Vassula in Lebanon

April 17 - 20, 1999

All is grace! Time of grace.

Saturday, April 17, 1999

It is with a joyous heart, full of praise for the Lord who does marvels for us all His children, that we welcomed Vassula in Beirut on April 17, 1999, in the meeting hall of St-Élie church at Antelias. With God's grace the organizers experienced quite an interior progress and preparation through the many contacts that were made. At last, on Saturday evening we greeted Archbishop Accogli, Vassula and Sister Martha at the Beirut airport. It was 7:30 p.m. The plane arrived a bit late and the organizers tried to remain optimistic as the meeting was scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. Father Theophil Pelgrims was already there as he had arrived from Belgium the day before.

We were pleased and honoured with the presence of Bishop Abi Nader; nuns and priests mingled with the crowd. Fortunately our guests were not too tired on arrival. Yolla made the introductions and welcomed all those present - they were about 900-1000. Father Theophil told us: "Let yourself be seized by our God; peace, charity will inhabit your hearts; Jesus is risen, yes He is truly risen." Then Archbishop Accogli spoke about his Vatican diplomatic mission of many years and of three-year his mission at Damascus, Syria. In returning to Lebanon he expressed his pleasure with the reconstruction of this country which has suffered so much and he reminded us that Jesus had come to share our human condition and that He had been to Lebanon, in Saida and Tyre. Jesus is risen and Vassula has come today to speak about Him and give us His messages. Jesus wishes that His Church be renewed, He wishes her to be beautiful and that we all be brothers in Him through her.

Before speaking Vassula suggested a prayer to the Holy Spirit. She praised the Lord for her coming to Lebanon. This is the fiftieth country she has visited. God has not forgotten us. He is coming with His Message, True Life in God, a Message of mercy, a call to love, to prayer, to reconciliation and to living in continuous prayer, heart to heart with Him.

He gives us messages that touch us because He speaks about what is going on in our generation, an end of a millennium generation. Our generation has apostatized. God calls us to repentance, to reconciliation, to unity. No unity without love and humility; those are the two keys. Jesus' plea is very earnest when it comes to the date of Easter. He wants this date to be unified as soon as possible. Vassula received from the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, teachings that cover many pages. The Holy Spirit is the Person we know the least. That is why He teaches us as if in a school. The first book is simple but deep because it is based on the intimacy between the creature and its Creator. He teaches us to be intimate with Him.

Right from the start, after the angel Daniel, there was the Father who insisted on the fact that we know Him in order to serve Him with love; He had not explained there would be messages. Vassula's visions are interior.

"God was speaking in my heart. His voice was so tender, so fatherly I was feeling His Love. He seized my soul and it was as if I had met Him. Simplicity, intimacy, and my soul perceived that He is truly my Father on earth before my father, as if He was part of my family. I forgot everything in those moments."

For a whole day God taught me how to pray the Holy Father. I answered Him "Yes, dad" and I was shocked with myself and I was afraid when I realized what I had said... it is the Creator who is talking to me! He tells me:
"Daughter, do not be afraid. I have taken this word in My Hand like a jewel; come near Me, do not remain so far away, become near, intimate, simple and you will know Me. Never forget that I am holy"
(this is the meaning of the fear of God as He explained it to me). Many people speak about Him but do not know Him. The key is intimacy. We must praise Him, honour Him, adore Him. Those are the first steps in a True Life in God.

"Which house is more important, your house or my house? Your house, Lord.
"Then, unify My House, revive Her, embellish Her.
But how? I don't know anything.
"I want "a nothing"; remain nothing. In your nothingness I will be everything."
Lord, why have you chosen me?
"Don't you know that wretchedness attracts Me? Through your wretchedness I shall reveal Myself. Die to yourself."

The Lord is asking us to decide. We cannot play with Him. He does not like lukewarmness. "Die to yourself, so that My Spirit breathes in you. I God do not want any rival." God is very considerate, He asks for our permission; He is so meek. "If you will allow Me, I will let the Spirit act in you. So lower your voice so you may hear only Mine; lower your head so that Mine would be seen; lower yourself so that I can lift you up to Me."

God expects a big "yes" on our part. Let's stop intellectualizing the Father with fear. Let's be like children; let's become intimate with Him; let's talk to him with your heart and He will also reveal Himself to us.

"Realize the urgency of conversion, the graveness of the condition of their soul and the importance of My Call."

One day Jesus came and said to me: "Yes, like a father I reprimand you but I always do it with love, to elevate your soul and draw you to Me. I would like you to pray without ceasing." I was embarrassed because I do not lack work to do: housewife with children at school, housekeeping. How can I pray without ceasing? God told me: "You do not understand a thing! 'pray without ceasing' doesn't mean I want you 24 hours on your knees". Pray without ceasing means that "you your soul is thirsting for Me, that you long for Me all day long; when you heart talks to Me, desiring me; when you live the first commandment."

The Lord teaches us to understand Him better, to know Him better. No one can survive with his intellect only.

Jeremiah 9:22-23 "Thus says Yahweh, "Let the sage boast no more of his wisdom, nor the valiant of his valour, nor the rich man of his riches! But if anyone wants to boast, let him boast of this: of understanding and knowing me. For I am Yahweh, I rule with kindness, justice and integrity on earth; yes these are what please me - it is Yahweh who speaks."

True knowledge is knowing Him as Trinitarian Communion. God reveals Himself to us and we begin to understand His Action. Let's never cease to invoke the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dictated at length about repentance. "Come and repent and allow Me to bring you back to Our Divinity." Mary, our Mother, gave a message on the importance of charity, of love. On judgment day, we shall be judged according to the measure of love we will have had on earth. Love implores: "Love Me." Let's not forget Mary, our true Mother. Let's consecrate ourselves to Her. Let's consecrate our children, our nation to Her. Her power of intercession is great. Let's not lack trust.

The Holy Spirit told us:"I am like a rich, a very rich soil; sow My seeds in it. Come to Me without delay and I will make you rich, through your poverty, zealous and faithful, through your wretchedness; a living Altar because I am always accessible to the poor. I am present, I am living, I am risen. I am waiting, I am waiting for you."

Vassula then suggests that when reading True Life in God we remove her name and put our own name in its place, because the messages are for all, for the benefit of all.

The Lord offers us everything. He complains that we do not thank Him enough. Every day we receive a multitude of invisible blessings. Everything comes from Him. Everything is a blessing.

Jesus told Vassula: "The cup of your division which I drink is very bitter. Every Easter season I must drink this cup of division. Every day My Eyes are filled with tears because of the crimes of this world. Unity will be in your heart and not by a signed treaty! It is not possible to talk about unity without referring to the first two commandments. I need humility, love, the conversion of your heart to be the foundation of your unity. The sin of your division massacres daily My Body. Today, any delicacy from the part of My creatures to restore My tottering House touches Me profoundly. My Eyes watch over those who love Me."

The evening ended with a song in Arabic by the young people from the Marian Movement of Priests led by Yolla.

Sunday morning, April 18, 1999 The Eucharist lived and shared at the Val St Jacques school of the Franciscan Sisters. Before the Eucharist which had brought together former pupils of the school, the Sisters showed a little film on the "Our Father": a young man recites with difficulty this beautiful prayer which Jesus Himself has taught us. Suddenly a dialogue begins between the Father and the youth. God teaches him to pray the Our Father: When you pray, say "Father". At the end of the celebration, Vassula took up again this theme which touches her deeply since God the Father taught her this prayer very patiently.

At noon we went to the Maronite Patriarchate to meet His Excellency Cardinal Nasrallah-Boutros Sfeir; his welcome was cordial and open and he showed great interest for what Vassula shared. Cardinal Sfeir was moved by Vassula's handwriting when she writes under dictation. He told her: "you are a privileged person!" The Lebanese television network LBC seized the opportunity to produce a short recording.

At 2 p.m. we went to the Carmel of Unity at Harissa where the entire community of Carmelites was expecting Vassula and her companions. Behind the double grille we could see smiles and bright eyes beneath white or black veils. The visiting room was filled with the happiness of this meeting. The sisters had greatly helped us with the support of their trusting prayer for Vassula's visit to Lebanon.

"The power of the Lord penetrates with strength in Lebanon". Vassula told the sisters that she had already visited fifty-five countries and everywhere she has seen the power of the Lord, and she added: "but not as strongly as in Lebanon." She asked the community to pray for the Holy Father's visit to Rumania where he is to meet the Rumanian Orthodox Patriarch. Vassula has received an official invitation to this meeting and she asked the sisters to pray for her also. "There is no time to lose, we must be brave," she said. She emphasized the importance of unifying the date of Easter and the Holy Spirit will do the rest.

She also spoke of the end of this time which is a time of apostasy. She said that in August she will go to Japan where a group of Buddhist monks have invited her to share her testimony in a great temple where there is a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. Vassula spoke about India where Mary appears near Madras and where She teaches the catechism to non-Christian children; one person only sees Her, the others hear Her.

Before leaving the Carmel we stopped at the very beautiful chapel with the wonderful icons written by the sisters. At Harissa, above Jounieh, we visited Our Lady of Lebanon, in the footsteps of John Paul II when he visited Lebanon, May 10-11, 1997, in the basilica where he signed his Post-Synodal Exhortation which concluded the Synod of Bishops for Lebanon. Inside this "vessel" of concrete, Archbishop Accogli exclaimed: "this is where Vassula will come next time to speak of the messages, celebrating the third anniversary of the Holy Father's passage here." Is it a prophecy? God, in His Infinite Love, will bring this about if such is His Holy Will.

Vassula, Archbishop Accogli, Father Theophil and Sister Martha went with the organizers for a short moment of prayer in the magnificent church Saint Paul in Harissa, a Melkite church with superb Byzantine mosaics. The Paulist Fathers welcomed us with pleasure for a Lebanese coffee.

Sunday afternoon, April 18, 1999 A meeting had been organized at 5:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the St. Francis school, at Hamra, on the invitation of a Capuchin Father. We were pleased and honoured with the presence of two bishops: Bishop Abi Nader and Bishop Iskandar. Priests and nuns were also present. About 500 people had come to listen to the messages of the Lord.

Yolla was in charge of the official reception and presentations. Archbishop Accogli gave us a short speech, talking about his life as a priest in the service of the Church and the Holy Father; he is a former Papal Nuncio. He is presently helping different Padre Pio prayer groups and counselling charismatics. He spoke of the mercy of the Father and of the unity of the Church. Then it was Vassula's turn and she spoke of the apostasy, her conversion, the interior locutions. She reminded us strongly of the two "Rs": Repentance and Reconciliation. It is a call from Above to all of us. She continued with the same theme as the previous day. True Life in God is like a school. God is sad when one turns his back on Him. "You come from Me, you descend from Me, you belong to Me, you are My seed." This is what God says to each one of us. This hymn of love is for all. He is the one who does everything.

Apostasy and rationalism have brought about much atheism. But God has to repeat Himself because of the deafness of this generation. The second Pentecost is on its way. It will not be external. It is already begun: it is the thirst of humans for God, the quest of the soul for its Creator. Who is acting? It is the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Adorable Trinity. This second Pentecost will be individual, it will establish itself within each one who converts. This Pentecost filled with zeal will encourage those who convert to become the apostles of the last times.

The Holy Spirit lights up the soul from inside. God is very considerate: "If you allow Me, I will be able to transform you: I will turn a dry and arid garden into a wonderful Eden where I can rest and where you will glorify Me." God says that we do not ask him enough. "To what can you compare My Sacred Heart? to a Fountain that makes the gardens fertile? My Heart is a well of living water. My Sacred Heart is your guarantor and the Tree of Life. It is like the sun shining in your obscurity, sweeter than honey; it is like a bed of selected roses."

Vassula told us: "when leaving this place say "we, us". We are leaving, the Lord and I. We are going home. You the children when going to school tell Him "we are doing our homework together." When going to church do not leave the Lord at home, take Him with you."

She concluded by saying: "Consecrate your family, your children to Jesus, to Mary, and also your country. Be assured that the Lord is listening to you, that He is alive, that He is present. Be blessed. Let us bless the Lord." Then Vassula blessed personally every person who wished it.

Monday, April 19 - a day of meetings and visits We all went to Zhannes, a home for the elderly, to meet Father Maalouli Youssef, a Lazarist, for an encounter that was moving, warm, fatherly, filled with God's Love. One could sense the presence of Jesus. It was a moment of fullness, of blessedness which God allowed.

After this too short visit, we went to the Greek Catholic Patriarchate were we were welcomed by His Excellency His Beatitude Patriarch Maximos Hakini. There again the welcome was warm and simple and Vassula offered one of the books of True Life in God.

In the afternoon we had a meeting in Gharzour with the Community of the Beatitudes. Father Pierre gave us a brotherly welcome and Vassula spoke to the community, about fifteen persons, about the Notification. She explained that it was not a condemnation but a warning. Of course the messages she receives are not to be placed above the Holy Bible. The Bible remains the manifestation of the Word of God. She spoke about what Cardinal Ratzinger said, then she went on to talk about the message of unity so dear to the Heart of the Lord; of the apostasy of this generation; of the second Pentecost; of repentance; of reconciliation; of the intimate life of each heart with the Lord. The meeting was a little short because Vassula had to go to the Télé-Lumicre television network for the recording of an interview. Following a few questions by Mrs Christiane Debbaneh, Vassula went back to the main themes of the meetings concluding with an exhortation: "Consecrate your families to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Consecrate the whole of Lebanon to their Two Hearts." We glorify God for so many blessings, we praise Him for His Wonders, we bless Him.

Tuesday morning, April 20th, Archbishop Accogli, Vassula and Sister Martha flew to Switzerland then to Rome.

"AL MAZIH KHAM - AKH KAN KHAM"
Marwan, Yolla, Ircne, Toufic and Genevicve, the organizers