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Healing and miracles on children

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GRM 181.2 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

They enter Korazim when it is broad daylight. All the stems twinkle with dewy gems. Birds are singing everywhere. The air is pure and cool, it seems to savour of milk, of a vegetable milk rather than animal milk. The scent of the corn coming into ears, of the almond-groves laden with fruit… is the scent I could smell in cool mornings in the rich fields in the Po Valley.
They soon reach Elias’ house. Many people in Korazim already know that the Master has arrived, and while Jesus is about to enter the house, a mother rushes towards Him shouting: «Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on my daughter!» She is carrying in her arms a little girl, about ten years old, who is very thin and waxen, or yellowish rather than waxen.
«What is the matter with your daughter?»
«She is feverish. She caught a disease at the pastures along the Jordan. Because we are the shepherds of a rich man. Her father sent for me when she was taken ill. He has gone back to the mountains. But You know that with this kind of disease one cannot stay up in high places. But how can I stay here? Our master has allowed me so far. But I look after the wool and the litters. This is the busy season for shepherds. If I stay here we shall be dismissed or separated. And if I go back to the Hermon I will see my daughter die.»
«Do you believe that I can cure her?»
«I have spoken to Daniel, Elisha’s shepherd. He said to me: “Our Child cures all diseases. Go to the Messiah”. I have come from beyond Merom carrying her in my arms and looking for You. I was going to walk until I found You…»
«You need walk no farther, but go home, to your peaceful work. Your daughter is cured because that is what I want. Go in peace.»
The woman looks at her daughter and at Jesus. She is perhaps hoping to see her daughter become fat and rosy all at once. Also the girl stares at Jesus with her tired eyes wide open and smiles.
«Do not be afraid, woman. I am not deceiving you. Her fever has gone forever. Day by day she will become a healthy girl. Let her go. She will no longer stagger neither will she feel tired.»
The mother puts the child down and she stands upright. She becomes more and more cheerful and at last she trills in her silvery voice: «Bless the Lord, mother! I am cured! I can feel it» and with the naivety of a little shepherd girl, she throws her arms around Jesus’ neck and kisses Him. Her mother, reserved as her age demands, prostrates herself and kisses His tunic blessing the Lord.
«Go. Remember the gift of God and be good. Peace be with you.»

Annotation

"What's wrong with your daughter?" "Fevers. She caught them in the pastures along the Jordan." Most likely yellow fever, or swamp fever, which wreaked havoc on populations throughout antiquity. See footnote in EMV 177: Swamp fevers (yellow fever or malaria) caused serious epidemics in antiquity. They are mentioned several times in the work. For centuries, these fevers were attributed to unhealthy air (aria cattiva, from which the Italian word mala aria = bad air), without ever making the connection with mosquitoes. Maria Valtorta reports here an opinion perfectly in line with Roman belief and not related to her knowledge as a nurse."

I was called to the sick girl by her father. Now he's gone back to the mountains. But you know that with this disease, you can't go to altitude. This medical indication deserves to be examined by competent people.

