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Reading comfort
GRM 22.12
I was not afraid that I would not have time. God is the master of time. He provides for those who hope in Him, also in normal things. Selfishness does not speed matters up, it delays them. Charity does not delay, it speeds up. Always bear that in mind.
During her stay in Hebron, Mary worked for Elizabeth before working for herself. She tells Maria:
GRM 59.4
Repent with a firm will, that will make you change your ways of living and return to the Law of the Lord. The Kingdom of Heaven is waiting for you. Tomorrow.
Tomorrow? you may ask. Oh! the hour of God is always an early morrow, even when it comes at the end of a life as long as the Patriarchs’. Eternity does not use as a measure of time the slow flowing of a sandglass. And the measures of time which you call days, months, years, centuries are but heartbeats of the Eternal Spirit that keeps you alive. But your souls are eternal and you must adopt the same measure of time for your souls as your Creator does. You must, therefore, say: “Tomorrow will be the day of my death”. No, not death for the faithful. But rest of expectation, waiting for the Messiah to open the gates of Heaven.
GRM 83.2
«Is pain not always evil?»
«No, My friend, It is evil from a human point of view, but from a supernatural one it is good. It increases the merits of just people, who accept it without despairing or rebelling and they offer it, as they offer themselves with resignation, as a sacrifice to expiate their own imperfections and the faults of the world, and it is a redemption for those who are not good.»
«It is so difficult to suffer!» says the farmer, who has been joined by his relatives, about ten people in all, adults and children.
«I know that man finds it difficult. And knowing that he would find it so difficult, the Father had not given His children any sorrow. It came due to sin. But how long does sorrow last on the earth? In the life of a man? A short time. It is always short, even if it lasts a whole lifetime. Now I say: is it not better to suffer for a short time rather than forever? Is it not better to suffer here than in Purgatory? Consider that time there is multiplied one thousand fold. Oh! I solemnly tell you: you ought not to curse pain, but bless it, and you should call it “grace” and “mercy”.
GRM 113.5
Translation in progress
GRM 147.1
Translation in progress
GRM 166.10
Translation in progress
GRM 172.7
Translation in progress
GRM 180.5 · Volume 3
You are granted much more, because as My disciples, you must be acquainted with the mystery; and you are therefore given to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. That is why I say to you: “Ask Me if you do not understand the spirit of the parable”. You give everything and everything is given to you, that you, in your turn, may give everything. You are giving everything to God: love, time, interests, freedom, lives. And God gives you everything to reward you and to enable you to give everything in the name of God to those who come after you. Thus, to him who has given will be given abundantly. But he who gave only partly or did not give at all, will be deprived also of what he has.
Gospel of Matthew 13, 10-12
Mt 13, 10-12 : The disciples came to Jesus and asked him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" He answered, "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but not to these. To the one who has, it will be given, and he will be in abundance; to the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away."
Gospel of Matthew 25, 29
Mt 25, 29 : To him who has, more will be given, and he will have plenty; but to him who has nothing, even that which he has will be taken away.
Gospel of Mark 4, 25
Mk 4, 25 : For to him who has will be given; but to him who has not, even that which he has will be taken away.
Gospel of Luke 8, 18
Lk 8, 18 : "Therefore be careful how you listen; for to him who has, it will be given; and to him who does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away."
Gospel of Luke 19, 26
Lk 19:26: "I tell you, to the one who has, it will be given; but to the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away."
GRM 211.3 · Volume 3
As repentance cancels sin, so the present deletes the past.
GRM 216.1 · Volume 3
The sun is blazing down on the countryside and is scorching the ripe corn drawing a scent from it, which reminds one of the smell of bread. There is a vague smell in the air, the smell of sunshine, of laundry, of crops, of summer.
Because every season, I could say every month, and even every hour of the day has its smell, as each place has its own, if one has sharp senses and a keen spirit of observation. The smell of a winter day with a biting cold wind is quite different from the mellow smell of a foggy winter day, or of a snowy one. And how different is the smell of springtime that comes and announces itself by means of a scent, which is not a scent, and is very different from the smell of winter. One gets up in the morning and the air has a different smell: the first breath of springtime. And so forth for the smell of orchards in blossom, of gardens, of corn, down to the warm smell of vintage and then, in the middle, the smell of earth after a storm…
And what about the hours? It would be foolish to say that the smell of dawn is like that of noon, or that the latter is like that of the evening or night. The first is fresh and virginal, the second is pleasant and jolly, the third is tired and saturated with all the smells exhaled by everything during the day; the last one, the night one, is calm and cosy, as if the Earth were a huge cradle taking in its little ones to rest.
And what about places? Oh! the smell of a seashore is so different at dawn and in the evening, at noon and at night, when the sea is stormy or calm, if the beach is pebbly or sandy! And the smell of seaweed, which appears after tides, and the sea seems to have opened its bowels to let us breathe the stench of its depths. That smell is so different from that of inland plains, which differs from that of hilly places, which is different from the smell of high mountains.
Such is the infinity of the Creator Who impressed a sign of light, or colour, or scent, or sound, or shape, or height on each of the infinite things that He created. O infinite beauty of the Universe, I now only see you through the visions and the remembrance of what I saw, loving God and praying Him through His works and the joy I felt watching them, how vast, mighty, inexhaustible and ever fresh you are. You are never tired and never tire anyone. On the contrary, man is renewed watching you, o Universe of my Lord, he becomes better and purer, he is elevated and he forgets… Oh! I wish I could always contemplate you and forget the inferior part of men, loving in and for their souls and leading them to God! And so, following Jesus, Who is going with His apostles across this plain full of crops, I digress once again allowing myself to be carried away by the joy of speaking of my God through His magnificent works. That is love, too, because one praises what one loves in a person or simply praises the person one loves. The same applies to creature and Creator. He who loves Him, praises Him, and the more one loves Him the more one praises Him for Himself and for His works. But I will now order my heart to be silent and I will follow Jesus, not as a worshipper, but as a faithful chronicler.
Maria Valtorta praises the Creator through Creation.