Misplaced Pages

Vassula Rydén: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 10:19, 15 June 2010 view sourceArkatakor (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users583 editsmNo edit summary← Previous edit Revision as of 12:04, 15 June 2010 view source Arkatakor (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users583 edits Expanded Christian Unity SectionNext edit →
Line 36: Line 36:
==Her Mission== ==Her Mission==


Vassula has been invited to to several countries to give her “testimony” and to pass on the message she has received. According the official True Life in God website, she has been invited to more than 900 meetings in 75 countries.<ref>The Echo, Ireland, September 1 2005, Page 36</ref><ref>Geneseo Republic, USA, January 16 2009; Claudia Loucks, Page A9</ref><ref>, Ireland, October 10,1996, Bernadette Fallon, </ref><ref name="TLIG"/> Vassula has been invited to to several countries to give her “testimony” and to pass on the message she has received. According the official True Life in God website, she has been invited to more than 900 meetings in 75 countries.<ref>The Echo, Ireland, September 1 2005, Page 36</ref><ref>Geneseo Republic, USA, January 16 2009; Claudia Loucks, Page A9</ref><ref name="Galway">, Ireland, October 10,1996, Bernadette Fallon, </ref><ref name="TLIG"/>


In 1998,<ref name="TLIG"/> and 2001, the United Nations in New York, a section based on Peace in the World working specifically between Jews and Palestinians, invited Vassula to address them and transmit the messages she receives regarding how to obtain peace in the world.<ref name="ThirdWorldOrphans">http://thirdworldorphans.org/gpage10.html</ref> In 1998,<ref name="TLIG"/> and 2001, the United Nations in New York, a section based on Peace in the World working specifically between Jews and Palestinians, invited Vassula to address them and transmit the messages she receives regarding how to obtain peace in the world.<ref name="ThirdWorldOrphans">http://thirdworldorphans.org/gpage10.html</ref>
Line 45: Line 45:


Therefore, in addition to delivering the message, she also believes she has been called by God to promote Christian Unity.<ref>Vassula Comes to the Monastery, Published 2005, Pages iii, iv, Preface by Fr. John Abberton, ISBN 0-948108-13-4</ref> She and many volunteers organize ecumenical pilgrimages every two years where Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, clergy and lay people of all faiths gather and “practice unity” without making distinctions among each other.<ref>http://www.select-sources.com/VassulaRyden.html</ref> In 2001, she was invited, along with other speakers, to an official symposium on ecumenism by the International Bridgettine Centre of Farfa to speak on Ecumenism and Spirituality.<ref>http://www.farfa.info/library/pdf/program_2001.pdf</ref> Her presentation was entitled: God’s Calling to His People.<ref name="TLIG"/> Therefore, in addition to delivering the message, she also believes she has been called by God to promote Christian Unity.<ref>Vassula Comes to the Monastery, Published 2005, Pages iii, iv, Preface by Fr. John Abberton, ISBN 0-948108-13-4</ref> She and many volunteers organize ecumenical pilgrimages every two years where Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, clergy and lay people of all faiths gather and “practice unity” without making distinctions among each other.<ref>http://www.select-sources.com/VassulaRyden.html</ref> In 2001, she was invited, along with other speakers, to an official symposium on ecumenism by the International Bridgettine Centre of Farfa to speak on Ecumenism and Spirituality.<ref>http://www.farfa.info/library/pdf/program_2001.pdf</ref> Her presentation was entitled: God’s Calling to His People.<ref name="TLIG"/>