Keywords

GRM 199.4-5 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«And now, let us go and see those unhappy people!» says Jesus, and turning His back to the town He goes towards a desolate place on the slope of a rocky hill which lies between the two roads from Jericho to Jerusalem, A strange place, similar to a flight of steps after the first slope, up which climbs a path, so that there is a drop of at least three yards from the first terrace to the path, and the same from the second one. It is an arid, dead… extremely sad place.
«Master» shouts Simon the Zealot «I am here. Stop where You are, that I may show You the way…» and the Zealot, who was leaning against a rock to be in the shade, comes forward and leads Jesus up the steps of a path leading towards Gethsemane, but separated from it by the road that from the Mount of Olives goes to Bethany.
«Here we are. I lived among the tombs of Siloam and my friends are here. Some of them. The others are at Ben Hinnom, but cannot come… They would have to cross the road and would be seen.»
«We shall go to them also.»
«Thank You! On their part and mine.»
«Are they many?»
«Winter has killed most of them. But here there are still five of those to whom I had spoken. They are waiting for You. There they are, on the edge of their prison…»
There are probably ten monsters. I say «probably», because if five, who are standing up, are clearly visible, the others, because of the greyish hue of their skin, the deformity of their faces and the fact that they hardly protrude from the stone barrier, cannot be counted accurately and they may be more than five or less. Among those standing up there is only one woman. One can tell only by her white dishevelled hair hanging coarse and dirty over her shoulders down to her waist. There is no other sign by which one could tell her sex, because the disease, which is in an advanced stage, has reduced her to a skeleton, destroying all feminine forms. Likewise among the men, only one still has traces of moustache and beard. All the others have been made hairless by the destructive disease.
They shout: «Jesus, our Saviour, have mercy on us!» and they stretch out their deformed or ulcerated hands. «Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us!»
«What do you want Me to do for you?» asks Jesus looking towards their misery.
«We want You to save us from sin and from this disease.»
«Your will and repentance will save you from sin…»
«But if You wish, You can cancel our sins. At least those, if You do not want to cure our bodies.»
«If I say to You: “Choose either one or the other”, which one would you prefer?»
«God’s forgiveness, Lord. To be less desolate.»
Jesus has a gesture of approval. He smiles brightly, raises His arms and shouts: «Let it be granted. I want it.»
Granted! The grace might be granted for their sins, or for their disease, or for both, and the five unhappy people remain uncertain. But the apostles have no uncertainty and they can but shout their hosannas when they see the leprosy disappear as fast as a flake of snow that falls on a fire. The five then understand that the full grace has been granted to them. Their shouting resounds like a cry of victory. They embrace one another and throw kisses at Jesus, as they cannot prostrate themselves at His feet. They then turn to their companions saying: «And you still refuse to believe? What miserable wretches are you?»
«Good! Be good! Your poor brothers need time to think. Say nothing to them. Faith is not imposed, it is preached with peace, kindness, patience and perseverance. That is what you will do after your purification, exactly as Simon did with you. After all, the miracle preaches by itself. You who have been cured, will go to the priest as soon as possible. You, who are still ill, wait for us this evening. We will bring you some food. Peace be with you.»
Jesus descends again on to the road followed by the blessings of everybody.
199.5
«And now let us go to Ben Hinnom» says Jesus.
«Master… I would like to come. But I realise that I cannot. I will go to Gethsemane» says Lazarus.
«Go, Lazarus. Peace be with you.»
While Lazarus is slowly walking away, the apostle John says: «Master, I will go with him. He walks with difficulty and the road is not very good. I will join You later at Ben Hinnom.»
«Yes, you may go. Let us go.»
They cross the Kidron, walk along the southern side of Mount Tophet and enter the little valley completely strewn with tombs and filth. There is not one tree or any shade from the sun, which blazes down on this southern side heating the stones of these new hellish terraces where the stinking smell of burning rubbish increases the heat. And inside the sepulchres, similar to crematoria, there are poor bodies, which are wasting away… Siloam may be unpleasant in winter, damp as it is and facing north, but this place must be dreadful in summer…
Simon Zealot lets out a shout calling them, and first three lepers, then two, then one, and another one come, as best they can, to the prescribed limit. There are two women here, and one of them is holding by the hand a horrible looking boy whose face is particularly affected by leprosy. He is already blind… And there is a noble looking man, notwithstanding his miserable state. He speaks on behalf of everybody: «Blessed be the Messiah of the Lord, Who has come down to our Gehenna, to free from it those who hope in Him. Save us, o Lord, because we are perishing! Save us, Saviour! King of the House of David, King of Israel, have mercy on Your subjects. Oh! Shoot of the stock of Jesse, of Whom it is said that in Your time there will be no evil, stretch out Your hand and pick up the remains of Your people. Cast away this death from us, wipe our tears, because that is what is said of You. Call us, Lord, to Your delicious pastures, to Your fresh waters, for we are thirsty. Lead us to the eternal hills where there is no sin or sorrow. Have mercy, Lord…»
«Who are you?»
«John, one of the Temple. I was probably infected by a leper. As You can see, I caught the disease only recently. But these!… Some of them have been awaiting death for years, and this little girl came here even before she could walk. She does not know what is the creation of God. What she knows or what she remembers of the wonders of God are these tombs, this merciless sun and the stars at night. Have mercy on the guilty and the innocent ones, o Lord, our Saviour.» They have all knelt down stretching out their hands.
Jesus weeps at so much misery. He then opens His arms shouting: «Father, I want it: health, life, sight and salvation for them.» He remains with His arms stretched out praying intensely with all His spirit. He seems to become thinner and to rise in prayer, a flame of love, white and powerful in the powerful gold of the sun.
«Mummy, I can see!» is the first cry, which is answered by the shout of the mother who clasps her cured little girl to her heart; then the shouts of the others and of the apostles… The miracle has been worked.
«John, as you are a priest, you will lead your companions in the rite. Peace be with you. Towards evening we shall bring some food also to you.» He blesses and is about to go away.
But John, the leper, shouts: «I want to follow Your steps. Tell me what I must do, where I must go to preach You!»
«In this desolate barren land, which must turn to the Lord. Let the town of Jerusalem be your field. Goodbye.»

