jesus prays for is not only a spiritual unity, but a visible unity in this visible world, «that the world may believe». The Church certainly is an instrument in God’s hands for the salvation of the world. It is God’s Church. He has made it according to his plan and for his purposes. That the Church should be one and visibly one is certainly part of the founder’s will and intention. The visible unity belongs to the nature of the Church and is very important — a top priority. Visible unity demands a visible center of unity. For the local community there is the parish priest. For the diocese the bishop. For the patriarchate there is the patriarch. And for the whole fold, for the universal Church, there is the Pope.
That there should be a pope is part of Christ’s plans for his Church. This is not what was in dispute from the beginning by the reformers, only the misuse of the papal power. That there is and should be a petrine primacy is clear from the gospels. And as certain as there is an apostolical succession from the apostles to the bishops, there is a petrine succession from St. Peter to his followers on the apostolic throne in the Church of Rome.
Can a Protestant really say so? There are liberals who wouldn’t, because they would say the papacy is part of a patriarcalistic structure. There are others who would reiterate the confessional formulas from the sixteenth century and would eventually say the pope is the antichrist. But if by ‘Protestant’ you mean a person who wants to be true to the Bible, read with the glasses of the old orthodox and catholic tradition, a Protestant certainly could say that the papacy is instituted by Christ.
In the papal encyclical letter from 1995, «Ut Unum Sint», John Paul II asks the non-Roman Catholic Church leaders to consider with him the forms in which the Petrine Primacy could best serve its mission, «that they all may be one … so that the world may believe ..» With regard to the Church of Sweden and the Anglican Churches this invitation should have been very interesting three years earlier, but in 1995 there had already happened things in these churches that made dialogue seem impossible.
The ecumenical dialogue between The Church of Sweden and Rome was for some years, between 1989 and 1993 very promising. The Swedish archbishop declared from the high altar in St. Peter’s in the presence of John Paul II: «The moment has come to declare that the denunciations from the time of the reformation are no longer valid.» The Pope visited Sweden and Cardinal Cassidy the head of the Papal secretariat of Christian Unity wanted an examination of and a dialogue about the apostolic succession in the Churches of Finland and Sweden, to see what was needed for a full recognition.
In the question of the important reformation doctrine of «Justification by faith» a consensus has been reached between Rome and the Lutherans. A dialogue at least as promising was also going on between Rome and the Church of England. But in both cases it came to an end because of new divisive developments. John Paul II declared at Pentecost 1994 that the Church has no right whatsoever to ordain women for the priesthood and that this decision is definitive for all the faithful in the Church. Only four and a half months later the Bishops and other leaders in the Church of Sweden declared that «You cannot be ordained to the priesthood unless you acknowledge women as priests.»
The Lutheran World Federation declared that they would not be without or sacrifice women priests for the sake of unity. After this, two women have been made bishops in Sweden and more women than men are ordained and on their way to ordination. There is also a very vocal feministic theology, which makes new interpretations of the faith and also, of morals. This development has made a total relativism necessary. You cannot criticize and say that it is not according to the Bible. They will answer: It is just pictures and symbols and anything will do. You could just as well say that God is our mother as our father.
This development (in Sweden and England and also in other countries) has made divisions within the Churches of Sweden and England seem necessary and groups are now trying to find their way. The eyes are of course on Rome. The situation is felt to be so serious for the Church of Sweden that many people ask whether it will survive at all. My personal feeling is that only being with the Church which Christ has built on Peter could save us from being transformed into something else than a Christian Church or from annihilation. Only a Church in communion with Peter could rightly put its trust in the promise of Christ: «You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it» (Mt,16:18)
Our Holy Mother Mary is together with the Pope, by the typical Protestant, considered to be what is typically Catholic, and therefore to be shunned. The Pope was by one blow of the sword severed from the Church in Sweden. Mary probably remained in the hearts of the faithful of the first reformation-generation. That was a thing the king couldn’t do anything about. But as the Rosary was forbidden and most of the Marian statues were removed, neither was there any place for our lady in the Protestant Swedish hearts. You can only speculate about what this has meant. To live without the Mother Our Lord has given to his Church.
Typically enough in liberal Protestantism Jesus is not Immanuel, that is God with man, but he is man with God and that is what Mary in reality is. To live without Mary as mother and ideal has made Protestant Christianity more of a teaching to understand, than a life to live. The Church in the reformation became more of a school than a place for prayer and adoration. At the same time it must be said that Mary wasn’t banished from the Church’s teaching, although her place was very much in the background.
So you can find in the confessional writings, in the hymns and in the writings of Martin Luther, sentences that in one way or other affirm the teaching of all the Marian dogmas, although not as dogmas. This, together with other similar catholic elements, has not been without consequence for a Marian renaissance in the Church of Sweden and it has also made it possible to remain in the Church of Sweden with a Catholic faith, without a conflict with the official teaching.
As there are no problems with Peter and the pope, there are no difficulties for a biblical Protestant, of what our old ecumenical archbishop Nathan Sderblom called the evangelical-catholic tradition, to share the catholic and orthodox beliefs about Our Lady. The problem with present day Protestants is that very many of them, I speak first of all about the Church of Sweden but perhaps it could be said also about Lutherans and Anglicans in Western Europe and the USA, that they don’t seem any longer to believe in Gods revelation nor in the Bible as the Word of God. But if The Word of God is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path, it will lead you to honour and bless Mary.
We can take it for certain that all of Our Lord’s actions and words had a meaning, not just for the singular situation in which they were performed or uttered, but were meant for the Church he founded and therefore had a universal meaning and were to be valid until the end of time. Therefore it is very natural to see that Jesus, from the Cross, gave Mary to be the mother not only of John, but of all the apostles and of all the Church in all times and places.
Next we are led by the word of God to see with John «the great sign which appeared in heaven: a woman adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown». Of course this is Mary. She is alive, She is taken up to heaven with her body and crowned to be the Queen of heaven and earth. We can turn to her and ask for her motherly care and her prayers for us. Mary is the Mother of the Church, but she is also The Church — Our Mother. She is a personification of the Church. In her everything that we are waiting for is already fulfilled and she is already there, where we hope to meet her and her Son, in heaven.
In this way I could go on, from the Bible to the Catholic dogma. And in the case of, for example the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, where it isn’t absolutely self-evident, from the Bible, that «Gratia Plena» — «full of grace» — means that there was not ever any place for sin in Mary, I am fully confident that the Holy Spirit has led the Church to the complete truth according to the promise of Jesus. (Jn,16:13)
Among the many titles of our Lady and among all the things She is, let us ask her to be, for the Church, the Mother of Unity. That unity which Jesus prayed for and which seems to be so very difficult, sometimes even impossible. Let us confide it to her care and to her prayers, that it may come soon, at that time and in that way which is according to the will of God.
I have also been asked to say why I support the messages of True Life in God. If somebody had told me about Vassula before I myself had heard her or had read the messages, I would probably have been uninterested, supposing it was another silly sect. I would not have said it was impossible with prophesies, revelations or messages like these, but I never had met anything like it. But since I for the first time heard Vassula in Rome in march 1995 I have been convinced that it is all true.
Perhaps I could say that I recognized the voice, I was very moved and had tears in my eyes. Since then I have read the messages and I have never come across anything that sounded strange or foreign to what I have learned from the Bible and the tradition of the Church. What has meant most to me is of course the intimacy of the messages. The important position of Mary. The centrality of the unity of the Church around the Pope and also the admonitions to be one with John Paul II. As you may have understood, I think I have seen instances of that apostasy, which Jesus has spoken of in the messages. What is not unimportant to me is also the fact of Vassula not being formally a Roman Catholic, but living a Catholic life and having the catholic faith. That is my situation also and with me many in the Church of Sweden.
Sr. Lucy Rooney and Fr. Bob Faricy
Lucy Rooney and Bob Faricy have written widely on contemporary apparition events, having strongly defended Medjugorje.
Vassula Ryden: national tennis champion of Bangladesh, Sheraton Hotel model, exhibiting painter, socialite, her husband’s hostess, mother of two sons, the ideal person to receives revelations in our times? Perhaps so, since God’s ways are always surprising, his choices not usually those we would make (cf. Isaiah 55:8)
The extraordinary way in which these revelations are made — by Vassula’s hand being taken over to write messages, is off-putting. She herself had doubts from time to time — yet knows in her heart that it really is Jesus who moves her hand. «I am too realistic, too sceptic. I can’t help feeling again today doubtful that this is happening … I who very well know that I can’t handle my hand and that I know how powerless I become when God takes possession of my hand.» (10:23)
She has examined all the arguments: that she is influenced by the sub-conscious, or by evil spirits, by psychological disturbances. She knows what will be said about her: ridicule at least, even hatred. Yet courageously, risking all the scorn, she publishes these messages. She knows too her own lowliness as the messenger, as Jesus said to her: «Do not think for one moment that I gave you this charisma because I love you more than the rest of My children.» (23 January 1987)
But how do you know that the words here attributed to the Lord really come from Jesus? How can you be sure that Jesus spoke to Vassula, wrote through her, dictated to her? Do you have a right to believe that? Can you believe it? We believe that Vassula’s experience is authentic. That is our personal discernment. We do not, of course, nor could we, make any kind of official recognition or pronouncement of validity. On the contrary, we submit our judgement to the judgement of legitimate church authority.
Obviously, no one is obliged to believe that Jesus says what Vassula says He says. But anyone can believe that these are Jesus’ words. Should you believe? Make your own discernment. Read, and decide for yourself with the Lord’s help.
What is the message of Jesus to us through Vassula? He said: «I come and refresh all that has already been taught by Me.» (1 March 1987) «My message is one of Peace and Love … I come to show this world My Mercy.» (8 March 1987)
It becomes clear from the multiplicity of apparitions and revelations in our times, and it is perfectly in accord with the Gospels, that the end of these times is near. There is a battle on, before Satan loses his power. There is no indication of the end of the world, but of a time of tribulation followed, for those who endure, by a new era of love and of peace. We are in training for those dark days. Meanwhile we are living in a time not of judgement, but of Mercy. Jesus said to Vassula: «Your era has lost all spiritual values.» (26 August 1987) «The world has incessantly been offending Me, and I, for my part, have incessantly been reminding them of My existence and of how I love them. My Chalice of Justice is full, creation! My Justice lies heavily upon you … My cries resound and shake the entire heavens leaving My angels trembling for what has to come. I am a God of Justice and My eyes have grown weary watching hypocrisy, atheism, immorality; my creation has become in its decadence a replica what Sodom was. I will thunder you with My Justice as I have thundered the Sodomites. Repent, creation, before I come.: (1 September 1987 and following) When Vassula pleaded that his clildren were only asleep, He replied: «They are sleeping hour after hour, year after year.»
Jesus says that He has sent signs and warnings but they have been rejected (1 September 1987) Here then in Vassula we have another message of mercy: «You are one of the many signs.» (8 January 1987) And Jesus confirms what has startled us all — the present day outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all who ask, and the multiplication of apparitions and wonders all over the world: «I tell you solemnly that I shall keep spreading My Holy Spirit on your sons and daughters as has never happened among many generations, to nourish you from My Own Hand, and to place My entire Law in your hearts». (message from the Sacred Heart for England, February 1991).
«All the messages bearing the call of love and peace, leading those that are lost to find their way back to me, are all from the Father and Me.» (10 October 1986) This is the good news: «The weaker and more wretched you are the more I seek you and love you.» (17 March 1987) It is our unbelievable privilege that Jesus can say to each one of us, through Vassula: «I love you to a degree you are unable to grasp.» (8 January 1987) «I, God, love you to distraction.» (8 December 1986) And most profoundly of all: «Love loves you.»(29 August 1987)
Read the book and share in Vassula’s experience of the Lord. That sharing will constitute a part of your own experience of the Lord. Read with faith. Not with faith in Vassula, and not with faith in the authenticity of her experience, but with faith in Jesus. Have faith, Jesus wants to share himself and His love for you with you through these messages. Through your reading, Jesus can lead you to know Him better, and to love Him more, and to follow Him more closely.
What if you, the reader, are not a Roman Catholic? Neither is Vassula. This book is not just for Roman Catholics, but for everyone, for anyone that the Lord leads to read it. Whoever you are, if you know Jesus, this book will help you to know him better. And if you don’t, the messages can help you to know him. He knows you. And He has already led you to read at least this far.
Echo of the Gospel
Rev. Ljudevit Rupčić OFM
Theologian, Professor of Exegesis, Author
Every day Vassula Ryden has a new experience of the divine; she continues to spread her prophetic message in today’ world which is increasingly more remote from God, remote from the foundation on which it is established, risking its very existence. Vassula is a true prophet of our times. On the one hand, she deals with the problems and the needs of our times; on the other hand, she seeks new prospects from God, to come finally enriched from her difficulties and fin in Him harmony, peace, and fullness. Her message is imbued with the Gospel. Its special feature consists only in the way of transmitting it to us; besides, Vassula offers to the old and new problems of our world nothing but the everlasting Gospel.
Vassula is, like all other prophets, convinced of the truthfulness of her message and the authenticity of her mission. She knows her own weakness but she resolutely keeps to her commitment to diffuse the messages to others. She finds God’ help in continuous prayer and in the Eucharist. Persevering in her will and desires, she strives to be entirely united with God. She is conscious of the urgency to diffuse the message because time is running out and an inescapable great chastisement is looming; it can be avoided only if we come back to God, and accept Him again.
Vassula’ experience with God is a lasting and inexhaustible spring of wisdom, love enthusiasm for God and the salvation of the world. For that reason the testimony is convincing, joyful, and stimulating. Besides conversion and a call that humankind should answer love with love, there is also concern for church unity. «Love loves you» (3/7/92) means that, in Vassula’ talks and union with God, each one of us can and is allowed to, put himself or herself in Vassula’ place. God loves everyone in that way. Everywhere in here writings we feel the Breath of Love. Grace flows everywhere; the Holy Spirit is everywhere at work, giving profusely. Everywhere one hears to Lord’ steps.
Vassula’ writings are an echo of the Gospel. The One who speaks is, indeed, the very Word of God. Most readers and listeners recognise in His words the voice of God (14/7/92). Vassula does not tell anything basically new that God would not have already told, but Gods Word is brought up to date through her mouth, giving prominence to priorities and needed emphasis. In this way the Word is actualised, serious, convincing, a testimony.
The question, «Why repeat what has already been said?» means that one does not know the needs of humankind, who have the right to hear God’ Word in an understandable, updated way. Besides this, there is the obligation to become a messenger of the Word, which gives testimony within human experience. Due to the forgetfulness of men and women, one too easily overlooks the forthcoming disaster and the immediacy of the catastrophe to which mankind is exposed; it is necessary to take it out of this indifference so as to allow grace to flow continuously and to foster conversion.
Despite the objective authenticity of Vassula’ testimony, people, here and there, raise objections to its truth. Though they are not sufficient to call the testimony in question, the reasons are both of an objective and subjective nature. Reservations arise mainly from a narrow and fragmentary view of the mystery of race, especially when grace is poured out gratuitously, grace whereby God makes the human person a partner in this life and of his works. All these objections amount to human notions and language because they come from a limited human experience, unable by its limitations to accept the Mystery of God. Hence man questions the Word of God and refuses to accept God. For the sceptic the Word of God is always too difficult, even «scandalous», and consequently taken as untrue. The initial assumption of the human mind should be to accept the fact that things which cannot be perceived do exist, and to this one should remain open. It is only in openness to God’ grace that human beings can attain a sure, valuable and adequate knowledge of the mystery.
Criticism arises from the fact that Vassula’ experiences and testimonies are not in harmony with the ignorance and prejudice of those who are prisoners of their own imagination. Vassula’ testimonies are witness against the false understanding of those who disparage her, not against the Gospel or the faith. In no way is she against the God of the Bible, or against faith in him. Those who disparage her are really seeing one opposed to their own way of imagining God whom they assume generally to be One seated on his Throne, far from humankind. For Vassula, human existence is capable of receiving God’ love, his grace and his omnipotence. This «scandalous» view is, in reality, a rediscovery of God. It is a baseless charge to represent Vassula as a supporter of «New Age». It is as illogical as mixing fire and water. Such criticism merely shows that the critics do not know either Vassula or «New Age».
On the other hand, one should reflect on where Vassula’ message would lead if it were put into practice. If people faced the reality of love in God an din men, they would be led to love God and one another. If people answered the request for prayer, the message would spread throughout the world the note of thankfulness ot God. If one accepted that there must be unity between the Christian Churches, already there would be a hope of the fulfilment of Jesus’ promise — «one fold and one Shepherd». (Jn. 10:16). If people accepted God the way Vassula recommends, He would already be «everything in everyone» (1 Cor. 15:28). If people took seriously Vassula’ warning about Satan, the latter would already be banished from men’ hearts and form the world. If people would heed Vassula’ call to conversion, all men and women would be sains already. If everyone shared in Vassula’ experiences, the personal history of each one, and consequently the history of all humankind, would be a Song of Love.
All this is completely in the radical style of the Gospel. On this assumption there are no grounds for separating Vassula’ experiences with God from the Gospel, still less for opposing them. Vassula’ messages presuppose an aptitude in human nature for dialogue. Individual believers, those especially who are rich in the Spirit, have the right to evaluate the case of Vassula, not setting themselves up independently of the Church. In this way they can support the Church’ judgement efficaciously. The final judgement remains with the Church, which has its guarantee in god and His confirmation in the «sensus fidelium», of which the Spirit of Truth is the author and the witness to veracity.
All the evidence before us so far shows that every day Vassula’ testimony is taken more seriously and is more fully accepted. This simultaneously facilitates and accelerates the final judgement of the entire Church, which judgement will, without doubt, take as a criteria, the many good fruits of Vassula’ message.
Prof. Todor Sabev, Bulgarian Orthodox
Theologian, Church historian and former Deputy General Secretary of the World Council of Churches.
In His divine plan for the salvation of humankind, God, throughout history has been sending His messengers as prophets and apostles, teachers and guardians to lead all nations into the right path, to nourish faith, sustain peace and protect unity.
Nowadays, the prophecies of Isaiah (44:3) and Joel (2:28): «I will pour my Spirit upon your descendants»; «your sons and your daughters shall prophesy (and) shall see visions» come true in a variety of charisms. Gifts of grace are being bestowed on women and men for the enhancement of Christian life, worship and service to the glory of God.
Such a spiritual gift (charisma) has been granted to Mrs. Vassula Ryden for the fulfillment of a particular vocation. ‘From the depths of her obscurity,» Vassula has seen the Light. The Lord has touched her heart to cleanse and heal it. Since then, she is «seeing Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary interiorly» and «has been enabled to hear their Messages.» This unique experience of visions is testified in 70 notebooks published in seven volumes. The Messages that Vassula is receiving are written by herself but dictated «from on high.» Her human handwriting is completely transformed.
The Messages are God’s gifts of spiritual healing, love and mercy «directed to all.» Vassula was called to become an ardent witness of Christ, carrying His Cross «to the four corners» of the secularized world. Together with many other disciples, she has to be an instrument of divine providence, an echo of God’s Word, compassion, reconciliation and peace.
The Messages are not a new revelation but a reminder of the Gospel of Christ. The basic task of Vassula is sharing of the Good News through proclamation in communities and assemblies of prayer and meditation, diffusion of the Writings by publication, and «drawing souls to Jesus Christ.»
The surprising nature of this calling has raised questions and bewilderment for Vassula herself, as well as for friends and listeners. Some of the wonders will still accompany readers of True Life in God. Nevertheless, we are aware of the fact that many expressions of mysticism have encountered different assessments and attitudes within one’s Christian tradition. During the whole period of marxist militant atheism, imposed by state authorities in my country, Bulgaria, a woman with great gifts as a seer kept telling both native and foreign people secrets of their past, present and future. Her faith and prophetic voice have shaken atheistic conceptions and changed the lifestyle of tens of thousands. Bishops, priests and theologians have personally experienced and individually recognized the gifts of that woman. But it was not in the tradition of the Church to make an authoritative pronouncement on this phenomenon.
Several years ago, I was so much impressed by the story of the apparition of the Virgin Mary, which three of my very dear Protestant friends had seen simultaneously «without considering however this event an extraordinary spiritual experience» because this was not part of their church’s tradition!
«We walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7)» and «by faith understand…» (Fleb. 11:3f). Distinguishing between the Spirit of God and other spirits is a delicate Christian duty. Discernment is also a gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor. 12: 10-1 1; I jn.4: 1). The main criterion for testing the spirits is the faith in Christ as Incarnate Son of God and our Saviour (1 jn. 4:2f).
Basically, the content of the Messages in ‘True Life in God’ is in harmony with the Holy Scriptures and with the tradition of the Church. They are being distributed, read and meditated within the Church, aiming at a revival of Christian faith, renewal and unity. References are often made to the Bible as source of truth, knowledge and wisdom. The doxological part of the Messages is biblicallybased. Very dear to Orthodox spirituality are the numerous prayers, the urgent call to conversion and repentance, fast and a holy life. In the centre of Vassula’s vision are placed also many other fundamental truths, values and teachings of the Church. Prayer, humility, charity, generosity, peace, reconciliation and mutual love in Christ’s name are continuously underscored in all notebooks. God’s abundant grace and tenderness are often presented in the context of concern and care for the groaning creation, a warning about sin corrupting humanity, and a call to awakening for «the battle against Satan and his followers.» Thus one can feel the «prophetic tone» and the appeal to all Christians.
Remember the Beatitudes! Follow the Ten Commandments! Now is the time of repentance! «Live as though it is your last day on earth.» «Have you reconciled with your brothers and sisters?» «Share My Cross.» «Search for justice and help the oppressed.» «Wealth is to be converted.» «Evangelize with love, for love.» Your era of little faith is dead. «Do not accept Satan’s fruits which are … disunity and impurity.» Be vigilant and prepared for «the last days,» because the Lord is «on the Path of Return.»
And again we hear the Message of hope and Iife: «Shake off the dust that covers you and rise from the dead.» «The Holy Eucharist will keep you alive.» The «time of tribulations» shall be followed «by a new era of love and peace.» «My Kingdom is at your very doors.» God wants everyone to be saved (cf. Rm. 10:12-13).
The Messages are a hymn of God’s love which is «like a fountain, a well of living waters.» Love is «the Root of the Tree of Life» and of all virtues. Therefore, «sow the seeds of love in all directions.» «Judge nobody, and repay evil with love.» The Source of love is the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life. He guides us «into all truths,» transforming the darkness into Light. He uplifts and purifies our hearts, sanctifies us through the Sacraments, drives out ill spirits and brings renewal to the Church. The Holy Spirit creates community in which love rules. He gratifies the poor and the humble people of God.
One of the strongest elements in Vassula Ryden’s visions is the gravity of the divisions between the churches, the urgency of the work for unity of the Church, and the importance of the ecumenical movement.
The sin of division and wounds in the Body of Christ are so often due to lack of fidelity, humility and mutual love. «Rivalry and competition for earthly power,» egoism and pride cannot bring about unity. Those who endeavor to gather together the scattered sheep of Christ «should lower their voices» in order to hear the voice of the Lord; they should «bow down their heads» for blessing by the Head of the Church — Jesus Christ. Then He shall lift all and draw them to Himself. «Blessed are those who do not differentiate themselves» under Christ’s Holy Name. «Pray for the World Council of Churches» and for the world-wide ecumenical movement. Let us always remember that «the keys to unity are love and humility.»
The real unity is and will be in the heart, not «of the letter but of the spirit.» It is a gift of God, but requires also human commitment and effort: «where there is division give peace and love, where there is confusion ask for Light.» «Unity shall come upon you like Dawn … It shall come from God, and your nations shall name it the Great Miracle, the Blessed Day … In this day all Heaven shall … rejoice.» «Behold, what joy I will have when around One Altar you will gather … and praise Me; acknowledging your mistake, repenting for your rebellion and remembering My love for you.» God’s plan is «to unite all nations, from East to West, from North to South.»
In several Messages a great desire is expressed for a simultaneous celebration of Easter — «the Feast of Feasts,» and the «Triumph of Triumphs.» May this become a new impetus for bringing back such a tremendous issue on the ecumenical agenda. Actually it comes from the heart of the decision made by the first Ecumenical Council (325) to strengthen unity and inspire common witness.
