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Defense of the Work

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GRM 1.1-3 · Volume 1

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

22nd August 1944.

1.1Jesus orders me: «Take a brand new notebook. Write down on the first page what I dictated on August the 16th. She will be spoken of in this book.» I obey and I write.

16th August 1944.

1.2Jesus says: «Today write only this. Purity has such a value, that the womb of a creature could 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 day1 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 First-born 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 and prolonged Pentecost, Love for “Her Whom He loved”, Consolation to men for the Fruit of Her Womb, Sanctification for the Maternity of the Holy One.1.3God, 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 existed. 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.1.4This thought will be the introduction to other holy things that I will give for your benefit and the welfare of many people.»

GRM 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

"Sometimes," Maria Valtorta writes on a typewritten copy, "the names [of the months] are expressed in Italian so that the reader understands better."

For example, our month of October straddles the Hebrew months of Tisri (or Etanim) and Marchesvan (or Bul). The Jewish calendar was in fact based on the lunar year, which begins in spring (as we see in 68.4), and ours on the solar year, so the correspondences are approximate.

Here are the names of the months:

1. Nisan or Abib as in 413.6 (March-April);

2. Ziv or Iyyar as in 461.7 (April/May);

3. Sivân (May-June);

4. Tammuz as in 442.3 and 461.16 (June-July);

5. Ab or Av (July-August);

6. Elul (August-September);

7. Tishri or Tisri or Etanim (September-October);

8. Marchesvân or Bul (October-November), a name never mentioned in the work: it seems to be called Etanim instead, in distinction from Tishri ;

9. Kisleu or Casleu (November-December);

10. Tebet (December-January);

11. Shebat (January-February);

12. Adar (February-March). The new moon, called neomenia, marked the beginning of the month. To make the lunar and solar cycles coincide as closely as possible, the month of Adar was sometimes redoubled, to obtain a thirteen-month year, known as embolismic (114.8).

GRM 4.3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

I was hoping because the last day while I was praying in the Temple, as close as possible for a woman to be to the House of God, and it was already evening… remember that I was saying: “A little longer, a little more”. I could not withdraw from the place without receiving the grace! Well, in the growing darkness, from inside the sacred place, where I was watching from the depth of my soul, to obtain assent from the everpresent God, I saw a light, a spark of beautiful light depart. It was as white as the moon and yet it had in itself all the brightness of all the pearls and gems that are in the world. It seemed that one of the precious stars of the Veil, the stars placed under the feet of the Cherubim, had become detached and bright with a supernatural light…

Detail

Anne tells Joachim about her prayer in the Temple. Jean-François Lavère notes a rare knowledge of Maria Valtorta. See annotation.

Annotation

According to Jean-François Lavère, in L'énigme Valtorta, une vie éclairée, this extract testifies to a rare knowledge: "The mention of stars embroidered on the Temple Veil may indeed be surprising, as it is not mentioned in the Bible. Yet it is attested to by an eyewitness! Flavius Josephus(Jewish Wars Book 5, chap. 214) says of the Veil: "it reproduced the whole spectacle of heaven, but without the signs of the Zodiac". As for the cherubim mentioned here, they are not the two golden cherubim placed on the Propiatory, but of course the cherubim embroidered on the Veil (Ex 26:1; 36:8 and 36:35)".

GRM 4.4

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

4.4 How shall we name our creature, whom I perceive talking to me in my womb as sweetly as the melody of waters, with its little heart beating repeatedly like the heart of a pretty turtle-dove held in one’s hands?»

«If it is a boy we shall call him Samuel… If a girl, Star. The word that stopped your song to give me the joy of learning that I am a father. The form it took to reveal itself in the holy shade of the Temple.»

«Star. Our Star, because, I don’t know why, but I think it is a girl. I think that such sweet caresses can only come from a most sweet daughter. Because I do not bear her, I have no pain. It is she who takes me along a blue flowery path, as if I were supported by holy angels and the earth was already far away… I have always heard women say that it is painful to conceive and to bear. But I have no pain. I feel strong, young, fresher than when I presented you with my virginity in my far away youth. Daughter of God -because this creature born of a barren stump, is more of God than ours– she gives no pain to her mother. She only brings her peace and blessings: the fruits of God, her true Father.»

«Mary, then, we shall call her! Star of our sea, pearl, happiness. The name of the first great woman in Israel. But she will never sin against the Lord and to Him only she will give her songs, because she is offered to Him: a victim before being born.»

«Yes, she is offered to Him. Male or female, as it may be, after rejoicing for three years over our creature, we shall give it to the Lord. Victims ourselves with her, for the glory of God.»

I do not see or hear anything else.

Detail

Anne does not suffer from her maternity (at more or less three months of pregnancy). Compare this with EMV 5, where Anne suffers from motherhood.

GRM 4.6

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

4.6 You have seen the continuous generation of souls from God. Now think what must have been the beauty of this soul which the Father looked fondly on before time existed, which formed the delight of the Trinity, which Trinity longed to adorn it with its gifts, to present it to Itself. Oh! Most Holy Mary Whom God created for Himself and then for the salvation of men! Bearer of the Saviour, You were the first salvation. Living Paradise, with Your smile You began to sanctify the world.

The soul created to be soul of the Mother of God! When this vital spark derived from the more lively throb of the Threefold Love of the Trinity, the angels rejoiced because Paradise had never seen a brighter light. Like a petal of a heavenly rose, a mystical and precious petal, that was a gem and a flame, the breath of God descended to give life to a body quite differently than for others. It descended so powerful in its ardour that Guilt could not contaminate it, it came through the heavens and enclosed itself in a holy womb.

Detail

This passage shows that Mary was indeed created at time T, 2000 years ago (she is not created from all eternity, although she is eternally in God's mind).

Annotation

You saw God's continual generation of souls. In the vision of May 25, 1944. See Les cahiers de 1944.

Like a celestial rose petal, an immaterial and precious petal that was a jewel and a flame, that came down to animate flesh in a very different way than for others. In the old edition, it is written: Like a heavenly rose petal, an immaterial and precious petal that was a jewel and a flame, that was the breath of God, that came down to animate flesh in a way different from others. About the "Breath of God" (alito di Dio) part. The expression was corrected by Maria Valtorta on a typed copy. Initially, she had written "Part of God" (parte di Dio).

GRM 5.1-2

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

5.1 I see Anne coming out of the garden. She is leaning on the arm of somebody who is surely a relative, as they look alike. She is obviously several months pregnant and she looks tired, perhaps due to the same heat that is now exhausting me.

(...) Along the shady pergola, under which golden bees are buzzing, greedy for the sugar of the golden grapes, Anne moves slowly towards Joachim, who hastens towards her as soon as he sees her.

«You came so far?»

«The house is as hot as an oven.»

«And you suffer from it.»

«The only suffering of this last hour is that of a pregnant woman. The natural suffering of everybody: man and beast. »

(...) «Let us go back inside. Even here one can hardly breathe, and in any case I think it is better to go back…» says Anne, who looks more olive-hued than usual, owing to a paleness which has come over her face.

5.2 «Are you in pain?»

«No. But I can feel the great peace that I experienced in the Temple when I was granted the grace, and which I felt once again when I knew I was pregnant. It is like an ecstasy, a sweet sleep of the body while the soul rejoices and calms itself in a peace that has no bodily comparison. I have loved and still do love you, Joachim, and when I entered your house and I said to myself: “I am the wife of a just man”, I had peace: and I felt the same every time your provident love took care of your Anne. But this peace is different. Understand: I think that the soul of our father Jacob was invaded by a similar peace, like the soothing given by oil that spreads and appeases, after he dreamt of the angels. And, possibly more accurately, it is like the joyful peace of the Tobiahs after Raphael appeared to them. If I absorb myself in this feeling, it grows more and more in strength while I enjoy it. It is as if I were ascending into the blue spaces of the sky… And furthermore, I don’t know the reason for it, but since I have had this peaceful joy in me, I have a song in my heart: old Tobiah’s song. I think it was written for this hour… for this joy… for the land of Israel that receives it… for Jerusalem-sinner and now forgiven… But do not laugh at the frenzy of a mother… but when I say: “Thank the Lord for your wealth and bless the God of centuries, that He may rebuild His Tabernacle in you”, I think that He Who will rebuild the Tabernacle of the true God in Jerusalem will be This One who is about to be born… And I also think that the destiny of my creature was prophesied and not the fate of the Holy City, when the song says: “You shall shine with a bright light: all the peoples of the world will prostrate themselves before you: the nations will come bringing gifts: they will worship the Lord in you and will hold your land as sacred, because within you they invoke the Great Name. You will be happy on account of your children, because they will all be blessed and they will gather near the Lord. Blessed are those who love you and rejoice in your peace…” And I am the first to rejoice, her happy mother…»

Anne changes colour, when saying these words and she lights up like something brought from the paleness of moonlight to the brightness of a great fire and vice versa. Sweet tears, of which she is unaware, run down her cheeks and she smiles in her joy. And in the meantime she moves towards the house, walking between her husband and her relative, who listen and, deeply moved, are silent.

Detail

Challenge: "Anne gave birth without pain".

GRM 5.1

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«The water we have been hoping for, for such a long time, and that for three days seemed so close, has not yet come and the land is parched. We are lucky to have a spring so near and so rich in water. I have opened the channels. It is a small sigh of relief for the plants which have withering leaves and are covered with dust: just enough to keep them alive. If it would only rain…» Joachim, with the eagerness of all farmers, looks at the sky, while Anne, tired, cools herself with a fan that seems to be made of the dry leaf of a palm interwoven with many-coloured threads keeping it firm.

Anne’s companion interrupts: «Over there, beyond the Great Hermon, fast clouds are arising. There is a northern wind. It will refreshen and perhaps bring rain.»

«The breeze has risen for three days and then it sets when the moon rises. It will do the same again.» Joachim is discouraged.

[...] [They return at home when a storm hits the region, then calms down].

The storm drops suddenly, after one last thunderbolt that is so violent that it throws the three men against the side wall; and in front of the house, in the garden, a black smoky cavity remains as its memory! Meanwhile a cry, one resembling the tiny plea of a little turtle-dove that for the very first time no longer peeps but cooes, is heard from beyond Anne’s door. And at the same time a huge rainbow stretches its semicircle across the sky. It rises, or seems to rise, from the top of Hermon, which kissed by the sun, looks like a most delicate pinkish alabaster: it rises up in the clear September sky and through an atmosphere cleaned of all impurities, it crosses over the hills of Galilee and the plain to the south, and then over another mountain, and seems to rest the other end on the distant horizon, where it drops from view behind a chain of high mountains.

Annotation

The Great Hermon or Mount Hermon (2,814 meters above sea level), visible from Nazareth, is 95 km away, heading northeast.

At the same moment, an immense rainbow unfolds in a semicircle across the entire sky. It emerges, or at least appears to emerge, from the summit of Hermon, which, under the sun's caress, appears to be an alabaster color of the most delicate pinkish-white. From Nazareth (alt +400/450m), if we turn our backs to the setting sun (Azimuth 278° that evening) to observe a rainbow, we have Mount Hermon (+2800m) to the left, Lake Tiberias (-200m), the plain and hills of Galilee (0 to +100m) opposite, and Mounts Ebal (+938m) and Garizim (+868m) to the right.

Under the right circumstances, a rainbow can be doubled, and in exceptional cases even tripled.

Physics dictates that a rainbow can only be observed in the morning or evening. It covers a field from 80° to 84.8° if it's single, and from 102° to 107.4° if it's double.

A simple protractor placed on a map of Palestine, zero point on Nazareth and perpendicular to azimuth 278°, verifies the extraordinary plausibility of this description: it would be false at any other time of year, given the orientation of the sun at sunset.

GRM 5.3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Joachim is also anxious for his wife, whose time has come to give birth to her child. His relative reassures him that Anne is not suffering at all. But he is agitated, and every time his relative or any other woman, amongst whom is Alphaeus’ mother, comes out of Anne’s room and goes back in again with hot water and basins and linens dried near the blazing fireplace in the large kitchen, he goes and makes enquiries, but he does not calm down despite their reassurances. Also the lack of cries from Anne worries him. He says: «I am a man and I have never seen a child being born. But I remember hearing that the absence of labour pains is fatal.»

It is growing dark and the evening is preceded by a furious and very violent storm: it brings torrential rain, wind, lightning, everything, except hail, which has fallen elsewhere.

One of the workers notices the ferocity of the gale: «It looks as if Satan has come out of Gehenna with his demons. Look at those black clouds! You can smell sulphur in the air and you can hear whistling and hisses, and wailing and cursing voices. If it is him, he is furious this evening!»

The other worker laughs and scoffs: «A great prey must have escaped him, or Michael has struck him with a new thunderbolt from God, and he has had his horns and tail clipped and burnt.»

A woman passes by and shouts: «Joachim! It is coming. And it is happening quickly and well!» and she disappears with a small amphora in her hands.

Detail

Birth of Marie

Annotation

Anne did not suffer at all. In accordance with Tradition, which reports that Anne did not experience the pains of childbirth (see Charland, Madame saincte Anne, 1898; chapter 6, page 136).

GRM 5.10-11

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

God desired to put a king in the universe that He had created out of nothing. A king, who by the nature of matter, should be the first amongst all the creatures created with matter and endowed with matter. A king, who by nature of the spirit should be little less than divine, united to Grace as he was in his first innocent day. But the Supreme Mind, to Whom all the most remote events in centuries are known, incessantly sees what was, is and will be; and while It contemplates the past, and observes the present, It penetrates deeply with Its foresight into the most distant future and knows in every detail how the last man will die. Without confusion or discontinuity the Supreme Mind has always known that the king created to be demigod at Its side in Heaven, heir of the Father, reaching His Kingdom, as an adult after living in the house of his mother — the earth, with which he was made — during his childhood, as child of the Eternal Father for his day on earth. The Supreme Mind has always known that man would have committed against himself the crime of killing Grace in himself and the theft of robbing himself of Heaven.

(...) 5.11 The Supreme Mind, that knows everything, even before man existed, knew that man would be his own thief and his own murderer. And as the Eternal Goodness has no limits in being good, before Guilt existed, He thought of the means to obliterate Guilt. The means: I, the Word. The instrument to render the means an efficient instrument: Mary. And the Virgin was created in the sublime mind of God.

Detail

"Mary was created in the sublime Thought of God". It's important to understand that God thought of her from the very beginning, but we need to differentiate between the creation in his thought, and the actual creation of the soul, at the moment of infusion into a body in formation.

GRM 5.12

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Everything was created for Me, beloved Son of the Father. I-King should have had under my Divine Royal feet carpets and jewels such as no royal palace had, and songs and voices and servants and ministers around me as no sovereign ever possessed, and flowers and gems, all the sublime, the greatness, the kindness that may derive from the thought of a God.

But I was to be Flesh as well as Spirit. Flesh to save the flesh. Flesh to sublime the flesh, taking it to Heaven many centuries before its time. Because the flesh inhabited by the spirit is God’s masterpiece and Heaven had already been made for it. In order to become flesh I needed a Mother. To be God it was necessary that the Father was God.

Then God created His Spouse and said to Her: “Come with Me. At My side see what I am doing for our Son. Look and rejoice, eternal Virgin, eternal Maiden and may Your smile fill this Empyrean and give the angels their starting note and teach Paradise celestial harmony. I am looking at You. And I see You as You will be, Immaculate Woman, Who are now only a spirit: the spirit in which I rejoice. I am looking at You and I give the sea and the firmament the blue of Your eyes, the holy corn the colour of Your hair, whiteness to the lily and a rosy colour to the rose, like Your silky skin. I copy the pearls from Your minute teeth, I make the sweet strawberries watching Your mouth and I give the nightingale Your notes and the turtle-doves Your weeping. And reading Your future thoughts and listening to the beats of Your heart, I have a reason for guidance in creating. Come, My joy, have the worlds as a plaything as long as You will be the dancing light of My thoughts have the worlds for Your smile, have wreaths and necklaces of stars; place the moon under Your gentle feet; make Galatea Your stellar scarf. The stars and planets are for You. Come and enjoy looking at the flowers that will be a childish joy for Your Baby and a pillow for the Son of Your womb. Come and see sheep and lambs, eagles and doves being created. Stay beside Me when I make the hollows of the seas and grooves of the rivers and I raise the mountains and I adorn them with snow and forests. Stay here while I sow fodder and trees and vines, and I make the olive-tree for You, My Peaceful One, and the vine for You, My Vine branch who will bear the Eucharistic Bunch of grapes. Run, fly, rejoice, My Beauty. And may the universe which is created hour by hour learn from You to love Me, My Love, and may it become more beautiful owing to Your smile, Mother of My Son, Queen of My Paradise, Love of Your God”. And again, seeing the Fault and admiring the Faultless One: “Come to Me, You Who wipe away the bitterness of human disobedience, of human fornication with Satan and of human ingratitude. I will take with You My revenge over Satan”.

Detail

Mary is in God's mind from all eternity, but she is only created at a precise moment in time.