Detail

Simon the Zealot asked Jesus to go to the Valley of Death, where there are lepers.

Annotation

And Simon, who had leaned against the rock for a little shade, steps forward and leads Jesus along a stepped path that leads to Gethsemane, but is separated from it by the road that leads from the Mount of Olives to Bethany. This is followed by Maria Valtorta's drawing, which we reproduce here. She has placed the "little mount" in the center, on the top of which she has written "leper" three times. To the north is "Gethsemane", from which she wrote "The shortest road to Bethany and Jericho". On the other side, she has written in pencil: "The Mount of Olives is here". To the west she makes the "Cedron" flow, beyond which she has traced "The longest road to Bethany and Jericho".

And so it is with the men, only one of whom has a remnant of a moustache and beard. The others have been shaved by this destructive disease. Zechariah the leper. Cf. EMV 417.2.

Keywords

GRM 211.4

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«Bring Me your sick people and then gather in this garden, which has been abandoned and was desecrated by sin, after it had been made a temple for the Grace that lived in it.»
The people of Hebron spread out in all directions as fast as swallows. Only the head of the synagogue remains and together with Jesus and the disciples he goes in beyond the enclosure of the garden, to the shade of a bower where entangled roses and vines have grown wild. The population is soon back. With them there is a paralytic in a stretcher, a blind young woman, a dumb boy and two sick people, whose trouble I do not know. The last two are walking supported by other people.
Jesus greets each sick person saying: «Peace to you.» Then He asks the kind question: «What do you want Me to do for you?» followed by the chorus of lamentations, as each one wishes to tell his own story.
Jesus, Who was sitting, stands up and goes to the dumb boy, whose lips He wets with His saliva and utters the great word: «Open.» And He repeats it wetting the sealed eyelids of the woman with His finger moistened with saliva. He then stretches out His hand to the paralytic and says to him: «Rise!», and finally He imposes His hands on the two sick people saying: «Be cured, in the name of the Lord!». And the boy who previously mumbled, says distinctly: «Mummy!», while the young woman winks at the light with her unsealed eyelids, and with her fingers protects her eyes from the unknown sun, weeping and laughing, and looks again, with half open eyes, not being accustomed to the light, at the leaves, the earth, the people and particularly at Jesus. The paralytic comes boldly off the stretcher and his compassionate bearers lift it, empty as it is, to make the people afar understand that the grace has been granted, while the two sick people cry for joy and kneel down to venerate their Saviour.
The crowds are frantically shouting hosanna, Thomas, who is near Judas, looks at him so intensely and with such a clear expression, that Judas declares to him: «I was foolish, forgive me.»

Annotation

Thomas, who is standing next to Judas, looks at him so intensely and with such a clear expression that Judas replies, "I was a fool, forgive me." This follows a discussion between Thomas and Judas, in which the Iscariot accused Jesus of no longer performing miracles. Cf. EMV 210.

Keywords

GRM 215.5-7 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

« And now let us enter Bethginna. You, precisely you, Philip, who are looking at Me so imploringly, will go around the village, with Andrew. While you are walking about, we shall stop near the fountain or in the village square.»
«Oh! Lord! Don’t send us alone. Please, come with us!» they beg.
«Go, I said. Obedience will be of more help to you than My mute presence.»
215.3
… And so Philip and Andrew go, at random, through the village, until they find a small hotel, an inn, rather than a hotel, and inside there are some brokers bargaining for lambs with some shepherds. They go in and stop disconcertedly in the middle of the yard, which is surrounded by very rustic porches.
The hotel-keeper rushes towards them: «What do you want? Lodgings?»
They consult looking at each other, and they appear to be utterly dismayed. Probably they cannot remember even one word of what they had decided to say. Andrew is the first to regain control of himself and he replies: «Yes, lodgings for us and for the Rabbi Israel.»
«Which rabbi? There are many of them! But they are wealthy gentlemen. They do not come to the villages of poor people to bring their wisdom to the poor. The poor have to go to them and we are lucky if they allow us to go near them!»
«There is only one Rabbi of Israel. And He has come to bring the Gospel to the poor, and the poorer and more sinful they are, the more He looks for them and approaches them» replies Andrew kindly.
«In that case He will not make much money!»
«He does not seek wealth. He is poor and good. When He can save a soul it is a full day for Him» replies once again Andrew.
«Oh! It is the first time that I hear that a rabbi is good and poor. The Baptist is poor but severe. All the others are severe and rich, as greedy as leeches. You over there, have you heard? Come here, you who travel around the world. These men say that there is a poor but good Master Who comes looking for poor people and sinners.»
«Ah! It must be the one who wears a white robe like an Essene. I saw him some time ago at Jericho» says one of the brokers.
«No. That one is by himself. It must be the one of whom Thomas told us, because he happened to speak about him with some shepherds on the Lebanon» replies a tall brawny shepherd.
«Indeed! And he would come as far as here, if he was on the Lebanon! For the sake of your eyes of a cat!» exclaims another one.
While the innkeeper is speaking and listening to his customers, the two apostles have remained standing in the middle of the yard like two poles.
215.4
At last one of the men says to them: «Ehi! You! Come here!
Who is He? Where does that man you spoke of come from?»
«He is Jesus of Joseph, from Nazareth» says Philip seriously and he looks as if he were expecting to be laughed at.
But Andrew adds: «He is the Messiah foretold. I implore you, for your own good, listen to Him. You have mentioned the Baptist. Well, I was with him, and he pointed to us Jesus Who was passing and said: “There is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world”. When Jesus descended into the Jordan to be baptised, the Heavens opened and a Voice cried out: “This is My beloved Son, My favour rests on Him” and the Love of God descended like a dove, shining over His head.»
«See? It is the Nazarene! But tell me, since you say you are His friends…»
«No, not His friends: we are His apostles, His disciples and we have been sent to announce that He is coming, so that those who are in need of salvation may go to Him» clarifies Andrew.
«All right. But tell me. Is He really as some say, that is, a holy man, holier than the Baptist, or is He a demon as others describe Him? You are always with Him, because if you are His disciples, you must be with Him, tell us frankly. Is it true that He is lewd and a guzzler? That He loves prostitutes and publicans. That He is a necromancer and He evokes spirits at night to find out the secrets of hearts?»
«Why do you ask these men such questions? Ask them instead whether it is true that He is good. They will take it amiss and they will go and tell the Master our evil reasoning and we will be cursed. One never knows!… Whether He is God or a demon, it is better to treat Him well.»
It is Philip who speaks now: «We can reply to you quite frankly because there is nothing wicked to be concealed. He, our Master, is the Saint of all saints. He spends His days teaching. He goes tirelessly from place to place seeking the hearts of men. He spends the night praying for us. He does not disdain the pleasures of the table and friendship, but not for His own advantage, but only to approach those who otherwise would be unapproachable. He does not repel publicans and prostitutes but only because He wants to redeem them. His way is traced out with miracles of redemption and miracles over diseases. Winds and seas obey Him. But He does not need anybody to work His prodigies, neither does He have to evoke spirits to know hearts.»
«How can He?… You said that winds and seas obey Him… But they are not endowed with reason. How can He give them orders?» asks the innkeeper.
«Tell me, man: according to you is it more difficult to give an order to the wind or the sea or to death?»
«By Jehovah! You cannot give orders to death! You can throw oil on the sea, you can hoist sails over it, or, more wisely, you can avoid going to sea. You can lock doors against the wind. But you cannot give an order to death. There is no oil capable of calming it. There is no sail which, hoisted on our little boat, can make it sail so fast as to leave death behind. And there are no locks for it. It comes in when it wants to, even if the doors have been locked. Oh! No one gives orders to that queen!»
«And yet our Master commands it. Not only when it is near. But also after it has come. A young man of Nain was about to be put into the dreadful mouth of his sepulchre, and He said to him: “I tell you: rise!” and the young man came back to life. Nain is not in the country of the hyperboreans. You can go and see.»
«Just like that? In the presence of everybody?»
«On the road. In the presence of the whole of Nain.»
215.5
