Skip to content

Notes for this keyword

Barthélémy - Nathanaël (apostle)

Theme: Jesus' entourage · Page 12 of 15

Reading comfort

Aa

GRM 193.1 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Jesus goes on His way towards Jerusalem along roads which are more and more crowded with pilgrims. A heavy shower during the night has made the road somewhat muddy, but, on the other hand, it has removed dust and made the air clearer. The fields look like gardens diligently tended by skilled men.

They all walk fast because they are well rested after a night’s sleep, and because the boy, with his new sandals, no longer suffers when walking: on the contrary, as he becomes more and more familiar, he chatters with this one and that one, and confidentially informs John that his father’s name was also John and his mother’s Mary, and that he therefore is very fond of John as well. «But» he concludes, «I love you all, and in the Temple I will pray so much for you and for the Lord Jesus.»

It is moving to see how this group of men, most of whom have no children, are so paternal and full of attention for the youngest of Jesus’ disciples. Even the countenance of the man from Endor softens when he forces the little one to swallow a beaten egg, or when he climbs up among the woods, which make the hills as well as the higher mountains green, to pick acidulous branches of shrubs or scented stems of wild fennel, which he takes to the boy to quench his thirst, without overburdening his stomach with water. He also draws his attention to the different aspects and sights of the country, which is split here by large valleys at the bottom of which run main roads, to take his mind off the length of the journey.

The old teacher of Cintium, ruined by human wickedness, revives because of this boy, a wretch like himself, and the wrinkles of misfortune and bitterness smooth into a gentle smile. Jabez is already less shabby looking, because of his new sandals, and his face is not so sad, because I do not know which hand of an apostle has erased every trace of the wild life the boy led for so many months, sorting his hair so far ruffled and dusty and now made soft and tidy by a good wash. The man from Endor is quite different too. He is still somewhat puzzled when he hears anyone call him John, but then he shakes his head and smiles pitying his bad memory. Day by day his countenance loses its habitual hardness and gains a gravity, which is quite serene. Of course these two wretched people, who are reviving through Jesus’ kindness, gravitate towards the Master in their love. Their companions are dear, but Jesus… When He looks at them or speaks just to them, the expression on their faces is a most happy one.

Detail

The relationship between the Twelve and Jean d'Endor and the child Marziam.

GRM 193.2 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

They stop for a meal and then resume the journey towards Jerusalem. But it must have rained heavily or the area is rich in underground water, because the meadows look like a marsh owing to the water that glitters among the thick grass and rises lapping on the banked road, which, however, is still very muddy. The adults pull their tunics up to prevent them from becoming soiled with mud, and Judas Thaddeus puts the boy on his shoulders to let him rest and to cross more quickly the flooded and perhaps unhealthy area.

Daylight is beginning to fade when, after walking along the edge of other hills and crossing a dry rocky valley, they enter a village situated on a raised rocky embankment. They push their way through the crowd of pilgrims and look for accommodation in a very rural type hotel: a large shed under which is spread much straw and nothing else. Small lamps lit here and there shed a glow on the supper of the pilgrim families, poor families, like the apostolic one, because most of the rich people have put up tents outside the village, disdaining contact with either the local people or the poor pilgrims.

Night and silence fall… The first to fall asleep is the boy, who, tired as he is, lays his head on the lap of Peter, who lays him on the straw and covers him carefully.

Jesus gathers the adults in prayer and then each throws himself on the straw to rest after the long journey.

GRM 193.3 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

The day after: the apostolic group that left in the morning is about to enter Shechem in the evening, having passed through Samaria, a beautiful town, surrounded by walls, adorned with splendid imposing buildings, around which are grouped some lovely tidy houses. I am under the impression that the town, like Tiberias, has been recently rebuilt with systems borrowed from Rome. Outside the walls, around the town, the land is very fruitful and well cultivated.

