Introduction to the Gospel for non-Catholics, by Maria Valtorta.

[Xavier]

DRBO has two great articles fully explaining the importance of the private revelation that Jesus made to Maria Valtorta - and answering every possible objection to it - that helps deepen our love and knowledge of Him, the Incarnate Word. Highly recommended to all Catholics and non-Catholics alike. If you read with faith or at least openness rather than trying to find faults, your love for the Gospel will increase, and you will find yourself thirsting for still more knowledge and love of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother.

http://www.drbo.org/valtorta.htm
http://www.drbo.org/dnl/Maria_Valtorta_Summa_Encyclopedia.pdf

One small excerpt of the incident of the resurrection of Lazarus, which Jesus explains manifests His Divinity. The 5 volume work can be found on archive. https://archive.org/details/Volume1OfThePoemOfTheManGod

"Jesus seems to see no one but Lazarus, but in actual fact He observes everything and everybody and when He sees with what furious gestures Sadoc, Helkai, Hananiah, Felix, Doras and Cornelius and others are about to go away, He says in a loud voice: «Wait a moment, Sadoc. I want to have a word with you, with you and your friends.» They stop with the sinister look of criminals. Joseph of Arimathea makes a gesture as if he were frightened and beckons to the Zealot to restrain Jesus.

But He is already going towards the rancorous group and is already saying loud: «Sadoc, is what you have seen enough for you? One day you told Me that in order to believe, you and your peers needed to see a decomposed dead body be recomposed and in good health. Are you satisfied with the rottenness you have seen? Can you admit that Lazarus was dead and that now he is alive and healthy, as he has never been for many years? I know.

You came here to tempt these people, to increase their grief and their doubt. You came here looking for Me, hoping to find Me hiding in the room of the dying man. You did not come with feelings of love and with the desire to honour the deceased man, but to ensure that Lazarus was really dead, and you have continued to come rejoicing all the more as time went by. If the situation had evolved as you were hoping, as you believed it would evolve, you would have been right in exulting.

The Friend Who cures everybody, but does not cure His friend. The Master Who rewards everybody's faith, but not the faith of His friends in Bethany. The Messiah powerless against the reality of death. That is what was making you exult.

Then God gave you His reply. No prophet had ever been able to put together what was decomposed, in addition to being dead. God did it. That is the living witness of what I am. One day it was God Who took some dust and made it into a form and He breathed the vital spirit into it and man was. I was there to say: “Let man be made in our own image and likeness”. Because I am the Word of the Father. Today, I, the Word, said to what is even less than dust, I said to rottenness: “Live”, and decomposition was recomposed into flesh, into wholesome, living, breathing flesh. There it is looking at you. And to the flesh I joined the spirit that had been lying for days in Abraham's bosom. I called him with My will, because I can do everything, as I am the Living Being, the King of kings to Whom all creatures and things are subject. What are you going to reply to Me now?» He is in front of them, tall, ablaze with majesty, really Judge and God. They do not reply.

He insists: «Is it not yet enough for you to believe, to accept what is ineluctable?» «You have kept but one part of Your promise. This is not the sign of Jonah...» says Sadoc harshly. «You shall have that one as well. I promised it and I will keep My promise» says the Lord. And another person, who is present here, and is waiting for another sign, shall have it. And as he is a just man, he will accept it [the Lord here speaks of Gamaliel - Xavier]. You will not. You will remain what you are.»

I am sure there will be objectors. Please read at least 100 pages of the work for yourself, then mark how many passages you found objectionable, and how very many you found useful, edifying, instructive and profitable. Jesus said this work is to help fight Modernism.

In the end, directed to us, the listeners, the Lord Jesus explains the reasons that moved His Infinite Goodness to manifest this work,

The Reasons for the Work. Farewell to the Work. [28th April 1947.] Jesus says: “The reasons that have induced Me to enlighten and dictate episodes and words of Mine to Little John are, in addition to the joy of communicating an exact knowledge of Me to this loving victim-soul, manifold. But the moving spirit of all of them is My love for the Church, both teaching and militant, and My desire to help souls in their ascent towards perfection. The knowledge of Me helps to ascend. My Word is Life. I mention the main ones: 1. The reasons mentioned in dictation dated 18th January 1947 and which Little John will put here integrally. This is the most important reason because you are perishing and I want to save you. The most profound reason for the gift of this work is that in the present time, when modernism, (the denial of the supernatural) condemned by My holy Vicar Pius X, becomes corrupted in more and more harmful doctrines, the Church, represented by My Vicar, may have further material to fight against those who deny:

 the supernaturalness of dogmas;  the divinity of the Christ; the truth of the Christ God and Man, real and perfect both in the faith and in the history that has been handed down on Him (Gospel, Acts of the Apostles, Apostolic Letters, tradition);  the doctrine of Paul and John and of the councils of Nicea, Ephesus and Chalcedon, as My true doctrine verbally taught by Me;  My unlimited science, as it is divine and perfect;  the divine origin of the dogmas of the Sacraments of the Church One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic;  the universality and continuity, until the end of time, of the Gospel given by Me for all men;  the perfect nature, from the beginning, of My doctrine that has not been formed, as it is, through successive transformations, but was given as it is: the Doctrine of the Christ, of the time of Grace, of the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God in you, divine, perfect, immutable. The Gospel for all those thirsting for God. Against the red dragon with seven heads, ten horns and seven diadems on its head, which with its tail drags a third of the stars from the sky and drops them − and I solemnly tell you that they drop even lower than the earth − and persecutes the Woman; to the beasts of the sea and of the earth that many, too many worship, allured as they are by their appearance and prodigies, I ask you to oppose My Angel flying in the middle of the sky, holding the Eternal Gospel well open, also with the Pages so far closed, so that men, through its light, may be saved from the coils of the huge serpent with seven jaws, that wants to drown them in its darkness, and upon My return I may find again faith and charity in the hearts of those who persevere, and they may be more numerous than the work of Satan and of men allow one to hope they may be.

2. To rouse a keen love for the Gospel and for everything pertaining to the Christ in priests and in laymen. First of all, renewed love for My Mother, in Whose prayers lies the secret of the salvation of the world. She, My Mother, is the Conqueress of the cursed Dragon. Assist her power by means of your renewed love for Her and of your renewed faith and knowledge of what pertains to Her. Mary has given the Savior to the world. The world will receive salvation again from Her. 3. To give spiritual masters and directors assistance in their ministry, by studying the different souls of the world in which I lived and the different methods used by Me to save them. Because it would be foolish to have only one method with all the souls. The way to attract to perfection a just person who spontaneously tends to it, is different from that to be used with a believer in sin, and from that to be used with a Gentile. You have many of them also among you, if you succeed in judging, as your Master did, as Gentiles the poor people who have replaced the true God with the idols of power and arrogance, or of gold, or of lust, or with the idol of the pride of their knowledge. And different is the method to be used to save modern proselytes, that is those who have accepted the Christian idea, but not the Christian citizenship, as they belong to separated Churches. No one is to be despised, and these lost sheep less than everyone. Love them and try to lead them back to the Only Fold, so that the desire of the Shepherd Jesus may be fulfilled ... I solemnly tell you that not even after reading and accepting this illustration of My public life will you know everything about Me. I would have killed My little John, in the fatigue of reporting all the days of My ministry and all the actions performed on each day, if I had made him acquainted with everything so that he might transmit everything to you! “Then there were other things done by Jesus, which if written one by one, I think that the world would not be able to contain the books that should be written” says John. Apart from the hyperbole, I solemnly tell you that if all My single actions had to be written, all My particular lessons, My penances and prayers to save a soul, it would have taken the halls of one of your libraries, and one of the largest, to contain the books speaking of Me. And I also solemnly tell you that it would be much more advantageous for you to burn so much useless dusty poisonous science, to make room for My books, than to know so little of Me and worship so much that press that is almost always soiled with lust and heresy ...

I say also now: to doctors and to Samaritans as well. Because both extreme classes need it, and also those need it, who are between the two extremes. The former not to be underfed and deprived of strength also with regard to themselves, and of supernatural nourishment for those who languish with lack of knowledge of God, of the God-Man, of the Master and Savior. The latter because souls need living water, when they perish far away from the springs. Those in the middle, between the former and the latter, the great mass of those who are not big sinners, and also of those who are static in not making any progress, through laziness, tepidness, because of a wrong concept of holiness, those who are scrupulous of not being damned, of being observant, of becoming entangled in a labyrinth of superficial practices, but dare not take a step on the steep, very steep road of heroism, so that from this work they may receive the initial incentive to come out of that immobility and set out on the heroic way. I tell you these words. I offer you this food and this drink of living water. My word is Life. And I want you in the Life, with Me. And I multiply My Word to counterbalance the miasmata of Satan as they destroy the vital strength of your spirit. Do not reject Me. I am anxious to give Myself to you, because I love you. And My anxiety is inextinguishable ...

[Lynne]

I thought this was condemned?

ETA:
Yes, it was.

https://www.traditioninaction.org/bkreviews/A_042_Valtorta.htm An article by Dr. Horvat

Jesus suggests a love-affair between St. Peter and Our Lady

Jesus even jokes with impropriety with his apostles. Here, Jesus stands up and calls out loudly and angrily to Peter:

“‘Come here, you usurper and corrupter!’
“‘Me? Why? What have I done, Lord?’
“‘You have corrupted My Mother. That is why you wanted to be alone. What shall I do with you?’
“Jesus smiles and Peter recovers his confidence. ‘You really frightened me! Now You are laughing.” (Vol. II, n. 199, p. 185)

That's creepy. There's other creepy excerpts too at the link above.

https://www.ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/VALTORTA.TXT An article by Fr Mitch Pacwa

[Xavier]

Pope Pius XII gave an approval to publish, “Publish it just as it is. There is no need to give an opinion as to whether it is of supernatural origin. Those who read it will understand."

As often happens to many mystics temporarily, even St. Padre Pio - who told one of his spiritual daughters, who inquired, that he does not *advise* but *orders* the reading of this work - preliminary investigations, often incomplete, not protected by infallibility, and sometimes based on prejudice, results in unjust persecution of them. In the long run, God always vindicates them. A similar thing at first happened to Ven. Mary of Agreda's priceless work, the Mystical City of God; yet final approval ultimately came, and many people needed to intervene for that. Yet, today many traditionalists, including Bishops and Priests, and traditional Popes of old, have testified how useful that work was for them, in better appreciating the Mother of God, and growing to know and love Her More. Pope Pius XII's approval should be helpful. Beside, we have St. Pio's testimony, and the approval of some SSPX Priests and Bishops, including Bp. Williamson.

Please read the PDF in the OP for answers to more doubts and objections. Some excerpts from it:

"“I don’t advise you to [read Maria Valtorta’s books] – I order you to!” (Saint Padre Pio’s answer to a long-time spiritual daughter of his, Mrs. Elisa Lucchi, in 1967, when she asked him in Confession, “Father, I have heard mention of Maria Valtorta’s books. Do you advise me to read them?”)