While many Orthodox rejoice at Vassula’s gift and appreciate the texts referred to, they are prudent about accepting all points and details. I personally still struggle with some of the questions which had troubled me before. But cannot we find relief in the understanding that the Messages come to us also through the limited human nature, and are perceived according to our own spiritual capacity? The reading of Vassula’s Writings requires a mystical soul, prayer for «knowledge and all discemment» (Phil. 1:9), seeking for truth in the power of love and resisting any easy judgment.
The gifts of the Spirit should be spiritually distinguished (1 Cor. 12:10). Let us measure the value of the tree by its fruits (Nlt. 3:10; 7:16f). The great quality of the numerous fruits of ‘True Life in God’ has been acknowledged by many people. The Messages have deepened spiritual life, strengthened Christian faith and opened the sight of a certain number of non-believers. And we have yet to see the fulfillment of God’s promises: «I the Lord, will multiply the visions … (and) will pour the Holy Spirit without reserve on all humankind. » You will grow like grass in the areas where there is plenty of water.»
Let us give thanks to God for all charismata.
Heavenly Father,
Kindle our hearts with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
Give us the Spirit of wisdom and faith,
of daring and of patience,
of humility and of firmness,
of love and of repentance.
Geneva, Easter 1994
Bishop João Evangelista Terra
Bishop João Evangelista Terra
Bishop João Evangelista Terra
Bishop João Evangelista Terra is a well-known exegete who has worked in
different parts of the world, including the Vatican where he worked with
Cardinal Ratzinger for ten years. Totally supportive of Vassula, he wished to give the following testimony at the conclusion of the prayer meeting in Brasilia, October 12, 1997.
Continuously applauded by the thousands of participants at the meeting,
Bishop João Terra, an imperturbable smile on his lips, spoke with such
firmness and conviction that he did not seem to notice the uninterrupted
applause. His firm conviction, as well as the extraordinary joy he was
feeling, were obvious in this atmosphere of faith and charismatic
evangelisation. Attentive and thankful, we listen to Bishop Terra:
— I would like to say a few words of thanks, as auxiliary bishop, for
the joy we are feeling at Vassula’s presence here in Brasilia. It is truly
an extraordinary grace!
We have all of us, this week, lived with the Pope’s presence in Rio de Janeiro. This was worth more than many missions. There were two million people. It was truly the presence of transforming grace. We, who were there, came back truly renewed. The Pope urged us to prepare during these three years for the Third Millennium. We are now coming to the end of the first of those years.
This year, we are meditating on Jesus Christ, on the theological virtue of Faith, on the Sacrament of Baptism. The Pope himself is now inviting us to meditate, as of now, in November, on the next year which is entirely dedicated to the Holy Spirit. The year 1998 will be the year of charismatic renewal, a year filled with the Holy Spirit, during which we will meditate on the Sacrament of Confirmation, the theological virtue
of Hope, and Mary, the Model of Hope.
The year 1999, the vigil of the Great Jubilee of the coming Third Millennium, is entirely dedicated to God the Father. And we see how Vassula speaks with such tenderness, calling God «Dad», very boldly, as Jesus did. During 1999, we are, all of us, going to meditate also on the Father, the theological virtue of Love — the Father is the fountain of Love — , on the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We see that Mary is the
Model of Love, the Mother of Tender Love. This is the preparation, the three years of preparation.
Last year we were at a conference in Jerusalem at the invitation of Rabbis. There were a hundred Rabbis, five hundred Christian bishops — Catholic and Orthodox — and twelve Cardinals. On my return, I spoke to the Pope. He was enthusiastic. I have lived two years in Jerusalem. So I told the Pope of my great hope. For the year 2000, he (the Pope) is actively preparing the meeting of Christians with the members of the
monotheistic religions — Jews and Muslims. There will be a big meeting on Mount Sinai where Jews, Christians and Muslims will gather: a hope, a dream of the Pope. This Pope is a saint! His dream is truly inspired by God: a great meeting in Jerusalem of Christian Churches, dealing intensively with the Orthodox Church, the Evangelical Churches — the great Evangelical churches — in the hope that Jesus’s prayer will be
fulfilled: that there will be only one heart, one flock and one Shepherd.
That is Vassula’s mission. This is what her mission amounts to also: to make this prayer of Jesus come true in the year 2000. This prayer of Jesus is truly scandalous. Scandalous! «Father, I want that all be one.» Pardon me! Is that the way to ask? One should at least say «please». But He said: «Father, I want!» He wants. It’s not lack of education, no, He knows that this is what the Father wants — that the Father’s Will be His own will: that there be only one flock and one Shepherd. It is Christ’s prayer.
This millennium, from year 1000 to year 2000, has been a millennium of great trials, and divisions within the Church. May the Third Millennium be a millennium of unity. God is sending us this charismatic person. I have known Vassula for five years, since I first met her in Recife (It was Vassula’s first visit to Brazil, accompanied with Fr.
O’Carroll and the representatives of the Ediciones Boa Nova). I speak her mother tongue a little. I have also worked two years in the Middle East, in Egypt, I greeted her and she replied with tenderness, in Arabic
As a matter of fact, what joy that Mass was!… I don’t know if she remembers: in the Colegio de las Damas (the Ladies’ College), in the overflowing gymnasium. When I began to read the Gospel, in the manner of Jesus, saying: «be silent and come out of this man», suddenly, from the mouth of a man possessed, a thundering voice cried out «I’m not coming out! I don’t want to come out!» Ten thousand people stood petrified. I said nothing and remained quiet. I didn’t want to argue with Satan. I lowered my head. Everybody started to recite the Our Father, to pray… suddenly all were silent: he was standing up there, on the third floor, ready to throw himself over.. It took five people to hold him back. The Mass ended. The possessed man came to ask Vassula to forgive him,
saying: «I don’t know what happened.» And he went on: «when I was born my father dedicated me to Satan. My life has been hell. My only hope is that you lay hands on me.» He was kneeling, transformed. It was amazing!…
Our great friend, Bishop Victor (Most Reverend Victor Tielbeeck, Bishop of the diocese of Formosa, in the state of Goías, Brazil), used to say: «every time Vassula
shows up, Satan acts up!» Last year, you’ll remember, the lights went out, here, before the meeting started.
And speaking of Bishop Victor, this year we had a meeting of the Regional Bishops’ Conference with the Holy Father. So he asked about Vassula. Cardinal Ratzinger then said «I’ve received a mountain of letters from cardinals.»
Although the Cardinal was speaking only in Italian, Bishop Victor asked him in German: «But, Cardinal, should I change my attitude?» «Continue as you have done until now,» the Cardinal replied, in German, (in front of us who understood him) but be prudent.» (This reply by Cardinal Ratzinger is in perfect agreement with what
he had said in Mexico on May 10, 1996: «you may continue to promote her
writings, but always with discernment.»)
So, let us look at the deeds… by their fruits we’ll know them. Ask yourself: «in this movement, what have you observed? What are the fruits? How many transformations? How many conversions? By its fruit you will know the tree.
Today, you’ve filled this hall. Why did you come here? Why? Because there was an invitation, I don’t know why… But this is an opportunity. The reason why we have come is that Someone has drawn us here. «No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me.» (Jn 6:44). You have been drawn by someone who loved you first. Someone who has drawn us here to listen to a word of light, a word of salvation. Do you
understand? You should be very happy; you have been given an opportunity.
In a way you represent a select part of this diocese. Those who were drawn by the Father have come here. What beauty in this welcome! You are seeing what signifies the presence of a charismatic person. A charism is not a grace for one’s (personal) sanctification. It does not mean that Vassula is holier than you are. It is a grace for the
sanctification of others. We should be grateful because this grace sanctifies us, brings us closer to Jesus Christ. It prepares us for the Third Millennium..
Vassula, a few words in French: Je veux vous dire ma grande joie. Nous sommes vraiment très heureux de voir votre présence chez nous; c’est une présence de grâce, de lumi re et de soleil. Merci bien, Vassula. («I would like to tell you what a great joy it is for me. We are really very happy that you are with us; your presence is one of grace, light, and sunshine. Thank you very much, Vassula»)
Source: Ediçoes Boa Nova and «Actualizando Medjugorje»
Fr. Vladimir Zielinski
Fr. Vladimir Zielinski
Epilogue to the first, typeset, edition of the Messages
words of this book speak for themselves. They need neither explanation nor intermediary. They are charming and simple. They speak to us of God and tell us that they are words of God.
Words of God: another revelation?
There is only one Revelation of God, unique and definitive, and that is the Gospel of Christ. Everything that Jesus has taught us, everything that He did during His earthly life is engraved forever in the sacred memory of the Church. But the life of the Church is much richer and more deep than what is readily apparent. It transcends the visible boundaries.
In this sense, the words of the Gospel of St. John that Vassula happened upon are most meaningful: «there are many other things that Jesus did; if one were to write them all, one by one, I do not think that the world itself would be enough to contain all the books that one could write (Jn. 21:25).
The words and deeds of Jesus which the evangelists and apostles were unable to put in their books remain in the Eternal Gospel. St John himself says in his revelation: «Then I saw another angel… who flew to the middle of the sky, bearing the Eternal Gospel to announce it to those who live on the earth….»( Rev. 14:6).
This «Eternal Gospel» belongs to the same Jesus who speaks to us in His Gospel. He has a heart-to-heart conversation with each of us; those who have ears listen to Him. It is not a question of a different Gospel or a different Jesus, for «Jesus is the same yesterday and today, and he will be the same forever (Heb. 13:8).
The whole history of the Church is full of accounts of personal revelations, mystical experiences and ineffable messages, for there have always been chosen ones, men and women, to whom Christ, His Holy Mother, or the Saints address themselves directly. But the case of Vassula is unique.
After being awakened one day by this personal revelation, Vassula began to write down the words which Christ Himself spoke to her. These words do not contradict the Holy Scripture and Tradition. They should not be read as ordinary texts.
They should be read in interior silence. One must here experience the silence of eternity. It is the dialogue of a soul with its Lord: a dialogue that develops in the mystery of faith. This mystery is like the Light that illuminates the coming of each person into the world. He expresses Himself in simple words: love, peace. joy. «I love you, you belong to me, you are Mine.» One has to know how to understand these words that come to us from eternity. They must be listened to in the heart. They must be listened to in prayer. The words pronounced in this book have to become incarnate within us; they must take shape in us. This dialogue must become our dialogue, so that the prayer of Jesus becomes our prayer and the beating of our heart:
Beloved Father,
Purify me by the Blood of Your Son.
Father, purify me by the Body of Your Son.
Beloved Father, drive away the evil spirit
That is tempting me now.
Amen.
For this message is a book of prayers: a single, uninterrupted prayer.
Reconciliation: the Trinitarian Approach
by Father Vladimir Zielinski (Russian Orthodox)
Nicolas Fedorov, the great Russian thinker of the 19th century, says: «Our social program is the Trinity.» Today, we can say — with reason — almost the same thing: our program of reconciliation is also the Trinity. Because the very essence of the Trinity is relation and love. It is the same in the bosom of the Trinity. Relation-love unites the Three Persons within the divine essence, and our Christian faith, if we try to break it down into elements, is also made up of relation, love, hope, joy, fear, the certitude of a certain presence and amazement, wonder. Let us begin with wonder, because, before thinking we must be able to be filled with wonder. We must pause and plunge into a prayerful silence so that the Trinitarian mystery enters in us and engages us, embraces us, unites us.
A feeling of wonder before the Trinity is not a fleeting sentiment, but a way of letting it reveal itself within ourselves. If we are searching for unity and reconciliation in wonder and contemplative veneration, we arrive also at unity in the unveiling of the mystery, lived together, and, at the end, we can with the grace of the Spirit attain also unity in thought, experience and the triadological formulas which express the incomprehensible.
I will try to approach the incomprehensible as it is seen and lived in my Orthodox Church. But I believe that the vision of God in his depth is common to us all. Divided in our understanding, we are secretly united in this inexpressible reality which manifests itself openly or secretly. The path to reconciliation is here, on the road toward the mystery which lies at the origin of humankind.
Let us start, then, with the visible and go to the revelation of the invisible, on the traces left by the light and, as a starting point, let
us take the words of St. John at the beginning of his Gospel.
«No one has ever seen God;
it is the only son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart,
who has made him known» (Jn 1:18)
1. The images of Christ
«He has made him known». We enter the abyss of the Trinity through the door of the only Son. «I am the gate of the sheepfold,» says Christ. Those sheep are our souls, our bodies, our thoughts. Through that door, the abyss opens and God enters and makes himself at home in the human family. Christ is the gate to vision, because He is visible, we can hear his voice, we can almost touch his hand. But when we get closer to Him we touch the unfathomable. We enter the mystery, the ineffable.
We, humans, live outside this mystery, at the boundary. It challenges us from everywhere. It cannot be seized, neither by the thoughts that reflect it nor by the words that seek to describe it. But everything that makes us human is rooted in Christ and in the abyss which he uncovers, discloses or unveils. Thanks to Him, we are gifted with our concepts of good and evil, our images of beauty and ugliness, our notions of heaven and hell. This abyss hidden in us is the habitat of our nostalgia and of this anguished questioning before death which cannot be separated from man. All those human things are in a way illuminated from inside by this light coming from the depths of the mystery. Everything that is truly human may serve its direct or discreet messenger.
I>»The Word was the true light that enlightens all men» (Jn 1.9). The light touches everyone of us, but often remains unnameable. But it is not an enigma to be deciphered. And it will not let itself be reached by darkness. And, for this reason, the eye accustomed to confusion between light and darkness perceives it with difficulty. It is the heart that recognises it first, because the light shines in its depths. But, everywhere it leaves traces of its presence, of its residence. The light talks. The Word shines from the heart of silence, the face is drawn in the depths of the mystery. That interior face is engraved on every human being. It is like a personal message to each one of us. It often remains anonymous, when we do not wish to see it, but, from its anonymity, it calls us to dialogue, to acknowledgement. It looks at us, scrutinises us, listens to us. It reveals itself constantly but, for the true meeting, we have to choose it, to take a step toward it, to call it: You.
The Mystery, the Light, the Face – those three words are the first that come to my mind when I reflect upon the immediate experience of Christ. They are common all. Every Christian knows that we are chosen by Him as His friends, His brothers, His fellow citizens living on the same earth and destined for the same heaven. Our faith comes from the acknowledgement, the encounter.
Man is created as the one who must encounter another one. This encounter is more intimate than any intimacy and, at the same time, it is social. In Christ’s word, every one can recognize another who becomes his neighbour, his brother; and, in that way, we all constitute the fellowship of the word. «I have spoken openly to the world,» Christ says and everyone can hear Him. Jesus speaks openly to the world and secretly in the hearts. Thus the word which «was with God in the beginning» achieves the sacrament of the human person. «The light inside you» (Luke 11.35), the image of God, the face of Christ in the depths of our being, «constitute» this divine beginning in man. We are always on our way toward that source or toward Christ who allows us to meet him, to discover him anew.
How many discoveries have been made during those twenty centuries? It was thought that Christianity had been defeated in the 19th century; in the 20th century, pagan ideologies could celebrate their triumph, but today, at the dawn of the new millennium, it is becoming more obvious that the coming century (as, for that matter, every century since the Incarnation) shall be that of Christ.
The Gospel is not yet being preached in the world, not in the geographical sense, but in all its fullness, in its depth, in all its unknown grace. Christ, it seems, sometimes withdraws into the shadows of history, allows Himself to be driven away, to be ridiculed, and then manifests Himself again in an unexpected manner. The sap of his words is stronger than the «wisdom of this world»; its shoots pierce through all systems of thought, even those that call themselves Christian. I remember the words of Teilhard de Chardin that, after every crisis in history, Christ appears again in an unexpected depth, in the new light. That will be in the future until the time when he comes, because it is not men who have created Christ, but the Father created them in His Son and gave them a spark of His Spirit. And the Spirit will remain the mother who revives in our souls — in the unexpected holiness, in the new discovery — Christ who is the same today and throughout the centuries is the same, the one who saves, the one who unites.
II. The Holy Spirit and the transmutation of gifts
«Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe…» says Christ.
Our knowledge of Christ resembles the image drawn by the One who really knows Him. «No one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him» (Mt 11.27). This act of revelation wanted by the Father is the action of the Holy Spirit. The names of that we find in our memory, in our heart, are the names given by the Holy Spirit. Our experience of the Holy Spirit is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. But he always remains invisible, out of reach.
God’s name is beyond anything man is able to say with his mouth or to define with his mind. Our Jewish or Muslim brothers are quite justified in wanting to protect it. But there are words that are messengers, words that are icons, words that unite the fire which created the world with its beauty and this little spark of faith ignited in us. The first of these words is love. It is not a matter of sentimental affection but, first of all, a bond which unites us, mortals, with the God incomprehensible and indefinable as the liturgy says. It is some mysterious common substance which exists between God and us, the truth which is one for heaven and for earth, the miracle of God’s presence among us. He is present not as a distant concept but as a friend, a brother, a Saviour. This bond which unites us, this miracle of the presence, this abyss of love is called the Holy Spirit.
When we invoke the name of the Trinity, of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we not only confess a certain vision of God, but we are already at the centre of this mystery, open before us. And we are already united in the love that «has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit» as St. Paul says (Rm 5.5). What we call Revelation consists in this effusion of the mystery of love, unveiled by the Spirit.
We answer spontaneously with gratitude. But gratitude for love is also the action of the Spirit. The Son who discovers the Father through the Son is also the action of the Spirit. The heart which purifies itself to leave space for God is the action of the Spirit. Those actions are the three components of our faith. But faith is first the answer to love. The Spirit reveals the Father. The Spirit revives our memory. The Spirit suggests the words of the prayer. The Spirit is the exchange of gifts between God and us, our little gifts, our miniscule efforts and God’s immense gifts that surpass us.
The miracle of Christianity consists in God’s presence among us. Not only «God is in Heaven and you are on earth» which is the rule of all monotheistic religions, but God is with us, with his Word, His grace and His love put in our memory and in our heart.
We are not worthy of serving in that abode because of our sins, our weaknesses and our limits before the Lord and, at the same time, we are admitted into the Holy of holies. Jesus says : «If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him» (Jn 14.23). Oriental tradition understands this home in the most personal and concrete sense, as the house of God, built with us and within us. Let’s listen to the Orthodox liturgy: it can be assimilated to the building of God’s house in the community of the faithful and in the human heart. This building is done by means of art, prayer and even our sentiments. In the sacramental sense, this house is built through the transmutation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. But the sacramental Eucharist is the sign of the Eucharist of creation about which spoke the Catholic theologian Teilhard de Chardin and the Orthodox theologian John Ziziulas. The Eucharist, in its direct and spiritual sense, is the gratitude of the son or sons who remember the eternal sacrifice of the Lord. That memory is transformed in the sacrament, in the corporal and spiritual union with our God. We are in the home of Jesus and his Father or in the union of love, that is in the Spirit who changes, who transforms, who accomplishes this union.
What does the Holy Spirit do? He enters into the love and desire of the man and woman, creating another human being, another soul, another temple of God. He touches the face of the animal endowed with thought, becomes a human face with its beauty, its enigma, its eyes that have encountered God’s gaze. He descends on simple human food and it becomes the home of God, His Body and His Blood, His sacrifice and His love.
The key-word of this action, of this incredible change is transmutation.
The transmutation of human words into the Word of the Lord.
The transmutation of our fragile memories into sacred memory.
The transmutation of our thoughts and feelings into the mystery of faith
The transmutation of the community of
the faithful into the Church.
The transmutation of human love into the temple of the
Holy Spirit
The transmutation of our food into the sacrifice of the Lord
Each time, the new reality appears and builds itself from the elements of this world. This temporary earthly reality has its roots in another reality, eternal and heavenly, which surpasses us infinitely. It unites without confusing them two orders of being and creates a new reality, divino-human, which carries the principal message of Christianity: God has given the gift of the transmutation of his existence in our life and that gift is always achieved through the action of the Spirit. The action of the Spirit signifies that what God gives us is united to man and becomes divine. The most radical transmutation is that which makes us into citizens of the Kingdom.
In the long and difficult process of transforming our souls and bodies to prepare them for the Kingdom, one part belongs to man, the other to God. Man becomes God’s associate and participates in the common task, in the work of transmutation or transfiguration of humankind into Christ. But in order that this task may be achieved, another transmutation must occur: that of divided, often opposed communities into a united family.
The Spirit makes Christ present and near, but glorified Christ sends us the Spirit. They are two reciprocal missions of those two hands of the Father, as St. Irenee says. The Orthodox Church declares that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and becomes the splendour of the Son, but the Spirit illuminates the Son not only at the side of the Father but also in us, in our hearts, in our lives. The Spirit penetrates our conscience and creates a kind of reciprocity, of correlation, that is the capacity of knowing the Son and, through the Son, the Father. Now, true knowledge can happen only in the conciliarity of our souls, of our consciences, in the sacrament of reconciliation before our common Father.
III. The revelation of the Father through the mirror of liturgy
There are a thousand reflections of the invisible Father in the reality that is accessible to man. «The heavens declare the glory of God, the vault of heaven proclaims his handiwork; day discourses it to day, night to night hands on the knowledge» (Ps 18.1). If we lend an ear to the knowledge conveyed by heavens, days, nights, mountains, clouds, rivers, herbs, we’ll say that the Son has made it appear, that he has incarnated it everywhere, that the invisible Spirit has made it present in the glory of being. But here we choose a praying man as a witness to the Father, a liturgical man as His son who loves the One he knows «as if seeing the invisible,» according to the words of St. Paul.
In the environment of the Byzantine liturgy, created by prayer and spiritual experience, we can get closer to the Father, speak to Him informally (In French: Lui dire «Toi») as Christ Himself did. The miracle of the liturgy, which only opens itself to the eyes of faith, is our future, the Body of Christ, that is in the transmutation of our selves. And, inasmuch as we are His Body, we become seers, the Trinitarian mystery reveals itself to us. Prayer transmits us the knowledge of the One who cannot be known. «No one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him» (Mt 11.27).
The Son reveals the Father to us in the place and time where He is Himself present. There are a thousand ways to approach the Father (through beauty, the wisdom of creation, the human face), but, to avoid falling into vague and worn out words, we take the royal way, that of the Oriental liturgy. Here we approach the Father in incredible and redoubtable intimacy. Here we are so close to Him that we are like Moses who was forced «to cover his face, afraid to look at God» (Ex 3.6). But it is the liturgy itself which gives us the courage, because it is Christ who is looking at the Father with our eyes, it is Christ who is praying with our words.
But let’s examine more closely the steps (symbolic and approximate, of course) of this revelation of the Father as it is developed in the Eucharistic celebration.
The first part could be called the liturgy of memory. The rite of preparation (or prothesis or proskomidia) is entirely dedicated to the commemoration being celebrated. The prayer said by the priest gathers together around Christ his whole Church, from the Mother of God and John the Baptist to all those near us, living or dead, all those who live in our memory and in our heart. And with Christ, represented by the Lamb (a small loaf of bread which will be consecrated), His whole flock presents itself before the invisible Father:
«Bless us and sanctify us, bless this offering, and accept it upon your Heavenly altar», prays the Church with Christ at the head, because it is the Father who is the recipient of all the liturgical prayers and of the sacrifice itself. The Father looks at us, listens to us, greets us. We perceive His face through «the obscure mirror» (1 Co 13.12) of our words, our supplications, and that face is that of love and compassion.
In this gathering of names and memories, memory becomes a sacrament, a sign of unity… and of division. The «other sheep that are not of this fold», as Christ says (Jn 10.16) are forgotten, left outside. For this reason every liturgy, for me as a celebrant, is a silent and urgent call to reconciliation not only in our sentiments but in the mystical and sacramental Body of Christ.
We proceed toward the liturgy of the Word; in the Orthodox church it is called the liturgy of the catechumens, but I would rather call it the liturgy of initiation. We are now being introduced, carried, initiated into the vision of the «new creature» renewed in Christ. With the words of Psalm 102, we enter the prayerful dialogue of man with his soul seized with admiration and wonder. «Bless Yahweh, my soul, bless his holy name, all that is in me». The son discovers and confesses the Father through His works. Right away the liturgy proclaims the revelation of Christ (Only begotten Son and Word of God, although immortal You humbled Yourself for our salvation, taking flesh…) and a few minutes later the choir sings the Beatitudes. Each beatitude is like a reflection which allows us to see the reality of Heavens in the secret of the human heart. With the beatitudes, we anticipate our transfiguration of children of the Father into the only Son. «We now pray in Christ and He with His Holy Spirit prays in us who are gathered in His Name» (Fr. A. Schmemann). And that prayer achieves in itself the unity that has been initiated.
