I think the fact that a document like the above means more to you than hundreds of conversions speaks for itself. The situation of Vassula with regard to her Orthodox faith is as follows. Vassula is a fully participating member of the Greek Orthodox Church under the Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa. The Patriarch formally accepted her as a member of his Church some years ago. In spite of what some shrill voices still contend, Vassula has NOT been excommunicated by the Greek Orthodox Church. In this case, as in the Catholic case, there has been a lack of observance of Church Law. Vassula has not been summoned to any hearing regarding her standing in the Orthodox Church and has received no formal document bearing the Patriarch’s seal stating that she has been excommunicated. Such things are required for any formal procedure of this kind. Here is what the Patriarch of Alexandria said of her: 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"
Archbishop Theodosios of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem joined the True Life in God pilgrimage in 2013. You can view him speaking at 24 minutes into this video:
David, As with the Roman Catholic Church, there are always those who go against unity among bishops, those who support Vassula. (Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo was an early Vassula supporter before he became a follower of Rev. Moon.) It seems the Patriarch of Alexandria is a member of a similar group in the Orthodox community. I have seen online that he has been moving away from her since the 2011 announcement by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and that many congregations have affirmed the Ecumenical Patriarch's decision. Below is information on a 2001 decision by the Greek Orthodox Church. What I find interesting is this early ruling is that she takes legal action against her critics, claiming slander and libel. What authentic mystic would immediately sue her Church when it ruled against her? From the website http://www.pseudomystica.info/tliggreekorthodox.htm#other Orthodox Church of Greece In 2001 the Committee on Heresies of the Holy Synod published the following decision regarding Vassula Ryden (non-official translation from Greek): "The Committee, having examined the evidence, has reached the conclusion that Vassula Ryden has expelled herself [*] from the Orthodox Church, although she still presents herself as a member. In addition it should be known that the Church periodical "Dialogos" in its issues number 14 and 17 (...) has printed extensive reports regarding Vassula Ryden's organization." Vassula asked the Greek Minister of Justice to bring to trial for slander and libel both the Secretary of the Greek Orthodox Synodal Commission on Heresies, Fr. Kyriakos Tsouros, and the Church publication. The trial was scheduled for 30 June 2000; however Ryden withdrew the charge two days before the hearing." (Dialogos, issue number 25, page 32, 2001.) [*] The Greek text uses the word ekpései, which is of difficult translation. In fact, some websites have incorrectly translated it as "excommunicated". According to the Orthodox source we consulted, the literal translation of the text would be: "she threw herself out of the Orthodox Church". Another source suggested: "Vassula Ryden is cut off from the Orthodox Church". From what we have been able to gather, the main reason is that Mrs Ryden is seen as not acting as an Orthodox faithful by not following canonical discipline, for instance by regularly receiving Catholic Sacraments, which is considered a form of resigning from the Orthodox Church (see also: "May Vassula Ryden receive Holy Communion when participating in Catholic Masses?")."
A Patriarch in the Orthodox Church is not just 'a member of a group'. Note this list of the Patriarchs of the Eastern Orthodox Church: ConstantinopleEcumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I1991 AlexandriaPope & Patriarch Theodoros II2004 AntiochPatriarch John X (Yazigi)2012 JerusalemPatriarch Theophilus III2005 MoscowPatriarch Kirill I2009 GeorgiaCatholicos-Patriarch Ilia II1977 SerbiaPatriarch Irinej2010 RomaniaPatriarch Daniel2007 BulgariaPatriarch Neofit2013 By the way, an hour ago you said "Back to work. I have to earn a living". What happened....
Davidtlig. What I love about Padraigs forum is how tolerant he is of us sharing information about visionaries we have heard of. Because our Catholic Church is open to us hearing about visionaries and not obliging us to believe even approved visions. I don't buy into Vassula. End of. A strange coincidence for your consideration. I had a dream, or was it a nightmare a few nights ago. In the dream I was on my way into our local Church. And realised an unbelieving ex colleague was right behind me. She held a Holy Eucharist in her hand, and was taunting me saying "Can you tell Jesus is behind you if He is real." I was shocked and reached out and took the Host from her and consumed it. Of course I woke up and thought should I have done that, it was a dream. By a coincidence the next day I found the article about Myrna, read it and watched the Video, now linked on this thread. The dream/nightmare reminded me of the Vassula Video which I had found very disturbing. Myrna was so full of respect. I wondered if the Lord wanted to let me know, He is working to reunite the Churches; but not Vassula style. So shared it with you. Of course you are entitled to hold your belief. But you need to understand we are not obliged to believe. God bless you, and keep you, and all who share in the debate.
Well, Julia, I agree that this forum is a very good and useful forum for weighing up the pros and cons of matters associated with apparitions and prophecy. As I have stated elsewhere, I don't actually believe for a moment that the people who generally engage in these 'to and fros' will convince the other of their point of view but I DO believe that the hidden guests who just read the opposing views (and the way they are presented) will be able to make use of the forum. When I first started supporting Vassula, ALL forums would block anyone who spoke positively of Vassula. What would happen would be that someone would come in with a negative post like Ms Harper's posts but if anyone tried to respond sympathetically to Vassula, the discussion would instantly be closed. Exasperating! I'm glad you posted the video of Myrna. She is a lovely lady and much more obviously 'holy' than Vassula appears to be to some (like yourself) but God has His Ways and one day you will come to recognize why she was chosen.
A little witness about Vassula: When I first came into the Catholic Church, someone asked me if I had ever heard of Vassula. I commented that I did not. She told me there were books of hers that I should read, and immediately I purchased all of the books that were available at that time and read them all. While reading them, I felt it was Our Lord speaking to my own heart. I do not wish to go into detail, but during the first several years just before and after coming into the Church, I had many mystical experiences - this one happened during Adoration when I was given a beautiful prayer that I wrote down. I cannot remember if this happened the same day or day after, but I was reading one of the messages from Vassula and she was given a prayer almost word for word what I had been given. There are several more instances that happened, but I will leave it at this one. Needless to say, I do believe in her messages and would encourage others to read the writings and see if Jesus does not speak to you through them. God bless you.
David, Just out of curiosity I went to the website of the Patriarch of Alexandria (http://www.patriarchateofalexandria.com/index.php?lang=en) There was a "contact" link. I followed it and sent an email to the Patriarch's account, patriarxeio.alexandreias@gmail.com. I asked about the current status of Vassula Ryden. The email reply is below. It is not signed. However, it makes me wonder if the Patriarch currently supports Vassula. Re: Vassula Ryden: Has the Church changed its position?  From Πατριαρχείο Αλεξανδρείας patriarxeio.alexandreias@gmail.com  To (Harper) Vassula Ryden is not orthodox christian. She and her group are HERETIC. This is a decision from all orthodox churches and patriarchates. She came to Alexandria as tourist. Thats why the Patriarch of Alexandria accept her, not more. She does not belong to orthodox church. Στις 16 Ιουν 2016 12:11 ΠΜ, ο χρήστης έγραψε: Hello, I am writing with a question on the work of Vassula Ryden. I understand the Ecumenical Patriarch has issued a negative decision on her and has urged Orthodox not to read or promote her work. I have seen on the internet that Mrs. Ryden is a friend of the Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa. Can you tell me if she is currently accepted by the Patriarch of Alexandria, but still not accepted by the Ecumenical Patriarch? I am confused. Thank you.
Yes, that's rather like trying to find out what Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea thought of Jesus by writing to the Sanhedrin! It reminds me of the bishops who wrote to the CDF at the time of Cardinal Levada's tenure there asking about the status of Medjugorje. The Cardinal informed those bishops to consult the local Bishop of Mostar who of course condemned everything about what was happening there... No, the Patriarch of Alexandria remains supportive of Vassula and knows the True Life in God messages come from God. But, like Nicodemus and Joseph, he has to be rather more cautious these days publicly showing his support. Such is the fruit of those who attack God's word in our day. But it highlights the significance of the open and public support for Vassula of the Greek Orthodox Archbishop in Jerusalem in 2015 which can be seen in the video I posted above.
As I said, the followers of condemned apparitions will try to convince others that the hierarchy just doesn't know the "truth".
Some do, some don't HH. By informing you and others of the Patriarch's and Archbishop's support for Vassula I am simply responding to Harper's negative postings. I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. I generally keep quiet about Vassula (yes, honestly!) but the critics seem unable to resist posting negative items about her to which I feel a responsibility to respond.
Having studied True Life in God in its entirety - and without any pre-conceived notions as to its origin -, I am not surprised that many Orthodox Church hierarchs would take this position for the very simple reason that TLIG articulates fully Catholic doctrinal positions that the Orthodox cannot accept. This, by the way, is one of the strongest arguments in favour of the essential authenticity of the text's origin: if this were mere 'private meditation', i.e. just the workings of someone's imagination, why would an Orthodox choose to write hundreds of pages articulating Catholic doctrine, more or less guaranteeing her condemnation from within her own community? On a purely logical level that doesn't add up IMHO. What many Catholics who happily cite Orthodox Church documents against Vassula either do not realize or choose to ignore is that there are still very strong anti-Catholic elements in high positions within Eastern Orthodoxy (which, it should be remembered, is itself a very divided house). These elements are bitterly opposed to any dialogue with Roman Catholicism as they consider it heretical, pure and simple. This has become very apparent in the chaotic run-up to the 2016 Pan-Orthodox Council which barring a miracle looks dead in the water at the moment. http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/pan-orthodox-meltdown-ahead-of-great-council/ If you can stand it, for a sample of the savage anti-Catholic rhetoric prevalent in some Orthodox circles, see the 2009 'Confession of Faith against Ecumenism' written by a group of churchmen of the Church of Greece including several senior Archbishops: http://oodegr.co/english/oikoumenismos/omologia_pistews.htm This raised a protest from Patriarch Bartholomew (who as is well-known has been very active in dialogue with Rome), criticizing the Church of Greece as 'silently condoning' the confession. http://molonlabe70.blogspot.fr/2009/10/ecumentical-patriarchate-responds-to.html To Orthodox such as the signatories of the 2009 'Confession', the contents of True Life in God are like a red rag to a bull. But this says everything about their own inherited baggage of long centuries of animosity, and nothing at all about Vassula Rydén.
Peter B, Hello! Maybe you can make things clear. I am not arguing the state of Catholic-Orthodox relations here. I asked who is Vassula's bishop, to whom does she owe obedience. David named this Patriarch. That was incorrect, apparently. Might I reasonably infer she has no bishop guiding her, Catholic or Orthodox? I've also posted about a pattern of behavior that is disturbing. Vassula is very aggressive in asserting her legal rights: she has trademarked her name; sued a critical website repeatedly, driving it out of business; and even threatened to sue the priestly head of the Greek Church committee that ruled negatively against her in 2001. (See the discussion above for details.) Is this the behavior associated with true mystics, with those in a close relationship with Jesus and Mary? Earlier in the thread, David posted one of Vassula's messages in which "God" "quoted" Scripture. However, the passage (contained in quote marks) was misquoted, with gender changed. Do authentic messages from Heaven include Scriptural inaccuracies? Don't you think-- as a matter of prudence if not common decency-- that if in fact the Patriarch of Alexandria now publicly distances himself from Vassula, she and her followers should acknowledge that publicly?
It's not my business to say what Vassula, or anyone involved with TLIG, or the Patriarch of Alexandria, or indeed anybody else should or should not do. That would be to judge, and I am not in a position to do so. Not knowing the circumstances fully, and more than anything not knowing the state of people's hearts before the Lord - knowledge which belongs to God alone - my sense is that keeping prayerful silence is by far the wisest policy, and sometimes I can't help feeling that if more of us followed it the internet at least might just be a better place.
Peter B, I completely agree about never knowing the state of people's hearts before the Lord. But we are always called to make prudent judgments as to the public behavior of others. This is part of the discernment process, and since Vassula and her advocates demand a place in the public arena, we can draw reasonable conclusions from the way they comport themselves, the evidence they present, the tone of their alleged messages. On the other hand, I am much less willing to engage in speculation about the "real motives" of Pope Benedict, Pope Francis, Cardinal Levada, the officials of the CDF, etc., as they work behind the scenes to issue documents that offer guidance to the faithful in the area of private revelations. We can never know what is hearsay or not. We can never know what circumstances they face, or what information they hold confidential.
David, do you work for this Vassula or something? You've been going on and on about her Since 2013 even though you've been kindly informed of some pretty damning information about her. The forum members have been extremely patient. I've never heard of her until I read this thread from the beginning, and any sane person would stear clear of that lady. From what I've gathered anyway, no offense, you're not helping change anyone's minds here. Also, THAT VIDEO YOU POSTED AT THE BEGINNING, was HORRIBLE, and extremely offensive, and im not offended or shocked easily.
I just watched the video for the first time. Questions: Who allowed this woman to receive Holy Communion and walk out of the church with it? Who failed in teaching her what Holy Communion was (is)? Her priest should have a stern talking to for allowing this to happen in his church. Also, why would she be at the church is she didn't know what Holy Communion was? Why did she stand up, get in line, watch others receive Communion (in the hand or mouth) and decide it was a good idea to just walk away with it like it was a trinket? This lady's story makes no sense. I truly hope she didn't knowingly do what she did.
I am reading Vassula's book "The Two Witnesses" right now and am blown away. It makes soooo much sense. The Two Witnesses are Jesus & Mary's Sacred & Immaculate Hearts. They are the lampstands. The light of the world. Jesus explains it so magnificently that I don't know why we have not seen this before. Seemingly they will appear as defeated, but then will come back to life full force. Brilliant. No wonder our Lady has consistently said TO CONSECRATE YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILIES! In the back is a few pages from the 101 Foundation regarding documents including letters from priests, Bishops and especially some interesting facts about the CDF. 1. Statements by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith should command our utmost respect--but they are NEVER INFALLIBLE. (Already shown thru St. Faustina's writings...) 2. History is full of such reversals. 3. The Notification is a preliminary opinion--and by no means a final judgement. 4. Just as the Church renders no final judgement on an appariton until it is completely over, so the Church passes no final judgement on a book until it is finished and evaluated as a complete unit. Pope B16 emphasized this point in his Introduction to what we once knew as the Index of Forbidden Books: "We give warning 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. Neither is her mission finished. 5. This document indicates the beginning of a dialogue and not the end of a discussion. and there is more...but I don't have time to write it all out. I would suggest if you are interested in knowing more to go to Fr. Joseph Ianuzzi's website, the esteemed Marianologist Fr. Rene' Laurentin's book "When God gives a sign", or the respected theologian Fr. John O'Carroll and Rev. Robert Hughes, S.M. All four have defended Vassula's writings and as I have said before, she has met with the last three Popes, and all the prophesies are coming true that Jesus is talking about. I suggest that if anyone is interested, take the time to listen to tligradio.org. Listen for a couple of hours and you will be convinced. I also am reading her book Heaven is for real, and so is Hell. I got this and her other book about Unity for myself for Mother's day. They are worth reading, and especially if you have that person in your family or friend who doesn't believe in Heaven or hell or anywhere in between. As one who was there, it is convincing!!
May I suggest you watch a few of the other videos? As one who was as naive as can be, I can honestly say, please be merciful. Not all of us were catechized properly like you were. I was praying the rosary, trying to learn the faith I had fallen away from and really never knew and partying on weekends....when Jesus appeared to me during the Mass and showed me he was truly present in the Eucharist. His Mother was kneeling next to the altar in prayer. I was a young mother of three children. I had my first communion at 7 years old. Until that moment in time, I did not believe. Thank God for confession and God's beautiful grace. Some of us never believe but pretend we do. Some of us need a kick in the pants. Some of us are so prideful they think God is not watching and that everyone should know. THEY DON'T KNOW. ITS GRACE! Give the woman a break. She is being truthful and if you would take the time to read her story instead of be so scandalized by it all---you might learn something too!
Harper, I love Father Pacwa but listening to him on EWTN, radio he is not pro >> yet to be approved private revelation. I wish he was. There are consecrated ones who aren't aware we're in the end times! Once, I said goodbye to a diocesan priest with "See you in the Era of Peace." He replied, "What is the Era of Peace?" Keep praying for our dear priests.