“Maria Valtorta is one of the eighteen greatest mystics of all time.” (Fr. Gabriel Roschini, O.S.M., world-renowned Mariologist, decorated professor at the Marianum Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Rome, Consultor of the Holy Office, wrote over 130 traditional/orthodox books about Our Lady)

“There are hundreds of topographical names and details and of descriptions of places…which only the latest research and archaeological excavations have brought to light. Maria Valtorta’s Work is,in truth, inexplicable by merely human means.” (Antonio Socci, Leading Journalist & TV Show Host)
 
“I have read about a 1,000 pages a year of Valtorta for 20 years, since Fr. (now Bishop) Williamson appointed me to run the seminary bookstore. He was led to read it by the great Retreat Master of Econe, Fr. Barrielle... It is a masterpiece of sacred literature, unlike anything ever written.” (Fr. Kevin Robinson, FSSPX – Priestly Fraternity of the Society of St. Pius X)

ETA: The Tradition in Action article is total nonsense. I doubt they have read 10 pages of the work in all. Great Mariologists like Fr. Roschini who recommend the work after reading all of it - more than 2300 pages in PDF - many times over, after thorough examination, and with perfect satisfaction, recommend it wholeheartedly. In the passage which TIA totally wrests and misunderstands, St. Peter wanted to adopt a boy named Jabez. At first, the Lord did not allow him to, saying he needed to be spiritual Father to the whole Church. For this, St. Peter once asked Our Lady's intercession. And She asked for him, and obtained it, just like at Cana. The whole excerpt.

What do You want from me, Master? My life? I have but that, because You have taken everything... But if You want, I will give it to You. » I do not want to take anything from you. I want to give you something. But do not take advantage of your victory and do not disclose the secret to the others, you most artful fellow who defeats the Master by means of the weapon of His Mother's word. You will have the boy, but...» Jesus can say no more, because Peter, who had knelt down, bounces to his feet and kisses the Master with such delight that he makes the words die on His lips. « Thank Her, not Me. But remember that this must be of assistance to you, and not an impediment...» « My Lord, You will not have to repent of the gift... Oh! Mary! May You be always blessed, You holy and good...» And Peter, who has fallen on his knees again, weeps, kissing Mary's hand...

TIA conveniently forgot to mention that, perhaps knowing most of their readers would not bother about the context. They are mistaken.

The context clearly shows St. Peter is delighted at being allowed to adopt a child. And he got this blessing by Mother Mary's intercession.

The work is invaluable, and it would be a mistake to neglect it. But it's up to everyone individually.

[aquinas138]

The work is invaluable, and it would be a mistake to neglect it. But it's up to everyone individually.

Xavier, I don't understand this attitude. It was condemned in 1959 and never rehabilitated. How is it up to the individual? As recently as 1993, then-Cardinal Ratzinger said it "cannot be considered supernatural in origin."

People would be better off spending their time reading the Gospels, which we KNOW to be of divine origin.

[Michael Wilson]

The work is invaluable, and it would be a mistake to neglect it. But it's up to everyone individually.

Xavier, I don't understand this attitude. It was condemned in 1959 and never rehabilitated. How is it up to the individual? As recently as 1993, then-Cardinal Ratzinger said it "cannot be considered supernatural in origin."

People would be better off spending their time reading the Gospels, which we KNOW to be of divine origin.

On top of this, I have already posted quotes from the book which are totally disrespectful towards Our Blessed Mother; which alone would cause a Catholic to throw the book into the trash can.

[Xavier]

So why did St. Pio say he commands the reading of the work? Why does Bp. Williamson recommend it to families, and even to seminarians? You think they have never heard of these arguments? Do you know the Holy Office approved the publication of the second edition work in 1961? If you think Pope Pius XII was the last Pope, then the last Pope's approval to publish should be good enough.

"Fr. Giraudo, who knew nothing of the words of Pius XII and of the certifications of these three personages of the Holy Office itself, after having received Fr. Berti many times, after having himself consulted with his Superiors and having pondered on the certifications, spoke these words: "Continue to publish this second edition. We will see how the world receives it." And thus The Poem came out, and continues to come out, not only by order of Pius XII, but also with the approval of the Holy Office. (1961). (see the second link in DRBO)

You say you believe, Michael, that Mary is Mediatrix of All Graces and Co-Redemptrix with Christ. Yet, two important works sent from Heaven, where Jesus and Mary direct us to act upon this, you reject. Namely, Our Lady of All Nations, which the Church has now fully approved, where Our Lady calls this the Fifth Marian Dogma - think of how different the times would be, if man had listened and obeyed this direction of Heaven immediately. And this Poem of the Man-God, where Jesus guides us in so many things important for our time, beside reiterating this doctrine. Fr. Roschini, one of the best Mariologists of the 20th century, read the whole work not once but many times, and said "I have been studying, teaching, preaching, and writing Mariology for half a century already. To do this, I had to read innumerable works and articles of all kinds on Mary: a real Marian library.  However, I must candidly admit that the Mariology found in all of Maria Valtorta's writings – both published or unpublished – has been for me a real discovery. No other Marian writings, not even the sum total of everything I have read and studied, were able to give me as clear, as lively, as complete, as luminous, or as fascinating an image, both simple and sublime, of Mary, God's Masterpiece. It seems to me that the conventional image of the Blessed Virgin, portrayed by myself and my fellow Mariologists, is merely a paper mache Madonna compared to the living and vibrant Virgin Mary envisioned by Maria Valtorta, a Virgin Mary perfect in every way." - Fr. Roschini has written over 790 articles and miscellaneous writings, and 130 books, 66 of which were over 200 pages long. Most of his writings were devoted to Mariology. For a theologian, such as Fr. Roschini, O.S.M., to be so well-read and so learned as to have written 130 totally orthodox books about Our Lady, and to be a decorated professor at the Marianum Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Rome (which he founded), an advisor to the Holy Office, and to be called by a Pope “one of the greatest Mariologists who ever lived”, it is not presumptuous to assume that he has probably read every single great work ever written about Our Lady – including Venerable Mary of Agreda’s Mystical City of God, the revelations of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, the revelations about Our Lady given to St. Bridget of Sweden, and almost every single other major work about Our Lady. Yet – even so – Fr. Roschini declared: “No other Marian writings, not even the sum total of everything I have read and studied, were able to give me as clear, as lively, as complete, as luminous, or as fascinating an image, both simple and sublime, of Mary, God's Masterpiece.” Such a declaration from such a theologian as he carries a lot of weight! http://www.bardstown.com/~brchrys/Father-Gabriel-Roschini-Valtorta.html

Please read the PDF, the real status of Poem of the Man God is quite different from what it is sometimes presented as: "In a letter of January 17, 1974, Father Roschini received the congratulations of Pope Paul VI for his work entitled, The Virgin Mary in the Writings of Maria Valtorta. The letter from the Secretary of State notes, "The Holy Father thanks you wholeheartedly for this new testimony of your respectful regards and wishes you to receive from your labor the consolation of abundant spiritual benefits."

Maria Valtorta was a paraplegic and victim soul. She stood by St. Pio when the world was against him. Later vindicated, St. Pio vouches for her. Lastly, again from the DRBO PDF article in the OP, "Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) has acknowledged in letters that the Poem is free from errors in faith and morals.163 Bishop Roman Danylak, S.T.L., J.U.D., issued an official letter of endorsement of the English translation of the Poem and Archbishop Soosa Pakiam M. of Trivandrum, India, granted the imprimatur of the Malayalam translation of the Poem. Seven bishops in India sent out letters to the translator of the Malayalam translation of the Poem praising and endorsing its translation and dissemination, stating that there is nothing against faith or morals in the Poem. Many pre-Vatican II Doctors of Theology/Divinity/Canon Law and Members or Consultants of the Holy Office/Congregation for the Causes of Saints praised the Poem after having read it entirely, or significant portions of it. In a letter dated May 6, 1992 (Prot. N. 324-92), addressed to Dr. Emilio Pisani (the publisher of Maria Valtorta’s works), Monsignor Dionigi Tettamanzi, secretary to the Italian Episcopal Conference, gave permission for the work to continue to be published for the “true good of readers and in the spirit of the genuine service to the faith of the Church.” Dr. Pisani relates concerning this letter, “Our comment immediately points to the conclusion that the Work of Maria Valtorta does not contain errors or inaccuracies concerning faith and morals; otherwise Monsignor Tettamanzi would have asked the Publisher to correct or eliminate such specific errors or inaccuracies ‘for the true good of readers.’”164 Note that in each country, it was the secretary of the episcopal conference who transmitted the official position of the Church on such works."

Please read just one of the sermons Jesus gives in the Poem. The work relates His whole life, including e.g. His appearance to 500 disciples after His Resurrection.

For this religion Unique, True, Perfect, Immutable in the Doctrine taught by Me, the Master, completed by the continuous teaching of Him Who will come, the Holy Spirit, the Most Holy Guide for My Pontiffs and for those who will help them, second chiefs in the various Churches created in the various regions where My Word will be asserted. These Churches, although various in number, will not be different in thought, but will be one thing only with the Church, as with their individual parts they will form the great building, greater and greater, the great new Temple, that with its pavilions will reach all the corners of the earth. Not different in thought, nor contrasting with one another, but united, brotherly to one another, all subjected to the Head of the Church, to Peter, and to his successors until the end of time. And those that for any reason should separate from the Mother Church, would be members cut off, no longer nourished with the mystic blood that is Grace coming from Me, the divine Head of the Church. Like prodigal sons, separated through their own will from the paternal house, in their short-lived wealth and constant and graver and graver misery, they would be blunting their spiritual intellects by means of too heavy foods and wines, and then they would languish eating the bitter acorns of unclean animals until they returned to the paternal house, saying with contrite hearts: “We have sinned. Father, forgive us and open the doors of your abode to us.” Then, whether it is a member of a separated Church, or an entire Church – oh! if it were so, but where, when will so many imitators of Me arise, capable of redeeming these entire separated Churches, at the cost of their lives, to make, to remake only one Fold under only one shepherd, as I ardently wish? – then whether it is only one person or an assembly that comes back, open the doors to them ...

And remember also that I did not refuse Myself even to Judas of Kerioth… A priest must try to save, by all possible means. And let love always prevail, among the means used to save. Consider that I was not unaware of Judas' horror… But, overcoming all disgust, I treated the wretch as I treated John. You… you will often be spared the bitterness of knowing that nothing is of any use to save a beloved disciple… And you will therefore be able to work without the tiredness that affects one, when one knows that everything is useless… One must work even then… always… until everything is accomplished…» 6 «But You are suffering, Lord!?! Oh! I did not believe that You could suffer any more! You still suffer because of Judas! Forget him Lord!» shouts John, who does not turn his eyes away from his Lord for one moment. Jesus opens His arms, in His usual attitude of resigned confirmation of a painful fact, and He says: «It is so… Judas has been and is the deepest sorrow in the sea of My sorrows. It is the sorrow that remains… The other sorrows have come to an end with the end of the Sacrifice. But this one remains. I loved him. I consumed Myself in the effort to save him… I was able to open the doors of Limbo and bring out the just, I was able to open the doors of Purgatory, and bring out those who were being purified. But the place of horror was closed upon him. In vain I died for him.» «Do not suffer! Do not suffer! You are glorious, my Lord! Glory and joy to You. You have consumed Your sorrow!» implores John again. «No one really thought that He could still suffer!» they all say, amazed and moved, whispering to one another. «And do you not think of how much sorrow My Heart will still have to suffer throughout ages, for every unrepentant sinner, for every heresy that denies Me, for every believer who abjures Me, for every – torture of all tortures – for every guilty priest, the cause of scandal and ruin? You do not know! You do not know as yet. You will never know fully, until you are with Me in the Light of Heaven. Then you will understand… In contemplating Judas, I contemplated the chosen ones whose election is changed into ruin through their wicked will… Oh! you who are faithful, you who will form the future priests, remember My sorrow, grow holier and holier to comfort My sorrow, make them holy so that, as far as possible, there may be no repetition of this sorrow, exhort, watch, teach, fight, be as heedful as mothers, as untiring as teachers, as vigilant as shepherds, as manlike as warriors, to support the priests that will be formed by you. Ensure, oh! do ensure that the sin of the twelfth apostle may not have too many repetitions in future… Be as I was with you, as I am with you.