The ecumenical aspect of Vassula’s mission attracts interest and attention.<ref name="EcumenicalCharism">Vassula, Un Charisme Oecumenique pour notre Temps (Vassula, An Ecumenical Charism for our Times), 1995, by Fr. Ferdinand Umana Montoya, ISBN 2-88022-071-8</ref><ref name="PaHoyden">http://nyheter.uib.no/?modus=vis_engelsk&id=34763 Pa Hoyden, , Fascinated by mysterious Jesus blogs, January 5, 2007</ref> She has been invited to speak and to share the True Life in God message by all ] – Orthodox,<ref name="TLIG"/> Catholic,<ref name="Inquirer">http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080513-136228/Massf Inquirer.net, , Mass for peace and unity held in Palace, May 13, 2008</ref><ref name="Galway"/> and Protestants<ref></ref><ref name="TLIG"/> alike. There are many references to the Pope in the messages she records where he is often referred to as ].<ref name="TLIG"/> In his book, John Paul II – A Dictionary of His Life and Teachings, Fr. Michael O’Carroll, in the section on Vassula Ryden notes: <blockquote>“This is the first time in nine hundred and forty years that an Orthodox writer has publicly championed the cause of the Roman Pontiff and his universal primacy.”<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=h_NmAAAACAAJ&dq=John+Paul+II+%E2%80%93+A+Dictionary+of+His+Life+and+Teachings&hl=en&ei=bmkXTKH8EoK4rAfQlf3bCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA John Paul II – A Dictionary of His Life and Teachings, 1994, by Fr. Michael O’Carroll CSSp, ISBN 0-9519973-8-6</ref></blockquote>


She was invited by Fr. Ion Bria, of the ] working for the Ecumenical Council of Churches in ]<ref name="Enigma"/>, and by Metropolitan Daniel of Moldavia and Bukovina, to assist at the Congress organized by the WCC on Christian Spirituality, held in Iasi; her proposal for discussion of the unification of the dates of Easter was accepted by the closing general assembly.<ref>Vassula and Rome, Published 1996, ISBN 1-899228-03-9; Author: Michael Dore, page 22</ref> She was invited by Fr. Ion Bria, of the ] working for the Ecumenical Council of Churches in ]<ref name="Enigma"/>, and by Metropolitan Daniel of Moldavia and Bukovina, to assist at the Congress organized by the WCC on Christian Spirituality, held in Iasi; her proposal for discussion of the unification of the dates of Easter was accepted by the closing general assembly.<ref>Vassula and Rome, Published 1996, ISBN 1-899228-03-9; Author: Michael Dore, page 22</ref>

Revision as of 12:04, 15 June 2010

Vassula Ryden
File:Vassula.jpg
BornVassiliki Claudia Pendakis
(1942-01-18) January 18, 1942 (age 82)
Cairo, Egypt
OccupationAuthor
Children2

Vassula Rydén was born in Egypt on January 18, 1942 into a Greek Orthodox family. She has composed the messages she claims to have received in a series of books called True Life In God. There are currently over 107 Notebooks compiled in 12 Volumes of the True Life in God series, which have been translated by volunteers into over 40 different languages. Since 1988, Vassula has been invited to speak in more than 70 countries and has given over 900 presentations. She receives no personal royalties, fees or benefit for her efforts.

Biography

Vassula Ryden, the daughter of Greek parents established in Egypt, was born on January 18, 1942 in Heliopolis on the outskirts of Cairo. She started school in Egypt, and then at the age of 15, she emigrated to Europe.

In November 1966, she married a Lutheran man in the city of Lausanne, Switzerland, at a Greek Orthodox Church. She later got divorced in Sweden in November 1980. In June 1981, she married her current husband, Per Ryden, a Swedish Lutheran, at the registry office. On October 31, 1990, she regularized her union in the Greek Orthodox Church and celebrated her religious marriage in Lausanne. Vassula has two adult sons.

For 30 years, from 1955 to 1985, Vassula was not a church-goer; for social reasons, she appeared occasionally at marriages and funerals. She had not lost her faith in God; she just felt no inclination towards any observance. Before the turning point in her career, she led the life of the typical expatriate in Africa and Asia: the social round, amusement, cocktail parties for her husband’s business friends, such games as the climate permitted. Her choice was tennis, in which she became quite proficient; she was champion of Bangladesh. The word at the time was, “If you want Vassula, go to the tennis court.” She also modeled clothes, as a hobby to while away the time. She took up painting seriously and with considerable success.

