Here is a complete translation of Myrna's message from Arabic into English.
Myrna AlAkrass’ message at Saint
Barsaumo Syriac Orthodox Church (Toronto, Canada)
I thank you Father Estephanos that you allowed me to join today
in your prayer. I am certain that the Lord is He who choose, but father was he
who opened up his heart and his house. I am standing here with a sorrow in my
heart for my country and the children of my country. I am certain there is
sorrow in your hearts because if there are people who die over there because of
hard time there are people here who are also dying from their longing and affection
toward their country that they were raised in it. But, I go back and say that I
have a great hope in our Lord. In the beginning I used to say why did our Lord
choose Syria? Why did our Lord select me? Why did our Lord select the East? Why
did our Lord choose the Soufanieh in particular? All these questions that we’ve
asked since year 82. I mean for 30 years we could not find an answer for them. Now
we know why our Lord has chosen the East. Now I know why our Lord has chosen
Syria that there is no way that anyone would have thought that there is no
country in world in all the wars that happened in them has happened like now.
The criminality, the brutality, the killing, we cannot imagine because all our
life, as you all know, how much there is nice harmony in Syria and how people
are living together, there is no way we can think that Jesus who said “Here is a light has
shined anew” that they will
hide/demolish this light. This is what is going on today, but I still have a
great hope and faith in our Lord that this light will not disappear whatever happened
or whatever is done whatever they will try to hide this light. This will go
back to our will and of course the willing of our Lord which precedes our will
because the light that will shine from the East it is indeed our Lord’s so that
we’ll open our hearts in order to receive/welcome this light so that we
ourselves in turn become the shinning source of this light or we will close our
hearts and sit and we lose our confidence in our Lord and we will attain fear
and prosecution. Soufanieh, as you all know it, is being events or as it said an apparition started in year 1982 in it there
happened a lot of signs but I always say that the greatest sign was the
presence of God, I mean the God presence with us. That is why the first message
that was given by the Virgin at the Soufanieh was that “My children remember God because God is with us”.
At a time that we are taking God out of our lives and in particular the youth
today. I am saying that not because I am here at a Syriac Church, but all they
know my saying that thanks to God that there are Syriacs in the East, thanks to God
that there are Syriacs in the East. When I go to Saint Phram at Maarah Sadiana
to kiss the hand of his holiness the Patriarch Zaca, may God prolong his life,
protect him, and keep him, because I consider him my spiritual father and I see
those who are studying there, the deacons and the seminarians, my heart gets
joyful, at a time that we need holy priests. We need callings, because there is
no callings anymore, the Church is very poor, I go to make my heart joyful at
Saint Phram Syriac. I tell his holiness may God prolong your life because I do
not know whether the Syriacs are that good or their shepherd is who, really, as
far as the shepherd is good the parish is good. May God prolong his life and
protect him. The story all started after six months from my marriage. I belong
to the “Roum” Catholic parish whereas Nicola belongs to the parish of “Roum”
Orthodox. At the beginning it was oil perfused out of my hands on 22 (translator note: this could be 27, it just sounded like 22nd) of “Second
Teshreen” (November) of the year 1982. I was 18 years old and I was a newlywed.
And if you ask me why did our Lord choose me? And I would say to you, you tell
me because I really do not know. I did not understand what was going on, and
even now after 30 years perhaps I still do not know what is happening. But I
say to myself it is not needed from me to understand. It is needed from me that I
give my will to our Lord and ask him oh Lord take my will that Your Will is the
one that is in control because I do not know what is going on. I need Your help. I
hate to say that I am weak, but I always say dear Lord, help my weakness
because You know how much I can carry/tolerate. And it started this story to proceed
with a lot of signs, oil from my hands, oil from the Virgin picture that it is
the size of a hand with a paper contour, it is made of paper with a contour plastic.
It is also known as “Our Lady of Kazone”, this picture also produced oil in
this house. This was the beginning. Later on, there were apparitions of the
Virgin on the house’s roof. The apparitions always done as I felt a hand that was pushing me to go to the house’s roof. During the first apparition I ran away because
I did not expect, did not expect that this event would happen to me. But,
father Elias Zehlaoui was present then with us in prayer and he told me Myrna,
the Virgin is a mother and mother does not cause fear, ask her to give you
courage and pray and tell her that this is her intention and you welcome her. I
began to be monitored by the family, the neighbors, and some priests that this event
might recur. In fact, it was after three days I was very happy because I was
almost prepared that this event might recur. There were five apparitions on the
house’s roof, the last apparition was on March 24, 1984. After the apparitions,
there was another period called “trance”. The “trance” always occurred while we
prayed, and mostly during the holidays according to the Church’s calendar. The
holidays that the Church celebrates East and West. The holiday for the Transformation
of our Lady, the holiday of our Lady’s birthday, the known holidays. And there
was another holiday which was the holiday of our Lady of Soufanieh, because
when it began on the 27th of “Second Teshreen”, we marked that day
as the day for the holiday of the apparition of our Lady of Soufanieh. Also,
the Virgin added to this holiday an event in this house because every 27th
“Second Teshreen” an event happens, either a message or trance or something our
Lord wanted to deliver to us. The trance is while we were praying suddenly I
lose my balance, they move me to the bed in my room, I lose consciousness
perhaps a quarter of an hour or perhaps an hour or perhaps two hours. I would
be “out of time”/not present/unconscious, those who were there they would
document, and always accompany the trance oil from my face and my hands. During
the trance I either see the Virgin Lady as I see her during apparition, however
in a more shinning, or I hear a voice from a person of light. This voice is the
voice of Jesus because everyone knows that Jesus was the only one who said “I am the beginning and
the end, I am the truth, freedom, and peace”, that was the first
word that I heard the day of the “Thursday of Ascension” year 1985. The trances
reappeared either I received a message from our Lady the Virgin or from our
Lord Jesus, when I woke up I informed them of what I have seen and what I have
heard, but how did I remember the message? The light that I saw during the trance
remained in my eyes perhaps for three hours, meanwhile I was still living in
this peace and holiness and kept remembering what I have heard and seen.