[Michael Wilson]

Here are some "devout" quotes from the "Poem"

Valtorta portrays Our Lord joking with St. Peter about committing impurity with His Most Pure, Ever-Virgin Mother.

Valtorta writes:

    Jesus stands up and calls out loud: “Simon of Jonas, come here.”

    Peter starts and rushes down the steps. “What do you want, Master?”

    “Come here, you usurper and corrupter!”

    “Me? Why? What have I done, Lord?”

    “You have corrupted My Mother. That is why you wanted to be alone. What shall I do with you?”

    Jesus smiles and Peter recovers his confidence. “You really frightened me! Now You are laughing.”

Vol. 2, p. 185.
Valtorta slanders Our Lady’s knowledge of her own sinlessness.

Valtorta (falsely) quotes Immaculate Mary as saying “I did not know I was without stain!” Volume 1, p.50.
Valtorta asserts that Our Lady thought (like the Arch-Heretic Luther) that it is good to sin out of love of God.

Luther declared: "Sin boldly, but believe more boldly". Letter #99, Saemmtliche Schriften.

Valtorta (falsely) has Our Lady uttering the similar blasphemous thought that God loves us more for sinning:

    [supposed BVM]: “Tell Me, mummy, can one be a sinner out of love of God?”

    [supposed St. Anne]: “What are you saying, my dear? I don't understand you.”

    [supposed BVM]: “I mean: to commit a sin in order to be loved by God, Who becomes the Savior. Who is lost, is saved. Isn’t that so? I would like to be saved by the Savior to receive His loving look.”

Vol. 1, n. 7, p. 23.
Valtorta falsifies the sin of our first parents.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had original justice and innocence, and their passions could not be aroused to act against reason. Summa, Ia, Q.95, a.2.

Contradicting this Catholic dogma, Valtorta writes that Our Lord gave this erotic description of Eve’s first sin when she sees the snake:

    With his venomous tongue Satan blandished and caressed Eve’s limbs and eyes… Her flesh was aroused … The sensation is a sweet one for her. … And “she understood.” Now Malice was inside her and was gnawing at her intestines. She saw with new eyes and heard with new ears the habits and voices of beasts. And she craved for them with insane greed. She began the sin by herself. She accomplished it with her companion.

Vol. 1, n. 17, p. 49.
Valtorta’s heretical opinion about the essential joy of heaven

The Church teaches that the essential joy of heaven is the intellectual vision of God in His Essence. Summa Supp., Q.90, a.3. Any other joy of heaven is an “extra” which is merely accidental. Id.

Contradicting this, Valtorta declares that half the joy of heaven is being with Our Lady:

    the joy of Paradise would be halved … if Paradise in future should not have the living Lily [Our Lady] in whose bosom are the three pistils of fire of the Divine Trinity— the light, perfume, and harmony …

Vol. 3, p. 367.
Valtorta falsely says Our Lady is second, below St. Peter, in the Church hierarchy.

Valtorta (falsely) has “Our Lord” tell His mother that she will “be second to Peter with regard to ecclesiastical hierarchy”. Vol. 4, p.146.

This is utterly false! Although Our Lady surpasses St. Peter (and all other creatures) in holiness, she has never had any part in the hierarchy of the Church.
Valtorta’s scandalously portrays Our Lord as taking revolting, unnatural liberties with the Apostles.

Valtorta becomes especially disgusting in her false portrayal of Our Lord’s relationship with His Apostles.

Let one disgusting incident suffice:

    Valtorta describes Our Lord as kissing St. John while he is “half-naked”, lying on his bed. She says St. John is “panting”, “inflamed by his love” and “exhausted by his ardor”. She says Our Lord “caresses him, burning with love Himself.”

Vol. 2, pp. 57-58.

Xavier,
my faith in the doctrines of Mary's universal mediation and Co-redemption, does not depend on false apparitions, but on the teachings of the Fathers, Doctors and Popes.
If you think that Our Lord actually made jokes about our Blessed Mother's purity or that the ever sinless Mother of God ever contemplated committing a sin or that Our Lord laid in bed kissing an Apostle while "panting" etc. Then what can I say?

[Xavier]

Skeptics do the same to the Bible, taking one or two sentences out of context and ignoring the whole. I don't need to answer every possible objection, but the article by Fr. Robinson and the other one on DRBO answers most of these in detail. Also, you'd know the first objection is totally false if you read even 1 para before and after it in the actual work, let alone more than that. St. Peter wanted to adopt a boy. Our Lady interceded for him and then Our Lord said yes. Next, when did Our Lady know She was the Immaculate Mother of God? In Her youth itself? No. So the second is false as well, but you wouldn't know that from the way one snippet is given without in any way mentioning what, where or when Our Lady said that. If She had already known She was Immaculate as a girl of 3, then She would have already known She was destined to be Mother of God. But Mary came to know this only at St. Gabriel's Annunciation. And in the same way all the objections can be answered.

Finally, just think, when the fight for defining the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was going on within the Church, would the enemy have been responsible for a work promoting it? No, not at all, it would only have been God that did it. God sent Mary of Agreda's Mystical City of God, which has many excellent theological reasons explaining the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. You think people didn't have objections to this work? Many of them did and it took a long fight for its full approval. But after that Popes praised it. The same will happen here. Not everyone will believe in Mary Mediatrix because some Popes or theology manuals long ago described it. The faithful at large generally need to hear Jesus and Mary reiterate it for them many times before they will wholeheartedly accept it. The Consecration to Mary's Immaculate Heart and the dogmatic definition that Mother of God is Mediatrix of All Graces is urgent and this work is a great help toward it.

Finally, your assertion that the work promotes impurity will again only sound absurd to anyone who has read at least 50-100 pages of the work for himself, not relying on half-baked assertions of others designed to prevent souls from coming to deeper knowledge of Christ. http://www.valtorta.org/more_on_marriage_defaultpage.html

ONLY DEATH DISSOLVES A MARRIAGE

(Vol. 2, p. 177-9)

(Jesus has been delivering His Sermon on the Mount for a number of days.  It is late in the afternoon before the Sabbath, and He begins to speak to a large crowd, only some of whom have left so as not to be on the road at sunset ...)

« You heard that in the old days it was said: "You shall not commit adultery". Those who among you have heard Me in other places know that I have spoken about that sin several times. Because, look, as far as I am concerned, it is a sin not for one person only, but for two or for three. I will make Myself clear. An adulterer sins with regard to himself, he sins with regard to his accomplice, and sins causing the betrayed wife or husband to sin, they may in fact be led to despair or to commit a crime. That with regard to the accomplished sin. But I will say more. I say: "Not only the accomplished sin, but the desire to accomplish it is already a sin". What is adultery? It is to crave for him, who is not ours, or for her, who is not ours. One begins to sin by wishing, continues by seduction, completes it by persuasion, crowns it by the deed.

How does one begin? Generally with an impure glance. And that is connected with what I said before. An impure eye sees what is concealed from a pure eye and through the eye thirst enters the throat, hunger enters the body and fever the blood. A carnal thirst, hunger, fever. Delirium begins. If the person looked at is honest, the delirious looker-on is left alone on tenterhooks, or will denigrate in revenge. If also the person looked at is dishonest, he will reply to the look and the descent into sin begins.

I therefore say to you: "If a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her because his thought has accomplished the deed of his desire". If your right eye should cause you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to be without one eye than to be thrown into the infernal darkness for ever. And if your right hand should cause you to sin, cut it off and throw it away, for it will do you less harm to lose one part of you than to have your whole body go to hell. It is true that it is written that deformed people cannot serve God in the Temple. But after this life, the deformed by birth who are holy and those who are deformed out of virtue, will become more beautiful than angels and will serve God, loving Him in the happiness of Heaven. It has also been said to you: "Anyone who divorces his wife, must give her a writ of dismissal". But that is to be condemned, for it does not come from God. God said to Adam: "This is the helpmate I made for you. Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it". And Adam, full of superior intelligence, because sin had not yet dimmed his reason made perfect by God, exclaimed: "This at last is bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh. This is to be called woman, that is: another I, because this was taken from man. This is why a man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife and the two become one body". And in an increased splendour of light the Eternal Light approved smiling Adam's word, which became the first indelible law. Now, if owing to the ever increasing hardness of man, the human lawgiver had to give a new law; if owing to the ever increasing inconstancy of man, the lawgiver had to put a restraint and say: "If you have dismissed her you cannot take her back", that does not cancel the first genuine law, passed in the Earthly Paradise and approved by God.

I say to you: "Whoever divorces his wife, except for the case of fornication, exposes her to adultery". Because what will the divorced woman do in ninety per cent of the cases? She will get married again. With what consequences? Oh! How much there is to be said about that! Do you not know that you can cause involuntary incests by such system? How many tears are shed because of lust. Yes: lust. There is no other name for it. Be frank. Everything can be overcome when the spirit is righteous. But everything is an excuse to satisfy sensuality when the spirit is lustful. Woman's frigidity, dullness, ineptitude for housework, shrewish tongue, love for luxury, everything can be overcome, also diseases and irascibility, if one loves holily. But as after some time one does not love as on the first day, what is more than possible is considered impossible and a poor woman is thrown on to the road and to perdition.

He who rejects her commits adultery. He who marries her after the divorce, commits adultery. Death only dissolves a marriage. Remember that. And if your choice is an unhappy one bear the consequences as a cross, being both of you unhappy but holy, without making also the children unhappy, as they are innocent and suffer more because of such unfortunate situations. The love for your children should cause you to ponder one hundred times, also in the case of death of your partner. Oh! I wish you could be satisfied with what you already have had and to which God said: "Enough!" I wish you, widows and widowers, realised that death is not an attenuation but an elevation to the perfections of parents! To be a mother in the place of a dead mother. To be a father in the place of a deceased father. To be two souls in one and receive the love for the children from the cold lips of the dying partner and say: "Go in peace, without worrying for those who were born of you. I will continue to love them, on my own and on your behalf, I will love them twice and will be their father and mother and they will not suffer the unhappiness of orphans, neither will they feel the inborn jealousy that the children of a remarried consort experience with regard to him or her who takes the sacred place of mother or father called by God to a new abode".

My children, My sermon is drawing to its end, as the day is nearing its end while the sun is setting in the west. I want you to remember the words of this meeting on the mountain. Engrave them in your hearts. Read them over and over again and very often. Let them be your everlasting guidance. And above all be good to those who are weak. Do not judge that you may not be judged. Remember that the moment might come when God could remind you: "That is how you judged. So you knew that that was bad. You therefore committed a sin, knowing what you were doing. You must now pay for it".

Charity is an absolution. Be charitable to everybody and in everything. If God gives you much assistance to keep you good, do not be proud of it. But endeavour to climb the full length of the ladder of perfection and give a hand to those who are tired or unaware and to those who are easily disappointed. Why do you observe so diligently the splinter in your brother's eye if first you do not go to the trouble of taking the plank out of your own eye? How dare you say to your brother: "Let me take the splinter out of your eye" while the plank in your eye is blinding you? Son, do not be a hypocrite. Take the plank out of your own eye first and then you will be able to take the splinter out of your brother's eye, without ruining him...  »

THE  “POWERS”  OF  LOVE

(Vol. 2, p. 283-5)

(Jesus is spending the Sabbath at Gethsemane with His apostles and His disciple John of Endor - an old man and former teacher.  He describes the love of a mother as the “love of a second power”, and is asked by His cousin Judas Thaddeus to explain ...)

« My brother, there are many loves and various powers. There is the love of first power: the one given to God. Then there is the love of second power: the love of a mother or of a father, because if the previous one is entirely spiritual, this one is spiritual by two parts and carnal by one. It is true that human affection is mixed in it, but the superior sentiment prevails, because a father and mother, who are such in a wholesome and holy way, do not only feed and caress the body of their child, but they give also nourishment and love to the mind and the spirit of their creature. And what I am saying is so true, that those who devote themselves to children, even if only to educate them, end up by loving their pupils, as if they were of their own flesh. »

« In fact I was very fond of my pupils » says John of Endor.

« I understood that you must have been a good teacher by the way you deal with Jabez. »

The man of Endor bows and kisses Jesus' hand without speaking.

« Please go on with Your classification of loves » begs the Zealot.

« There is the love for one's wife: love of third power because it is made - I am always talking of wholesome and holy loves - half of spirit and half of flesh. A man, besides being the husband of his wife, is a teacher and a father to her; and a woman is an angel and a mother to her husband, besides being his wife. These are the three highest loves. »

« And the love for our neighbour? Are You not wrong? Or have You forgotten it? » asks the Iscariot. The others look at him dumbfounded and… furious because of his remarks.

But Jesus replies placidly: « No, Judas. Watch. God is to be loved because He is God, so no explanation is required to convince one to have such love. He is He Who is, that is Everything; and man: Nothing, who participates of Everything, because of the soul infused in him by Eternal God - without which soul man would be one of the many animals that live on the earth, or in water or in the air - he must adore Him from a sense of duty and to deserve to survive in Everything, that is to deserve to be part of the holy People of God in Heaven, a citizen of the Jerusalem which will know neither profanation nor destruction for ever.

The love of man, and particularly of woman, for their offspring, is indicated as an order in the words of God to Adam and Eve, after He had blessed them, seeing that He had made a "good thing", on a remote sixth day, the first sixth day of creation. God said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth… " I can see your tacit objection, and this is My reply to you: Since before sin everything in creation was regulated by and based on love, that multiplication of children would have been a holy, pure, powerful, perfect love. And God gave it as His first commandment to man: "Be fruitful and multiply". Therefore, love your children after Me. Love, as it is now, the present procreator of children, did not exist then. There was no malice nor the detestable thirst for sensuality. Man loved woman and woman loved man, naturally, not naturally according to nature as we understand it, or rather, as you men understand it, but according to the nature of children of God: supernaturally. Sweet were the days of love of the Two who were brothers, because born of one Father, and yet were husband and wife, who loved and looked at each other with the innocent eyes of twins in a cradle; and man felt the love of a father for his wife "bone from his bones and flesh from his flesh", what a son is for his father; and the woman experienced the joy of being a daughter, protected by a very high love, because she felt that she had in herself something of the wonderful man who loved her, with innocence and angelical ardour, in the beautiful meadows in Eden!

Later, in the sequence of commands that God, smiling, gave to His beloved children, there comes what Adam himself, gifted by Grace with an intelligence inferior only to God's, decreed speaking of his wife and of every woman through Eve, a decree of the thought of God, which was clearly reflected by the spotless mirror of Adam's spirit, a flower in thought and in word: "Man will leave his father and his mother and will join himself to his wife and they will become one body".

If there had not been the three pillars of the three above mentioned loves, could there have been love for one's neighbour? No. It could not have existed. The love of God makes God a friend and teaches love. Who does not love God, Who is good, cannot certainly love his neighbour who in most cases is faulty. If there had been no conjugal love and paternity in the world, there could have been no neighbours, because a neighbour is the son of man. Are you convinced? »

« Yes, Master. I had not thought of that. »

« It is difficult indeed to go back to the sources. Man has been stuck in mud for thousands of years, and those sources are so high up on the summits! The first one, above all, is a source that comes from an immense height: God… But I will take you by the hand and lead you to the sources. I know where they are… »

« And the other loves? » ask together Simon Zealot and the man from Endor.

« The first one of the second series is the love for our neighbour. In actual fact it is the fourth in power. Then comes the love for science. Finally the love for work. »

« Is that all? »

« That is all. »

« But there are many more loves! » exclaims Judas of Kerioth.

« There are other hungers. But they are not loves. They are the negation of love. They deny God, they deny man. They cannot be love because they are negations and Negation is Hatred. »
                                                             
THE  SACRAMENT  OF  MARRIAGE

(Vol. 2, p. 654, and Vol. 3, p. 21)

(Jesus is instructing His cousin James, the apostle, about the qualities of His future priests.  James says:)

« I understand only a little of what You say, but what I do understand fills me with deep respect for the sacerdotal character of Your priests. If I have understood You correctly, we shall have many points in common with You: preaching, absolution, miracles. Three sacraments, therefore. »

« No, James. Preaching and miracles are not sacraments. The Sacraments will be more: seven, like the sacred candelabrum of the Temple and the gifts of the Spirit of Love. And in fact the Sacraments are gifts and flames and are granted to man so that he may burn for ever before the Lord. There will be a Sacrament also for the marriage of man. And it is already symbolised in the holy marriage of Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, after she was freed from the demon. The Sacrament will give the married couple all the assistance needed to live together according to the law and the wishes of God. Husband and wife also become the ministers of a rite: the rite of procreation. Husband and wife become also the priests of a small church: their family. They must therefore be consecrated in order to procreate with the blessing of God and to bring up a progeny that will bless the Most Holy Name of God. »

« And by whom will priests be consecrated? »

« By Me, before I leave you. You will, afterwards, consecrate your successors and those whom you will aggregate to yourselves to propagate the Christian faith. »

« You will teach us, will You not? »

« I and He Whom I will send to you.  And His coming will be a Sacrament ...  »

(At a later time, Jesus is with all His apostles, and He talks about His future Church:)

« You will be My Church. So believers will come to you, for advice for themselves or for advice for other people. I will tell you more. You will not be able only to give advice. You will be able to absolve in My Name. You will be able to release people from the chains of sin and you will be able to join two people who love each other so that they become one body. And what you do will be valid in the eyes of God, as if God Himself had done it. I tell you solemnly that whatever you bind on the earth will be bound in Heaven and whatever you absolve on the earth will be absolved in Heaven...  »

THE  DUTY  OF  A WIFE

(Vol. 3, p. 305-6)

(Esther, an Israelite, has married a former Roman soldier who has supported her in raising her children as Hebrews.  She asks Jesus to pray that her husband will be converted.  Jesus says:)

« He will. You may be sure of that. You are asking for something holy and it will be granted to you. You have understood the duty of a wife to God and to her husband. I wish all wives did! I solemnly tell you that many of them should imitate you. Continue like that and you will have the joy of having your Titus beside You, in prayer and in Heaven. Now show Me your children. »

The woman calls her numerous issue: « Jacob, Judas, Levi, Mary, John, Anne, Eliza, Marcus. » She then goes into the house and comes out again with one who can hardly walk and one of three months, at most: « And this one is Isaac and this little one is Judith » she says ending the introductions.

« Plenty! » says James of Zebedee laughing.

And Judas exclaims: « Six boys! And every one circumcised! And with pure names! Very good! »

The woman is happy and she praises Jacob, Judas and Levi, who help their father « every day except on Sabbaths, when Titus works by himself shoeing horses with shoes made previously » she says. And she praises Mary and Anne « who help their mother. » But she does not forget to praise also the four little ones « as they are good and not naughty. Titus helps me to bring them up, as he was a disciplined soldier » she says casting a loving glance at the man, who, leaning against the door post, with a hand resting on his side, has listened to everything his wife has said, with a hearty smile on his honest face, and who now becomes elated hearing his merits as a soldier being mentioned.

« Very well. The discipline of the army is not disliked by God, when soldiers do their duty humanely. The essential point is to be always morally honest, in every task, in order to be always virtuous. Your past discipline, which you now instil into your children, must prepare you to enter a higher service: the service of God. We must part now. I will just manage to reach Achzib before sunset. Peace to you, Esther, and to your house. May you all belong to the Lord, before long. »

The mother and children kneel down while Jesus raises His hand blessing them. The man, as if he were once again a soldier of Rome in front of his emperor, stands stiffly at attention and salutes in Roman style...
                                                         
DIVORCE  AND  ADULTERY

(Vol. 3, p. 466-7)

(Jesus is talking to a large crowd in the market square at Gadara.  He is asked a question by a Pharisee:)

« We want to know whether it is lawful for a man to repudiate his wife for any reason whatsoever. It is something that happens frequently and every time it causes a stir wherever it happens. People apply to us to know whether it is lawful. And we reply according to each case. »

« And you approve what happened in ninety per cent of the cases. And the remaining ten per cent, which you do not approve, concerns the poor or your enemies. »

« How do You know? »

« Because that is what happens in all human things. And I would add a third group of people: those who would be more entitled to it, if divorce were lawful: that is, real pitiful cases, such as incurable leprosy, life imprisonment, or unmentionable diseases... »

« So, according to You, it is never lawful. »

« Neither according to Me, nor according to the Most High, or anyone with a righteous soul. Have you not read, that the Creator, at the beginning of times, created man and woman? And He created them male and female; and it was not necessary for Him to do so, because He could have created a different way of procreation for the king of Creation, whom He made in His image and likeness, and it would have been a good way, even if it differed from every other natural way. And He said: "For this reason man will leave his father and mother and will join himself to his wife and they will become one body". So God joined them in one unity. Thus they are no longer "two", but "one" body only. So, what God united, because He saw that "it is a good thing", man must not divide, because if that should happen, it would no longer be a good thing. »

« Why then did Moses say: "If a man has taken a wife, but she does not find favour with him through something disgraceful, he will give her a writ of dismissal and send her away from his house"? »

« He said so because of the hardness of your hearts, to avoid, by means of his order, too grave disorders. That is why he allowed you to repudiate your wives. But it was not so from the beginning. Because a woman is worth more than an animal, which according to the caprice of its master or the free circumstances of nature, copulates with this or that male, a soulless body that copulates for procreation. Your wives have souls, as you do, and it is not fair that you should tread on them pitilessly. If in her condemnation it is said: "You will be subject to the power of your husband and he will lord it over you", that must take place according to justice and not with arrogance offending against the rights of a free soul worthy of respect. By repudiating your wives, which is not lawful, you give offence to the soul of your companion, to the twin body which joined yours, to the whole woman, whom you married, demanding honesty in her, whilst you, o perjurers, are dishonest, disabled, at times corrupt, when you go to her, and you continue to be so, taking every opportunity to strike her and give a wider scope to your unappeasable lust. Prostitutors of your wives! On no account can you separate from the woman who is joined to you according to the Law and Blessing. Only in the case that grace touches you, and you understand that woman is not a possession but a soul, and has therefore equal rights as yours to be recognised as part of man and not an object for his pleasure, and only in the case that your heart is so hard as not to be able to raise her to the dignity of wife, after enjoying her as a prostitute, only to remove the scandal of two who live together without the blessing of God on their union, you may send her away. Because in that case yours is not union but fornication, often not honoured by the birth of children, because they are suppressed against nature or sent away as a disgrace. In no other case. Because if you have illegitimate children from your concubine, it is your duty to put an end to the scandal by marrying her, if you are free. I am not taking into consideration the case of adultery consumed to the detriment of an unaware wife. In that case the stones of lapidation and the fire of Sheol are holy. But for him who sends away his legitimate wife because he is satiated with her, to take another one, there is but one sentence: he is an adulterer. And also he who takes the repudiated woman is adulterer, because if man has arrogated to himself the right to separate what God has joined, the matrimonial union continues in the eyes of God, and cursed is the man who takes a second wife without being a widower. And cursed is he who, after repudiating his wife and abandoning her to the dangers of life, which compel her to get married again to have her daily bread, takes her back when she becomes a widow of her second husband. Because, although she is a widow, she was an adulteress through your fault, and you would redouble her adultery. Have you understood, Pharisees, who are tempting Me? »

They go away thoroughly humiliated, without replying.

« He is a severe man. If He were in Rome He would see that the filth there is even more fetid » says a Roman.

Also some of the Gadara people grumble: « It is difficult to be men, if one must be so chaste!...  »

And some say in louder voices: « If that is the situation of a man with respect to his wife, it is better not to get married. »

LIVING  AS  BROTHER  AND  SISTER

(Vol. 3, p. 468)

(Jesus and His apostles have left Gadara. and some of the apostles are unhappy with what He has told the people there.  Jesus replies to them:)

« Not everybody understands that properly. Some in fact prefer to remain single in order to be free to indulge their vices. Some to avoid the possibility of sin, not being good husbands. But only few are granted to understand the beauty of being free from sensuality and also from the honest desire of woman. And they are the holiest, the freest, the most angelical on the earth. I am referring to those who become eunuchs for the Kingdom of God. Some men are born such. Some are made such. The former are monstrosities to be pitied, the latter are abuses to be repressed. But there is a third category: the voluntary eunuchs, who without any violence against themselves, and thus with double merit, comply with God's request and live like angels, so that the forlorn altar of the earth may still have flowers and incense for the Lord. They deny their inferior part satisfaction, so that their superior part may grow greater and bloom in Heaven in the flower-beds closest to the throne of the King. And I solemnly tell you that they are not mutilated, on the contrary they are gifted with what most men lack. They are thus not the object of foolish sneering words, but of great veneration. Let those understand that who should understand it, and respect it, if they can. »

Those who are married among the apostles whisper to one another.

« What is the matter with you? » asks Jesus.

« And what about us? We were not aware of that, and we got married. But we would like to be as You say...  » says Bartholomew on behalf of everybody.

« You are not forbidden to do so as from now onwards. Live continently, considering your companion as a sister and you will have great merit in the eyes of God... »

THE  UNCHANGING  LAW

(Vol. 3, p. 645)

(Some Pharisees are grumbling at Jesus' teachings, and claim that, as they live in perfect holiness, they are the only ones who will gain Heaven and who are entitled to preach.  Jesus challenges them ...)

« Do you say that I change the Law? No. You tell lies. I give the Law its original form, which you distorted. Because it is the Law that will last as long as the Earth, and both sky and earth will disappear before one only of its elements or its advice. And if you alter it, because you like to do so, and if you draw fine distinctions looking for loop-holes for your faults, you had better know that it is of no avail. It is of no avail, Samuel! Of no avail, Isaiah. It is written: "You shall not commit adultery" and I complete it adding: "He who sends back his wife to marry another one, is adulterous, and he, who marries a woman repudiated by her husband, is adulterous, because what God joined, death only can separate". But harsh words are for obdurate sinners. Those who have sinned, but grieve desolately for doing so, must know and believe that God is Goodness, and let them come to Him Who absolves, forgives and admits to Life. Go with this certainty. Spread it in people's hearts. Preach mercy, which gives you peace, blessing you in the name of the Lord.  »

REPAIRING  THE  RUIN

(Vol. 3, p. 786-8)

(In Jesus' presence, Joseph of Arimathea is visited by a friend John, who is also a member of the Sanhedrin.  John suspects his wife of being unfaithful, and asks Jesus for advice.  Jesus sees into his heart and exposes him as the guilty one, for ill-treating and not trusting her ...)

« I will tell you why. Because Satan, the usual disturber, has come between you and your wife. Nay: he has come into you, with a disorderly love for your wife. And when love is disorderly, it becomes hatred, John. Satan has worked on your virile sensuality to get you to commit sin. Because that is where your sin began. From one disorder that has brought about new and much graver disorders. In your wife you have not seen only a good companion and the mother of your children, but also an object of pleasure. And that has made your eyes like those of an ox, which sees everything altered. You saw things as you were seeing them. That is how you saw your wife. An object of pleasure for you, you considered her such also for other people, whence your feverish jealousy, your irrational fear, your sinful arrogance, which made of her a frightened, imprisoned, tortured, slandered woman. What does it matter if you do not beat her, if you do not revile her in public? Your suspicion is a stick, your doubt is slander! You calumniate her thinking that she could go to the extent of being unfaithful to you. What does it matter if you treat her as your rank demands? In the privacy of your home she is worse than a slave for you, because of your beastlike lust, which degrades her beyond endurance, and which she has suffered silently and submissively, hoping to convince you, to calm you, to make you good, and which has only served to irritate you more and more, to the extent of turning your house into a hell, in which the demons of lust and jealousy are roaring. Jealousy! What can you think of more slanderous for a wife than jealousy? And what is a clearer indication of the state of a heart than jealousy? You may rest assured that wherever it nestles, foolish, irrational, groundless, offensive, obstinate as it is, there can be no love for one's neighbour or for God. But there is selfishness. You ought to be grieved over all that, not at infringing the close of the Sabbath! And to be forgiven you must repair the ruin caused by you...  »

« But Anne wants to go away, by now... Come and convince her... You are the only one who can judge whether she is really innocent, after hearing her speak, and...  »

« John!! You want to be cured and yet you do not want to believe what I say? »

« You are right, my Lord. Change my heart. It is true. I have no well-grounded reason to suspect. But I love her so much... lewdly, it is true... You have seen the real situation... Everything is shadowy to me...  »

« Come into the Light. Come out of the burning confusion of sensuality, which is so fierce. It will cost you at first... But it would cost you much more to lose a good wife and deserve hell, expiating your sins of lack of love, slander and adultery, and hers as well, because I remind you that who drives a woman to divorce, places himself and her on the way to adultery. If you can resist your demon for one month, at least for one month, I promise you that your nightmare will come to an end. Will you promise Me? »

« Oh! Lord! Lord! I would like to... But it is a fire... Put it out, You are powerful!...  » John has fallen on to his knees before Jesus and is weeping with his head in his hands as he kneels on the floor.

« And I will appease it. I will limit it. I will check and restrain this demon. But you have sinned much, John, and you must work by yourself at your revival. Those who have been converted by Me, came to Me willing to become new, free... They had already worked, with their own strength only, the beginning of their redemption. Such as Matthew, Mary of Lazarus and many more. You have come here only to find out whether she is guilty and to be helped by Me not to lose the fountain at which your pleasure drinks. I will limit the power of your demon for three months, not for one. During that time meditate and rise. Resolve to start a new life as a husband. The life of a man gifted with soul. Not the life of a brute as you have led so far. And fortified by prayer and by meditation, by the peace which I will give you as a gift for three months, learn to struggle and conquer eternal Life and win back the love and peace of your wife and of your home. Go.  »

« But what shall I tell Anne? I may find her ready to leave... Which words shall I speak after so many years of... insults, to persuade her that I love her and that I do not want to lose her? Please come with me...  »

« I cannot. But it is so simple... Be humble. Call her to one side and confess your torment. Tell her that you came to Me because you want to be forgiven by God. And tell her to forgive you because God's forgiveness will be given to you only if she invokes it for you and she is the first to give you it... Oh! unhappy man! How much good, how much peace you have dissipated through your lust! How much evil is brought about by the unruliness of senses and by the disorder of affections! Rise and go away with a peaceful mind. Do you not understand that your wife, who is good and faithful to you, is more distressed than you are at the thought of having to leave you and is waiting only for one word from you so that she may say to you: "You have been forgiven everything"? You may go now, as the sun is already set. So you are not committing any sin in going back to your house... And the Saviour absolves you of the sin you committed in coming to Him. Go in peace. And sin no more.  »

« Oh! Master! Master!... I do not deserve such words!... Master... I... want to love You from now on...  »

« Yes, of course. Go and do not delay. And remember this hour when I will be the slandered Innocent.  »

THE  FAMILY  STRUCTURE

(Vol. 4, p. 211-4)

(In the cool of the morning in a village near Hippo, a crowd of people are waiting outside a house where Jesus is staying, to hear His talk.  He appears at the doorway of the house and says to them:)

« Peace be with you all.

Were you waiting for Me? Were you afraid that I might run away without saying goodbye to you? I always keep My promises. I am with you today to evangelize you and I will remain with you as I promised, to bless your houses, your gardens and boats, so that each family may be sanctified, and your work may be sanctified as well. But, remember, My blessing is to be assisted by your good will in order to be fruitful. And you know which is the good will that must enliven a family so that the house sheltering it may be holy. The husband is to be the head, but not the despot, of the wife, of the children and of the servants, and at the same time he is to be the king, the true king in the biblical sense of word.

Do you remember chapter eight of the first Book of the Kings? The elders of Israel gathered together and went to Ramah, where Samuel lived and they said to him: "Look, you are old and your children do not follow your ways. So give us a king to judge us, like the other nations". King, therefore, means judge, and he should be a just judge in order not to make his subjects unhappy here on the earth with wars, abuse of power, unfair heavy taxes, or in eternal life with a kingdom permissive of lasciviousness and vice. Woe to those kings who fail in their ministry, who turn a deaf ear to the voices of their subjects, who turn a blind eye to the evils of the nation, who become responsible for the sufferings of the people through alliances formed against justice for the only purpose of strengthening their power with the help of allies! But woe also to those fathers who fail in their duties, who are blind and deaf to the needs and faults of the members of their families, who are the cause of scandal or grief for it, who stoop to arrange worthless marriages by compromise, in order to enter into an alliance with rich powerful families, without considering that matrimony is intended, besides procreation, for the elevation and comfort of man and woman; it is a duty, a ministry, not a bargain, it is not sorrow, it is not debasement of either husband or wife. It is love, not hatred. The head of the family, therefore, must be just without excessive hardness or pretensions and without excessive compliance and weakness. But if you had to choose between the former excess and the latter, pick the latter, because God, with regard to it, may say to you: "Why were you so good?" and will not condemn you, because excess in kindness is already a punishment for man through the overbearing action which other people take the liberty of performing against good persons; whereas He would always reproach you for your hardness, which is lack of love for your closest neighbour.

And the wife at home must be just with her husband, her children and servants. She must obey, respect, console and help her husband. She is to be obedient, providing her obedience does not imply consent to sin. The wife must be submissive but not degraded. Beware, o wives, that the first to judge you, after God, for certain guilty condescensions, are your very husbands, who persuade you to comply. They are not always desires of love, but they are also tests for your virtue. Even if he does not think about it at the moment, the day may come when the husband may say to himself: "My wife is very sensual" and thence he may begin to be suspicious of her fidelity. Be chaste in your conjugality. Behave in such a way that your chastity may impose on your husbands that reservedness which one has for pure things, and they may consider you as their equals, not as slaves or concubines kept only for "pleasure" and rejected when they are no longer liked. The virtuous wife, I would say the wife who also after conjugality retains that virginal "something" in attitude, in words, in her transports of love, can lead her husband to an elevation from sensuality to sentiment, whereby the husband divests himself of lewdness and becomes really "one thing" with his wife, whom he treats with the same respect with which a man treats a part of himself, which is just, because the wife is "bone from his bones and flesh from his flesh" and no man ill-treats his bones or his flesh, on the contrary he loves them, and therefore husband and wife, like the first married couple, look at each other without seeing their sexual nakedness, but let them love each other because of their spirits, without degrading shame.

Let the wife be patient and motherly with her husband. Let her consider him as the first of her children, because a woman is always a mother and man is always in need of a patient, prudent, affectionate, comforting mother. Blessed is the woman who knows how to be the companion and at the same time the mother of her husband to support him, and his daughter to be guided by him. A wife must be industrious. Work, while it does away with daydreams, is good for honesty and to one's purse as well. She should not torture her husband with foolish jealousies, which serve no purpose. Is the husband honest? A stupid jealousy, by driving him out of the house, exposes him to the danger of falling into the snares of a prostitute. Is he not honest and faithful? The fury of a jealous wife will not correct him, but her grave attitude, free from grudge and rudeness, her dignified and loving, still loving behaviour, will make him ponder and return to reason. Learn how to win back your husbands, when a passion separates them from you, through your virtue, just as you conquered them in your youth through your beauty. And, to gain strength for such duty, and resist the grief which might make you unfair, love your children and consider their welfare.

A woman has everything in her children: joy, a royal crown for the cheerful hours when she is really the queen of the house and of her husband, and a balm in sorrowful hours, when betrayal or other grievous experiences of married life scourge her forehead and above all pierce her heart with the thorns of her sad regality of martyr spouse. Are you so depressed as to wish to go back to your family, divorcing, or to find compensation in a false friend who craves for the female but feigns to feel pity for the heart of the betrayed wife? No, women, no! Your children, your innocent children, who are already upset and prematurely sad because of the domestic milieu, which is no longer serene or just, are entitled to their mother, to their father, to the comfort of a house, where, if one love has perished, the other remains vigilant to watch over them. Their innocent eyes look at you, they study you and they understand more than you think, and they mould their spirits according to what they see and understand. Never scandalise your innocent children, but take shelter in them, as in a bulwark of adamantine lilies, against the weakness of the flesh and the snares of snakes.

And let the woman be a mother. The just mother who is the sister as well as the mother, who is the friend as well as the sister of her sons and daughters. And who, above all and in everything, is an example. She must watch over her sons and daughters, correcting them gently, supporting them, making them ponder, and all that without preferences; because the children were all born of the same seed and of the same womb, and if it is natural that good children are well-liked, because of the joy they give, it is also fair that children who are not good should be loved as well, although with sorrowful love, bearing in mind that man must not be more severe than God, Who loves not only good people, but also those who are not good, and He loves them to try and make them good, to give them means and time to become so, and He is patient until the death of man, reserving to Himself the right to become just Judge when man can no longer make amends.

And let Me tell you now something which does not concern this subject, but is useful for you to bear in mind. Very often, too often, we hear people say that wicked persons are better off than good persons and that that is not fair. First of all I say to you: "Do not judge by appearances and by what you do not know". Appearances are often misleading and the judgement of God is not known on the Earth. You will become aware of it in the next life and you will see that the fleeting welfare of the wicked was granted as a means to attract them to Good and as a reward for the little good which even the most wicked man may do. But when you see things in the right light of future life, you will realise that the joyful time of the sinner was shorter than the life of a blade of grass, which began to grow in spring in the gravel-bed of a torrent, which dries up in summer, whereas one moment of glory in Heaven is greater than the most triumphant life any man ever lived, because of the joy which it confers on spirits who delight in it. Therefore, do not envy the prosperity of the wicked, but strive, through good will, to possess the eternal treasure of the just.

And reverting to how the members of a family and the inhabitants of a house should be, so that My blessing may remain fruitful in it, I tell you, children, to be submissive to your parents, to be respectful and obedient, so that you may be so also with the Lord your God. Because if you do not learn to obey the simple orders of your fathers and mothers, whom you see, how will you be able to obey the commands of God, which are given to you in His name, but you neither see nor hear Him? And if you do not learn to believe that he who loves, as a father and a mother love, can but order good things, how can you believe that the things, which are related to you as commands of God, are good? God loves, you know? and is a Father. And just because He loves you and wants you to be with Him, dear children, He wants you to be good. And the first school where you learn to become so, is your family. You learn there to love and to obey and there begins for you the way that leads to Heaven. So be good, respectful, docile. Love your fathers also when they correct you, because they do so for your own good, and love your mothers if they restrain you from doing actions which by their experience they know are not good. Honour your parents and do not make them blush because of your wicked deeds. Pride is not a good thing, but there is a holy pride, the pride of saying: "I did not grieve my father or my mother". Such behaviour, which makes you enjoy their company while they are alive, is peace on the wound of their death, whereas the tears, which a son causes his parents to shed, scorch the heart of the wicked son like melted lead, and notwithstanding every effort to soothe the injury, it is painful, and all the more so when the parent's death prevents the son from making amends… Oh! children, be good, always, if you want God to love you...  »

A  GRIEVING  MOTHER-IN-LAW

(Vol. 4, p. 360-2)

(Jesus is walking along a road in sight of the Great Mt. Herman.  He stops to listen to an old woman who, not knowing Who He is, complains about her daughter-in-law who has taken her son away.  She becomes very upset, and Jesus asks:)

« Does your son leave you wanting anything? Has he neglected you since he got married?… »

« No. I cannot say that. But, in brief, he belongs to his wife now… » and she weeps moaning more loudly.

Jesus smiles a quiet pitiful smile for the jealous old woman. But, being as kind as ever, He does not reproach her. He feels pity for the suffering mother and tries to cure her. He lays His hand on her shoulder as if He wanted to guide her, because she is blinded by tears, perhaps to make her feel, through His contact, so much love that she may be comforted and cured, and He says to her:

« Mother, and is it not right that it is so? Your husband did so with you, and his mother did not lose him, as you say and think, but she felt that he belonged less to her because your husband divided his love between his mother and you. And your husband's father, in his turn, stopped belonging completely to his mother, to love the mother of his children. And so on from generation to generation, going back in time to Eve: the first mother who saw her children divide with their wives the love which they previously had exclusively for their parents. But does Genesis not say: "This at last is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh… This is why a man will leave his father and mother and will join himself to his wife and they will become one body". You may object: "It was the word of a man". Yes, but of what man? He was in the state of innocence and grace. He thus reflected without any shadow the Wisdom which had created him and he was aware of its truth. Through Grace and his innocence he possessed also the other gifts of God in full measure. As his senses were subdued to his reason, his mind was not obscured by the fumes of concupiscence. And because science was proportionate to his state, he spoke words of truth. So he was a prophet. Because you know that prophet means a person who speaks in the name of another person. And as true prophets always speak of matters concerning the spirit and the future, even if relating apparently to the present time and the body - because in the sins of the flesh and in the facts of the present time are the seeds of future punishments, or facts of the future have roots in ancient events: for instance the coming of the Saviour originates from Adam's sin, and the punishments of Israel, foretold by the prophets, were brought about by the behaviour of Israel - so He Who urges their lips to speak things of the spirit can but be the Eternal Spirit Who sees everything in an eternal present. And the Eternal Spirit speaks through saints, because he cannot dwell in sinners. Adam was a saint, because justice was complete in him and every virtue was present in him, because God had instilled the fullness of His gifts into His creature. Man has to work hard now, to attain justice and possess virtues, because the incentives of evil are in him. But such incentives were not in Adam, on the contrary Grace made him little inferior to God his Creator. So his lips spoke words of grace. And this is a truthful word: "A man will leave his father and mother for a woman and he will join himself to his wife and they will become one body". And it is so absolutely true, that the Most Good Lord in order to comfort mothers and fathers included the fourth Commandment in the Law: "Honour your father and your mother". A Commandment that does not end with the marriage of man, but lasts beyond marriage. Previously good people instinctively honoured their relatives also after they left them to set up a new family. Since Moses it is an obligation of Law. And the purpose of it is to mitigate the grief of parents who were too often forgotten by their children after they got married. But the Law has not cancelled the prophetic words of Adam: "Man will leave his father and mother for his wife". They were just words and they are still valid. They reflected the thought of God. And the thought of God is immutable because it is perfect. So, mother, you must accept without selfishness the love of your son for his wife. And you will be holy as well. On the other hand, every sacrifice is compensated on the Earth. Is it not pleasant for you to kiss your grandchildren, the children of your son? And will the evening of your life not be peaceful and your last sleep placid with the delicate love of a daughter near you, to take the place of those daughters who are no longer in your house?… »

« How do You know that my daughters, who are all older than my son, are married and live far away?… Are You a prophet, too? You are a Rabbi. I can tell by the tassels of Your mantle and even if You did not have them, Your word reveals it. Because You speak like a great doctor. Are You perhaps a friend of Gamaliel? He was here just the day before yesterday. Now I do not know… And there were many rabbis with him, and many of his favourite disciples. Perhaps You have arrived late. »

« I know Gamaliel. But I am not going to him. I am not even going into Giscala… »

« But who are You? You are certainly a rabbi. And You speak even better than Gamaliel… »

« Then… do what I told you. And you will have peace. Goodbye, mother. I am going on My way. You are certainly going to town. »

« Yes... Mother!… The other rabbis are not so humble with a poor woman... She Who bore You is certainly holier than Judith, if She gave You such a kind heart for every creature. »

« She is holy, indeed. »

« Tell me Her name »

« Mary. »

« And Yours? »

« Jesus. »

« Jesus!… » The little old woman is bewildered with astonishment. The news has paralysed her and riveted her where she heard it.

« Goodbye, woman. Peace be with you » and Jesus goes away quickly ..
 

A  FAITHFUL  AND  FORGIVING  WIFE

(Vol. 4, p. 381-3)

 

(Jesus has cured a small boy of blindness, and has sent the boy's mother home to reconcile with her husband.  To Maria Valtorta Jesus comments:)

«  It is most simple for the Lord and Creator to make two eyes, just as simple as to give the breath of life back to a corpse. The Master of Life and of Death, the Master of everything there is, in Creation, does certainly not lack the breath of life to be instilled into dead bodies or two drops of humour for a dried eye. If He wants, He can. Because it depends exclusively on His power. But when it is a matter of reconciliation between men, the "will" of men is required together with the desire of God. God only rarely does violence to human freedom. As a rule He lets you act as you wish.

That woman, who lived in a country of idolaters, and, like her husband, remained faithful to the God of her fathers, already deserves benignity from God. And she deserved a double miracle, because she carried her faith beyond the limit of human measure and overcame the doubts and the denials of most Jewish believers, which is proved by what she said to her husband: "Wait until I come back", as she was certain of going back with her son cured. She deserved also the difficult miracle of opening the eyes of her husband's spirit, as those eyes had become blind to love and to her grief, as they laid on her a blame, which is not a blame.

I would also like wives, in particular, to meditate on the respectful humility of their sister.

"I went to my husband and I said to him: 'Wait, sir'". She was in the right because to blame a mother for a birth defect is foolish and cruel. Her heart was already rent by the sight of her unhappy child. She is doubly in the right because she was neglected by her husband since she became barren, and she was aware of his intention to divorce her, and yet she remained his "wife": that is, the faithful companion, submissive to her companion, as prescribed by God and taught by the Scriptures. She did not harbour thoughts of rebellion or thirst for revenge or intention to find another man in order not to be the "lonely woman". "If I do not come back with my son cured, you can repudiate me. Otherwise do not break my heart and do not deny your children a father". Do you not seem to be hearing Sarah and ancient Hebrew women speak thus?

How different, o wives, is your present language! And how different, too, is what you get from God and from your husbands. And families are ruined more and more.

As usual, in working the miracle, I had to give it a sign to make it more incisive. I had to persuade a world enclosed in the barriers of an age-old way of thinking, led by a sect hostile to Me. Hence the necessity for making My supernatural power shine clearly. But the teaching of the vision does not consist in that. It consists in the faith, humility, faithfulness to one's consort, in the right path undertaken, o wives and mothers, who have found thorns where you expected to have roses, to see new flowery branches grow on the thorns which prick you.

Turn to your Lord God Who created marriage so that man and woman might not be alone and might love each other, forming one only indissoluble body, since they were joined together, and Who gave you the Sacrament so that His blessing might descend upon your marriage, and through My merits you may have what you need in your new life of consorts and procreators. And in order to be able to turn to Him with confident faces and souls, be honest, good, respectful, faithful, true companions of your husbands, not just guests in their houses, or worse still, strangers which chance has gathered under one roof, like two who meet by chance in a hotel of pilgrims.

That happens too often nowadays. Does man make a mistake? He is wrong. But that does not justify the behaviour of too many wives. And you are even less justified when you do not render good for good and love for love to a kind companion. I will not even take into consideration the too common case of your carnal unfaithfulness which makes you like prostitutes with the aggravating circumstance that you are hypocritically vicious, and you pollute the family altar around which are the angelical souls of your innocent children. But I refer to your moral unfaithfulness to the pact of love sworn before My altar.

Well: I said: "He who looks at a woman with lustful desire commits adultery in his heart"; I said: "He who dismisses his wife with a libel of divorce, exposes her to adultery". But now that too many wives are strangers to their husbands, I say: "Those who do not love their companions with their souls, minds and bodies, incite them to adultery, and if I ask such husbands why they committed adultery, I will also ask their wives the same question, because although they do not perform it, they cause it". It is necessary to understand the Law of God in its full extent and depth and it is necessary to live it in full truthfulness.  »

TO  THROW  THE  FIRST  STONE

(Vol. 4, p. 502-5)

(In the Temple at Jerusalem, some Pharisees and others bring in a woman whom they accuse of adultery, and throw her at Jesus' feet.  Jesus writes in the dust, then says: “If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her”.  Gradually the people all leave, including finally Peter and John.  Jesus sends the woman away, telling her to sin no more ...  Jesus comments to Maria Valtorta - in this dictation He calls her Mary:)

« What hurt Me was the lack of charity and sincerity in the accusers. Not because they lied in accusing. The woman was really guilty. But they were insincere being scandalised at something they had committed thousands of times and that only greater cunning and better luck had allowed to remain concealed. The woman, at her first sin, had not been so cunning and lucky. But none of the accusers, both male and female - because also women accused her in their hearts even if they did not raise their voices - were free from sin.

He is an adulterer who commits the act and he who desires the act and craves for it with all his might. Both he who sins and he who wishes to sin are lustful. It is not sufficient not to do evil. It is also necessary not to desire to do it. Remember, Mary, the first word of your Master, when I called you from the edge of the precipice where you were: "It is not sufficient not to do evil. It is also necessary not to desire to do it" He who cherishes sensual thoughts and excites sensual feelings by means of literature and performances sought for such purpose and through pernicious habits, is equally impure as he who commits the sin materially. I dare say: he is more guilty. Because with his thoughts he goes against nature, not only against morals. I am not referring to those who commit real acts against nature. The only extenuating circumstance for such person is an organic disease or mental illness. He who does not have such an extenuating circumstance is inferior to the filthiest beast by ten degrees.

One ought to be free from sin in order to condemn with justice. I refer you to past dictations, when I speak of the essential conditions to be a judge.

I was not unaware of the hearts of those Pharisees and scribes, or of the hearts of those people who had joined them in insulting the guilty woman. Sinners against God and their neighbour, they had sinned against faith, against their parents, against their neighbour and above all they had committed many sins against their wives. If by means of a miracle I had ordered their blood to write their sins on their foreheads, among the many charges that of "adulterers" by deed or by desire would have reigned supreme. I said: "It is what comes from the heart that contaminates man". And with the exception of My heart there was no one among the judges whose heart was pure. They lacked sincerity and charity. Not even their being like her in their hunger for lust induced them to be charitable.

It was I Who was charitable to the dejected woman. I, the Only One, Who should have been disgusted with her. But remember this: "The kinder one is, the more compassionate one is to culprits". One is not lenient to the fault itself. No. But one is indulgent to weak people who have not resisted temptation.

Man! Oh! More than a fragile reed and a thin bearbine, he is easily inclined to yield to temptation and to cling to whatever may make him hope to find solace. Because many times sin is committed, particularly by the weaker sex, owing to such search for comfort. I therefore say that he who has no love for his wife, or for his own daughter, is ninety per cent responsible for the sin of his wife or of his daughter and will have to answer for them. Both the stupid love, which is nothing but foolish slavery imposed by a man on his wife or by a father on his daughter, and the neglect of love or even worse, a sin of lechery which leads a man to other love affairs and parents to other cares than their children, are incentives to adultery and prostitution and are condemned by Me as such.

You are beings gifted with reason and guided by a divine law and by a moral law. To degrade yourselves to the behaviour of savages or of brutes should horrify your great pride. But pride, which in this case would be also useful, is used by you for completely different matters.

I looked at Peter and John in different ways, because I wanted to say to the former: "Peter, make sure you are not lacking in charity and sincerity as well", and I also wanted to say to him as My future Pontiff: "Remember this hour and in future judge as your Master did"; whilst to the latter, a young man with the soul of a child, I wanted to say: "You can judge, but you do not, because your heart is like Mine. Thank you, My beloved, for being so much Mine, as to be a second I". I sent the two disciples away before calling the woman as I did not wish to increase her mortification with the presence of two witnesses. Learn, o pitiless men. No matter how guilty a man is, he is to be treated with respect and charity. You must not rejoice at his annihilation, you must not be pitiless, not even with curious glances. Have mercy on those who fall!

I pointed out to the guilty woman the way she should follow to redeem herself: to go back to her house, to ask humbly to be forgiven and to obtain forgiveness through an upright life; not

[Michael Wilson]

Xavier really? Our Lord joked with St. Peter about him corrupting His Mother? This can all be "explained" by the preceding and following paragraphs?

“You have corrupted My Mother. That is why you wanted to be alone. What shall I do with you?”

Ha! Ha! ????? I don't think so.
The Blessed Mother did not know that she was to become the Mother of God, but she certainly was aware that she was  sinless and ever pure, from the first moment of her conception; since that privilege would also entail her having the gift of consciousness from that first instance, as the true doctors of the Church teach. On top of that because she was infused with a higher degree of grace than that of all the angels and saints together, as the Catholic doctors teach, she would also have the greatest love for God and hatred for offending God, therefore she would never even propose such a ridiculous question about God loving one more if one sinned:

Vol. 2, p. 185.
Valtorta slanders Our Lady’s knowledge of her own sinlessness.

Valtorta (falsely) quotes Immaculate Mary as saying “I did not know I was without stain!” Volume 1, p.50.
Valtorta asserts that Our Lady thought (like the Arch-Heretic Luther) that it is good to sin out of love of God.

Luther declared: "Sin boldly, but believe more boldly". Letter #99, Saemmtliche Schriften.

Valtorta (falsely) has Our Lady uttering the similar blasphemous thought that God loves us more for sinning:

    [supposed BVM]: “Tell Me, mummy, can one be a sinner out of love of God?”

    [supposed St. Anne]: “What are you saying, my dear? I don't understand you.”

    [supposed BVM]: “I mean: to commit a sin in order to be loved by God, Who becomes the Savior. Who is lost, is saved. Isn’t that so? I would like to be saved by the Savior to receive His loving

Did Our Blessed Mother not understand that the grace that was infused into her from conception and kept her most pure and sinless, came from Our Divine Redeemer? Of course she did; because of this very same grace, she had infused knowledge of the highest mysteries of God's revelation.
Instead of looking for Catholic truth in false and condemned apparitions, read solid Catholic books written by Doctors, theologians and saints approved by the Church.

[Lynne]

And it disturbs me that DRBO would spread this stuff.

[Xavier]

DRBO is very good for publishing Fr. Robinson's article, and the PDF which refutes in detail Horvat's polemical article. And the SSPX is one of the few orders to have had many Bishops and Priests praising the work. Many traditional commentators like Antonio Socci have also repeatedly praised the work, beside those mentioned earlier. Maybe it would be prudent to withhold judgment? "All this is humanly inexplicable.

In Maria Valtorta's Work is found a reconstruction that is so accurate and rich in historical, geographical, and human facts about the Public Life of Jesus, that it is impossible to explain – especially if one considers that it came forth from the pen of a woman who was ignorant of these subjects and of theology, who was not familiar with the Holy Land, and who did not have any books to consult, lying sick and immobilized on a bed in Viareggio, on the Gothic Line, during the war's most ferocious months.

There are thousands of pages, overflowing with information and with the loftiest reflections and meditations; with geographical descriptions which only today, by going onsite, would be able to be done.

There are hundreds of topographical names and details and descriptions of places, which were unknown to almost everyone and which only the latest research and archaeological excavations have brought to light. Maria Valtorta's Work is, in truth, inexplicable by merely human means. Even the literary style is very lofty and profound.

But above all, the Giant – Who runs through these pages and Who fascinates by means of power, goodness, and beauty; Who inspires, by means of words and actions – is precisely that Jesus of Nazareth of Whom the Gospels speak. The world had not seen – nor will ever see – anything comparable." http://www.bardstown.com/~brchrys/Socci.html

So, Michael, St. Padre Pio and Bp. Richard Williamson have no idea what they are talking about, right? Also, you are totally wrong on Church approval, as proven earlier, Pope Pius XII gave the authorization to publish, which is what an Imprimatur ("Let it be printed") is. Therefore, if you look for the last Pope in 1958, the Catholic Church authorized its publication before that. For those who are willing to consider later events, while there was a temporary injunction (as happened to Ven. Mary of Agreda's work at first also) in 1959, there was a Holy Office approval to publish the second edition of the work in 1961. There is also famed Mariologist Fr. Roschini's work being highly praised by Pope Paul VI entitled, "The Virgin Mary in the writings of Maria Valtorta". It is obvious from some of your comments that you have no idea what Fr. Roschini wrote this, nor how detailed his studies.

Jesus said, "Will all this be understood by today's society to which I give this knowledge of Myself, to make it strong against the always stronger assaults of Satan and the world? Do you know, Mary, what you are doing? Or rather, what I am doing, in showing you the Gospel? Making a stronger attempt to bring men to Me. I will no longer confine Myself to words. They tire men and detach them. It is a fault, but it is so. I will have recourse to visions, also of My Gospel, and I will explain them to make them more attractive and clear. I gave it because it was My wish to make it known. But what happens with the Pharisees, happens also with this work. My desire to be loved – to know is to love – is rejected by too many things. And that deeply grieves Me, the Eternal Master imprisoned by you. My fatherland was full of My manifestations. And they take place even now. But, as in the past, the world does not accept them. Instead of kneeling down and blessing God, Who has granted you this knowledge [in The Gospel as Revealed to Me / The Poem of the Man-God] –the only thing to be done – the majority will take books, new ones and old ones, will check, measure, look against the light, hoping, hoping, hoping. What? To find discrepancies with other similar works, and thus demolish, demolish, demolish. You repeated My words only, and difficult doctors turned up their noses. You added your descriptions to My words, and they find faults with them. And they will find more to object. In the name of (human) science, of (human) reason, of (human) criticism, of the three times human pride. How much of holy works is demolished by man, to build with the ruins edifices that are not holy. You have removed the pure gold, poor men. The simple and precious gold of the Wisdom. Poor Thomases, who believe only what you understand and what you feel in yourselves! The good among you will receive a holy joy from this work. The honest scholars a light. The absent-minded, who are not wicked, a pleasure. The wicked a means to give vent to their evil science. I give you the comfort of seeing [visions of My Gospel]. I give everybody the possibility of wishing to know Me. Today also, twenty centuries later, there will be contradiction among those for whom I reveal Myself. I am once again a sign of contradiction."

1. I invite anyone to go to Archive, download Volume 2 (I have the book, and it's nothing at all like Michael says), go to page 185 and read and see what is going on. Here is what Mother Mary implores of the Saviour, on behalf of St. Peter, who wanted to adopt a child. "Mary becomes silent, watching Jesus, studying His face, waiting for a word... But Jesus has placed His elbow on His knee, resting His head in His hand and is silent, looking at the green expanse of the orchard. Mary takes His hand and caressing it She says: « Simon has this great desire... When I went with him, he did nothing but speak to Me about it, and his reasons are so good that... I could say nothing to keep him quiet. They are the same reasons that all women and mothers think of. The boy is not strong. If he were as strong as You were... oh! he could have faced the life of a disciple without any fear. But he is so thin!... He is very intelligent, very good... but nothing more. When a little dove is so delicate, you cannot throw it in the air to let it fly very early, as you do with strong ones. The shepherds are good... but they are still men. Children need women. Why do You not leave him with Simon? While You refuse him a son of his own, born of him, I understand the reason. A son is like an anchor. And Simon, who is destined to such a great task, cannot be hindered by anchors. But You must agree that he is to be the “father” of all the sons You will be leaving him. How can he be a father if he has had no training with a child? ... [and then by many other loving requests and reasoning] ...When we come here, so far, the boy will stay with her. Ah! You are smiling now! So You are going to please Your Mother. Thank You, My Jesus. » « Yes, let it be done, as You wish. » 9 Jesus stands up and calls out loud: « Simon of Jonas: come here. »" This is the incident, which Horvat ridiculously misrepresents.

2. It is certainly not defined at what time Mother Mary became aware that She was Immaculate. In Ven. Mary of Agreda's texts, it is said Mary in Her humility considered Herself the least of all Creatures. The same in many Patristic Writings, that Mary became aware She was Full of Grace and Altogether Immaculate when the Angel said, "Ave, Gratia Plena ..."etc (Luk 1:28). And finally, there is nothing to prevent Mother Mary not openly speaking of Her heavenly Wisdom, but like an innocent young girl, inquiring of Her parents, and allowing them to give the inspired answer (which immediately follows). You can go on looking for faults.

Beside the Church, you have many holy Bishops and Priests, saying it is good to read. Take Bp. Williamson and St. Pio at their word.

This is how the Poem begins. Anybody even remotely willing to give Jesus a fair trial in His 20th century appeal to us will be prudent before jumping to rash conclusions.

Jesus says: « Today write only this. Purity has such a value, that the womb of a creature can contain the Uncontainable One, because She possessed the greatest purity that a creature of God could have. The Most Holy Trinity descended with Its perfections, inhabited with Its Three Persons, enclosed Its infinity in a small space. But It did not debase Itself by doing so, because the love of the Virgin and the will of God widened this space until they rendered it a Heaven. And the Most Holy Trinity made Itself known by Its characteristics: The Father, being once again the Creator of the creature, as on the sixth day of Creation, had a real, worthy daughter fashioned to His perfect image. The mark of God was impressed so completely and exactly on Mary, that only in the Firstborn was it greater. Mary can be called the Second-born of the Father because, owing to the perfection granted to Her and preserved by Her, and to Her dignity of Spouse and Mother of God and Queen of Heaven, She comes second after the Son of the Father and second in His eternal thought, which ab aeterno took delight in Her. The Son, being also “Her Son”, did teach Her, by the mystery of Grace, His truth and wisdom, when He was but an Embryo, growing in Her womb. The Holy Spirit appeared amongst men, for an anticipated prolonged Pentecost: Love for “Her Whom He loved”, Consolation to men because of the Fruit of Her Womb, Sanctification on account of the Maternity of the Holy One. God, to reveal Himself to men in the new and complete form, which starts the Redemption era, did not select for His throne a star in the sky, nor the palace of a powerful man. Neither did He want the wings of angels as the base of His feet. He wanted a spotless womb. Also Eve had been created spotless. But she wanted to become corrupt of her own free will. Mary, Who lived in a corrupt world – Eve was in a pure world – did not wish to violate Her purity, not even with one thought remotely connected with sin. She knew that sin exists. She saw its various and horrible forms and implications. She saw them all, including the most hideous one: deicide. But She knew them solely to expiate them and to be, forever, the Woman who has mercy on sinners and prays for their redemption. This thought will be the introduction to other holy things that I will give for your benefit and the welfare of many people. »

[as for the other frequently quoted "error" which Fr. Robinson mentions and rebuts, this is the context,]

« It means that one does not know human love, but only the love of God. It means that one has no other thought but for the Lord. It means to remain children in the flesh and angels in the heart. It means that one has no eyes but to look at God, and ears to listen to Him, and a mouth to praise Him, hands to offer oneself as a victim, feet to follow Him fast, and a heart and a life to be given to
Him. » « May God bless You! But then You will never have any children, and yet You love babies and little lambs and doves so much... Do You know that? A baby is for his mother like a little white and curly lamb, he is like a little dove with silk feathers and coral mouth to be loved and kissed and heard say: “Mummy!” » « It does not matter. I shall belong to God. I shall pray in the Temple. And perhaps one day I will see the Immanuel. The Virgin who is to be His Mother must be already born, as the great Prophet says, and She is in the Temple... I will be Her companion on... and maidservant. Oh! Yes. If I could only meet Her, by God's light, I would like to serve Her, the Blessed One. And later, She would bring Me Her Son, She would take Me to Her Son, and I would serve Him too... Just think, mummy!... To serve the Messiah!! » Mary is overcome by this thought that exalts Her and makes Her totally humble at the same time. With Her hands crossed over Her breast and Her little head slightly bent forward and flushed with emotion, She is like an infantile reproduction of the Annunciation that I saw. She resumes: « But will the King of Israel, the Lord's Anointed, allow Me to serve Him? » « Have no doubts about that. Does King Solomon not say: “There are sixty queens and eighty concubines and countless maidens?” You can see that in the King's palace there will be countless maidens serving the Lord. » « Oh! You can see then that I must be a virgin? I must. If He wants a virgin as His Mother, it means that He loves virginity above all things. I want Him to love Me, His maiden, because of the virginity which will make Me somewhat like His beloved Mother... This is what I want... I would also like to be a sinner, a big sinner, if I were not afraid of offending the Lord... Tell Me, mummy, can one be a sinner out of love of God ? »  « But what are You saying, my dear? I don't understand You. » « I mean: to commit a sin in order to be loved by God, Who becomes the Saviour. Who is lost, is saved. Isn't that so? I would like to be saved by the Saviour to receive His loving look. That is why 1 would like to sin, but not to commit a sin that would disgust Him. How can He save Me if I do not get lost?» Anne is dumbfounded. She does not know what to say. Joachim helps her. He has approached them walking noiselessly on the grass, behind the low hedge of vine-shoots. « He has saved You beforehand, because He knows that You love Him and You want to love Him only. So You are already redeemed and You can be a virgin as You wish » says Joachim. « Is that true, daddy? » Mary embraces his knees and looks at him with Her clear blue eyes, so like Her father's and so happy because of this hope She gets from Her father. « It is true, my little darling. Look! I was just bringing You this little sparrow, that at its first flight landed near the spring. I could have left it there but its weak wings did not have enough strength to fly off again, and its tiny legs could not hold it on to the slippery moss stones. It would have fallen into the water. But I did not wait for that. I took it and now I am giving it to You. You will do what you like with it. The fact is that it was saved before it fell into the danger. God has done the same with You. Now, tell me, Mary: have I loved the sparrow more by saving it beforehand, or would I have loved it more saving it afterwards? » « You have loved it now, because you did not let it get hurt in the cold water. » « And God has loved You more, because He has loved You before You sinned. » « And I will love Him wholeheartedly. Wholeheartedly. My beautiful little sparrow, I am like you. The Lord has loved us both equally, by saving us... I will now rear you and then I will let you go. And you in the forest and I in the Temple will sing the praises of God, and we shall say: “Please send the One You promised to those who expect Him.” Oh! Daddy, when are you taking Me to the Temple? »

[Michael Wilson]

Re. Pius XII's approval: That is totally false and a bald face lie perpetrated by the propagators of this wicked work. Neither Pius XII or any other Pope gives a personal imprimatur to a book; much less a verbal one given in private in which nobody outside of the propagators of the book can verify or ascertain. The Catholic Church does not work this way.
Re. Padre Pio: again, we have to take the word of the propagators of this work; did Padre Pio really read all the volumes and thought that it was ok to write the above blasphemies against our Blessed Mother and Our Lord?  I think not.
Re. Bishop Williamson and Fr. Bariel: I have no idea why either man would ever approve of this work, anybody with a slice of Catholic sense would throw the book away after reading a few pages of this absolute rubbish; just like I did.

[martin88nyc]

I don't understand why run after apparitions and so called "messages for the end times" if one has so much to choose from Tradition. Just read what the Church fathers wrote. The easiest way to accomplish this task is to follow daily Matins lessons.
PS: Many of my acquaintances believe in everything out there from Medjugorje to private "allocutions" of a polish "seer" who works closely with an independent priest. This is far from the Catholic spirit.