Supernatural Phenomena

Vassula Ryden is now most known throughout the world for her writings entitled “True Life in God”, which is a compilation of nearly 2000 messages she claims to have received from God since the year 1985 when she was living in Bangladesh. While she was writing a grocery list, she reports to have suddenly experienced a light electrical feeling in her right hand and at the same time an invisible presence. She says she felt led by this presence, and permitting her hand to be guided, she wrote a line in a very different style from her own with the words "I am your guardian Angel and my name is Daniel."

She adheres to the idea that she has been called to transmit to the world the messages she receives. People who have studied her case believe that God through her message seeks to consolidate his church, especially by bringing it into unity, which is the main theme of her books.. The True Life in God messages have been translated by volunteers into more than 40 languages and have wide-spread distribution and readership.

Fr. Robert Faricy, said regarding Vassula that:

She receives God’s messages in an extraordinary way – her hand being taken over to write them. The handwriting in which the messages are written is big, vertical and clearly distinguishable from her normal pattern of writing.

According to professional graphologist interpretation of her manuscripts her handwriting displays an “extraordinary telluric force”. The writer is filled with a force that goes beyond her normal self with “invisible power”. “She is an intermediary, like a center of transmission and amplification”.

Vassula had never received any catechetical instruction, or theological formation. A “spiritual zero” before the revelations began, Vassula believes that God chooses those otherwise incapable of such achievements so as to leave no doubt that it is his power at work. She believes that she was chosen for all that she was not. She stated that:

"Jesus wanted a nothing,” she explains, "in order to prove that I have not invented all this and that it comes from Him. He said it in a message: “All you have comes from Me and is My Work and not yours. Without Me, you are unable to even wink your eyes-so abandon yourself to Me.

Other investigations of Vassula’s works include that of world renowned Mariologist Theologian Father Rene Laurentin, who has called Vassula “the most authentic mystic living in the world today.” and has since written two books on Vassula and her works.

Her Mission

Vassula has been invited to to several countries to give her “testimony” and to pass on the message she has received. According the official True Life in God website, she has been invited to more than 900 meetings in 75 countries.

In 1998, and 2001, the United Nations in New York, a section based on Peace in the World working specifically between Jews and Palestinians, invited Vassula to address them and transmit the messages she receives regarding how to obtain peace in the world.

Christian Unity

One of the strongest elements in these messages is the gravity of the division between churches and the urgency of the work for unity of the Church and the importance of the ecumenical movement.

Therefore, in addition to delivering the message, she also believes she has been called by God to promote Christian Unity. She and many volunteers organize ecumenical pilgrimages every two years where Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, clergy and lay people of all faiths gather and “practice unity” without making distinctions among each other. In 2001, she was invited, along with other speakers, to an official symposium on ecumenism by the International Bridgettine Centre of Farfa to speak on Ecumenism and Spirituality. Her presentation was entitled: God’s Calling to His People.

The ecumenical aspect of Vassula’s mission attracts interest and attention. She has been invited to speak and to share the True Life in God message by all Christian denominations – Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestants alike. There are many references to the Pope in the messages she records where he is often referred to as Peter. In his book, John Paul II – A Dictionary of His Life and Teachings, Fr. Michael O’Carroll, in the section on Vassula Ryden notes:

“This is the first time in nine hundred and forty years that an Orthodox writer has publicly championed the cause of the Roman Pontiff and his universal primacy.”

She was invited by Fr. Ion Bria, of the Romanian Orthodox Church working for the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Geneva, and by Metropolitan Daniel of Moldavia and Bukovina, to assist at the Congress organized by the WCC on Christian Spirituality, held in Iasi; her proposal for discussion of the unification of the dates of Easter was accepted by the closing general assembly.

In 2009, she was invited to speak, along with three other speakers, at the Christian Unity conference “United in Christ” at Namur, Belgium. The conference took place in the Namur diocese of Bishop Andre-Mutien Leonard, who attended the conference and led the celebration of the concluding Eucharistic Liturgy. Reporting later on the gathering, on the 6th of December, 2009 he stated:

And from Vassula Ryden’s message, I acquired the conviction that in order to reconcile the Christian East and West, it is crucial to decide upon a common date for Easter.