However, the moment this light disappeared I weren’t be able to recall what
message the one I delivered and would ask “Abouna” (translator note: means Father in Arabic) please put me at ease if it was
nice or not, scary or not scary, I always had this question and I always had
that fear. And if you see in the messages, you would know, how much Myrna fears.
“Do not fear my daughter
because I am with you” “why do you fear as I am with you.” Always,
if we open the Bible, this saying of Jesus to his disciples “do not be afraid”
or “why are you scared?”
This was always Jesus’ phrase. I say that perhaps the fear not that I am scared
from Jesus or no, I don’t have fear of Jesus, I am scared that I would be
denied this blessing that our Lord gave it to me, the one that would deny me
this gift is not Jesus, but my acceptance, that is why I always say that let it
be your will, indeed we are saying let it be your will but are we really
accepting his will or we are obliging our Lord that His will is similar to
ours? That is the question that always Jesus said in a letter “I do not leave anyone who is doing my will”,
“I do not leave someone
who is doing my will”. For 30 years, the Virgin’s messages are stating
the unification. All Jesus’ message is speaking about the unification, the
union of the Church, the union of the family, the union of the person with
himself, the union of the person with God, the union of the person with his
brother, and up until now we have not accomplished any step to please God. How do
we tell Him help us with this crisis that we are in it and we haven’t done
anything that he asked us to do? This is really the thing that I am now writing and I
am trying to deliver that is let’s do this step to tell our Lord to be merciful
with us. We are doing your will, we are unifying our hearts, unifying our
church, grant us your attention and see what’s occurring. Or is it always we
are obliging Him and we are the reason of this crisis? Due to our lack of our
love to each other, due to our selfishness, due to our “back stabbing”,
hurting, and abusing. This is the thing that separate us from our Lord, this is
thing that separate us from our relation with our Lord, different from the one with
people. Our relation with our Lord does not lack, it is a service, it is a
sacrifice, it is love. Our relation with the people is misunderstanding, it is “back
stabbing”, wishing bad, it is hurting, it is judgment on others. This is the
thing that happened to me and I experienced at the beginning of this
incident/story, a lot of people said Myrna is married there is no way the
Virgin would choose her. You should leave your husband, you should go to a convent,
you should become a nun, should dedicate yourself to service of the Lord. Many
of these ideas that people were surprised by. Some people saw me sweeping the
floor and would say how could you sweep the floor while your hands profuse oil?
This was people’s thinking, God’s thinking is not the same as people’s
thinking. That is why our Lord is asking us to be closer to Him so that He
shines His light on us and our life's actions reflect His presence in us. When they said I shouldn’t be married, I felt the
same way that is “yes” (I agreed with them). In fact, my relationship with Nicola was shattered, all
our service was to people, this house was open 24 hours, there was no freedom,
no independence, a smile, a welcome, and attention. We dedicated our life and
Nicola for the service of people, but our Lord did not want that. He wanted our
life to continue because He loves the family and the family is very important
in our Lord’s eyes. The Virgin told me that my marriage life would remain as is
and Jesus told me “Continue
in your life as a wife, mother, and sister. What a beautiful family which has
its mission union, love, and faith. Its path is my path and her help is My
Mother.” My Mother who He says about Her “The Mother that I was born from Her he who
respect Her respects Me, he who denies Her denies Me, whoever asks Her will receive
because She is My Mother”. At the same time the Virgin says “I
love very much and I will visit homes and remember Me in your happiness”. The
Virgin likes to have a place at home. She likes. Because She is a mother. At a
minimum there should be devoted to her a small corner in the house so that we
remember Her, so that we pray near Her, because if the family really wants to
live its identity and mission it needs a moment of daily prayer. This small
moment that Jesus is begging from us, the One who says “I gave you all of My time, give Me a small part of
your time”. He is begging from us this small moment of prayer
that will change all the family life. It gives the family its worth. It gives
the family its existence, because in this small moment there will be a small church
in the house. That was why our Lord chose a family and not Myrna alone. He
chose Myrna the wife, chose Myrna the mother, chose Myrna the sister for all.
