Maria Valtorta

THE BOOK OF AZARIAH

Translated from the Italian

by David G. Murray

CENTRO EDITORIALE VALTORTIANO

All rights reserved in all Countries.

Original title: Libro di Azaria.

@ 1972 by Tipografia Editrice M. Pisani.

@ 1982 by Emilio Pisani.

@ 1988 by Centro Editoriale Valtortiano srl.

Translation by David G. Murray.

@) 1993 by Centro Editoriale Valtortiano srl.,

Viale Piscicelli 89‑91,

03036 Isola del Liri ‑ Italy.

ISBN 88‑7987‑013‑0

Film setting by

Centro Editoriale Valtortiano srl.

Printing and Binding by

Tipografia Editrice M. Pisani sas., Isola del Liri.

Cover design by Piero Luigi Albery.

Printed in Italy, 1993.

CONTENTS

  10                                Translator's Note to the English Edition

  12                                     Alphabetical Listing of Abbreviations

                  for Citing the Books of the Bible

  15                                                                    Sexagesima Sunday

  19                                                              Quinquagesima Sunday

  23                                                            The First Sunday of Lent

  28                                                      The Second Sunday of Lent

  33                                                          The Third Sunday of Lent

  42                                                        The Fourth Sunday of Lent

  50                                                                            Passion Sunday

  59                                                                                 Palm Sunday

  68                                                                   Resurrection Sunday

  74                                                                            In Albis Sunday

  83                                                       Second Sunday after Easter

  90                                                          Third Sunday after Easter

  98                                                        Fourth Sunday after Easter

107 Fifth Sunday after Easter

116 Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension

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124                                                                                   Pentecost Sunday

133                                 Holy Mass of the First Sunday after Pentecost

                   and Feast of the Holy Trinity

140                                                                                          Corpus Christi

148                                       Holy Mass in the Octave of Corpus Christi

156                                        Sunday in the Octave of the Sacred Heart

                   and commemoration of St. Paul

163                                                             Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

172                                                                Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

179                                                                Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

182                                                          Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

186                                                             Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

192                                                               Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

198                                                              Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

207                                                         Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

212                                                           Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

215                                                                 Nativity of Mary Most Holy

                   and Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

220                                                     Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

226                                                        Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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232                                                           Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

235                                                     Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

239                                                        Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

243                                                        Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

249                                Last Sunday in October, Feast of Christ the King

                   and Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

256                                                     Twenty‑First Sunday after Pentecost

261                                               Twenty‑Second Sunday after Pentecost

266                                                   Twenty‑Third Sunday after Pentecost

273                                                 Twenty‑Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

276                                                                             First Sunday of Advent

279                                                                          Immaculate Conception

                   and Second Sunday of Advent

290                                                                           Third Sunday of Advent

296                                                                        Fourth Sunday of Advent

300                                                     Sunday within the Christmas Octave

306                                                                The Most Holy Name of Jesus

                   and Vigil of the Epiphany

314                                                             Sunday of the Holy Family and

                   Sunday within the Octave of the Epiphany

320                                                              Second Sunday after Epiphany

326                                                                  Third Sunday after Epiphany

328                                                                              Septuagesima Sunday

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TRANSLATOR'S NOTE

TO THE ENGLISH EDITION

The Book of Azariah represents a series of "dictations" which Maria Valtorta ascribed directly to her guardian angel. These inspired "lessons" (1946‑1947) take as their starting point fifty‑eight Masses found in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church which reflect the liturgy prior to the reforms introduced in the wake of the Second Vatican Council.

In view of the genesis of the commentaries, Maria Valtorta initially termed this work Angelical Masses, adding the subtitle Directions. The first Italian edition (1972), however, adopted the name of her guardian angel, "Azariah," with its biblical precedent,' as the title for these meditations. For the present English‑language version of the complete original the publisher has chosen to indicate after the title of each Mass the scriptural passages corresponding to that day's liturgy and include the text of the various prayers contained therein.2

Scriptural references identifying the sources of biblical quotations or clarifying allusions in the commentaries have been placed in the margins.

The Gospel passages forming part of these Masses, as Azariah himself explains, have not been commented upon since the Gospel has been broadly dealt with in the monumental life of Christ which Maria Valtorta was inspired to write.3

The Book of Azariah translates the ecstatic flame of heavenly love into human language with an intensity and fervor fully confirming its angelic origin. It resounds with limitless adoration of the Holy Trinity. Particularly addressed to those who, like Maria Valtorta, have been singularly called to be God's "spokesmen" in spite of the world's incomprehension, indifference, or outright opposition, the work is basically a prolonged exhortation to live out the Christian virtues‑especially faith, hope, and charity‑in the face of every tri‑

1 See Dn 3, especially Azariah's "song" glorifying and praising the Lord in the midst of the fiery furnace (24‑25), a most vivid symbol of divine love as a sanctifying "flame."

2 The liturgical texts have been taken from Dom Gaspar Lefebvre, O.S.B. and the Monks of St. Andrew's Abbey (eds.), Saint Andrew Daily Missal (Bruges, Belgium: Biblica, 1962).

3 Published in English under the title The Poem of the Man‑God, this multi‑volume work is based on extensive contemplations embracing virtually the entirety of Christ's earthly existence.

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al and challenge, in the certainty that by so doing those called will receive bountiful divine aid in the present and eternal glory in paradise.

The book is pervasively "Catholic," or universal, inasmuch as it unceasingly affirms and illuminates the mystical reality of the one Church founded by Christ‑in its institutional, sacramental, and doctrinal concreteness‑as the authentic embodiment of the Gospel legacy on earth and unfailing channel of supernatural grace for the whole of humanity. It offers abundant inspiration to those praying and laboring for the visible return of all Christians to their primordial unity in the Holy Spirit‑with one Shepherd and one flock.

As with all of Maria Valtorta's writings, the themes of continuous prayer and the generous offering of suffering, as well as the spiritual importance of intimate identification with the Person of Christ and his Sacrifice, are paramount in this book. Ample instruction is devoted to humility, unreserved forgiveness of one's "enemies," and loving intercession on behalf of others as so many keys to reaching and possessing union with God. Other typically "Valtortian" notes are profound, creative awareness of God's Fatherhood and the unboundedly joyous, vigorous, and liberating discovery of what it means to be his "children."

Above all, The Book of Azariah is mystical speech‑that is, the inspired articulation of God's Being‑in‑Love with man and man's being‑in‑Love with God‑as mediated, in this instance, by an angel, and a guardian angel at that: the privileged witness to and participant in the enamored exchanges between Spirit and spirit, Divine Persons and human person.

In this burning language of mystical dialogue, words are brands which both wound and heal, revealing God to be at once supremely powerful and supremely tender, the consummate Romantic of eternal poetry.

The Book of Azariah has thus been written for true "lovers," present and future, and it is to be hoped that it will find its way into their hands‑and into their hearts.

Rome, Easter 1993

David G. Murray