Beth Myriam

Inspired by a vision of Our Lady, Vassula initiated the Beth Myriam (Mary’s House) project to feed the poor in 1998. Volunteers from local True Life In God Prayer Groups run the Beth Myriam charity houses which provide free meals to those in need in the local community. This work began in the Holy Land and over time other Beth Myriams were established in other parts of the world. There are currently 24 Beth Myriams worldwide. Some Beth Myriams have evolved to also provide clothing and basic education for the poor.

Inter-Religious

Vassula’s speeches on peace, reconciliation and unity started to be known and appreciated among non-Christians. On August 4, 1999, she was invited to speak in a Buddhist Temple in Hiroshima, Japan. And, in April 2000, she was invited to speak in Benin, Africa where many Christians, Muslims (including an Imam) and several Voodoo chiefs were also present.

Invitations for Vassula to speak in inter-religious meetings increased. In 2002, Vassula was invited to an inter-religious meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh where the host was a Muslim Imam. Later that same year, she was invited by the Archbishop of Taipei Joseph Ti-Kan to give a speech to non-Christians.

In February 2003, she was invited by the Venerable Suddhananda in his monastery in Dhaka to honor her with the “Peace Gold Award” for her efforts in propagating peace in the world. She was nominated for this peace award by the Buddhist monks as a distinguished personality in recognition of her great contribution and her efforts for establishing inter-religious harmony and promoting world peace among all peoples and faiths. The function was inaugurated by Rev. Michael Rozario, Archbishop of the Catholic church in Dhaka. Among other guests was the Secretary of the Apostolic Nuncio in Dhaka, as well as Muslim Professors from various regions of Bangladesh. Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus were present.

On the 23 Feb. 2009, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Vassula was presented with another Gold Medal and Certificate for her efforts of propagating “Inter-faith Harmony and Peaceful Co-existence” by the Buddhist community there.

The following day, she was also invited by Hindus to their temple, the Sree Sree Dhakeswari National Temple, to speak to the university students there.

Churches' stance on Vassula Ryden

In 1995, the Roman Catholic Church gave a negative opinion on the writings through the publication of a notification by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in which "several negative elements and errors are pointed out". It concludes by requesting the faithful "not to regard Mrs. Ryden's writings and speeches of divine or supernatural origin, but rather as the result of her private meditations".

After a request was made by Vassula in 2000 to the aforementioned congregation (the CDF), the then Cardinal Ratzinger invited Vassula, in 2002, to answer five questions about her messages and its relation to the Holy Bible and Sacred Tradition. Vassula sent her replies to the Congregation later that same year. At the ending of this dialogue, the former president of the CDF, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - Now Pope Benedict XVI asked Vassula to publish the full correspondence between herself and the CDF in the published TLIG books. Later still, the Cardinal wrote a letter, dated 10 July 2004, to five episcopal conferences who had been negative about Vassula and her writings indicating that she had given "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" . In 2005, the True Life in God writings were granted a Nihil obstat by Bishop Felix Toppo S.J. (India) and Imprimatur by Archbishop Ramon C. Arguelles (Philippines).

In 2007, the new Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, William Cardinal Levada, following continued requests for clarifications on the writings and activities of Vassula, sent a letter to the Catholic hierarchy around the world confirming that the Notification of 1995 remained valid. The letter, dated 25 January 2007, requires -- regarding the reading of the writings – "a case by case prudential judgement". The Congregation cautions bluntly but gently against participation of the faithful in True Life in God prayer groups: "Finally, it remains inappropriate for Catholics to take part in prayer groups established by Mrs Ryden."

However, to date there continues to be confusion and apparent conflict with previous statements from the CDF. Many Catholic Clergy, including Bishops and Cardinals, have chosen to continue their support for Vassula Ryden and even promote TLIG. Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, in a statement he made to his Archdiocese dated June 2009, said regarding Vassula that:

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 Catholic family and parish spiritual life.

References

  1. ^ The Vassula Enigma, 2003, by Jacques Neirynck, ISBN 1-883225-30-2
  2. ^ http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1996-12-05/news/when-god-talks-vassula-listens/1 Phoenix New Times News, www.phoenixnewtimes.com, When God Talks Vassula Listens, December 5, 1996
  3. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-191120914.html]
  4. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-190354804.html
  5. When God Gives a Sign, 1993, pages 33-34 by , ISBN 1-883225-14-0
  6. In True Life in God, Volume 1, Original Handwriting Edition (Notebooks 1-16), Second Edition 2004-2005, page V, ISBN 0-9631193-3-8
  7. Vassula of the Sacred Heart’s Passion, 1993, pages 1-2,119-133 by Fr. Michael O’Carroll CSSp, ISBN 0-9519973-3-5
  8. ^ Christian Prophecy – the Post Biblical Tradition, 2007, pages 111,112,112,116 by Niels Christian Hvidt, ISBN 978-0-19-531447-2
  9. Lucy Rooney, SND and Robert Faricy, SJ “A Note to the Reader”, True Life in God Volume 1, Original Handwriting Edition, (Notebooks 1-16), 1991, page I, by Vassula Ryden, ISBN 0-9631193-3-8]
  10. ^ http://www.tlig.org
  11. http://www.davidtlig.org.uk/writing.html
  12. http://www.tligvideo.org/writingvid.html
  13. Volume 3 Original Handwriting Edition,(Notebooks 29-41), 1991, page 24, by Vassula Ryden, ISBN 0-9631193-5-4
  14. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-191120914.html
  15. The Echo, Ireland, September 1 2005, Page 36
  16. Geneseo Republic, USA, January 16 2009; Claudia Loucks, Page A9
  17. ^ Galway Advertizer, Ireland, October 10,1996, Bernadette Fallon, Page 16
  18. ^ http://thirdworldorphans.org/gpage10.html
  19. The Voice of Delhi, July 2005, Vol XV No 7, by Bishop Anil Couto, pg17
  20. Vassula Comes to the Monastery, Published 2005, Pages iii, iv, Preface by Fr. John Abberton, ISBN 0-948108-13-4
  21. http://www.select-sources.com/VassulaRyden.html
  22. http://www.farfa.info/library/pdf/program_2001.pdf
  23. Vassula, Un Charisme Oecumenique pour notre Temps (Vassula, An Ecumenical Charism for our Times), 1995, by Fr. Ferdinand Umana Montoya, ISBN 2-88022-071-8
  24. http://nyheter.uib.no/?modus=vis_engelsk&id=34763 Pa Hoyden, nyheter.uib.no, Fascinated by mysterious Jesus blogs, January 5, 2007
  25. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080513-136228/Massf Inquirer.net, www.Inquirer.net, Mass for peace and unity held in Palace, May 13, 2008
  27. [http://books.google.com/books?id=h_NmAAAACAAJ&dq=John+Paul+II+%E2%80%93+A+Dictionary+of+His+Life+and+Teachings&hl=en&ei=bmkXTKH8EoK4rAfQlf3bCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA John Paul II – A Dictionary of His Life and Teachings, 1994, by Fr. Michael O’Carroll CSSp, ISBN 0-9519973-8-6
  28. Vassula and Rome, Published 1996, ISBN 1-899228-03-9; Author: Michael Dore, page 22
  29. http://s1.e-monsite.com/2009/06/28/56851043flyer-namur-5-6-dec-en-ver-1-word-2-pdf.pdf
  30. http://martinmanou.e-monsite.com/rubrique,welcome,86240.html
  31. L'Appel Du Ciel March 10, 2010, Page 5
  32. http://www.catholicrevelations.org/PR/vssula%20ryden.htm

External links

Supportive Views

Critical Views


[

Categories: