A famous and respected Catholic order sent out emails for the Catholic Feast of the Queenship of the Heavenly Queen titled "Pray To Mary With your morning Coffee".
Opening up the email, one finds this introduction :
"We all need reminders each day to pray. What could be a better invitation to prayer than to start your day with Our Mother's beautiful image on your coffee cup? In honor of Queenship, we are also for a limited time reducing the donation for this coffee cup by 25%.
Your donation will support the Redemptorists' many missions throughout the world as we preach the gospel of Jesus to the poor..."
It's almost as though the Redemptorist Province found out about Sister Vassa's ill-starred Coffee operation and decided to turn it for GOOD, with a picture of Our Lady on a coffee mug.
They were not flippant like this nun appears to be, or they would have emblazoned the mug with a corny and disrespectful "I drink Coffee with the Queen of Heaven".
Here is the actual mug offered to raise funds not for someone's niche market of promoting herself, but for a centuries-old Order, the only one assigned to promote the ICON of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, called 'of the Passion' by Orthodox.
Thus the contrast could not be more sharp. Had it been modern non-artwork of the Mother of God, one might not notice this as much. But, it's a bona fide Icon, found on Crete many centuries ago and taken to Rome, where it was accorded special respect. Due to the Redemptorists' zeal, today the Perpetual Help Icon is found in many if not most Catholic churches, and some are named in honor of this Icon.
Observe how all the emphasis here is on PRAYING. Does Sister Vassa mention praying much ? Not that I have seen with an admittedly cursory look at her material, which has a very modern ring to it. "How does one pray with a busy schedule?" was one of her topics. I personally would never waste a second on looking at that lecture or youtube presentation because it is so shallow, apparently aimed at neurotic new converts.
Whereas, despite Sister Vassa's attempt to post uncontroversial themes, her emphasis is entirely upon herself ! This should tipoff everyone that she is not a fit leader for a 'ministry'. There are too many sociopaths and narcissists already in various Protestant, evangelical and other 'ministries' who are using the adulation of the congregation to do much harm to the souls of their flocks. It has almost become commonplace to find out that so and so preacher or popular local minister has actually been living an undercover life of darkness all the while the pastor was loudly proclaiming his belief with thundering preaching.
Note too the specifications for the Our Lady of Perpetual Help mug are given precisely. No one has to wonder what he or she will receive in the mail :
Think of Mary with your morning coffee. Or bring this mug to the office to share your devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help with others. This sturdy white, glossy ceramic mug is an essential to your cupboard, and an essential reminder of Our Mother. The Icon image displays on either side of the handle.
This ceramic mug shows its true colors with quality assurance to withstand heat in the microwave and put it through the dishwasher as many times as you like, the quality will not be altered.
• Ceramic
• Dishwasher safe
• Microwave safe
• White, glossy
Does Sister Vassa even inform her zombie followers - I mean, zillions - of any of these details ? How does a sincere zillion know whether his picture of Sister Vassa grinning with her coffee mug will even last past a few turns through the dishwasher ? People who are not so aligned with truth usually are vague. They don't forthrightly provide information as was done here. Instead, the narcissist chronically seeks to cover up unpleasant things, such as that the mug is poor quality and may crack in the [ God forbid ] microwave. The more dark variety of sociopaths even get an evil thrill out of deceiving their victims.
Now let's look at price :
For a limited time we are requesting a donation of $14 plus shipping
This cost seems more than reasonable. But the Very Important Nun expects her audience to fork over $ 20 just to have HER OWN PICTURE in their kitchen - or workplace ? No wonder my wallet dropped to the floor in protest !