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Old Testament

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GRM 194.4-5 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«You said that God does not walk and does not move His arms. How did He create then? What is He like? A statue?»
«He is not an idol: He is God. And God is… God is… let me think and remember what my mother said, and even better than she did, that man who, in Your name goes to visit the poor people at Esdraelon… My mother used to say, to make me understand God: “God is like my love for you. It has no body, but it exists”. And that little man, but with such a gentle smile, would say: “God is an Eternal Spirit, One and Triune, and the Second Person became flesh for the sake of us, poor people, and His name is… “ Oh! My Lord! Now that I think of it… it’s You!» The child, dumbfounded, prostrates himself on the ground adoring.
They all run thinking that he has fallen, but Jesus with His finger on His lips beckons them to be silent and then says: «Stand up, Jabez. Children must not be afraid of Me!»
The boy looks up reverently and looks at Jesus with a changed expression, almost of fear.
But Jesus smiles and stretches out His hand saying: «You are a wise little Israelite.
194.5
Let us continue the examination. Now that you have recognised Me, do you know whether the Book mentions Me?»
«Oh! Yes, Lord. From the beginning to now. Everything speaks of You. You are the promised Saviour. Now I understand why You will open the gates of Limbo. Oh! Lord! Lord! And do You love me so much?»
«Yes, Jabez.»
«No, no longer Jabez. Give me a new name that means that You loved me and saved me…»
«I will choose a name together with My Mother. All right?»
«But a name that means just that. And I will have it as from the day I become a son of the Law.»
«You will have it as from that day.»
They pass Bethel and rest in a little cool valley, rich in water, to take some food. Jabez is half stunned by the revelation and eats in silence, accepting with veneration every mouthful that Jesus hands to him. But he slowly takes heart again, and after playing happily on the green grass with John while the others are resting, he goes back to Jesus together with his smiling friend John, and the three chat together.
«You did not tell Me who speaks of Me in the Book.»
«The Prophets, Lord. And even before, the Book speaks of You when Adam was expelled, and… then to Jacob, Abraham and Moses… Oh!… My father told me that he went to John — not this one other John, the one of the Jordan — and he, the great Prophet, called You the Lamb… Oh! Now I understand the lamb of Moses… You are Passover!»
John teases him: «But which Prophet spoke best of Him?»
«Isaiah and Daniel. But I…I like Daniel more, now that I love You as my father. Can I say that? That I love You as I loved my father? Yes? Well, now I prefer Daniel.»
«Why? Who speaks most of the Christ is Isaiah.»
«Yes, but he speaks of the sorrows of the Christ. Daniel instead speaks of the beautiful angel and of Your coming. It is true… he also says that Christ will be sacrificed. But I think that the Lamb will be sacrificed with one single blow. Not as Isaiah and David say. I always wept when my mother read them and she did not read them anymore.» He is almost weeping even now while caressing Jesus’ hand.
«Forget about it for the time being. Listen. Do you know the precepts?»
«Yes, my Lord. I think I know them. I used to repeat them when I was in the wood, so that I would not forget them, also because I wanted to hear the words of my mother and my father. But now I will not weep anymore (tears, however, are shining in his eyes) because I have You.»
John smiles and embraces Jesus saying: «The same words as mine! All those who are children in their hearts speak the same language.»
«Yes. Because their words come from one wisdom only.»

Detail

Jesus talks to a child he has taken in. He has to pass his majority exam at the Temple, so Christ questions the boy.

Keywords

GRM 194.5 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«You did not tell Me who speaks of Me in the Book.»
«The Prophets, Lord. And even before, the Book speaks of You when Adam was expelled, and… then to Jacob, Abraham and Moses… Oh!… My father told me that he went to John — not this one other John, the one of the Jordan — and he, the great Prophet, called You the Lamb… Oh! Now I understand the lamb of Moses… You are Passover!»

Keywords

GRM 195.2-3 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«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. 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. What a terrible thing is the concupiscence of the flesh, Judas…»
Judas does not reply, instead he delays splashing angrily in the puddles.

Detail

Judas speaks to John of Endor.

Annotation

- That's right, I said it. In EMV 183.1.

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 went to war with them. Twice, they suffered heavy losses before finally defeating the Benjaminites and delivering Gibeah to the fire (Judges 20).

Judges 19, 10-30

Jg 19, 10-30 : The husband did not consent to spend the night; he got up and left. He came as far as Jebus, which is Jerusalem, with the two pack donkeys and his concubine. By the time they were near Jebus, it was very dark. So the servant said to his master, "Come, please, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and spend the night there." His master replied, "We will not turn aside to a foreign city, where there are no children of Israel; we will go as far as Gibeah." again he said to his servant, "Come, let us try to reach one of these places to spend the night, either Gibeah or Ramah." They walked on, and the sun set when they were near Gabaa, which belongs to Benjamin. They turned this way, to spend the night at Gabaa.

When the Levite entered, he stopped in the town square, and there was no one to receive them into his house to spend the night. 16But, behold, an old man returned in the evening from working in the field; he was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, who sojourned in Gibeah, and the people of the place were Benjamites. When he looked up, he saw the traveler in the town square, and the old man said, "Where are you going and from where have you come?" He replied, "We are going from Bethlehem of Judah to the end of the mountain of Ephraim, where I come from. I had been to Bethlehem of Judah, and now I am going to Yahweh's house, and there is no one to receive me in his house. However, we have straw and fodder for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, for your maid and for the young man who is with your servants; we lack nothing." The old man said, "Peace be with you! Only I will provide for all your needs; but don't spend the night in the square." He let him into his house, and gave fodder to the donkeys; the travelers washed their feet, then ate and drank.

While they were gladdening their hearts, behold, men from the city, perverse people, surrounded the house and, knocking loudly at the door, they said to the old man, master of the house, "Bring out the man who came into your house, so that we may know him." The master of the house went out to them and said, "No, my brothers, please don't do evil; since this man has entered my house, don't commit this infamy. Here is my daughter, who is a virgin, and her concubine; I will bring them out to you, and you shall do violence to them and treat them as you please; but do not commit such an infamous deed upon this man." The men would not listen. So the man took his concubine and brought her outside. They got to know her and abused her all night until morning, then sent her away at dawn.

Towards morning, the woman fell at the door of her husband's house, and stayed there until daylight. Her husband got up in the morning and, having opened the door of the house, went out to continue his journey. And behold, the woman, his concubine, was lying at the entrance of the house, with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, "Get up and let's get out of here." But no one answered. So the husband put her on his donkey and set off for his home.

When he got home, he took a knife and, seizing his concubine, cut her limb from limb into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel. All who saw this said, "Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen since the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt to this day; ponder it, consult and pronounce."

Keywords

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.

Keywords

GRM 196.4-6 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

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.»

Detail

The different powers of love.

Annotation

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 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 delusional, 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 does 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.

Keywords

GRM 196.4 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

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…

Annotation

On the different powers of love, seeEMV 196.4-6.

Keywords

GRM 196.4 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

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…

Annotation

On the different powers of love, seeEMV 196.4-6.

Keywords

GRM 196.4.6 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

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. (...) 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. (...) 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.

Detail

Synthesis of the different powers of love (explained in detail in this note).

Keywords

GRM 196.5 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

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.

Detail

Jesus has just spoken about the love of God, conjugal love, and paternal and maternal love. He dwells particularly on love for one's children, and goes on to talk about Adam and Eve.

Annotation

"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

Book of Genesis 2, 23-24

Keywords

GRM 196.5

The Gospel as revealed to me

Translation in progress