GRM 195.1-3 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

It is raining and Peter seems to me the opposite of Aeneas, because instead of carrying his father, he has little Jabez on his shoulders, completely covered by Peter’s large mantle. The boy’s little head emerges above the grey-haired head of Peter, who, with the boy’s arms around his neck, dabbles in the puddles, laughing wholeheartedly.

«We might have been spared all this» grumbles the Iscariot, who is irritable because of the water pouring from the sky and splashing his clothes with mud.

«Eh! Many things could be spared!» replies John of Endor, staring at handsome Judas with his one good eye, which I think can see as well as two.

«What do you mean?»

«I mean that it is useless to expect the elements to have consideration for us, when we have none for our neighbour, and concerning matters that are by far more important than a few drops of water or a splash of mud.»

«That is true. But I like to be tidy and clean when I go to town. I have many friends there, and high up.»

«Then watch that you do not fall.»

«Are you teasing me?»

«Nooooh! But I am an old teacher and… an old pupil. I have been learning since I was born. First I learned to vegetate, then I observed life, then I became acquainted with the bitterness of life, I practised a useless justice, the justice of “man alone” against God and society. God punished me with remorse, society with fetters, so, after all, I was the victim of justice. At last, now, I have learned, I am learning how “to live”. Now, since I am a teacher and a pupil, you will realise that it is natural for me to repeat the lessons.»

«But I am an apostle…»

«And I am a poor wretch, I know, and I should never take the liberty of teaching you. But, see, you never know what one may become. I thought I was going to die an honest and respected teacher in Cyprus and I became a murderer and a convict serving a life sentence. But when I raised a knife to take vengeance, and when I was dragging the fetters hating the universe, if anyone told me that I was to become a disciple of the Holy One, I would have doubted whether his mind was sound. And yet… Here I am! So, I may be able to give a good lesson also to you, an apostle. Because of my experience. Not because of my holiness, I would not dream of it.»

«That Roman was right in calling you Diogenes.»

«Of course. But Diogenes was looking for a man and could not find one. I, luckier than he, found a snake where I thought there was a woman, and an adulterer where I thought I saw a friendly man, but after wandering about for many years, as I became insane through such experience, I have found the Man, the Holy One.»

«I know no other wisdom but Israel’s.»

«If that is so, you already have the means for salvation. But now you have also the science, or rather the wisdom of God.»

«It is the same thing.»

«Oh! no! It is like a foggy day compared to a sunny day.»

«Well! Are you anxious to teach me? I don’t feel like it.»

«Let me speak! Once, I used to speak to children: they were absent-minded. Then I spoke to shadows, they cursed me. Then to chickens: they were better, far better than the first two groups. Now I speak to myself, as I am not yet able to speak to God. Why do you want to stop me? I have but one eye, the mines ruined my life, I have suffered from heart trouble for years. At least let my mind be fruitful.»

«Jesus is God.»

«I know, and I believe it. More than you do. Because I have revived through His work, you have not. No matter how good He is, He is still God, and I, a poor wretch dare not treat Him with familiarity as you do. My soul speaks to Him… my lips dare not. My soul does, and I think that He perceives it weeping out of gratitude and repentant love.»

195.2

«That is true, John. I do perceive your soul.» Jesus comes into the conversation of the two. Judas blushes with shame, the man of Endor with joy. «I perceive your soul, that is true. And I perceive also the work of your mind. What you said is correct. When you have been formed in Me, your experience as a teacher and a diligent pupil will be of great help to you. Speak, do speak, also to yourself.»

«Once, Master, not long ago, you told me that it is wrong to speak to one’s ego» remarks Judas insolently.

«That is true, I did[1]. But that was because you were grumbling with your ego. This man is not grumbling, he is meditating, and for a good purpose. He is not doing anything wrong.»

«In brief, I am wrong!» Judas is aggressive.

«No, your heart is impatient. But the weather cannot be always good. Farmers want rain. It is charity to pray that it may rain. And this is also charity. But look, there is a beautiful rainbow forming an arch from Ataroth to Ramah. We are already beyond Ataroth, we have passed the large sad valley, and here the country is cultivated and pleasant under the sun, which is breaking through the clouds. When we are in Ramah we shall be thirty-six stadia from Jerusalem. We shall see the Holy City again after that hill, which is the place of the horrid lewd crime committed by the men of Gibeah[2]. What a terrible thing is the concupiscence of the flesh, Judas…»

Judas does not reply, instead he delays splashing angrily in the puddles.

195.3

«What’s the matter with him, today?» asks Bartholomew.

«Be quiet, lest Simon of Jonah should hear you. Let us avoid all arguments… and do not let us upset Simon. He is so happy with his boy!»

«Yes, Master. But it is not right. I will tell him.»

«He is young, Nathanael. You were young, too…»

«Yes… but… he should not be lacking in respect towards You!» He raises his voice without wishing to do so.

Peter rushes towards them: «What’s the matter? Who is lacking in respect? The new disciple?» and he looks at John of Endor, who has discreetly withdrawn when he understood that Jesus was correcting the apostle and is now speaking to James of Alphaeus and Simon Zealot.

«Not in the least. He is as respectful as a young girl.»

«Oh! Good! Otherwise… his only eye was in danger. Well… it must be Judas!…»

«Listen, Simon, could you not busy yourself with your little friend? You took him away from Me, and now you want to become engaged in a friendly conversation I am having with Nathanael. Do you not think that you want to do too many things?»

Jesus smiles so gently that Peter becomes uncertain about his own thoughts. He looks at Bartholomew… who, however, has raised his aquiline face and is scanning the sky… Peter’s suspicion fades away.

Peter’s attention is completely diverted by the apparition of the Holy City, which is now near and is visible in all the beauty of hills, olive-groves, houses, and above all of the Temple, a sight which must always have been a source of emotion and pride for Israelites.

Detail

Barthélémy and Pierre intervene more in EMV 195.3, following what happens in EMV 195.1-2.

Annotation

- That Roman is right to call you Diogenes. In 192.6.

- It's true, I said it. In EMV 183.1.

When we get to Ramah, we'll be thirty-six furlongs from Jerusalem. 36 x 185 m = 6.6 km.

Gibeah or Guibeah: In the days of the judges, an old man invited a Levite from Ephraim and his concubine to lodge with him for the night. Shortly afterwards, men from Gibeah, scoundrels, surrounded the house, demanding that the Levite be handed over to them so they could have relations with him. The old man offered them his daughter, but they refused. The Levite gave them his concubine. They abused her all night, so much so that she died in the morning. Pieces of her body were sent to the tribes of Israel as a token of infamy (Judges 19:15-30). As the tribe of Benjamin sided with the guilty men of Gibeah, the other tribes waged war against them. Twice, they suffered heavy losses before finally defeating the Benjaminites and delivering Gibeah to the fire (Judges 20).

GRM 195.3-4 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Peter’s attention is completely diverted by the apparition of the Holy City, which is now near and is visible in all the beauty of hills, olive-groves, houses, and above all of the Temple, a sight which must always have been a source of emotion and pride for Israelites. The warm April sun of Judaea has soon dried up the slabstones of the consular road. Puddles of water have disappeared completely. The apostles are tidying themselves on the side of the road, they let down the tunics which they had pulled up, they wash their muddy feet in a clear stream, they tidy their hair and drape their mantles. Also Jesus does that. I see them all doing it.

195.4

The entrance into Jerusalem must have been an important matter. To present oneself at the walls on these feast-days was like presenting oneself to a sovereign. The Holy City was the «real» queen of Israelites. I realise that this year, because I can notice the crowds and their behaviour on the consular road. The processions of the various families form here, the women in one group, the men in another, the children in either, but all very serious and serene at the same time. Some fold up their old mantles and pull out a new one from their travelling bags, or change sandals. Their gait then becomes solemn, it is already hieratic. In each group there is a soloist who gives the tone, and the hymns, the glorious old hymns of David, are intoned. And people look at one another more lovingly, as if they had been pacified by the sight of the House of the Lord and they look at the Holy House, a huge cube of marble surmounted by golden domes, placed like a pearl in the centre of the imposing enclosure of the Temple.

The apostolic procession is formed as follows: Jesus and Peter in front, with the boy between them; behind them Simon, the Iscariot and John; then Andrew, who has forced John of Endor to stay between him and James of Zebedee; in the fourth row the two cousins of the Lord and Matthew; last Thomas, Philip and Bartholomew. It is Jesus Who intones in His beautiful powerful voice of a light baritone, a mellow voice with refined tenor vibrations, and Judas Iscariot, a pure tenor, answers together with John, with his limpid voice typical of young people, the two baritone voices of Jesus’ cousins and the almost bass voice of Thomas, whose baritone voice is so deep that it can hardly be classifed as such. The others, who are not gifted with such beautiful voices, follow the chorus of the virtuosi singing in low voices. (The psalms are the known ones, called gradual psalms[3]). Little Jabez, the voice of an angel among the strong voices of men, sings very well, probably because he knows Psalm 121 better than the others: «How I rejoiced when they said to me: “We shall go to the house of the Lord”.» His little face, which only a few days ago was so sad, is now bright with joy.

The walls are now close at hand. Here is the Gate of the Fish. And the overcrowded streets.

They go straight to the Temple to say the first prayer. And then peace in the peace of Gethsemane, then supper and rest.

The journey towards Jerusalem is over.

Detail

Peter is distracted by the appearance of the Holy City.

Annotation

The psalms are the well-known psalms, known as graduals. These are Ps 120 to 134, also known as "canticles of ascent", according to the new numbering. Ps 121, quoted below, has become Ps 122.

Additional note from maria-valtorta.org:

THE 15 GRADUALS: are Psalms 119 (Hebrew 120) to 133 (Hebrew 134), also known as CANTIQUES DES MONTÉES. They were sung on the three pilgrimage feasts by pilgrims or priests on the fifteen steps leading up to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Little Yabeç, with his angelic voice amidst the robust voices of men, sings Psalm 121 very well - because he perhaps knows it better than the others: "I rejoiced because it was said to me, 'We will go to the house of the Lord. " Psalm 121 (Hebrew 122): 'How glad I was when it was said to me, "We will go to the house of the Lord!" ...

This is the Pisces Gate. North of Jerusalem, right next to the Temple.

GRM 196.2-9 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Jesus is walking up and down watching Jabez who is playing with John and the younger ones. Also the Iscariot, who has got out of yesterday’s huff is cheerful and plays. The elder ones watch and smile.

«What will Your Mother say of this child?» asks Bartholomew.

«I think She will say: “He is very thin”» says Thomas.

«Oh! no! She will say: “Poor child!”» replies Peter.

«Instead She will say to You: “I am glad that You love him”» objects Philip.

«His Mother would never have doubted it. But I don’t think She will say anything. She will press him to Her heart» says the Zealot.

«And You, Master, what do You think She will say?»

«She will do what you said. She will think many things, or rather, all of them, and will say them in Her heart, and when kissing him She will only say: “May you be blessed” and She will take care of him as if he were a little bird fallen from its nest.

196.3

One day, listen, She told Me of when She was a little girl. She was not yet three years old because She was not yet in the Temple, and Her heart was full of love, emanating, like flowers and olives pressed and crushed in a mill, all Her oils and perfumes. And in a rapture of love She said to Her mother that She wanted to be a virgin to please the Saviour more, but that She would have liked to be a sinner in order to be saved, and She almost wept, because Her mother could not understand Her and could not tell Her how it is possible to be “pure” and a “sinner” at the same time. Her father satisfied Her by bringing her a little sparrow, which he had saved when it was about to be drowned on the edge of a fountain. He explained the parable of the little bird[1], saying that God had saved her in advance and therefore She was to bless Him twice. And the little Virgin of God, the Most Great Virgin Mary, practised Her first spiritual maternity on behalf of the little bird, which She let free when it was strong enough. But the bird never left the kitchen garden in Nazareth where, flying and twittering, it comforted the sad house and the broken hearts of Anne and Joachim, when Mary was in the Temple. It died shortly before Anne breathed her last breath… It had fulfilled its duty…

196.4

My Mother had dedicated Herself to virginity for love. But, since She was a perfect creature, maternity was in Her blood and spirit. Because woman is created to be a mother and it is an aberration, if she is deaf to such sentiment, which is love of second power…»

Also the others have come near slowly.

«What do You mean, Master, by love of second power?» asks Judas Thaddeus.

«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 also give 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 love – 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.»

196.5

«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 out of 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 that will know neither profanation nor destruction forever.

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. He 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 immense from an immense height: God… But I will take you by the hand and lead you to the sources. I know where they are…»

196.6

«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 it is not love. They are the negation of love. They deny God, they deny man. It cannot be love because it is negation and Negation is Hatred.»

«If I deny consent to evil, is that Hatred?» asks Judas Iscariot once again.

«Poor me! You are more captious than a scribe! Can you tell me what is the matter with you? Is the rarified air of Judaea affecting your nerves like a cramp?» exclaims Peter.

«No. I like to learn and to have many clear ideas. It is quite possible we may have to speak to scribes and I do not want to be short of arguments…»

«And do you think that in the moment of need you will be able to pull out the colour required from the sack where you stock all the rags?» asks Peter.

«Rags the words of the Master? You are swearing?»

«Don’t pretend you are scandalized. They are not rags in His mouth; but once they have been mishandled by us they become rags. Try and give a piece of precious byssus to a boy… It will soon become a dirty torn rag. And that is what happens to us. Now if you expect to fish at the right moment the little rag you need, what with the rag, and what with its dirt… uhm! I do not know what you will be up to.»

«Don’t worry. That is my business.»

«Oh! You may be sure that I will not worry! I have enough problems of my own. And then… ! I am happy providing you cause no harm to the Master. Because, in that case, I would also mind your business…»

«You can do that when I do something wrong. But that will never happen, because I know how to behave… I am not ignorant…»

«Instead I am, I know. And because I am, I do not stock any ballast, to flaunt it later, at the right moment. But I implore God and God will help me for the sake of His Messiah, of Whom I am the least and most faithful servant.»

«We are all faithful» replies Judas haughtily.

«Oh! You are bad! Why do you offend my father? He is old and he is good. You must not do that. You are bad and you frighten me» says Jabez with stern countenance, after being silent and listening carefully.

«And that makes two!» whispers James of Zebedee in a low voice, touching Andrew with his elbow.

Although he has spoken in a low voice, the Iscariot hears him.

«You can see, Master, whether the words of the silly boy of Magdala have left a trace» says Judas raging with anger.

196.7

«Would it not be more pleasant to continue listening to the lesson of the Master, instead of behaving like angry kids?» asks peaceful Thomas.

«Of course, Master. Tell us more about Your Mother. Her childhood is so bright! The very reflection of that brilliance makes our souls pure, and I, a poor sinner, need that light so badly!» exclaims Matthew.

«What shall I tell you? There are so many episodes, one more touching than the other…»

«Did She tell You about them?»

«Yes, some. But Joseph told Me many more, as the most beautiful stories he could tell a child, and also Alphaeus of Sarah, who was a few years older than My Mother, and was Her friend during the short period She was at Nazareth…»

«Oh! Please, tell us…» begs John.

They are all sitting in a circle in the shade of the olive-trees, with Jabez in the centre staring at Jesus as if he were listening to a heavenly tale.

«I will tell you about the lesson on chastity that My Mother gave Her little friend and many more people a few days before entering the Temple. A girl in Nazareth, a relative of Sarah’s, got married on that day and also Joachim and Anne had been invited to the wedding. Little Mary went with them and with other children She was to spread loose flower petals on the bride’s way. They say that She was most beautiful, as a child, and everybody contended for Her after the joyful arrival of the bride. It was not easy to see Mary every day, as She lived mostly at home, where She loved a little grotto more than any other place, and even nowadays She calls it “the grotto of Her nuptials”. So when She appeared outside, fair-haired, rosy and kind, She was overwhelmed by caresses. They used to call Her “the Flower of Nazareth” or “the Pearl of Galilee” or also “the Peace of God” in remembrance of a huge rainbow, which suddenly appeared as soon as She was born. She was in fact all that, and much more. She is the Flower of Heaven and of creation, the Pearl of Paradise and the Peace of God… Yes, the Peace of God. I am the Peaceful One because I am the Son of the Father and the Son of Mary: the Infinite Peace and the sweet Peace. On that day everybody wanted to kiss Her and take Her on their laps. And as She was averse to being kissed and touched, She said with kind seriousness: “Please, do not rumple Me”. They thought She was talking of Her linen dress, held tight to Her waist, to Her wrists and neck by a blue band, or of Her little wreath of blue flowers, with which Anne had adorned Her head to keep Her light curls in place, and they assured Her that they would not crease Her dress or the wreath. But, sure of Herself, a little three year old woman standing in the middle of a circle of adults, She said seriously: “I am not thinking of what can be mended. I am speaking of My soul. It belongs to God. And it does not wish to be touched but by God”. They objected: “But we are kissing You, not Your soul”. She replied: “My body is the temple of My soul and the Spirit is its priest. People are not allowed to enter the enclosure of priests. Please, do not enter the enclosure of God”. Alphaeus, who was then about eight years old and was very fond of Her, was greatly impressed by that reply and the following day, seeing Her near Her little grotto, he asked Her: “Mary, when You are grown up, would You marry me?”. He was still under the excitement of the nuptial feast at which he had been present. And She answered: “I am very fond of you. But I do not see you as a man. I will tell you a secret. I see only the soul of a living being. And I love it so much, with all My heart. But I see only God as the ‘True Living Being’ to Whom I will be able to give Myself”. That is one of the episodes.»

«The True Living Being”!!! That is a very deep word!» exclaims Bartholomew.

And Jesus, humbly and smiling replies: «She was the Mother of Wisdom.»

«Was She?… But was She not three years old?»

«She was. I already lived in Her, as God was in Her, in His most perfect Unity and Trinity, since She was conceived.»

196.8

«Excuse me if I, a sinner, dare speak, but did Joachim and Anne know that She was the chosen Virgin?» asks Judas Iscariot.

«No, they did not know.»

«In that case, how could Joachim say that God had saved Her in advance? Does that not refer to Her privilege over sin?»

«Yes, it does. But Joachim spoke inspired by God, like all the prophets. He himself did not understand the sublime supernatural truth that the Spirit spoke through his lips. Because Joachim was just. So just as to deserve that paternity. And he was humble. There is no justice where there is pride. He was just and humble. He comforted his Daughter out of fatherly love. He taught her through his wisdom of a priest, as he was such as a guardian of the Ark of God. As a Pontiff he consecrated Her with the sweetest title: “The Immaculate One”. And the day will come when another grey haired Pontiff will say to the world: “She is the Immaculate Conception” and will give this truth to the world of believers, as a dogma which cannot be rejected, so that the Most Beautiful Virgin of God, crowned with stars, clad with the rays of the moon, which are not so pure as She is, brighter than all stars, the Queen of Creation and of God, may shine, fully revealed, in the world which in those days will be sinking deeper and deeper in the grey fog of heresies and vices. Because God-King has as His Queen, in His Kingdom, Mary.»

«So Joachim was a prophet?»

«He was a just man. His soul repeated like an echo what God said to his soul which was loved by God.»

196.9

«When are we going to this Mother, my Lord?» asks Jabez with eager eyes.

«This evening. What will you say to Her when you see Her?»

«“I greet You, Mother of the Saviour”. Is that all right?»

«Very good» confirms Jesus caressing him.

«But are we going to the Temple today?» asks Philip.

«We shall go there before leaving for Bethany. And you will stay here and be a good boy. Will you not?»

«Yes, my Lord.»

The wife of Jonah, the caretaker of the olive-grove, who has come near very quietly says: «Why don’t you take him. The boy is anxious to come…»

Jesus stares at her without saying anything.

The woman understands and says: «I see! I should still have a little mantle belonging to Mark. I will look for it» and she runs away.

Jabez pulls John’s sleeve: «Will the teachers be severe?»

«Oh! no. Don’t be afraid. In any case it is not today. In a few days’ time, with His Mother, you will be more learned than a doctor» John comforts him.

The others hear and smile at Jabez’ concern.

«But who will present him as if he were his father?» asks Matthew.

«Of course I will! Unless… the Master wishes to present him» says Peter.

«No, Simon. I will not present him. I leave that honour to you.»

«Thank You, Master. But… You will be there, too?»

«Certainly. We shall all be there. He is “our” boy…»

Mary of Jonah comes back with a dark violet mantle, which is still good. But what a colour! She says so herself: «Mark never wanted to wear it because he did not like the colour.»

No wonder! It is vile! And poor Jabez with his olive complexion looks ghastly in the violent violet colour. But he cannot see himself… and he is therefore happy to have the mantle in which he can drape himself like an adult.

«The meal is ready, Master. The woman has taken the lamb off the spit just now.»

«Let us go, then.»

And going down from the place where they were, they go into the large kitchen for their meal.

Annotation

He told her the parable of the little bird: See the paradox of the "sinner for love" expressed by the Sinless One and the parable of the little bird: see EMV 7.5.

He is He who is, i.e. the All; and man is the nothing who becomes a part of the All thanks to the soul infused into him by the Eternal. "Part" has been corrected (according to the explanation given in the note to EMV 167.9) to "participant" on a typed copy; it adds at the bottom of the page: "If the soul knows how to remain in a state of grace, thus deified, not by identity of substance, but by elevation to the supernatural order. "

EMV 167 note: "Parcel of God" seems to have been changed to parcel born of God by an unclear correction by Maria Valtorta on a typed copy, on which she added the following note: "The word parcel should not be given the meaning of "part of God" infused into us, but of "throne-place", "seat" infused or "spirited" (by the "breath of life" spoken of in Genesis 2:7) by God, hence thing of God come from God in man. St. Thomas Aquinas calls it "a capacity of God" that God fills with himself, so that we may all participate in his divine life."

This explanation by Maria Valtorta (and the text ofEMV 10.9) should be borne in mind whenever the work speaks of the soul as a "part" or "particle" of God.

Link it to the notes in EMV 4.6, EMV 54.5, EMV 165.4, EMV 170.4, EMV 365.16, EMV 444.4, EMV 463.4, EMV 524.7, EMV 537.11.

"Grow and multiply, and fill the earth... "According to Genesis 1:28.

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 God's children: supernaturally. "Supernaturally": Maria Valtorta notes on a typed copy: without the disorder of malice uniting or even "substituting itself" for God's ordered laws, inherent in the multiplication and population of the earth. She adds in the margin: As long as man remained in this order, the venom of the triple concupiscence that made him delirious, then rebellious, finally fallen, was not born in him.

Man felt the love of a father for his companion "bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh", as a child is for a father. According to Genesis 2:23.

"A man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. "According to Genesis 2, 24.

Book of Genesis 1, 28

Gn 1, 28 : And God blessed them, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

Book of Genesis 2, 23-24

Gn 2, 23-24 : And the man said: "This one is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh! This one shall be called woman, because she was taken from man." Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.