The innkeeper and his customers look at one another in silence. Then the innkeeper says: «But He will do that only for His friends.»
«No, man. For all those who believe in Him and not for them only. He is Mercy on the earth, believe me. No one turns to Him in vain. Listen. Is there anyone amongst you who suffers from or weeps because of diseases in the family, doubts, remorse, temptations, ignorance? Go to Jesus, the Messiah of the Gospel. He is here today. He will be elsewhere tomorrow. The Grace of the Lord Who is passing should not be let it pass in vain» says Philip who has become more and more sure of himself.
The innkeeper ruffles his hair, opens and closes his mouth, tortures the fringes of his belt… at last he exclaims: «I will try! I have a daughter. Up to last summer she was all right. Then she became a lunatic. She remains like a mute animal in a corner, she never moves from it and only with difficulty her mother can dress her and feed her. The doctors say that her brain has been burnt by too much sunshine, others say that it is due to an ill-starred love. The people say she is possessed. How can that be, as she has never been away from here?! Where would she have got that demon? What does your Master say? That a demon can take also an innocent person?»
Philip replies without hesitation: «Yes, to torture the relatives and drive them to despair.»
«And… Can He cure lunatics? Should I hope?»
«You must believe» says Andrews promptly. And he tells them of the miracle of the Gerasenes and concludes: «If those who were a legion in the hearts of sinners fled thus, why should the one who forced his way into the heart of a young person not flee? I tell you, man: for those who hope in Him also what is impossible becomes as easy as breathing. I have seen the works of my Lord and I am a witness of His power.»
«Oh! in that case which of you is going to call Him?»
«I will go myself, man. I will soon be back.» And Andrew runs away while Philip remains speaking to them.
215.6
When Andrew sees Jesus standing in a lobby out of the merciless sun shining in every part of the square, he runs towards Him saying: «Come, Master. The daughter of the innkeeper is lunatic. Her father implores You to cure her.»
«Did he know Me?»
«No, Master. We have tried to make You known to him…»
«And you have succeeded. When one reaches the point of believing that I can cure an incurable disease, one is already well advanced in faith. And you were afraid that you did not know how to do it. What did you tell him?»
«I don’t think I could tell You. We told him what we thought of You and of Your deeds. Above all we told him that You are Love and Mercy. The world has such wrong knowledge of You!!!»
«But you know Me well. And that is enough.»
215.7
They arrive at the small inn. All the customers are standing at the door, full of curiosity, and in the middle there is Philip with the innkeeper who keeps talking to himself.
When he sees Jesus, he runs to meet Him: «Master, Lord, Jesus… I… I believe so firmly that You are You, that You know everything, You see everything, You can do everything, I believe it so firmly that I say to You: Have mercy on my daughter although I have so many sins in my heart. Do not punish my daughter because I have been dishonest in my trade. I will no longer be grasping, I swear it. You can see my heart with its past and with its present thought. Forgive and have mercy on us, Master, and I will speak of You to everybody who comes here, to my house…» The man is on his knees.
Jesus says to him: «Stand up and persevere in your present sentiments. Take Me to your daughter.»
«She is in a stable, my Lord. The sultry weather makes her feel worse. And she will not come out.»
«It does not matter. I will go to her. It is not the sultry weather. It is the demon who perceives My coming.»
They go into the yard and then into a dark stable, followed by all the rest.
The girl, unkempt and lean, becomes agitated in the darkest corner and as soon as she sees Jesus, she shouts: «Back, go back! Do not disturb me. You are the Christ of the Lord, I am one struck by You. Leave me alone. Why do You always follow me?»
«Go out of this girl. Go. I want it. Give your prey back to God and be quiet!»
There is a heart-rending shout, a jerk, her body becomes flabby and collapses onto the straw… then she calmly, sadly asks questions expressing her amazement: «Where am I? Why am I here? Who are they?» and she invokes: «Mummy». The young girl becomes shy when she realises that she is without veil and with a torn dress in the presence of many strangers.
«Oh! Eternal Lord! But she is cured…» and strange to be seen the innkeeper weeps like a child and tears stream down his ruddy cheeks… He is happy and he weeps and does not know what to do, except kiss Jesus’ hands, while the mother of the girl also weeps, surrounded by her amazed little ones, and kisses her first-born now free from the demon.
All the people present shout in amazement and many more rush to see the miracle. The yard is full.
«Remain with us. Lord. It is getting dark. Rest under my roof.»
«Man, we are thirteen.»
«Even if you were three hundred it would not matter. I know what You mean. But the greedy dishonest Samuel is dead, Lord. Also my demon has fled. Now there is a new Samuel. And he will still be the innkeeper. But a holy one. Come, come with me, that I may pay you homage as a king, a god. Such as You are. Oh! blessed be the sun that brought You here today…»

Annotation

You mentioned John the Baptist. Well, I was with him, and it was he who pointed out Jesus as he was passing by, saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” ” When Jesus went down to the Jordan to be baptized, the heavens opened and a voice cried out: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” and the love of God descended in the form of a dove to shine upon his head. See EMV 45.

A young man from Nain was about to be lowered into the dreadful mouth of the tomb when Jesus commanded, “I say to you, arise!” and the young man came back to life. Nain is not at the end of the world. You can go and see for yourselves. See EMV 189.

He then recounts the miracle of the Gerasenes. See EMV 186 or the keyword “the possessed Gerasenes.”