When our Lord felt that my life was in jeopardy,
He told me to continue my like as a wife. And the most beautiful message that
the Virgin had given me after four years from my marriage “I am going to give you a gift for your efforts”.
That gift was my daughter, Myriam, and my son John Emmanuel, to say how much
the family was important. Because within the family there will be reconciliation,
love, and acceptance to others that stands witness to Jesus’ Church. When we
think about the Church’s unification, the Church’s unification starts from
home. The Church’s unification starts from the family. That is why the Virgin
states “You are
who will teach the generations the importance of the union, love, and faith.
I ask from you the
union. I ask from you the union. You are My Church and your hearts are My procession,
unless this heart has accepted another God. Establish a Church, I am not saying
build a Church”. I am talking and there is peace in my heart
because I feel this perhaps the most beautiful church I might visit. The most
beautiful, because the church is not stones. I don’t see it as a church, but at
the same time I see it as a church because the most beautiful icon in it is
you. This is what the church is. And this is what our Lord is worry about. Tough
days are ahead of us, disturbances from within the Church, and he who does not
have the true peace the division will account as a danger for him. This is what
they are trying to accomplish in the East. The division is not that of the
Church’s division, the division is the East’s division. That will affect the
Church, that means when the Lord Jesus says “disturbances are within the Church”
it means the disturbance will be to the Christians. That is why in His last
message Jesus says “Return
each one to his home, but keep the East in your hearts. From here a light shall
shine anew. You are his rays for a world that was seduced by the material
things, the lust, and the popularity/being famous until it lost its values.
However, you preserve your Eastern heritage. Do not allow it your freedom to be
taken away. Your perseverance and your faith in this East”. We knew
why then Jesus came to the Soufaneih and why the Virgin visited us during that
time. We were very disturbed, very sad, I considered my last commandment to you
as the last message. And, perhaps might be the last message. But this does not
mean that Jesus’ work has ceased. It does not mean that if we no longer see the
Virgin it means that she has gone from our midst. It is on the contrary, I feel
now more their presence. Perhaps in the past I used to depend on them. I used
to wait every holiday in order that I meet them, when He said this was my last
message to you I became sad and cried and said this was the end of everything,
but despite all of that I say that it is the opposite. Now it starts. This is
the beginning. Definitely, a lot of indications at the Soufanieh, the oil, the trances,
the apparitions, the messages, the wounds that appeared on my body during
Easter holiday when it is celebrated by the church in East and the church in
the West at the same time, this was evidence to Jesus’ and the Virgin’s desire
in the unification of the Easter holiday. Because these wounds do not happen
unless the Easter holiday is celebrated simultaneously in the year 84, year 87,
year 90, year 2001, and year 2004. And that was the last message. If these
signs stopped it does not mean God’s work has stopped, God’s work continues as
far as the prayer is being said. And
they ask me which was the most important event in the Soufanieh I would reply it
was the continuous prayer. As far as the prayer continues, God’s work
continues. If these signs have stopped, this is a message, because if these
signs had stopped it is as if God is telling us it is your turn now to become
these signs. Because I gave you 30 years I was speaking. It is your turn that
you did something for my sake. Do not say it the fault of the Church’s
leadership. No, we are, we are the
Church. We want to speak up and we want to pray and believe and have faith in
the prayer that we will pray. If we pray in faith the will of God will be realized.
We want to pray. Jesus says “do not say what I do because that my work. For you,
is fasting and praying". We are going to pray in order for the desire to be
fulfilled because the East where Jesus was born, where He lived, where He rose
from it, is wounded and hurting. In order to preserve our Christian existence
in the East, there is a lot of emigration, but I still see a great assurance from
our Lord’s saying “from here
a light shined anew”. This means that the light shall return
without a doubt. This is my own faith. In order to preserve our Christian
existence in the East we need a Christian Union. That is why Jesus is demanding
the union. In order to become one, one heart, for our voice to be heard, for
celebrating the same Resurrection, not to have our position wobbly in front of
other sects and religions we need a spiritual revival together and we need a
unified testimony. All of that is bought by Love. Without Love there is no
union. And that what the Church is experiencing today, a weak Love. Once Love
is weakened division increases. We pray for the East, we pray in particular for
Syria because Syria is now bleeding, we pray for the youth that is living away
from God, we pray for those families that are fractured so that they gather
back with Love, we pray for the callings for priesthood and monkshood. Blessed
is the home that come out of it a calling because it contributes to the
building of the Church. And, pray for me so that wherever I go I’ll be true to
our Lord’s message because I call myself a “postman”, I am not here to pray for
you I am here to pray with you because the sick does not heal another sick.
That is why I tell people that I need more prayer than you do so that I stay true to the message our Lord has given it to me and for our Lord to always grant me the gift of
humility wherever I go and my testimony true and fruitful. Pray for this house that our Lord has chosen
so that it will be always open with love to every human being without asking
him to what parish he belongs to or about his belief, and free as the Virgin has
accustomed us. Thank you very much and I also keep you in my prayer. Thank you,