The liturgy of the catechumens is realised in the metanoia which signifies the change of the heart. From this change proceeds the beginning of the liturgy of the faithful which I dare call the liturgy of adoption. It is the adoption by the Father in Christ who makes us discover the face of the invisible Father. We approach Him like the Angels. — «We who mystically represent the Cherubim», sings the choir. We see the face of love as Christ saw it, because we are adopted by the Father in the Eucharist. «The soul», says St. Maxim the Confessor, «with a dignity equal to that of the holy angels, is led to adoption according to grace by means of the same identity».
This identity with Christ is a central point, more mysterious and incredible, of every liturgical action. Here is revealed the mystery of the Church as communion and as adoption. We enter this mystery through the sacrament of the Eucharist, through the transmutation of the bread and wine into the Body
and Blood of Christ. The adoption is a mystery of the Eucharistic and spiritual identity,
through the grace of the transmutation of humankind in Christ, through the transfiguration of the members of the Church into the Body of Christ. «The spiritual man is the Church,» adds St. Maxim the Confessor, «and the mystical Church is man.»
In the formula of the anamnesis, after the words of Christ: «Take, eat…» come the
words of Christ himself addressed to the Father: «We offer to You these gifts from Your own gifts in all and for all». Christ’s sacrifice has become our offering in the liturgy; we enter into mystical, spiritual, sacramental communion with the Father Himself.
The revelation of the Father is open in the Church, yet we are often outside. The presence of Christ is revealed but, without Christ living in us, in our hearts, we can be blind to His presence. The liturgy puts important questions to man: who are you? Where are you? With whom are you? With Christ or with his enemy? Are you truly united and reconciled with those around you, with your brothers, with the others? But those questions come from answers already given. The liturgy leads us into the Father’s bosom and presents us with a triple image of man: a sinner who repents, an angel who serves the glory of God, and a Christ who knows His Father and our Father from within, in Spirit.
In the Trinitarian approach the challenge of unity is becoming clearer. There are three ways of solving this problem. We can pursue our long-drawn-out theological discussions and ask for a solution in yet a thousand or two thousand years.. We can proclaim unity and reconciliation with the finest sentiments as if all those centuries-old divisions had never existed and the differences were nothing more than the invention of a few medieval fogies. In a burst of enthusiasm, we can sign a contract to decree unity and reconciliation effective the day after, or the next, or any date we will find suitable.
Finally, we can enter into the mystery of the other, into the intimacy of his relation to God, into his vision of God, and try to share it, to live it truly. It is here, in the intimate space of prayer, of contemplation, of wonder and repentance that the call of the divine Bridegroom, of the Trinity, of Christ, speaks to our heart: «May they all be one. Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you, so that the world may believe…» (Jn 17.21)
I have proposed to you the Orthodox vision of the Trinity and I invite you to share it with me. That doesn’t mean that I refuse to enter into other visions, on the contrary; but I think that true reconciliation, before being celebrated on the public squares, must be concluded in everyone’s house.
That means that the unity in Trinity, a reconciliation stronger and deeper than that of enthusiasm or theological formulas, must begin in the mystery shared and lived together. It opens our hearts, and even our heart of hearts, to the others, beginning with love for the others. But love, as we have said before, is already the communion to the Holy Trinity. The key to unity is to be found in us, in the Trinitarian life itself to which we communicate. We must find it in our hearts open to the Trinity which already unites us. «For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also», says Christ (Luke 12:34). For, on the reconciliation of the hearts, he celebrates Himself the sacrament of unity.
Sharif Mohammed Alamgir
Sharif is a Muslim living in Bangledesh. He is the Chairman All Religious Peaceful Council, Dhaka and a Lecturer at the College of Development Alternative (CODA), also in Dhaka.27.6.2002
Dear Catarina,
(…) I have gone through the books given by you. The writings are supernatural writing. The language of the books is also supernatural. It is said -«Love is the Root of the Tree of Life» and of all virtues. Therefore «sow the seeds of love in all directions». «Judge nobody, and repay evil with love.» This language can make the world a peaceful place.
I don’t know how many years you have been living in this country, Bangladesh. But you know the condition of our country…Poverty is everywhere. There is no love for the poor. The people of this world don’t have love for one another. Killing is everywhere in this world. We should stop this. This is our duty, to stop the killing. Otherwise humanity will be killed. This is not a matter if we are Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Buddhist; the first condition is we are human beings. So, we should have love for all human beings. We should work together for the people, the poor, the country, the world. So that we can make the world a peaceful place.
I like most Vassula for her good activities. I have love, for all, in my heart. Please send my love to Vassula. I pray for her, I wish her long life. May Allah bless her.
I have more desire to know more about Vassula. I’ll meet you on the 1st Thursday of July. (…)
Yours,
Sharif Mohammed Alamgir
Dr. Pranab Kumar Baruya
Extract from a speech given at …
The most Reverend Christian Priests of the world, brothers and sisters, I am just an uncommon guest among you, because I am a Buddhist social administrative worker, therefore you can imagine My position over here, but we have been associated with the Christian world since a long time.
In Bangladesh we have a good friendship and relation ship with Christian Churches, and we have got so many friends. I had the opportunity to visit the Holy Vatican and also the opportunity to greet the Holiness the Pope. He blessed me and I was very charmed with his most elevated speeches, during the conference of World Religion and Peace held in Rome.
Cardinal Ratzinger visited our monastery in Dhaka, so you can imagine though I am a Buddhist I have a relationship with the Christian world.
Now Peace. What is Peace Let me quote one saying of the Buddha He said everybody loves his life, Life is dear to everybody, and everybody fears punishment, being examples to others put yourself in Others imagination, don’t kill, or don’t hit any creature. If we follow this path, if we go in this way Peace is not an unreasonable thing.
Whenever someone slaps you in the face you give the other cheek. How greater a confession, how great an image we all Religious Leaders of the world irrespective of Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Or Islam, let all the religious leaders come together, sit together, think together, eat together, and work together. Peace is here, Peace is here.
Let me say one more thing, Peace is not in the world, Peace is within your pocket, peace is in captive with yourself. Peace will be there. In final let express our gratitude especially to Vassula, one day a fine morning in Bangladesh at that time there was our Religious festival Lord Buddhas Birthday which is called Buddha Purnima, we found her at our Monastery. Vassula accompanied by Catarina and her husband Duleep they went to us and we talked together and we were charmed by her mission, and the mission what is it, it is a mission of Peace and mission of Inter — Religious harmony, therefore that was what impressed us and through her we have come here and got to know Everybody this is the friendship the fellowship we must know each other, we must know the religious thought of other religion, in this way we could be a good man, we can be a perfect man.
In final let me say let us live with those people in grief happily. Let us live with those people who are not in a good condition who are not in a perfect condition.
Let us live with them with Peace and happiness, let there be Peace, let all living beings be Obedient.
Principal Dr. Pranab Kumar Baruya
Secretary General
Bangladesh Bouddha Kristi Prachar Sangha
Dhammarajika Buddhist Monastery
Ven. Suddhananda Mahathero
Copied here is the address given by the leader of the Buddhist group to fellow participants of the TLIG pilgrimage in Egypt in October 2002:
It is indeed an honour for me to be present here on this historic occasion of today. At the outset, I wish to convey my sincere thanks to the organizers for inviting me to this conference and making all the arrangements for our visit to Egypt. On behalf of the peace loving people, the members of our Bangladesh delegation and on my behalf, I wish to convey my best wishes and sincere greeting to you all.
It is beautiful for all of us that Egypt has been chosen as the host country of such an historic occasion of today. Egypt, the great country is a symbol of religious tolerance in which Article 40 says all citizens are equal before the law. I have the opportunity to come and attend in such a country where there is freedom of religious belief and of practice of religious rites.
With regard to our homeland Bangladesh, let me give a very short statement. Bangladesh is a land having the burdened population of more than 130 million people. The major religious are Muslim which are 83%, Hindu which is 15.5%, and Buddhist, Christian and others are about 1.5%. We got our freedom in 1972 and secularism was one of fundamental points. Afterwards our constitution declared Islam as the state religion but it guarantees that other religions may be practiced. Discrimination of religion by the state is forbidden and our government positions are open to people of all faiths. We are enjoying full freedom of speech, freedom of thoughts. We have much religious tolerance. I am tempted to mention here that the recent communal disharmony in Guzrat of India did not at all affect our country. Last week I had the opportunity to call on our President who is thankful to all of us for the peaceful religious co-existence in Bangladesh.
We all are gathered here with our individual faiths and religion aiming at sitting together with our own prayer. Prayer concentrates and purifies our mind, controls our ego, encourages the performing of good deeds and keeps us away from the anti-social activities. Prayer reminds us, we can make our lives sublime. The Christians have their prayer in their way, Muslims pray five times a day, the Hindus pray in their own way, the Jews have their own way of prayers. The Buddhists pray in the morning and in the evening apart from the mass prayers during some specific full-moon days. Today all the channels have mixed together with one single stream. Today we have forgotten the sense of discrimination. Today’s prayer will be marked as a symbol of total solidarity for the sake of humanity.
In concluding my short remarks, I once again express my heartiest congratulations to the organizers who have undertaken the tremendous efforts and dedication. I sincerely hope that this joint prayer will strengthen the concept of peaceful co-existence which will contribute in cementing the world peace thus making the world a land of non-violence.
May all beings be happy.
Ven. Suddhananda Mahathero
Head of the Bangladesh Delegation Team
President Bangladesh Bouddha Kristi Prachar Sangha
& Vice-President World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB), Bangkok,Thailand
Prisoners Testimonies of Conversion through True Life in God
Four books of testimonies from prisoners of the impact of the True Life in God messages on their lives have been published in Portugal. The testimonies were collected from prisoners in jails in Portugal.
Here are some of those testimonies:
… how incredible it can seem, however incomprehensibly it presents itself, the reality is that, in prison, I have learned to be free and I feel myself more free now than ever before…
Reading of these books (True Life in God) helps us to consecrate all our being to God, offering to Him day-by-day all our sufferings, our gladness, in reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, every day wounded and lacerated by our sins. I feel flowing in myself, through me, a universal Love and not an egoist love, that only corrupts and destroys man. It is why I am free. Nevertheless, we can’t uproot our past: our vices, our weakness, our faults. And it is necessary to re-construct these, as does the architect of a monastic abbey, as balancing heavy stones, making them become lightweight.
The meditation, the reading of these books helps us precisely make lightweight the tortuous roads of life, that each one certainly calls his own cross, his own calvary. Reading the books helps us not to worry with questions such as what can we take from life but primarily helps us how to give something to life. And to give something to life is to surrender ourselves to the will of God, just as every day we ask Him: «…thy Kigdom come, thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven…».
When we are able to become aware that the Will of God is also our will, when we entrust ourselves entirely, without reservation, to Him we become free men. And to be free is a miracle that we must permanently safeguard, and it will only become perpetual when we allow Jesus to act in us, through us, just like the canticle «… I entrust all of myself to Christ, never more do I feel alone …». A universal love is the supreme expression of being free. Universal love is in Jesus. Stay with Jesus to be free.
A crucifix, which lies on the iron board of the window of my cell, near the headboard of my bed, constantly watches me. I think it is there by Its own will because every time I tried to put it on the wall, it seemed that it rejected such a new disposition…
Now, as to the already initiated reading of the books offered, what most calls my attention, undoubtedly, is the peaceful feeling I have as I read True Life of God: «I am Jesus. Vassula, lean on Me and rest». Yes, I remain calm and peaceful. It is as if He were there, beside me, calm and tranquil, giving me the assurance of not being alone; or as if I could imagine His Silent Presence, knowing Him close to me, always my Friend, with no need to pronounce a single word, knowing that I can, whatever happens, count on Him, much before I ask Him for anything, trusting that we can rely on each other. And this was the best gift I got this Christmas; i.e. to gain the trust of a Friend, whom we know shall never forsake us…
Thus, with this feeling of peacefulness as a form of communication, I shall pursue His Work, searching even more, to strengthen my new and better rejuvenated friendship…
I can’t really write anything unless I feel it comes from the bottom of my heart. Thus, I have to say to you again that I’ve read all the volumes of True Life of God up to volume 7, and the monthly magazine too. I know and admit that I don’t have the faith I need (as Jesus said); but the truth is that I’ve gained more perfection so it was worth reading them. It was also of a great help to me to go through the Sacred Bible, both Old and New Testaments.
Sister! My greetings. I’ve just received your message. In fact, your words can heal a wounded soul. I’ve always asked Christ to look after me, especially during the Easter season, so that it can be my redemption time.
I’m looking forward to your third visit which means a lot to me… I enjoy the «flavour» of Christ’s words, because His words can teach me all we have to do… «I love you, Come and Console me, by loving Me…» I have a great empathy for the word ‘Vassula’; and as I put myself in her place, I feel that Jesus lives inside my heart. I’ve read volumes 1 through 3 of the TLIG messages. I think it’s an extraordinary and very important reading, especially in my situation. It helps me learn about Christ. I’ve been feeling very well with these books. I shall continue reading them. I’m waiting for my freedom because of my faith which comes from Jesus Christ, the All-Mighty. I’m always available to Him..
… The first news I have is of a great joy. The Priest came back to say a Mass here as usual on every Saturday and, after talking to him, he encouraged me to go on. Thank God, during these last two weeks many other inmates have also attended Mass and I have too as often as possible. I’ve loaned the books about True Life of God to other people in jail to attract them to Mass, although there are a couple of other prisoners who have different ideologies (which I respect); yet, gradually, they began to understand and start joining our side. I know of an inmate who was preached by the Jehovah Witness people who used to come here. But I asked him so often to join us that he finally decided to attend Mass. I’ve asked God to send the Holy Spirit to bless us all, so that in the future we can all become only one family, real christians, and by being so, our burden should become less heavier to all.
I have placed the Crucifix on the wall of my cell, by the headboard of my bed. I’ve read most of the books and am now reading volume 8 of True Life of God. As I read them, I become more and more interested, and recognize it is an extraordinary work which has helped me a great deal…
As to the book «True Life of God in the Prisons of Portugal» I find it extraordinary. There are other prisoners in other prisons who have great talent. I admire them and can tell God is closer to us more often, despite our errors and faults… One day, when I’m free, I’d like to take all those books home with me, although I have read them, so that my grandchildren can become real christians through its reading.
Sister, I’ve hung the Crucifix on top of my bed. I have also decorated my cell with posters and it now looks very pretty. I feel very well in my cell now. I pray a the Rosary and I’m also reading Vassula’s book, True Life of God, and I have loaned the other one to my cell neighbor.
I’m really enjoying the book True Life of God, and my next cell neighbor is too. Sister, I’m happy because … has always attended Mass, but since she was convicted in June, she became sad as she could no longer attend Mass. Well, when I arrived here with my posters and the books about True Life of God and the Crucifix, as I showed them to my cell neighbor, she liked them very much. I also told her I had been here with a priest. I talked to her for a long time. Now she often goes to Church with me and we pray the Rosary together every day . I’ve given her an image of the Holy Mary so that she could hang it by her bed. Now, … feels very happy and I do too.
Once again I thank you for your efforts, your strength, courage and dedication as well as for the love you’ve given to the prisoners of Portugal. Only by the blessing of God could you have been able to pass on to us this strength and love. His signal could not have been spread all over the country sowing the Word of Jesus throughout an arid land if He had not chosen you to do it.
…Well, despite my ignorance, as I’ve already admitted, I believe that Vassula’s writings have not come out to jeopardize the faith of the christians, but on the contrary. At least for those who were only Catholics but that intimately were ashamed to be so, Vassula’s writings reinforced their Faith, more vividly and with even a more vigorous religious life.
Vassula certainly must have many enemies; The Holy Father does too; Jesus also had them. By the way, all those who tell the «truth» have their enemies mainly because it is just. That’s why only those who do not have foes shouldn’t be worthy.
I confess that Vassula’s writings have helped me a lot; I’ve never felt alone in my pain and suffering since I began to read them. Fortunately, my sorrows and suffering are not known by many. Yet, from the time I’ve got acquainted with Vassula’s books, which you offered me, I have never felt lonely any more.
