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Virtues of the Virgin Mary

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Aa

GRM 1.3 · Volume 1

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

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.

GRM 4.6

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

In April the land of Palestine looked like a huge garden and the fragrance and colours delighted the hearts of men. But the most beautiful Rose was still unknown. She was already flowering to God in the secrecy of Her mother’s womb, because my Mother loved since She was conceived. But only when the vine gives its blood to make wine and the sweet strong smells fill the yards and the nostrils, She would smile to God first and then to the world, saying with Her most innocent smile: “Here, the Vine that will give you the Bunch of grapes to be squeezed in the winepress, so that it will become eternal Medicine for your disease, is amongst you”.

I said: “Mary loved since She was conceived!” What is it that gives light and knowledge to the soul? Grace. What is it that removes Grace? Original sin and the mortal one. Mary, the Immaculate, was never deprived of the remembrance of God, of His closeness, His love, His light, His wisdom. She was therefore able to understand and love when She was but flesh forming around an immaculate soul that continued to love.

GRM 6.7

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

« It is the eye that looks at God lovingly, whether it cries or laughs, and that for God’s sake fondles and forgives and bears everything, and by the love of God is rendered unassailable to the assaults of Evil, that so often makes use of the eye to penetrate the heart. It is the pure, restful, blessing eye that the pure, the saints, the lovers of God possess.

I said: “The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is cloudy, your whole body will be all darkness”. Saints possessed this eye which is the light for the soul and salvation for the flesh, because like Mary throughout their lives they looked only at God.

I will explain to you, My little voice, the meaning of My word.»

Detail

Jesus speaks of Mary, the saints and the blessed.

Annotation

Gospel of Matthew 6, 22-23

Mt 6, 22-23 : The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be in light; but if your eye is evil, your whole body will be in darkness. So if the light in you is darkness, how great will be the darkness!

Gospel of Luke 11, 34-35

Lk 11, 34-35 : The lamp of your body is your eye. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be in the light; if it is evil, your body too will be in darkness.

GRM 7.4

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

7.4 «Then I will pray [for the coming of the Messiah] and I shall be a virgin for this.»

«But do you know what that means?»

«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 a coral mouth to be loved and kissed and hear the words: “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… and maidservant. Oh! Yes. If I could only meet Her, by God’s light, I would like to serve Her, the Blessed One. And then, 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… »

Detail

Mary as a child and her mother talk about the Emmanuel who is to come, and Mary makes a firm decision.

Annotation

With her hands folded across her chest and her head slightly bent forward, carried away by emotion, she looks like a childlike reproduction of the Virgin of the Annunciation I've seen. Maria Valtorta lived in Florence after finishing school. It was there, moreover, that she was the victim of the attack that gradually left her bedridden. Maria Valtorta's remark is interesting from two points of view: firstly, because the Virgin Mary, in a catechesis on December 28, 1947, confirmed that this miraculous portrait is the closest thing to reality on earth. Secondly, because Maria Valtorta is buried in a cloister in this basilica. Maria Valtorta refers to it again in EMV 27.1.

GRM 7.5

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

« 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. He 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 I 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 onto 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 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”. »

Detail

Mary as a child has decided to be a virgin out of love for God, and she hopes to be the handmaid of the Mother of God. Then she adds:

Annotation

Can one be a sinner out of love for God? (...) How can he save me if I do not lose myself?

This paradoxical relationship between sin and grateful love for the Redeemer can be found in the Easter Exultet: Blessed is the sin of man, which brought the only Saviour to the world in distress!

Saint Paul also cultivates this paradox out of love for his brethren: I myself, for the Jews, my brethren by race, would wish to be anathema, separated from Christ (Romans 9:3).

GRM 8.7

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Mary had deserved that “Wisdom should precede Her and show Itself to Her first”, because “from the beginning of Her day She had watched at Its door, and wishing to be taught, out of love, She wanted to be pure to achieve perfect love and deserve to have Wisdom as Her teacher”.

In Her humility She did not know that She possessed Wisdom before being born and that the union with Wisdom was but the continuation of the divine pulsations of Paradise. She could not imagine that. And when God whispered sublime words to Her in the depths of Her heart, in Her humility She considered them thoughts of pride and raising Her innocent heart to God, She besought Him: “Lord, have mercy on Thy Servant!”

Oh! It is true that the True Wise Virgin, the Eternal Virgin, had only one thought from the dawn of Her day: to raise Her heart to God from the morning of life and to watch for the Lord, praying before the Most High, asking forgiveness for the weaknesses of Her heart, as Her humility convinced Her, and She was not aware that She was anticipating the request for forgiveness for sinners, which She would later make at the foot of the Cross, together with Her dying Son.

GRM 10.1-2

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

10.1 Only yesterday evening, Friday, I began to see. I saw nothing but a very young Mary, twelve years old at the most, Her face no longer roundish, as is typical of children, but already showing the future outlines of a woman in a perfect oval. Also Her hair is no longer falling loose on Her neck in soft curls, but it is plaited and two thick braids fall over Her shoulders down to Her waist. Her hair is a very pale gold colour, so light that it seems to be blended with silver. Her face is more pensive and mature, although it is the face of a young girl, a beautiful and pure girl, all dressed in white. She is sewing in a very small room, which is also completely white, and through the wide open window one can see the imposing central part of the Temple, the flights of steps of the yards and porches. Beyond the enclosure wall also the town can be seen with its streets, houses, gardens, and in the background the humped green top of the Mount of Olives.

Mary is sewing and singing in a low voice. I do not know whether it is a sacred song or not. It says:

«Like a star in clear water

a light is shining within My heart.

It has been with Me since My childhood

and it guides Me tenderly with love.

In the depths of My heart there is a song.

Where does it come from?

Man, you do not know.

It comes from where the Holy One rests.

I look at My clear star

And I do not want anything,

Not even the sweetest and dearest thing,

Except this sweet light that is all Mine.

You brought Me down from the Heavens above,

O star of Mine, into the womb of a mother,

Now You live in Me, but beyond the veil

I see Your glorious face, Father.

When will You grant Your servant the honour

Of being the humble maid of the Saviour?

Send us the Messiah from Heaven,

Accept, Holy Father, the offer of Mary.»

10.2 Mary is now quiet. She smiles and sighs, then She kneels down in prayer. Her little face is shining brightly. She is looking upwards, towards the clear blue summer sky and Her face seems to be absorbing and then radiating all the brightness in the air. Or rather, it looks as if from within Her a hidden sun is radiating its rays and lighting up Her face, colouring Her snow-white flesh with a light rosy hue. And the light from Her face spreads out towards the world and the sun shining on the world: a blessing and a promise of much good.

While Mary is getting up after Her prayer, with ecstatic brightness still on Her face, old Anna of Phanuel enters the room. She stands still, amazed or at least wondering at Mary’s attitude and appearance.

GRM 10.3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

10.3 «Were You praying? Are Your prayers never enough for You?»

«My prayers would be enough. But I speak to God. Anna, you cannot imagine how close I feel Him. More than close, within My heart. May God forgive Me for My pride. But I do not feel lonely. See? Over there, in that House of gold and snow, behind the double Curtain, there is the Holy of Holies. Nobody is ever allowed to look at the Propitiatory, on which the glory of the Lord rests, except the High Priest. But My worshipping soul does not need to look at the embroidered Curtain, which quivers at the songs of the virgins and Levites and is scented with precious incense, as if I wanted to pierce its fabric and see the Testimony shine through it. I do look at it! Do not think that I do not look at it with worshipping eyes like every son of Israel. Do not think that pride blinds Me making Me think what I will now tell you. I look at it and there is no humble servant amongst the people of God that looks more humbly at the House of the Lord than I do, because I am convinced that I am the least of all. But what do I see? A veil. What do I think there is behind the Veil? A Tabernacle. What is in it? If I listen to My heart, I see God shining in His loving glory and He says to Me: “I love You” and I reply to Him: “I love You” and I die and I am recreated at each beat of My heart in this mutual kiss… I am amongst you, My dear teachers and companions. But a circle of fire isolates Me from you. Within the circle, God and Myself. And I see you through the Fire of God and so I love you… but I cannot love you according to the flesh, neither shall I ever be able to love anyone according to the flesh, neither shall I ever be able to love anyone according to the flesh. I can only love Him Who loves Me, according to the spirit..

GRM 10.4

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

10.4 This is My destiny. The secular Law of Israel wants every girl to be a wife, and every wife to be a mother. But, while obeying the Law, I must obey the Voice that whispers to Me: “I want You”; I am a virgin and a virgin I shall remain, How shall I succeed? This sweet invisible Presence that is with Me will help Me, because it is Its desire. I am not afraid. I have no longer My father and mother… and only God knows how My love for whatever human being belonged to Me was burnt in that pain. Now I have but God. I therefore obey Him unquestioningly… I would have done so also regardless of My father and mother, because I have been taught by the Voice that whoever wishes to follow It, must go beyond father and mother. Parents are loving patrols watching the hearts of their children, whom they wish to lead to happiness according to their plans… and they are not aware of other plans leading to infinite happiness… I would have left them My dresses and mantles, to follow the Voice that says to Me: “Come, My beloved Spouse”. I would have left them everything, and the pearls of My tears, for I would have cried having to disobey them, and the instincts of My blood, because I would have defied even death to follow the Voice calling Me who, would have told them that there is something greater and sweeter than the love of a father and mother and that is the Voice of God. But now, by His will, I am free from this tie of filial love. In fact, it would not have been a tie. My parents were two just people and God certainly spoke to them as He speaks to Me. They would have followed justice and truth. When I think of them, I imagine them in the quiet expectation among the Patriarchs and I hasten with My sacrifice the coming of the Messiah to open for them the gates of Heaven. I am My own guide on earth, or rather God guides His poor servant giving Her His commands and I fulfil them because it is a joy for Me to obey. When the time comes, I will reveal My secret to the spouse… and he will accept it.»

«But, Mary… which words will You find to persuade him? You will have the love of a man, the Law and life against you.»

«I shall have God with Me… God will enlighten the heart of the spouse… life will lose the incentives of the senses and become a pure flower with the fragrance of charity.

Detail

In this passage, Mary speaks of her future husband, whom she does not yet know.

GRM 10.4

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

While obeying the Law, I must obey the Voice that whispers to Me: “I want You”; I am a virgin and a virgin I shall remain, How shall I succeed? This sweet invisible Presence that is with Me will help Me, because it is Its desire. I am not afraid. I have no longer My father and mother… and only God knows how My love for whatever human being belonged to Me was burnt in that pain. Now I have but God. I therefore obey Him unquestioningly… I would have done so also regardless of My father and mother, because I have been taught by the Voice that whoever wishes to follow It, must go beyond father and mother. Parents are loving patrols watching the hearts of their children, whom they wish to lead to happiness according to their plans… and they are not aware of other plans leading to infinite happiness… I would have left them My dresses and mantles, to follow the Voice that says to Me: “Come, My beloved Spouse”. I would have left them everything, and the pearls of My tears, for I would have cried having to disobey them, and the instincts of My blood, because I would have defied even death to follow the Voice calling Me who, would have told them that there is something greater and sweeter than the love of a father and mother and that is the Voice of God.

Detail

Mary spoke to Anne of Phanuel and said to her: