Scripture enjoins the discernment of spirits: "Do not extinguish the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. But test all things; hold fast that which is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:19-20.)
• Maria Valtorta received five dictations from Jesus for Pope Pius XII;
• a high ranking prelate handed them personally to Pope Pius XII in 1947;
• he also handed him a 12-volume typewritten copy of the Italian original of The Poem of the Man-God;
• Pope Pius XII put the 12 volumes in his personal library;
• an eye-witness reported that there was a bookmark in them, and it moved over time;
• a few Church personalities read some of those typescript volumes at that time, presumably upon Pope Pius XII's discreet initiative;
• on February 26, 1948, Pope Pius XII granted a special audience concerning The Poem of the Man-God:
• the Pope summoned three Servites of Mary:• Fr. Corrado M. Berti, the would-be editor of The Poem of the Man-God,• Fr. Romualdo Migliorini, who had been Maria Valtorta's spiritual director for a few years,• Fr. Andrea Cecchin, the Servite superior in Rome;
• the Pope told Fr. Berti in front of the other two: "Publish this work just as it is";
• the Osservatore Romano of February 27, 1948 reported the taking place of the audience (a photograph of this notice was published in Pisani:192-11).
The original Italian edition of The Poem of the Man-God received more than an Imprimatur by Pope Pius XII on February 26, 1948. During an official special audience mentioned the following day in the Osservatore Romano, Pope Pius XII told three Servites of Mary, "Publish this work just as it is."
The word Imprimatur merely means "it may be printed." Here the Pope went farther. He said: "Publish this work just as it is." The contents were fine by him. He said: "Publish this work just as it is."
Pope Pius XII was a serious, scholarly man who always double-checked everything personally before signing anything or saying anything. He was a pillar of the Church, a staunch defender of Catholic doctrine. If the contents of The Poem of the Man-God were fine by such a great Pope, how come we still find people opposing The Poem of the Man-God? How come various cardinals, bishops and priests have launched various persecutions of The Poem of the Man-God?
On February 26, 1948, Pope Pius XII, during an official special audience mentioned in the Osservatore Romano the following day, had much to say about The Poem of the Man-God.
"Pubblicate quest' opera cosi come sta, senza pronunciarvi a riguardo dell'origine straordinaria o meno di essa: chi legge, capira Si sente parlare di tante visioni e rivelazioni. lo non dico che tutte siano vere; ma qualcuna vera ci puo essere."
"Publish this work just as it is, without giving an opinion about its origin, whether it be extraordinary or not. Who reads it, will understand. [Nowadays] one hears of many visions and revelations. I do not say they are all authentic; but some of them can be authentic."
Pope Pius XII was a very strict conservative who did his utmost to destroy heresies. Also, he had been a Church diplomat and had mastered the art of prudent understatement. Therefore, when he said, in the context of a special audience whose purpose was to discuss the future of The Poem of the Man-God, that some visions and revelations in his day and age could be said to be authentic, he was very diplomatically, very guardedly letting on that he deemed the visions described in The Poem of the Man-God to be authentic.
During that special audience, Pope Pius XII spoke as a superior to someone in front of two other witnesses. By the canon law in force then, such an oral statement carried as much weight as a signed document. The fact that he said to publish a typescript just as it is, thus constituted more than an imprimatur. That is because the word imprimatur merely means "it may be printed." Here the Pope did not merely say that The Poem of the Man-God may be printed; he said: "Publish this just as it is."
Everyone should respect such an initiative by a Pope, the supreme visible authority in the Church, especially when he was known to be unflinchingly traditional. Un-traditional people do not like Pope Pius XII precisely because he was such a bastion of tradition. For all his efforts as a good practicing Catholic and Vicar of Christ on earth from 1939 to 1958, the beatification procedures for Pope Pius XII were begun by Pope Paul VI on March 12, 1964.
Two years after Jesus first revealed to Maria Valtorta that a priest was chomping at the bit for a chance to harm The Poem of the Man-God, the prophecy sadly came true. It was behind the back of Pope Pius XII that various officials in the Holy Office in 1949 plotted to grab hold of the manuscripts of Maria Valtorta's The Poem of the Man-God and put them in permanent cold storage. The plot was thwarted thanks to providential, quick thinking on the part of Fr. Berti, who documented the Secret 1949 Vatican Plot in writing in 1978.
In short, this is what happened.
The person legally responsible for Maria Valtorta's writings, Fr. Berti, was summoned by some officials of the Holy Office to a special meeting at their official location in 1949. It is crucial to remember that Fr. Berti is the priest who, in front of two witnesses, was told by Pope Pius XII on February 26, 1948 to publish The Poem of the Man-God just as it was.
One year after his favorable special audience with the Pope, Fr. Berti was now being told by the Holy Office not to publish it after all. He was not given the opportunity to defend himself or The Poem of the Man-God. Furthermore, he was to gather all the manuscripts and their typewritten copies and hand everything over to the Holy Office for them to keep indefinitely or even destroy. The meeting was then adjourned.
Fr. Berti knew that the Holy Office had proceeded illegally, by denying him the right to defend himself. He would have told them that the Pope, the supreme visible authority in the Church, had told him in front of two witnesses to publish The Poem of the Man-God. But since these Holy Office officials were breaking the rules and going against the Pope, Fr. Berti rightfully disobeyed them and obeyed the Pope instead.
Even supposing that the Holy Office officials had been unaware of the Pope's command, they were still wrong to order Fr. Berti not to publish The Poem of the Man-God without giving him a chance to speak up.
Fr. Berti had been given contradictory orders, so he obeyed the orders of the highest authority, namely the Pope. He continued looking for a publisher for The Poem of the Man-God. In 1952, he finally found one who fearlessly respected Pope Pius XII's words before two witnesses: "Publish this work just as it is," realizing that the Pope's words before two witnesses at an official special audience bore greater authority than anyone else's dictates.
In December 1959, the 1949 Secret Vatican Plotters managed to deal a public blow to The Poem of the Man-God. It was a masterpiece of deceit and abuse of power. They managed to mislead various Church authorities, get their official backing in December 1959, and publish an article in early 1960 to justify their action. This was such a well-orchestrated attack that even now in late 1996, it still frightens various people of good will away from The Poem of the Man-God.
The opponents of The Poem of the Man-God misled enough consultors to the Holy Office to obtain a majority vote to condem it. The Holy Office then issued a decree putting the first Italian edition of The Poem of the Man-God on the Index of Forbidden Books. An article was then published in the Osservatore Romano.
A careful study of that article will show that the first Italian edition of The Poem of the Man-God was put on the Index illegally and invalidly.
We will quote much from two articles of rebuttal, published by Emilio Pisani:
• "L'Opera di Maria Valtorta e la Chiesa," in Boll.:91-92. (This will be referred to as Source 1.)
• "L'Osservatore Romano: 1960," in Pisani:63-69. (This will be referred to as Source 2.)
The death of Pius XII and the election of John XXIII, who favored a marked decentralization of Church government towards its dicasteries, seemed to give the slumbering hostilities [to The Poem of the Man-God] their strength back. The putting of the Work on the Index came like a bolt from the blue, without [the normal procedure of] a warning. The Holy Office's Decree condemning the Work was published on the front page of the Osservatore Romano of Wednesday, January 6, 1960. (Source 1.)
L'Osservatore Romano, founded in 1861, is the "politico-religious daily" of the Holy See, published in Vatican City.
On Wednesday, January 6, 1960, the paper reported on the front page the Latin text of the Holy Office's Decree condemning Valtorta's Work and making the arrangements for putting it on the Index of Forbidden Books. On the same page, an article explains the reasons for that measure, which had been decided upon on December 16, 1959.
The Osservatore Romano article bears no signature and is not of an official nature. Nevertheless, due to the newspaper publishing it, due to its being published together with the Holy Office's Decree, and above all, due to its purpose of justifying that Decree, the article was bound to become the compulsory point of reference for Church Authorities every time they were asked about Maria Valtorta's Work. It is, therefore, important to read it rationally. We shall stop to comment it after every typographical spacing in the original article. (Source 2.)
Let us first comment on the title. The unsigned, columnlong article was entitled "A Poorly Novelized Life of Jesus." (Source 1.)
Now, when you think about it, whether this life of Jesus was poorly novelized or not had strictly nothing to do with putting it on the Index! The only purpose of the Index of Forbidden Books was to prevent the faithful from reading books which contained either heresy or intrinsically immoral passages. A book's literary value was obviously and totally irrelevant. A title like A Poorly Novelized Life of Jesus might have been fine for a literary critique, but not at all for a serious report as to whether a book was fit for religious reading or not.
Twenty years later [as of 1981], we can now read that article with a tried and tested serenity. Its contents matched its title, since it did not point out any substantial errors in the Work. (Source 1.)
We now quote the first portion of the Osservatore Romano article:
In another section of our Newspaper, we have published the Decree of the Holy Office with which it put on the Index a Work in four volumes, by an author who remained anonymous (at least in this printing), a Work published in Isola del Liri [Frosinone, Italy].
Although it deals exclusively with religious subjects, these volumes do not have the "imprimatur" required by Canon 1385, section 1, #2, in the Codex Iuris Canonici [of 1918].
The Publisher, in a brief foreword, writes that the Author, "like Dante, has given us a work in which splendid descriptions of times and places provide the setting for the presentation of countless characters who address each other and address to us their gentle or strong or admonitory words. The result is an unpretentious yet impressive Work: the literary homage of a sorrowing ill person to the Great Comforter Jesus."
Instead, to an attentive reader these volumes seem nothing but a long-winded novelized life of Jesus.
Apart from the conceit of the comparison with Dante, and even though illustrious personalities (whose unquestionable good faith was taken by surprise) have given their support to the publication, the Holy Office thought it necessary to put it on the Index of Forbidden Books.
The reasons are easy to find for those who have the patience of Job to read the almost 4000 pages of close type [in the 1956-1959 Italian edition].
We now stop for our first comments.
It is the Work's first edition that was put on the Index. Though consisting of only four volumes it was unabridged. It did not bear the author's name, as she did not want to be known during her lifetime. (Maria Valtorta's name, unlike the title of her Work and the publisher's name, was to remain off the Index.) (Source 2.)
The anonymous author of this article noted the lack of the prescribed imprimatur in the publication. (Source 1.)
There was no mention of a written imprimatur, because more than an imprimatur had been granted orally by Pope Pius XII. Whereas the word imprimatur means merely it may be printed, Pope Pius XII had said: "Publish this work just as it is.- The fact that he uttered his command orally to Fr. Berti in front of two witnesses, made it just as binding as a command in writing, according to the 1918 Code of Canon Law, which was in force in 1948, when Pope Pius XII addressed Fr. Berti and the two priests with him.
However, the present writer ignores whether the original Italian edition (1956-1959) of The Poem of the Man-God mentioned this command by Pope Pius XII or not. If it did, then we may wonder why the author of the Osservatore Romano article under scrutiny left it out of the picture.
If it did not, then of course it left itself open to criticism, but even so, had the Holy Office given the customary warning to the publishers, they would have had a chance to inform the Holy Office about Pope Pius XII's command, which was stronger than an Imprimatur.
The Work's literary value, which the anonymous author sarcastically underestimated, cannot be grounds for an ecclesiastical censure. (Source 2.)
He [the anonymous author of the Osservatore Romano article] alleged that the good faith of the famous personalities who supported it had been taken advantage of. (Source 1.)
In fact, this was a mere supposition.
The illustrious personalities who gave their support to the publication are left unnamed, although their names are known because of the testimonials they issued. It is difficult to understand who could have deceived them and how. (Source 2.)
As a matter of fact, those illustrious personalities voluntarily read significant portions of, or all of, the original Italian typescripts of The Poem of the Man-God and some of them even met Maria Valtorta personally. Thus they were able to make up their minds about The Poem of the Man-God without any outside interference. Let us name some of those personalities, all of whom wrote testimonials in favor of The Poem of the Man-God:
• Most Reverend Alfonso Carinci, former Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, which dealt with the causes of the saints, and as such he was very conversant with the discernment of the spirits;
• Giorgio La Pira, university professor of Roman Law three-times mayor of Florence, whose cause for beatification was introduced in 1986;
• Lorenzo Ferri, artist and sculptor, commissioned by the Sanctuary of Cave, Rome, to sculpt a low-relief bronze door narrating the life of Mary in the light of The Poem of the Man-God;
• Fr. Agostino Bea, Rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, confessor of Pope Pius XII, a Cardinal in 1959;
• Nicola Pende, world-renowned endocrinologist;
• Vittorio Tredici, mineralogist, president of the Corporation of Metallic Minerals in Italy, vice-president of the Italian Corporation of Mining Industries, and president of the Italian Potash Society;
• Camillo Corsanego, Dean of the Consistorial Lawyers, professor of comparative criminal law at the Pontifical Lateran University, past National President of Italian Catholic Action.
The reviewer's lack of enthusiasm in undertaking to read "the almost 4000 pages of close type" gives an indication of the superficiality (which will be confirmed below) of his examination. (Source 2.)
Part two of the Osservatore Romano article "begins to deal with the contents of the Work." (Source 2.)
First of all, the reader is struck by the length of the discourses attributed to Jesus and to the Most Blessed Virgin, and by the never-ending dialogues between the numerous characters who fill these pages.
The four Gospels present us Jesus as humble and reserved; His discourses are unadorned and clear-cut, yet of the greatest effectiveness. Whereas in this sort of novelized story, Jesus is very talkative, almost self-advertizing, always willing to proclaim Himself Messiah and Son of God and to give theological lectures in the very words which a professor would use nowadays [1960].
In the account of the Gospels we admire the humility and silence of the Mother of Jesus; instead for the author of this work the Most Blessed Virgin has the readiness of speech of a modern saleslady, is always present everywhere, and always willing to give lectures of Marian theology, an extremely up-to-date mariology including even the latest studies by present-day [1960] specialists on the matter.
The story is slow and almost gossipy. In it we find new facts, new parables, new characters and many, many women following Jesus.
Moreover, some episodes are rather troublesome and call to mind certain descriptions and certain scenes from modern novels, like, to give just a few examples, the confession to Mary of a certain Aglae, a woman of loose morals (vol.1 [of the 1956-1959 Italian edition], pp.790ff), the unedifying story on pp.887ss of vol.1 [of the 19561959 Italian edition], and a dance, certainly not a modest one, performed in front of Pilate, in the Praetoriurn (vol.IV [of the 1956-1959 Italian edition], p.75), etc.
At this point a particular thought occurs spontaneously: the Work, by its very nature and in accordance with the intentions of the author and of the Publisher, could easily fall into the hands of nuns and the girls in their boardingschools. In this case, the reading of passages of the same kind as those referred to, could hardly be done without spiritual danger or damage.
Maria Valtorta's Work could not have been put on the Index for long-windedness (a very debatable allegation to say the least) and not even for its portrayal of Jesus as "self-advertizing" and the Virgin Mary as a talkative "sales-lady" - huge distortions of Valtorta's text that amount to falsehoods (cf. Sources 1 and 2). Had there been any doctrinal errors the Work could have been condemned. But instead, the reviewer found "theological lectures in the very words which a professor would use nowadays [1960]" and "lectures of Marian theology, an extremely up-to-date mariology including even the latest studies by present-day [1960] specialists on the matter."
Had it been contrary to good morals, the Work could have been condemned. (Source 2.) Here the censor begins with an insinuation, when he casually mentions "many, many women following Jesus." In the context of a text purporting to justify a condemnation of Maria Valtorta's Work, this mention of many women must have been calculated to give the impression that there was something improper in the fact that many women followed Jesus. However, if that is the case, then St. Luke's Gospel was improper too (cf. Source 2): "With Him were the twelve apostles, and certain women, whom He had freed from evil spirits and from sicknesses, Mary who is called Magdalen, who had had seven devils cast out of her, and Joanna, the wife of Khuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to Him with the means they had." The Greek original text for and many others uses the feminine, so these many others are undeniably women.
Attempting to establish grounds for immorality,
the censor expediently refers to "some" episodes that are "rather troublesome" and gives "just a few examples." Since only "some" episodes are incriminated from that point of view, one may hold that there are no other examples apart from the three referred to.
The censor pauses on these "rather troublesome" episodes. Neglecting to take into account that the purpose of those pages is to condemn corruption and to advocate redemption from sin, he is concerned with a particular category of readers that might be harmed by them: nuns and the girls in their boarding-schools. One may deduce that [according to him] the Work could be put on the Index because of a few debatably troublesome episodes whose reading could harm nuns and school-girls.
However the reading of a Work inserted in the Index of Forbidden Books is understood to be forbidden to all Catholics, except for some with a special permission. Behind the condemnation of Valtorta's Work, instead, there may have been the intention to forbid it to only one category of Catholic readers. The confirmation of this hypothesis came in 1985, [on January 31,] in a letter by Cardinal Ratzinger to Cardinal Siri: Maria Valtorta's Work was condemned "in order to neutralize the harm which such a publication may cause to the most unprepared faithful." (Source 2.)
That was a very charitable hypothesis and very charitable confirmation thereof by Cardinal Ratzinger. There are many grounds, however, for upholding a Modernist plot to silence The Poem of the Man-God, precisely because the main reason Jesus gave for bestowing that Work on the Church was to help the Church combat Modernism. Modernists, of course, would not want an open confrontation, so they had to come up with excuses, among which the nuns and their school-girls.
Part three of the Osservatore Romano article "tackles more resolutely the contents of the Work." (Source 2.)
Specialists in biblical studies will certainly find many blunders pertaining to history, geography, and the like. But since this is a... novel, these inventions obviously increase the book's picturesqueness and imaginary nature.
Amidst such flaunted theological learning, one can pick a few... gems that certainly do not sparkle with Catholic orthodoxy.
A rather odd and inexact opinion is expressed here and there about the sin of Adam and Eve.
On p.63 of vol.1 [of the 1956-1959 Italian edition], one can read this title: "Mary can be called the second-born of the Father"; this affirmation is repeated in the text on the following page. The explanation restricts its meaning, avoiding genuine heresy; but it does not remove the justified impression that the intent is to create a new mariology, which easily exceeds the limits of propriety.
On p.772 of vol. II [of the 1956-1959 Italian edition] one can read: "Paradise is Light, perfume, and harmony. But if in it the Father were not to be happy in contemplating the All Beautiful Woman who turns Earth into a paradise, but if Paradise were in the future not to have the live Lily in whose bosom the Three fiery pistils of the divine Trinity are, then the light, perfume, and harmony of Paradise would be reduced by half."
This expresses a cryptic concept, which fortunately is extremely confused, because if it were to be taken literally, it would not escape a strict reprimand.
Last of all, let us mention another strange and imprecise affirmation, which says of the Virgin Mary: "You, for the time you remain on earth, second to Peter as to ecclesiastical hierarchy...' (the emphasis is ours. Editor).
Let us take up our commentary again. (Source 2.)
Again, the anonymous author of the Osservatore Romano article throws a red herring at the reader:
The 'blunders pertaining to history, geography, and the like," if only they were established in the first place, could not come either within the reasons for an ecclesiastical condemnation, which must take into account only of what is against faith and morals. It may be for this reason that the author spares himself the trouble of ferreting them out, delegating the search to the "specialists in biblical studies."
Finally, the censor concentrates on doctrinal matters, but his investigation seems to lose its way "amidst such... theological learning." By using those words, again he unwittingly praises the Work, despite his opinion that "such... theological learning" is "flaunted." Amidst it, he manages to "pick a few... gems that certainly do not sparkle with Catholic orthodoxy," and he gives four examples. (The proportion is one to every thousand pages of close type.)
The first example is "a rather odd and inexact opinion": it is therefore not false. (Source 2.)
If it is merely "inexact," it is not heretical, and therefore it does not justify putting the Work on the Index.
The second example is an affirmation whose "explanation restricts its meaning, avoiding genuine heresy": here too there is no heresy, only an impropriety, and even its improperness would fall if one did not have "the justified impression that the intent is to create a new mariology." (Source 2.)
Again, no heresy; hence no grounds for putting the Work on the Index.
The third example is "a cryptic concept, which fortunately is extremely confused, because if it were to be taken literally, it would not escape a strict reprimand": well, "fortunately," it is safe from a strict reprimand. (Source 2.)
And so again this example provides no grounds for putting the Work on the Index.
The fourth and last example is "another strange and imprecise affirmation": but not necessarily false. (Source 2.)
Besides, the author only quoted the affirmation (as Source 1 points out), and thus there is no specific accusation. Had there been a specific heresy here, you should think the anonymous author would have pounced on it.
That's all. Supposing that the most impeachable passages had been chosen as examples, one can well imagine how innocent the omitted examples must have been. (Source 2.)
The fourth and last part of the Osservatore Romano article "begins with a contradiction and an unclear statement." (Source 2.)
The Work, therefore, would have deserved to be condemned even if it had been only a novel, at least on the grounds of irreverence. In reality, the intention of the author claims more.
Skimming through the volumes, one can read here and there the words "Jesus says," "Mary says," or "I see" and the like. In fact, towards the end of volume IV [of the 1956-1959 Italian edition] (p.839), the author turns out to be a woman who writes that she witnessed the whole messianic period and that her name is Maria.
These words call to mind that about ten years ago [from the writing of the Osservatore Romano article], a few voluminous typescripts were going around, which contained alleged visions and revelations. It is known that the appropriate Ecclesiastical Authority back then had forbidden the printing of these typescripts and ordered that they be withdrawn from circulation.
Now we notice that they are almost entirely published in the present Work.
Therefore, this public condemnation by the Supreme Sacred Congregation is all the more so fitting, on account of serious disobedience.
The contradiction, which we mentioned before, consists in suddenly saying that the Work is not only a novel, whereas earlier, the author had affirmed: 1) that "to an attentive reader these volumes seem nothing but a long-winded novelized life of Jesus"; 2) that the Work is a "sort of novelized story"; 3) that some episodes "call to mind certain descriptions and certain scenes from modern novels"; 4) that "since this is a... novel, these inventions obviously increase the book's picturesqueness and imaginary nature"; [and 5)] the article's title states at the very start: "A Poorly Novelized Life of Jesus."
The unclear statement, then, is found in the allusion to "grounds of irreverence," which are not specified. One may suppose that the censor is referring to his consideration, in part two of the article, on the "many, many women following Jesus." (Source 2.)
We dealt with that when commenting on part two. And now a bit of history.
About ten years earlier [from the writing of the Osservatore Romano article], "the appropriate Ecclesiastical Authority back then had forbidden the printing of these typescripts and ordered that they be withdrawn from circulation." (Source 2.)
That's what we (the Maria Valtorta Research Center) referred to as the Secret 1949 Vatican Plot. That, however, was an order given to Fr. Berti personally: not to Maria Valtorta, not to the publisher that later on printed those typescripts in the present Work.
Nevertheless, "this public condemnation by the Supreme Sacred Congregation is all the more so fitting, on account of serious disobedience." (Source 2.)
Here we think that Source 2 is trying very hard to put forth a very charitable hypothesis as to the nature of the opposition to The Poem of the Man-God. Maria Valtorta was not given that order for the simple reason that her identity was unknown; on the other hand, all publishers in the world had been implicitly forbidden not to publish the Work, because Fr. Berti was threatened that should the Work be published, it would be put on the Index. It's all a matter of the letter vs. the spirit. Though the letter of the prohibition may have applied to Fr. Berti only (and thus Source 2 would be right), the spirit of the prohibition applied to the Work. It's the Work that the Secret 1949 Vatican Plot was deliberately after, despite Pope Pius XII's command to publish it.
Summary. The whole business of this putting of The Poem of the Man-God on the Index is so shady, and the article in the Osservatore Romano explaining why is so full of red herrings, that the previous analysis bears repeating. We will do this by quoting the conclusions of Source 1:
Thus we have disassembled the article, focussing on all the essential passages. Now let us make the following remarks:
1. In almost 4000 pages of close type, the anonymous author did not manage to find one single genuine, clear-cut error. All he could find was: "a few... gems that certainly do not sparkle with Catholic orthodoxy"; "a rather odd and inexact opinion"; an affirmation whose "explanation restricts its meaning, avoiding genuine heresy"; the "justified impression that the intent is to create a new mariology"; "a cryptic concept, which fortunately is extremely confused, because if it were to be taken literally, it would not escape a strict reprimand"; "another strange and imprecise affirmation"; "grounds of irreverence."
2. He let slip words of praise which any religious author would envy: "theological lectures in the very words which a professor would use nowadays [1960]"; "lectures of Marian theology, an extremely up-to-date mariology including even the latest studies by present-day [1960] specialists on the matter"; "such flaunted theological learning."
3. He writes falsehoods when he says that Jesus, in this Work, "is very talkative, almost self-advertizing... " and that "the Most Blessed Virgin has the readiness of speech of a modern saleslady, is always present everywhere..."
4. He proves his superficiality or incompetence in literary criticism, which could have been done without, since it cannot be part of the grounds for a Church censure.
5. He states in his conclusion that the action taken by the Holy Office was above all disciplinary.
Though as Catholics, we were saddened by the proscription Decree from the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, we were reassured by the article explaining the grounds for it. The Church was striking Maria Valtorta's work with a form of discipline which is legitimate but outside its infallible Magisterium. We sensed at once that the Church was but repeating its own history: several times in the past, it was mysteriously allowed by God to condemn people and writings, who and which later turned out to be its glory. We accepted this in silence. (Source 1.)
Thus, as the reader can ascertain for himself, the Osservatore Romano article which gave the reasons for putting [the first Italian edition of The Poem of the Man-God] on the Index of Forbidden Books failed to mention one single heresy or one clear-cut example of an immoral passage that would be intrinsically bad to read. Even the alleged instances of potentially immoral passages were admitted to be potentially bad only for specific types of people: nuns and girls in boarding schools were used as examples. Upon closer inspection, however, those passages are not immoral, because they purport to blame evil and extol redemption. If the critics are still not satisfied, perhaps they could explain why there are some rather filthy passages in the Holy Scriptures, namely various stories of rape, incest, sodomy, and adultery?
If, then, in the original Italian edition of The Poem of the Man-God, there is not one single heresy and not one single passage that could be called intrinsically immoral, then there were no grounds whatsoever for putting the original Italian edition of The Poem of the Man-God on the Index of Forbidden Books.
That "the action taken by the Holy Office was above all disciplinary" (Source 1) does not salvage its operation, because the Index of Forbidden Books was not meant as a mere disciplinary measure, it was meant for books containing heresy or intrinsically immoral passages.
Furthermore, the disciplinary measure itself was uncalled for. It was the long-looming outcome of an event that took place about ten years before the writing of the January 6, 1960 article. "It is known that the appropriate Ecclesiastical Authority back then had forbidden the printing of these typescripts and ordered that they be withdrawn from circulation." This refers to the action taken behind Pope Pius XII's back which we called the Secret 1949 Vatican Plot the operation designed to put The Poem of the Man-God in cold storage indefinitely or to destroy it. We have shown how illicit and invalid that 1949 clandestine act was.
Both the Secret 1949 Vatican Plot and the Public 1959-1960 Vatican Injustice went hand in hand. It took the plot ten years to bear its venomous fruit. The saintly Pope Pius XII, who protected the Work and said to publish it just as it was, had to die first.
- Early 1947. Jesus warns Maria Valtorta of false friends whose real motive is to destroy the Work.
- April 28, 1947. Work completed.
- February 26, 1948. Pope Pius XII approves it without any restrictions whatsoever. He says: "Publish this work just as it is."
- 1949. Secret Vatican Plot to put the Work in cold storage indefinitely. Plot thwarted by Fr. Berti.
- 1956-1959. First Italian edition, published by Knight Michele Pisani's house in Isola del Liri, Frosinone, Italy. Welcomed in Italy and by various Italian missionaries.
- 1958. Pope Pius XII, the Work's protector, passes away.
- December 1959. Secret Vatican Plot breaks out publicly. Ranks of Consultors to Holy Office infiltrated by enemies of The Poem of the Man-God. Majority vote to condemn it, though contains no heresies, no immoral passages. Cardinal Prefect of Holy Office brings decision to Pope John XXIII, who signs decree to put The Poem of the Man-God on Index of Forbidden Books.
- January 6, 1960. Osservatore Romano announces condemnation. Anonymous article attempts to justify decision. Fails to mention one single heresy or immoral passage, which proves putting on the Index was illegal.
- Early 1962. Fr. Giraudo, member of Holy Office, reverses previous decision of Holy Office. Presumably to save face, reversal not published.
- 1961-1967. Second Italian edition, published by Knight Michele Pisani's son Emilio Pisani, with footnotes by Fr. Berti to explain difficult passages. Welcomed in Italy and by many Italians around the world.
- 1978. Anthology published in Portuguese, with imprimatur by Archbishop of Belem, Brazil.
- 1993. Volumes 1, 2, and 3 of the Malayalam translation receive Imprimatur by Bishop of Trivandrum, India.
Seven Bishops of India have sent warm letters of congratulations to the publisher of the Malayalam translation of The Poem of the Man-God. One of them, the local Bishop, gave it his imprimatur.
Testimonials
Here are the words of Father Gabriel Allegra (1907-1976), Biblical scholar, famous for translating the entire Bible into Chinese, (Boll.:115.) and declared VENERABLE by Pope John Paul II in 1994.
“For a book so engaging and challenging, so charismatic, so extraordinary even from just a human point of view as is Maria Valtorta's Poem of the Man-God--for such a book I find the theological justification in the First Epistle to the Corinthians 14:6, where St. Paul writes: "If I come to you, brethren, speaking in tongues, how shall I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or doctrine?"
In this Work I find so many revelations which are not contrary to, but instead complete, the Gospel narrative. I find knowledge: and such knowledge in the theological (especially mariological), exegetical, and mystical fields, that if it is not infused I do not know how a poor, sick woman could acquire and master it, even if she was endowed with a signal intelligence. I find in her the charism of prophecy in the proper sense of a voice through which Valtorta exhorts, encourages and consoles in the name of God and, at rare times, elucidates the predictions of the Lord. I find in her doctrine: and doctrine such as is sure; it embraces almost all fields of revelation. Hence, it is multiple, immediate, luminous.”
St. Ignatius of Loyola, in the Fourth Week of his Spiritual Exercises, presents a Contemplation to Attain Divine Love, and Three Methods of Prayer. These methods are not ignored in Maria Valtorta's Works.
Ignatian Meditation and The Poem of the Man-God: According to St. Ignatius in his Spiritual Exercises, a fundamental aid to meditation is sight. The very first exercise of the First Week begins with a preparatory prayer and a mental image. With the mind's eye, one is to see the physical place where the object of the meditation is. For instance, if we meditate on the calming of the sea, we must try to picture a storm-tossed sea. Then and only then, can we go on with the meditation.
The same methodology is followed by Jesus in The Poem of the Man-God. Nearly every vision begins with a sometimes lengthy description of the place where the action is about to take place.
• The traditional answer is A.D. 33: Jesus was born on December 25, 1 B.C., He was thirty-three when He died and rose again, therefore, He died and rose again in A.D. 33.
• Most modern scholars think that Jesus died in A.D. 30: that means His public ministry began in early A.D. 27, and since He was born in about six B.C., He was thirty-three years old when He began His public ministry (this does not necessarily contradict Scriptures, because Luke 3:23 says Jesus was about thirty then).
• The opinion of Professor Van Zandt is that Jesus died and rose again in A.D. 34: Jesus was born in late 1 B.C., He was about thirty when He began His public ministry in late A.D. 30, His public ministry lasted three complete years and a few months, so that He was crucified and rose again in the spring of A.D. 34.
The traditional answer that Jesus died and rose again in A.D. 33 is actually poor arithmetic. If Jesus was born in December of I B.C., then He turned 33 in December of A.D. 33. So far, so good. However, Scripture says Jesus was crucified the day before the Jewish Passover, which always fell in March or April. Therefore, for Jesus to have been crucified when He was 33 years old means that He must have been crucified in March or April of A.D. 34, when He was 33 years and a few months old.
Thus the date advanced by Professor Van Zandt satisfies the traditional data for Jesus' age when He died and rose again. Once again, the revelations of Viareggio agree with Tradition,
In 1992, Professor Van Zandt read Maria Valtorta's vision of A Night in Gadara (pp.459-468 in volume 3 of The Poem of the Man-God, that inadequate title for The Poem of the Man-God).
He noticed that Maria Valtorta mentions seeing Venus, Mars and Jupiter in a dark sky, before the moon rose. Professor explains: "As it turns out, having these three objects all visible at once is quite uncommon." The following visions show that this took place about three weeks before Passover that year. (Passover always fell in March or April.) Having Venus, Mars and Jupiter all visible three weeks before the Passover (some time in February or March) would be even more uncommon. And this happened one year before Jesus died and rose again.
Astronomical calculations show that Venus, Mars and Jupiter were visible in the same night sky in February or March before moonrise in A.D. 31 and A.D. 33. They had not been seen together like that in February or March for quite some time before; they were not to be seen together again in February or March for quite some time afterwards. Rather a remarkable "coincidence."
Other visions in The Poem of the Man-God enabled Professor Van Zandt to eliminate the A.D. 31 possibility. There remained only A.D. 33. Since that vision took place the year before Jesus died and rose again, then His death and resurrection had to take place in A.D. 34. And it so happens that this date fits perfectly well with Tradition, which always maintained that Jesus was born in December of 1 B.C. and died at the age of 33. In December of A.D. 33, Jesus turned 33. By April of A.D. 34, He was 33 years and a few months old.
Maria Valtorta did not have a computer to figure out the positions of the planets in the sky during Jesus' lifetime. She was not talented in arithmetic and mathematics and could not have performed the tricky calculations on her own. How could she have imagined such a detail, a detail that escaped the attention of thousands and thousands of readers until 1992, 31 years after she died?
Father Francois Dreyfus, O.P., a theologian at l'Ecole biblique et archeologique francaise de Jerusalem, said he was very impressed when he found the names of at least six or seven towns in Maria Valtorta's The Poem of the Man-God which are absent in the Old and the New Testaments. "Only experts know these names, from non-biblical sources. How could she have known these names, if not through revelations?"
(Translated from a letter he wrote to Jean Aulagnier in 1986. Fr Dreyfus wrote a book entitled Did Jesus Know He Was God? And he answered: "Yes.")
Fr. Roschini's book The Virgin Mary in the Writings of Maria Valtorta is so full of quotations from The Poem of the Man-God and from Notebooks that it reads like a marvellous life of Mary, and at the same time, it is a complete course in mariology
If anyone knew about Mother Mary, it was the faithful mariologist Father Roschini (pronounced Ross-KEE-nee), O.S.M. (1900-1977), professor at the Pontifical Lateran University of Rome; advisor to the Holy Office; philosopher, theologian, writer of saints' lives and above all mariologist of great renown. Fr. Roschini's long career was extremely productive: he wrote over 790 articles and miscellaneous writings, and 130 books, of which 66 were over 200 pages long. Most of his writings were devoted to Mariology. Some volumes in Latin are found in the SSPX seminary of Holy Cross in Goulburn NSW, Australia.
Towards the end of his life, Fr. Roschini wrote a book entitled The Virgin Mary in the Writings of Maria Valtorta in its English translation. As the original Italian edition was being prepared, he told the publisher, Emilio Pisani, that of all the books he had written, that was his most important one. In the book itself he explained why:
I have been studying, teaching, preaching, and writing Mariology for half a century already. To do this, I had to read innumerable works and articles of all kinds on Mary: a real Marian library.
I feel, however, that I must candidly admit that the Mariology found in all of Maria Valtorta's writings - both published and unpublished - has been a real discovery for me. No other Marian writings, not even the sum total of everything I have read and studied, were able to give me as clear, as lively, as complete, as luminous, or as fascinating an image, both simple and sublime, of Mary, God's Masterpiece.
It seems to me that the conventional image of the Blessed Virgin, portrayed by myself and my fellow Mariologists, is merely a papier mch Madonna compared to the living and vibrant Virgin Mary envisioned by Maria Valtorta, a Virgin Mary perfect in every way.
... whoever wants to know the Blessed Virgin (a Virgin in perfect harmony with the Holy Scriptures, the Tradition of the Church and the Church Magisterium... ) should draw from Valtorta's Mariology.
If anyone believes my declaration is only one of those ordinary hyperbolic slogans abused by publicity, I will say this only: let them read before they judge!
Gabriel M. Roschini, O.S.M.
The main reason why some people oppose Maria Valtorta's writings is that they simply cannot bring themselves to believe that they are supernatural revelations.
• Some rashly reject the possibility of any private revelations at all. In so doing, they go flatly against the spirit of Scriptures and Tradition.
Several passages of Scripture mention private revelations made to individuals. They tell us that these people acknowledged these private revelations as coming from God. Scripture, in relating those events, also acknowledges that they came from God. In other words, Scripture did not approve those private revelations "negatively," by only saying they contained no errors against faith or morals.
Scripture approved them "positively," by saying they came from God.
The Dogmatic Council of Vatican One issued dogmatic decrees which were infallible and binding on the faith of every Catholic at all times since. Vatican One decreed that "If anyone says... that miracles can never be recognized with certainty... let him be anathema" (which means, "let him be cursed").
In other words, the Church can recognize a miracle with certainty. She can determine when God supernaturally acts against the normal course of nature to give an external sign of His existence or prove the truth of His Catholic teachings. If the Church can determine when God acts in a miracle, why couldn't she determine when God speaks in a private revelation? Especially if at least one authenticated miracle accompanies it?
St. Ignatius of Loyola taught in his Spiritual Exercises how to discern whether something is from God or not. And some people would have us believe that the Church, the Bride of Christ, would be unable to discern whether a private revelation comes from God or not?
The key is found in Scripture: “... you are citizens with the saints and members of God's house. hold: you are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief corner stone. In Him the whole structure is closely fit together...” (Eph 2:19b-21a.)
The foundation of the Church is the Apostles and the Prophets. The context shows that the Prophets mentioned here are the New Testament Prophets. The apostles' successors are the Pope and Bishops. The successors of the New Testament prophets are... the recipients of authentic "Private" revelations!
It is the Pope's role to lead the entire Church and the Bishops' role to lead the local churches (dioceses). As such, if and only if they follow the time-honoured rules of discernment of the spirits, they can discern whether a private revelation is of God. If they find one that is of God, then they must proclaim it as such and should impose it on the faith of the faithful by ecclesial faith.
Not only that. If God has spoken through a New Testament prophet, a recipient of a private revelation, and the Church hierarchy has acknowledged it, then the Church hierarchy is duty bound to obey God's will as revealed through that Prophet. Ecclesial faith goes hand in hand with ecclesial obedience.
Thus "in Christ the whole structure is closely fit together." An alleged Prophet must submit to the judgment of the Church hierarchy, and in turn once the Prophet has been tested and proves to be God's spokesman, then the revelations to the Prophet must be obeyed by the Church hierarchy. And both Hierarchy and Prophet obey Christ. (Ste. Marie 19:).
Recipients of private revelations often demand belief in the private revelations entrusted to them, but some people find that troubling. But if the Church has determined that those private revelations are authentic, that they do come from God, then everyone in the Church must believe in them by ecclesial (not Divine) faith and obey them, even the Pope.
Thus the recipients of authentic private revelations are right to demand belief. However, the obligation for all to believe in those revelations begins when and only if two conditions are met:
• the Church has judged them according to the time honoured criteria of the discernment of the spirits;
• the Church has approved them.
If a Pope or a Bishop over-hastily approves a revelation, the hasty judgment is only as good as the hierarch passing it - which may not be very good. But if the time-honoured criteria are followed, the resulting judgment will be trustworthy.
Until explicit approval following proper discernment, belief in a private revelation is optional. Some people are overly cautious and never believe until Church approval, while others are suckers and believe in everything. People must practice the virtue of prudence which, if it is really a virtue, will be balanced.
It is unfortunate that the Church is sometimes unduly slow to judge an alleged revelation. If it is authentic, it should be approved as soon as possible, to God's greater glory. If it is false, it should be condemned as soon as possible, again to God's greater glory and to prevent the harm done by falsehood.
SERMON MATTER FROM VOL FIVE
FOR LOW SUNDAY
[9th August 1944]
The apostles are gathered in the Supper room, around the table where the Passover supper was consumed. But out of respect, the central seat, that of Jesus, has been left empty.
Also the apostles, now that there is no longer One Who groups and distributes them according to His will or by choice of love, have placed themselves differently. Peter is still in his place. But Judas Thaddeus is now in John's place. Then comes Bartholomew, the oldest of the apostles, then James, John's brother, almost at the comer of the table on the right hand side, with respect to me who am looking on. John is sitting near James, but on the narrow side of the table. After Peter, instead, comes Matthew, and after him Thomas, then Philip, then Andrew, then James, Judas Thaddeus' brother, and Simon Zealot on the other sides. The long side in front of Peter is empty, as the apostles are sitting closer than they were at Passover. The windows are closed and the doors are locked. The lamp, of which only two flames are lit, sheds a feeble light only on the table. The rest of the large room is in a dim light.
As there is a sideboard behind him, John is entrusted with the task of serving his companions with what they wish of their frugal meal, consisting of fish, which is on the table, bread, honey and fresh cheese. As he turns again towards the table, to give his elder brother the cheese he asked for, John sees the Lord.
Jesus has appeared in a very strange manner. The central part of the wall behind the apostles sitting at the table - a wall all of one piece except for the little door in the corner - brightens up at about one metre from the floor, with a feeble phosphoric light, like that shed by certain little pictures, which are luminous only in the dark at night. The light, about two metres high, is oval, like a niche. From the brilliancy, as if He were advancing from behind veils of luminous mist, Jesus emerges with increasing neatness.
I do not know whether I have made myself understood. His Body seems to flow through the thickness of the wall, which does not open. It remains compact, but the Body passes just the same. Light seems to be the first emanation of His Body, the announcement of His approach. The Body at first consists of soft lines of light, as in Heaven I see the Father and the holy angels: immaterial. Then it becomes more and more material, taking the aspect of a real body in everything, that of His Divine glorified Body.
It has taken me a long time to describe this, but it happened in a few seconds.
Jesus is dressed in white, as when He rose and appeared to His Mother. He is most handsome, loving and smiling. He is standing with His arms along the sides of His Body, a little detached from it, but with His Hands towards the floor and the palms towards the apostles. The two wounds of His Hands are like two diamond stars, from which two very bright beams issue. I do not see His Feet, covered by His tunic, or His Chest. But from the fabric of His garment, which is not an earthly one, light emanates where the divine Wounds are concealed. At the beginning Jesus seems to be nothing but a Body of lunar whiteness, later, when it materialises appearing outside the halo of light, His hair, eyes, skin have their natural colours. In short, it is Jesus, Jesus-Man-God, but looking more solemn now that He has risen.
John sees Him when He is already like that. Nobody else had become aware of the apparition. John jumps to his feet, dropping the plate of the little round whole cheeses on the table and, laying his hands on the edge of the table, he bends a little towards it sideways, as I f he were attracted by a magnet, and in a low subdued voice he utters an intensely expressive « Oh! ».
The others, who had raised their heads from their plates at the noisy fall of the plate of the cheese and at John's start and had looked at him with astonishment, when they see his ecstatic posture, look in the same direction as he is looking. They turn their heads or they turn round, according to their position with respect to the Master, and they see Jesus. They all stand up, deeply moved and happy, and they rush towards Him, as He, smiling more brightly advances towards them, walking now on the floor like all mortals.
Jesus, Who previously looked fixedly only at John, and I think that the latter turned round because he felt attracted by that glance that caressed him, looks at them all and says: « Peace to you. »
They are all now around Him, some on their knees at His feet, and among these there is Peter with John - and John even kisses the hem of His tunic and presses it to his face as if he wished to be caressed by it - some farther back, standing, but stooping in a respectful attitude.
Peter, to arrive quicker, jumps over the seat without waiting for Matthew to come out first and make room for him. It must be borne in mind that the couch-seat served for two persons at a time.
The only one who has remained a little farther away, somewhat embarrassed, is Thomas. He is on his knees near the table. But he dare not come forward, on the contrary, he seems to be trying to hide behind the corner of the table.
Jesus, while stretching out His Hands to be kissed - the apostles seek them with holy loving eagerness - looks around at the lowered heads, as if He were looking for the eleventh. He has actually seen him from the very beginning and He is behaving so only to give Thomas time to pluck up courage and come forward. When He sees that the incredulous apostle dare not do so, ashamed as he is of his lack of faith, He calls him: « Thomas. Come here. »
Thomas raises his head, embarrassed, almost in tears, but he dare not go. He lowers his head again.
Jesus takes a few steps towards him and repeats: « Come here, Thomas. » Jesus' voice is more authoritative than the first time.
Thomas stands up reluctantly, abashed, and goes towards Jesus.
« Here is the man who does not believe unless he sees! » exclaims Jesus. But in His voice there is the smile of forgiveness.
Thomas feels that, he dares to look at Jesus and sees that He is really smiling, so he musters up courage and walks faster.
« Come here, quite close to Me. Look. Put your finger, if it is not sufficient for you to look, into the wounds of your Master. »
Jesus has stretched His Hands out, then He has opened His tunic on His chest, uncovering the gash on His Side. No light emanates now from the Wounds. It no longer emanates since He began to walk like a mortal Man, when He came out of the halo of lunar light, and the Wounds now appear in their bloody reality: two irregular holes, the left one of which extends as far as the thumb, and they pierce a wrist and a palm at its base, and a long gash, which in the upper part is lightly curved like a circumflex accent, on His side.
Thomas trembles, looks but does not touch. He moves his lips, but is not able to speak clearly.
« Give Me your hand, Thomas » says Jesus so kindly. And with His right hand He takes the right one of the apostle, He grasps his forefinger and takes it towards the hole of His left Hand, He thrusts it well into it, to make him feel that His palm has been pierced, and then from His Hand He takes it to His Side. Now He grasps the four fingers of Thomas, at their base, at the metacarpus, and puts those four big fingers into the gash of His Side, making them go in deeply, not limiting Himself to leaning them against its edge, and He holds them there, looking fixedly at Thomas. A severe yet kind look, while he continues to say: « … Put your finger here, put your fingers and also your hand, if you wish so, into My Side and do not doubt, but believe. » That is what He says while doing what I have said previously.
Thomas - it would appear that the closeness of the divine Heart, which He almost touches, has communicated courage to him - succeeds at last in speaking and uttering words, and falling on his knees with his arms raised and bursting into tears of repentance, he says: « My Lord and My God! » He cannot say anything else.
Jesus forgives him. He lays His right hand on his head and replies: « Thomas, Thomas! You believe now because you have seen… But blessed are those who will believe in Me without seeing! Which reward shall I have to give them, if I have to reward you, whose faith has been assisted by the power of seeing?… »
Then Jesus lays His arm on John's shoulder, He takes Peter by the hand and approaches the table. He sits at His place. They are now sitting as they were on Passover evening. But Jesus wants Thomas to sit next to John.
« Eat, My friends » says Jesus.
But no one is hungry any more. Joy fills them. The joy of contemplation.
So Jesus gathers together the little cheeses scattered on the table, He puts them on a plate, He cuts them and hands them out, and He gives the first bit just to Thomas, laying it on a piece of bread and passing it behind John's shoulders; He pours wine from the amphorae into a chalice and hands it to His friends: this time Peter is the first to be served. Then He has some honeycombs given to Him, He breaks them and gives the first bit to John, with a smile which is sweeter than the golden trickling honey. And to encourage them He eats some of it Himself. He tastes nothing but the honey.
John with his usual gesture rests his head on Jesus' shoulder, and Jesus draws him to His Heart and speaks holding him so.
« You must not get upset, My friends, when I appear to you. I am always your Master, Who has shared with you food and sleep and Who has chosen you because He loves you. I love you also now. » Jesus lays much stress upon these last words.
« You » He continues « have been with Me in the trials… You will be with Me also in the glory. Do not lower your heads. On Sunday evening, when I came to you for the first time after My Resurrection, I infused the Holy Ghost into you… may the Spirit come also to you who were not present… Do you not know that the infusion of the Spirit is like a baptism of fire, because the Spirit is Love, and love cancels sins? Therefore your sin of desertion, while I was dying, is forgiven. »
In saying so Jesus kisses the head of John who did not desert, and John weeps for joy.
« I have given you the power to remit sins. But one cannot give what one does not possess. So you must be certain that I possess this power in a perfect manner and I make use of it for you, who must be pure in the highest degree to purify those who will come to you, soiled with sin. How could one judge and purify, if one deserved to be condemned and were personally impure? How could a man judge another man if he had planks in his own eyes and infernal weights in his heart? How could he say: "I absolve you in the name of God" if, because of his own sins, he did not have God with him?
My friends, consider your dignity of priests.
Before, I was among men to judge and to forgive. Now I am going to the Father. I am going back to My Kingdom. The faculty to judge is not taken off Me. On the contrary, it is entirely in My hands, because the Father has entrusted it to Me. But it is a terrible judgement because it will take place when it is no longer possible for man to obtain forgiveness through years of expiation on the Earth. Each human being will come to Me with his spirit when, through material death, he leaves his body as useless mortal remains. And I will judge him for the first time. Then mankind will come again clothed with its flesh, resumed by divine order, to be separated into two parts. The lambs with the Shepherd, the wild billy-goats with their torturer. But how many men would there be, who would be with their Shepherd, if after the baptismal bath they did not have who can forgive them in My name?
That is why I create priests. To save those who had been saved by My Blood. My Blood saves. But men continue to fall into death. To fall again into death. It is necessary for them to be continuously washed in It, seventy and seventy times seven, by those who have the authority to do so, so that they may not be a prey to Death. You and your successors will do that. That is why I absolve you of all your sins. Because you need to see, and sin blinds one, because it deprives the spirit of the Light which is God. Because you need to understand, and sin makes one dull, because it deprives the spirit of the Intelligence which is God. Because it is your ministry to purify, and sin sullies, because it deprives the spirit of the Purity which is God.
Great is your ministry of judging and absolving in My name!
When you consecrate the Bread and Wine for you and make them My Body and My Blood, you will do a great, supernaturally great and sublime thing. In order to accomplish it worthily you must be pure, because you will touch Him Who is the Pure One and you will nourish yourselves with the Flesh of a God. You must be pure in your hearts, minds, limbs and tongues, because with your hearts you must love the Eucharist, and no profane love is to be mixed with this celestial love, as that would be a sacrilege. Pure in your minds, because you must believe and understand this mystery of love, and the impurity of thought kills Faith and Intellect. The science of the world remains, but the Wisdom of God dies in you. You must be pure in your limbs, because the Word will descend into your bosoms, as it descended into Mary's womb by deed of the Love.
You have the living example of how a bosom, which receives the Word Incarnate, must be. The example is the Woman Who, without original sin and without personal sin, bore Me. Look how pure is the summit of the Hermon still enveloped in the veil of winter snow. From the Mount of Olives it looks like a lot of lilies stripped of their petals or like sea-foam, that rises like an offering against the other whiteness of the clouds, blown by the April wind along the blue fields of the sky. Look at a lily that now opens the mouth of its corolla to a scented smile. And yet both purities are not so bright as that of the womb that carried Me. Dust blown by the winds has fallen on the snow of the mountain and on the silk of the flower. Human eyes cannot perceive it, so light is it. But it is there, and it spoils the whiteness. Even more, look at the purest pearl taken from the sea, from the shell where it was born, to adorn the sceptre of a king. It is perfect in its compact iridescence, that is unaware of the desecrating touch of all flesh, as it was formed in the pearly hollow of the oyster, isolated in the sapphire fluid of sea depths. And yet it is not so pure as the womb that bore Me. In its centre there is a grain of sand: a very minute corpuscle, but still an earthly one. In Her Who is the Pearl of the Sea, there is no grain of sin, not even of incentive to sin. The Pearl born in the Ocean of the Trinity to bring the Second Person to the Earth, She is compact around Her fulcrum, which is not the seed of earthly concupiscence, but the spark of the eternal Love. The spark that found correspondence in Her and thus engendered the Divine Meteor, that now calls and draws to Itself the children of God: I, the Christ, the Morning Star. I give you that inviolate Purity as example.
But when, as vintagers do with vats, you dip your hands into the sea of My Blood and from it you draw what is needed to cleanse the soiled stoles of the poor wretches who committed sin, be perfect, in addition to being pure, in order not to stain yourselves with a greater sin, even more, with several sins, by shedding or touching the Blood of a God in a sacrilegious manner, or by failing in love and justice, denying or giving it with a severity that is not of the Christ, Who was good to the wicked to attract them to His Heart, and three times good with the weak, to encourage them to be trustful. Such severity would be used three times undeservedly, because it would be used against My Will, My Doctrine and Justice. How can one be severe with lambs when one is an idol shepherd?
O My beloved friends, whom I am sending along the roads of the world to continue the work that I began and that will be pursued until the end of Time, remember these words of Mine. I am telling you them so that you may repeat them to those whom you will consecrate to the ministry, to which I have consecrated you.
I see… I look at future ages… Time and the infinite crowds of men that will exist are all in front of Me… I see… massacres and wars, false peace treaties and horrible slaughters, hatred and robbery, sensuality and pride. Now and again a green oasis: a period of return to the Cross. Like an obelisk that indicates pure water among the arid sands of the desert, My Cross will be raised with love, after the poison of evil has made men rabid, and around it, planted on the edges of healthy waters, there will thrive the palms of a period of peace and wealth in the world. Spirits, like deer and gazelles, like swallows and doves will rush to that pleasant, cool, nourishing shelter, to be cured of their sorrows and hope once again. And it will gather its branches close together like a dome as a protection from storms and dog-days and will keep away serpents and wild animals with the Sign that puts evil to flight. And it will be so, as long as men so wish..
I see… men and men… women, old people, children, warriors, scholars, doctors, peasants… They all come and pass by with their loads of hopes and sorrows. And I see many stagger, because their sorrow is too great, and their hope has slipped off the load first of all, as the load is too heavy, and their hope has crumbled on the ground… And I see many fall on the roadsides, because they are pushed by others who are stronger, stronger or luckier, as their weights are lighter. And I see many who, feeling that they are abandoned by those who pass by, and they are even trampled on, and feeling that they are about to die, go to the extent of hating and cursing.
Poor children! Among all these, struck by life, who pass by or fall, My Love has deliberately spread some compassionate Samaritans, good doctors, lights in the night, voices in the silence, so that the weak who fall may find assistance, and once again they may see Light and hear the Voice that says: "Hope. You are not alone. Over you there is God. Jesus is with you". I have deliberately placed this active charity, so that My poor children may not die in their spirits, losing their paternal abode, and they may continue to believe in Me-Love, seeing My reflection in My ministers.
But, o grief that makes the Wound of My Heart bleed as it did when it was opened on Golgotha! But what do My divine eyes see? Are there perhaps no priests among the infinite crowds passing by? Is that why My Heart is bleeding? Are seminaries empty? So does My divine invitation no longer resound in hearts? Is man's heart no longer capable of hearing it? No. Throughout ages there will be seminaries and Levites in them. Priests will come out of them, because in the hour of adolescence My invitation will have sounded with a celestial voice in many hearts, and they will have followed it. But other, other, other voices will have come later with their youth and maturity, and My Voice will have been overwhelmed in those hearts. My Voice that speaks throughout ages to its ministers, that they may always be what you are now: the apostles at Christ's school. The cassock has remained. But the priest is dead. This will happen to too many in the course of ages. Useless dark shadows, they will not be a lever that lifts, a rope that pulls, a fountain that quenches people's thirst, corn that satisfies their hunger, a heart that is a pillow, a light in darkness, a voice that repeats what the Master says to him. But for poor mankind they will be a weight of scandal, a weight of death, a parasite, a putrefaction… Horror! Once again and always I shall have the greatest Judases of the future in My priests!
My friends, I am in My glory, and yet I weep. I take pity on these infinite crowds, herds without shepherds or with too few shepherds. Infinite pity! Well, I swear it on My Divinity, I will give them the bread, the water, the light, the voice that those chosen for this work do not want to give. I will repeat the miracle of the loaves and fish in future ages. With few mean little fish, and with scanty crusts of bread - humble lay souls - I will give food to many people, and they will be satisfied, and there will be some for those of the future, because "I feel sorry for this people" and I do not want it to perish.
Blessed are those who will deserve to be such. Not blessed because they are such. But because they will have deserved it with their love and sacrifice. And most blessed those priests who will remain apostles: bread, water, light, voice, rest and medicine for My poor children. They will shine in Heaven with a special light. I swear it to you, I Who am the Truth.
Let us get up, My friends, and come with Me, that I may teach you again to pray. It is prayer that nourishes the strength of the apostle, because it blends him with God. »
And the vision ends
They are up on another mountain, which is even more covered with woods, not far from Nazareth, to which a road leads running along the foot of the mountain.
Jesus makes them sit down in a circle, the apostles closer to Him, behind them the disciples (those of the seventy-two who did not go away here and there) with Zacharias and Joseph. Marjiam is at His feet in a privileged position.
Jesus speaks as soon as they are all sitting and quiet, paying attention to His words. He says:
« Pay attention to Me, because I will tell you things of the greatest importance. You will not understand them all, neither will you understand them all well. But He Who comes after Me, will make you understand them. So, listen to Me.
Nobody is more convinced than you are, that without the help of God man sins easily, as his very weak constitution was debilitated by the Sin. So I should be an imprudent Redeemer, if after giving you so much to redeem you, I did not give you also the means of retaining you in the effects of My Sacrifice.
You know that all the easiness to commit sin derives from the Sin that, by depriving men of Grace, despoils them of their strength: of the union with Grace. You have said: "But You have given Grace to us". No. It was given to the just up to My Death. To give it to future people a means is required. A means that will not be only a ritual figure, but on those who receive it will really impress the real character of children of God, as Adam and Eve were, whose souls vivified by Grace, possessed sublime gifts, given by God to His beloved creatures.
You are aware of what man had and what man lost. Now, through My Sacrifice, the gates of Grace have been reopened and its river can descend on all those who ask it out of their love for Me. Men will therefore have the character of children of God through the merits of the First-Born among men, of Him Who is speaking to you, your Redeemer, your eternal Pontiff, your Brother in the Father, your Master. It will be by Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ that present and future men will be able to possess Heaven and enjoy God, the last purpose of man. Up to the present time, even the most just among the just, although circumcised as children of the chosen people, were not able to attain that purpose. Although their virtues were taken into consideration by God, and their places were ready in Heaven, the latter was closed and the enjoyment of God was denied to them, because on their souls, blessed flower-beds blooming with every virtue, there was also the cursed tree of Original Sin, and no action, no matter how holy it might be, could destroy it; neither is it possible to enter Heaven with the roots and foliage of so evil a tree.
On Preparation Day the sighs of the patriarchs and prophets, and of all the just of Israel, appeased in the joy of the accomplished Redemption, and their souls, whiter than mountain snow, such was their virtue, lost the only Stain that segregated them from Heaven.
But the world continues. Generations and generations arise and will arise. Peoples and peoples will come to the Christ. Can the Christ die with each new generation to save it, or for each people that comes to Him? No. He cannot. The Christ died once, and He will never die again, for ever. Then, must these generations, these peoples, become wise through My Word, but not possess Heaven and enjoy God, because they are injured by Original Sin? No. It would not be just, neither for them, because their love for Me would be useless, nor for Me, because I would have died for too few. So? How can the different things be conciliated? Which new miracle will the Christ work, and He has already worked so many, before leaving the world for Heaven, after loving men to the extent of dying for them?
He has already worked one, by leaving you His Body and His Blood as a fortifying and sanctifying food and as a remembrance of His love, by giving you the order to do what I have done in memory of Me and as a sanctifying means for the disciples, for the disciples of the disciples, until the end of time.
But that evening, when you were already purified exteriorly, do you remember what I did? I girded Myself with a towel and I washed your feet, and to one of you, who was scandalised at that too humiliating gesture, I said: "If I do not wash you, you will have no part in common with Me". You did not understand what I meant, of which part I was speaking, which symbol I performed. Well, I will tell you. Besides teaching you humility and the necessity of being pure, in order to enter and take part in My Kingdom, in addition to bringing benignly to your notice that from a man, who is just, and therefore pure in his spirit and intellect, God exacts only a last wash of the part that is necessarily easier to become contaminated also in just people, even only with the dust that the necessary cohabitation among men lays also on clean limbs, on bodies, I have taught you another thing. I washed your feet, the lowest part of body, the one that goes among mud and dust, at times among dirty things, to signify the flesh, the material part of man, which part always has some imperfections, with the exception of those who are without the Original Sin, either through the deed of God or by the Nature of God, and such imperfections are at times so slight that only God can see them, but really, one must watch them, so that they may not grow stronger and turn into natural habits, and fight them to extirpate them.
So I washed your feet. When? Before breaking the bread and wine and transubstantiating them into My Body and My Blood. Because I am the Lamb of God, and I cannot descend where Satan has his mark. So, I washed you first. Then I gave Myself to you. You also will wash with Baptism those who will come to Me, so that they may not receive My Body unworthily and it may not change for them into a dreadful death sentence.
You are dismayed. You are looking at one another. With your eyes you are asking: "And Judas, then?" I say to you: "Judas ate his death". The supreme act of love did not touch his heart. The last attempt of his Master knocked against the stone of his heart, and on that stone, in the place of the Tau, was engraved the horrible initial of Satan, the sign of the Beast.
So I washed you before admitting you to the Eucharistic banquet, before listening to the confession of your sins, before infusing the Holy Ghost into you and consequently the character of both true Christians reconfirmed in Grace, and of My Priests. Let the same
be done to the others whom you will have to prepare for the Christian life.
Baptise with water in the Name of the God One and Trine and in My Name and through My infinite Merits, so that the Original Sin may be cancelled from hearts, sins may be remitted, Grace and the Holy Virtues may be infused, and the Holy Ghost may descend to dwell in consecrated temples, that is, in the bodies of men living in the Grace of the Lord.
Was water necessary to cancel the Sin? Water does not touch the soul. But neither does the immaterial sign touch the sight of man, who is so material in all his actions. I could very well have infused Life also without a visible means. But who would have believed it? How many are the men who can firmly believe if they do not see? So take the lustral water of the ancient Mosaic Law, the water that was used to purify unclean people and admit them again to the camps, after they had become contaminated by a corpse. In actual fact, every man who is born is contaminated, by having contact with a soul dead to Grace. So let it be purified of the unclean contact by the lustral water and made worthy of entering the eternal Temple.
And let water be a dear thing to you… After expiating and redeeming through thirty-three years of laborious life, which culminated in the Passion, after giving all My Blood for the sins of men, then the wholesome waters to wash the Original Sin were drawn from the bloodless consumed Body of the Martyr. By means of the consumed Sacrifice I redeemed you from that stain. If on the point of death a divine miracle of Mine had made Me descend from the cross, I solemnly tell you that with the blood I had shed I would have redeemed the sins, but not the Sin. The full consummation was required for it. Really, the wholesome water of which Ezekiel speaks came out of this Side of Mine. Immerse souls into it, so that they may come out of it spotless, to receive the Holy Ghost Who, in recollection of that breath which the Creator breathed on Adam to give him the spirit and thus the image and likeness of Himself, will come to breathe and dwell in the hearts of men who have been redeemed.
Baptise with My Baptism, but in the Name of the God Triune, because, really, if the Father had not wanted and the Spirit had not acted, the Word would have not become incarnate and you would have had no Redemption. So it is just and fair that every man should receive the Life through Those Who joined together in wanting to give it to him, mentioning the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost in the act of Baptism, which takes the name of Christian after Me, to distinguish it from the others past and future, which will be rites, but not indelible signs on the immortal part.
Take the Bread and the Wine as I did, and bless them, break them and hand them out in My Name; and let Christians feed on Me. And of the Bread and Wine make an offering to the Father of Heavens, consuming it then in memory of the Sacrifice that I offered and consumed on the Cross for your salvation. I, Priest and Victim, by Myself offered and consumed Myself, as no one, if I had not wanted, could do that of Me. You, My Priests, do that in memory of Me and so that the infinite treasures of My Sacrifice may ascend imploringly to God, and descend propitiously on all those who invoke them with firm faith.
Firm faith, I said. No science is called for to avail oneself of the Eucharistic Food and of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, but faith. Faith that in that bread and in that wine, that one authorised by Me and by those who will come after Me - you Peter, the new Pontiff of the new Church, you James of Alphaeus, you John, you Andrew, you Simon, you Philip, you Bartholomew, you Thomas, you Judas Thaddeus, you Matthew, you James of Zebedee - will consecrate in My Name, is My true Body, My true Blood, and he who feeds on it receives Me in Flesh, Blood, Soul and Divinity and he who offers Me really, offers Jesus Christ, as He offered Himself for the sins of the world. A child or an ignorant person can receive Me, just like a learned man and an adult. And a child and an ignorant person will receive the same advantages from the Sacrifice offered, as those that anyone among you will have. It is sufficient that faith and the grace of the Lord are in them.
But you are about to receive a new Baptism, that of the Holy Ghost. I promised it to you and it will be given to you. The very Holy Ghost will descend upon you. I will tell you when. And you will be replete with It, in the fullness of sacerdotal gifts. You will be able, therefore, as I did with you, to infuse the Spirit with which you are replete, to confirm the Christians in grace and instil the gifts of the Paraclete into them. As a regal Sacrament, little inferior to the Priesthood, it must have the solemnity of Mosaic consecrations with the imposition of hands and the unction with scented oil, which was once used to consecrate Priests.
No. Do not look at one another so frightened! I am not speaking sacrilegious words! I am not teaching you sacrilegious acts! The dignity of a Christian is such, I repeat it, that it is little inferior to a priesthood. Where do priests live? In the Temple. And a Christian will be a living temple. What do priest do? They serve God with prayers, sacrifices and taking care of the believers. That is what they should have done… And a Christian will serve God with prayer and sacrifice and with brotherly love.
And you will listen to the confession of sins, as I listened to yours and to those of many and I forgave where I saw true repentance.
Are you becoming upset? Why? Are you afraid that you may not be able to distinguish? On other occasions I have already spoken of sin and of the judgement of sin. But remember, when judging, to ponder on the seven conditions whereby an action may or may not be sinful and of different gravity. I will recall them. When one sinned and how many times, who sinned, with whom, with what, which is the matter of the sin, which is the cause, why did one sin. But be not afraid. The Holy Ghost will assist you.
What I implore you with all My heart to observe is a holy life. It will increase the supernatural lights in you to such an extent, that you will succeed in reading the hearts of men without mistaking, and you will be able, with love or with authority, to tell sinners, who fear to disclose their sin or refuse to confess it, the state of their hearts, helping the timid and humiliating the unrepentant. Bear in mind that the Earth is about to lose its Absolver and that you must be what I was: just, patient, merciful, but not weak. I said to you: what you will loose on Earth will be loosed in Heaven and what you bind here will be bound in Heaven. So with measured deliberation judge every man without allowing yourselves to be corrupted by likes or dislikes, by gifts or threats, being impartial in everything and with everybody as is God, bearing in mind the weakness of man and the snares of his enemies.
I remind you that at times God allows also His chosen ones to fall, not because He likes to see them fall, but because a greater future advantage may come from a fall. So offer your hands to those who fall, because you do not know whether that fall is the resolutive crisis of an illness that dies for ever, leaving in the blood a purification that brings about health. In our case: that brings about holiness.
Be instead severe with those who have no respect for My Blood, and with their souls just cleansed by the divine bath, throw themselves into filth one and one hundred times. Do not curse them, but be severe, exhort them, reproach them seventy times seven, and have recourse to the extreme punishment of cutting them off from the chosen people, only when their obstinacy in a fault that scandalises the brothers, compels you to take action in order not to become accomplices of their deeds. Remember what I said: "If your brother has sinned, correct him between your two selves. If he does not listen to you, correct him in the presence of two or three witnesses. If that is not sufficient, inform the Church. If he does not listen even to the Church, consider him as a Gentile and a publican".
In the Mosaic religion matrimony is a contract. In the new Christian religion let it be a sacred indissoluble act, on which may the grace of the Lord descend to make of husband and wife two ministers of His in the propagation of the human race. From the very first moments try to advise the consort belonging to the new religion to convert the consort, who is still out of the number of the believers, to enter and become part of it, to avoid those painful divisions of thought, and consequently of peace, that we have noticed also among ourselves. But when it is a question of believers in the Lord, for no reason whatsoever what God united is to be dissolved. And when a consort is Christian and is united to a heathen, I advice that consort to bear his/her cross with patience, meekness and also with strength, to the extent of dying to defend his/her faith, but without leaving the consort whom he/she married with full consent. This is My advice for a more perfect life in the matrimonial state, until it will be possible, with the diffusion of Christianity, to have marriages between believers. Then let the bond be sacred and indissoluble, and the love holy.
It would be bad, if owing to the hardness of hearts, what happened in the old faith should happen also in the new one: the authorization of repudiation and dissolution to avoid scandal created by the lust of man. I solemnly tell you that everybody must bear his cross in every state, also in the matrimonial one. And I also solemnly tell you that no pressure is to subdue your authority in saying: "It is against the law" to those who want to marry for the second time before one of the consorts is dead. It is better, I tell you, that a putrid part breaks off, by itself or followed by others, rather than to keep it in the Body of the Church, grant it something contrary to the holiness of marriage, scandalising the humble and making them express thoughts unfavourable to sacerdotal integrity and on the value of wealth and power.
Marriage is a grave and holy act. And to prove that, I took part at a wedding and I worked My first miracle there. But woe if it degenerates into lust and whim. Let marriage, the natural contract between man and woman, be elevated to a spiritual contract, by which the souls of two people who love each other swear to serve the Lord in reciprocal love, offered to the Lord in obedience to His order of procreation to give children to the Lord.
And also… James, do you remember the conversation on Mount Carmel? Since that time I have spoken to you about this. But the others do not know… You saw Mary of Lazarus spread ointment on My limbs at the supper of the Sabbath at Bethany. I then said to you: "She has prepared Me for My burial". In actual fact she did. Not for My burial, because she thought that that sorrow was still far away, but to purify and embalm My limbs from all the impurities of the road, so that I might ascend the throne scented with balsamic oil.
The life of man is a road. The entry of man into the next life ought to be an entry into the Kingdom. Every king is anointed and perfumed before ascending his throne and showing himself to his people. Also the Christian is the son of a king, and he goes along his road, directing his steps towards the kingdom where the Father calls him. The death of a Christian is nothing but the entry into the Kingdom to ascend the throne that the Father has prepared for him. Death is not frightful for him who is not afraid of God, knowing that he is in His grace. But let the garment of him who is to ascend the throne be purified of all rubbish, so that it may be preserved beautiful for the resurrection, and let his spirit be purified, so that it may shine on the throne that the Father has prepared for him and he may appear in the dignity befitting a son of such a great king. Let the unction given to dying Christians, or rather, to Christians being born, because I solemnly tell you that he who dies in the Lord is born to the eternal life, let that unction be an increase of Grace, the annulment of sins of which the man is fully repentant, the exciter of fervent yearning for Good, the giver of strength for the supreme struggle.
Repeat the gesture of Mary on the bodies of the chosen ones. And let no one deem it unworthy of him. I accepted that balsamic oil from a woman. Every Christian should consider himself honoured by it, as a supreme grace of the Church whose son he is, and should accept it from the priest to be cleansed of the last stains. And every priest ought to be happy to repeat on the body of his dying brother, the gesture of love that Mary made on the suffering Christ. I truly tell you that what you did not do to Me then, letting a woman exceed you, and now you think of it with so much regret, you can do in future and for as many times as you will bend over one who is dying to prepare him to his meeting with God. I am in beggars and in dying people, in pilgrims, in orphans, in widows, in prisoners, in those who are hungry, thirsty or cold, in who is grieved or tired. I am in all the members of My mystic Body, which is the union of all My believers. Love Me in them and you will make amends for your indifference on so many occasions, giving great joy to Me and so much glory to yourselves.
Finally, consider that the world, age, diseases, time, persecutions conspire against you. Therefore do not be avaricious with what you have received and do not be imprudent. For this reason transmit the Priesthood in My Name to the best disciples, so that the Earth may not be left without priests. And ensure that the sacred character is granted after a severe examination, not verbal, but of the deeds of him who asks to be a priest, or of him whom you judge suitable to be one.
Consider what is a Priest. The good he can do. The evil he can do. You have had the example of what can be done by a priest who has lapsed from his sacred character. I truly tell you that this country will be dispersed because of the sins of the Temple. But I also truly tell you that also the Earth will be destroyed when the abomination of desolation will affect the new Priesthood, by leading men to apostasy in order to embrace the doctrines of hell. Then the son of Satan will arise and peoples will moan in dreadful fright, as only few will remain faithful to the Lord, and also then, after horrible convulsions, the end will come after the victory of God and of His few Chosen ones, and the wrath of God on all the cursed ones. Woe, three times woe if for those few there will still be no saints, the last pavilions of the Temple of Christ! Woe, three times woe, if to comfort the last Christians, there will be no true Priests, as there will be for the first ones. Really the last persecution will be horrible, as it will not be the persecution of men but of the son of Satan and of his followers. Priests? Those of the last hour will have to be more than priests, so wild will be the persecution of the hordes of the Antichrist. Like the man dressed in linen, who is so holy as to be beside the Lord, in the vision of Ezekiel, they will have to be untiring in marking a Tau with their perfection on the spirits of the few faithful ones, so that the flames of may do not cancel that sign. Priests? Angels. Angels swinging the thurible of the incences of their virtues to purify the air of the miasmata of Satan. Angels? More than angels: other Christs, others Myself, so that the believers of the last times may be able to persevere until the end. That is what they will have to be.
But future good and evil have roots in the present. Avalanches begin with a snowflake. A priest who is unworthy, impure, heretic, unfaithful, incredulous, tepid or cold, dull, insipid, lustful, does ten times as much harm as a believer guilty of the same sins, and he drags many more to commit sin. Laxity in the Priesthood, the reception of impure doctrines, selfishness, greed, concupiscence in the Priesthood, you are aware of the result of all that: deicide. Now, in future ages, the Son of God can no longer be killed, but the faith in God, the idea of God, can. So a deicide will be accomplished, which is even more irreparable, because it is without resurrection. Oh! it can be accomplished, yes. I see… It will be possible to accomplish it, because of the too many Judases of Kerioth of future ages. How horrible!…
My Church demolished by its own ministers! While I support it with the help of victims. And they, the Priests, who will have only the garment and not the soul of a Priest, who help the ebullition of the waves agitated by the infernal Snake against your boat, Peter. Stand up! Rise! Transmit this order to your successors: "Hands on the rudder, the lash on the shipwrecked people who wanted to be shipwrecked, and try to founder the boat of God". Strike, but save and proceed. Be severe, because just is the punishment for marauders. Defend the treasure of the faith, Hold the lamp aloft, like a lighthouse above the rough sea, so that those who follow your boat may see and not perish. Shepherd and pilot for the dreadful times, gather, guide, hold My Gospel high, because safety is found in it and in no other science.
The days will come when, as it happened to us in Israel, but even more deeply, the Priesthood will think it is a chosen class, because it knows the superfluous and does not know the indispensable any longer, or is aware of it in the deaf form in which the Priests now know the Law: in its garment, exaggeratedly overburdened with fringes, but not in its spirit. The days will come when all the books will replace the Book, and this will be used only as one, who must use an object by force, handles it mechanically, as a peasant ploughs, sows, harvests, without meditating on the wonderful providence which is that multiplication of seeds that is renewed each year: a seed is thrown into turned soil and it becomes stalk, ear of corn, then flour and then bread through God's paternal love. Who, putting a mouthful of bread in his mouth, raises his spirit to Him Who created the first seed and for ages has made it spring up again and grow, giving the right quantity of rain and heat, so that it may open and grow and ripen without rotting or getting burnt? Likewise the time will come when the Gospel will be taught scientifically well, spiritually badly.
Now, what is science if it lacks wisdom? It is straw. Straw that swells and does not nourish. And I truly tell you that the time will come in which too many among the Priests will be like swollen straw-stacks, proud straw-stacks, that will stand up straight in the pride of being so swollen, as if they had given themselves all those ears of wheat that crowned the straw, as if the ears were still on the summits of the straw, and will think that they are everything because, instead of the handful of wheat, the true nourishment that is the spirit of the Gospel, they will have all that straw: a heap! A heap! But can straw be enough? It is not even sufficient for the stomach of a beast of burden, and if its master does not strengthen the animal with fodder and fresh herbs, the beast of burden nourished only with straw wastes away and may even die. And yet I tell you that the time will come when the Priests, forgetting that with few ears of wheat I taught spirits the Truth, and forgetting also what it cost their Lord that true bread of the spirit, drawn completely and only from the Divine Wisdom, spoken by the Divine Word, dignified in its doctrinal form, indefatigable in its repetitions, so that the truth spoken should not get lost, humble in its form, without the false glitter of human sciences, without historical or geographical completions, will not take care of its soul, but of the garment to be thrown on it, to show the crowds how many things they know, and the spirit of the Gospel will get lost in them, under avalanches of human science. And if they do not possess it, how can they transmit it? What will these swollen straw-stacks give the believers? Straw. What nourishment will the spirits of the believers get from it? Enough to lead a wretched languishing life. Which fruit will ripen from such teaching and from this imperfect knowledge of the Gospel? The coolness of hearts, the replacement of the only true doctrine with heretical doctrines, with doctrines and ideas that are more than heretical, the preparation of the ground in favour of the Beast for his transient icy dark horrible kingdom.
I truly tell you that, as the Father and Creator multiplies the stars so that the sky may not become depopulated because of those that perish, when their lives end, likewise I shall have to evangelize thousands of times the disciples that I will scatter among men in future ages. And I also truly tell you that the destiny of these disciples will be the same as Mine: the synagogue and proud people will persecute them as they persecuted Me. But both they and I have our reward: that of doing the Will of God and serving Him even to death on a cross, so that His glory may shine and the knowledge of Him may not perish.
But you, Pontiff, and you, Shepherds, watch that the spirit of the Gospel may not get lost in you and in your successors, and pray the Holy Ghost untiringly that the Pentecost may be continually renewed in you - you do not understand what I mean, but you will soon know - so that you may understand all the languages and choose and distinguish My voices from those of the Monkey of God: Satan. And do not allow My future voices to become void. And each of them is an act of mercy of Mine to assist you, and the more are the reasons by which I see that Christianity needs them to get through the storms of times, the more numerous they will be.
Shepherd and pilot, Peter! Shepherd and pilot. It will not be sufficient for you one day to be shepherd if you are not pilot, and to be pilot if you are not shepherd. You will have to be both to keep the lambs gathered together, as hellish tentacles and fierce claws will try to snatch them from you, or music of false impossible promises will seduce you, and to proceed with the boat caught in all the winds blowing from the north, south, east and west, lashed and tossed by the powers of the depths, hit by the arrows shot by the archers of the Beast, burnt by the breath of the dragon, with its edges swept by its tail, so that the imprudent ones will be burnt and will perish, falling into the stormy sea.
Shepherd and pilot in dreadful times. And your compass is the Gospel. In it there is Life and Safety. And everything is said in it. Every article of the holy Code, every answer for the manifold cases of souls are in it. And ensure that Priests and believers do not depart from it, and that no doubts arise about it. And take care that no alterations, changes and adulterations are made to it. The Gospel is I Myself. From My birth to My death. In the Gospel there is God. Because the works of the Father, of the Son, of the Holy Ghost are manifest in it. The Gospel is love. I said: "My Word is Life". I said: "God is Love". So let people know My Word and have love in them, that is, God, to have the Kingdom of God. Because he who is not in God, does not have the Life in him. Because those who do not receive the Word of the Father will not be able to be one thing with the Father, with Me and with the Holy Ghost in Heaven, and they will not be able to belong to the only Fold, which is as holy as I want it. They will not be vine-shoots joined to the Vine, because he who, wholly or partly, rejects My Word is a member in whom the sap of the Vine no longer flows. My Word is juice that nourishes, makes one grow and yield fruit.
You will do all that in memory of Me, as I taught you. There is still much that I should tell you about what I have now said to you. But I have only sown the seed. The Holy Ghost will make it sprout in you. I wanted to give you the seed Myself, because I know your hearts and I know how you would falter with fear at spiritual immaterial orders. The fear of deceit would paralyse all will in you. So I am the first to speak to you of all things. Then the Paraclete will remind you of My words and will enlarge on them in detail. And you will not be afraid, because you will remember that I gave you the first seed. Allow yourselves to be led by the Holy Ghost. If My hand was kind in guiding you, His Light is very mild. He is the Love of God. So I am going away happy, because I know that He will take My place and will lead you to the knowledge of God. You do not know Him yet, although I have said so much to you about Him. But it is not your fault. You have done everything to understand Me and you are therefore justified, even if in three years you have understood little. The lack of Grace dulled your spirits. Even now you understand little, notwithstanding that the Grace of God descended upon you from My cross. You are in need of the Fire. One day I spoke to one of you about it, while going along the roads near the Jordan.
The hour has come. I am going back to My Father, but I am not leaving you all alone, because I leave you the Eucharist, that is, your Jesus made food for men. And I leave you the Friend: the Paraclete. He will guide you. I pass your souls from My light to His Light, and He will accomplish your formation. »
« Are You leaving us now? Upon this mountain? » They are all desolate.
« No. Not yet. But time flies and it will soon be that moment. »
« Oh! do not leave me on the Earth without You, Lord. I have loved You from Your birth to Your Death, from Your Death to Your Resurrection, and always. But it would be too sad to know that You are no longer among us! You heard the prayer of Elisha's father. You have satisfied so many. Hear mine, Lord! » implores Isaac on his knees with his hands stretched out.
« The life you could still have would be a sermon on Me, perhaps the glory of martyrdom. You have been a martyr out of love for Me, a baby, are you now afraid of being one for Me glorious? »
« It would be my glory to follow You, Lord. I am poor and foolish. What I could give, I gave with a good will. Now this is what I would like: to follow You. But let it be done as You wish, now and always. »
Jesus lays His hand on Isaac's head, and leaves it there on a long caress, while He addresses them all saying: « Have you no questions to ask Me? These are the last lessons. Speak to your Master… See how the little ones are on familiar terms with Me? » In fact also today Marjiam leans his head on Jesus' body, pressing himself against Him, and Isaac did not show any shyness in expressing his wish.
« Really… Yes… We have something to ask… » says Peter.
« Ask then. »
« Well… Yesterday evening, after You left us, we were talking among ourselves of what You had said. Now other words are urging us with regard to what You have said. Yesterday and also today, if one considers them properly, You have spoken as if heresies and separations were to arise, and soon. This makes us think that we shall have to be very prudent with those who will want to come among us. Because the seed of heresy and separation will certainly be in them. »
« Do you think so? And is Israel not already divided in coming to Me? You mean this: that the Israel, that loved Me, will never be heretical and divided. Is that right? But has she ever been united for ages, even in the ancient formation? And has she been united in following Me? I truly tell you that the root of heresy is in her. »
« But… »
« But she has been idolatrous and heretical for ages under the outer appearance of faithfulness. You know her idols. And her heresies. The Gentiles will be better than she is. That is why I have not excluded them, and I tell you to do what I have done. That will be one of the most difficult things for you. I know. But remember the prophets. They prophesy the vocation of the Gentiles and the hardness of the Judaeans. Why would you like to close the gates of the Kingdom to those who love Me and come to the Light that their souls were seeking? Do you think that they are bigger sinners than you, because they have not known God as yet, because they have followed their religion and they will follow it until they are attracted by ours? You must not. I say that many a time they are better than you because, while they have a religion that is not holy, they know how to be just. There is no lack of just people in any country and religion. God observes the deeds of men, not their words. And if He sees that a Gentile, out of the justice of his heart, according to nature does what the Law of Sinai prescribes, why should He consider him contemptible?
Is it not more meritorious that a man, who does not know God's command not to do this or that because it is evil, should take upon himself not to do what his reason tells him is not good and should follow it faithfully, than the very relative merit of him who, knowing God, the scope of man and the Law that enables him to attain it, comes to continuous compromises and designs, in order to adapt the perfect order to a corrupt will? What do you think? That God appreciates the ways out of obedience devised by Israel in order not to sacrifice her concupiscence too much? What do you think? That when a Gentile departs from this world, and is just in the eyes of God as he has followed the right law that his conscience imposed on itself, God will consider him a demon? I tell you: God will judge the actions of men, and the Christ, the Judge of all peoples, will reward those to whom the desire of their souls was a voice of an intimate law to attain the final scope of man, which is to be reunited to his Creator, to the God unknown to the heathens, but to the God Who they feel is True and Holy, beyond the painted scenery of any false Olympus.
Even more, pay attention not to be the cause of scandal to the Gentiles. Too often the name of God has already been derided among the Gentiles because of the deeds of the children of the people of God. Do not consider yourselves the absolute treasurers of My gifts and of My merits. I died for the Judaeans and for the Gentiles. My Kingdom will belong to all peoples. Do not take advantage of the patience with which God has treated you so far, by saying: "We are allowed everything". No. I tell you. There is no longer this or that people. There is My People. And in it the vases used up in the service of the Temple and those that are now being laid on the tables of God have the same value. And more than that, many vases used up in the service of the Temple, but not of God, will be thrown into a corner, and in their stead on the altar will be placed those that do not yet know incense, oil, wine or balm, but are anxious to be filled with them and to be used for the glory of the Lord.
Do not demand too much of the Gentiles. It is enough for them to have faith and to obey My Word. A new circumcision replaces the old one. Man is to be circumcised in his heart, from now on; in his spirit, even better than in his heart, because the blood of the circumcised, symbolising the purification from the concupiscence that excluded Adam from the divine filiation, has been replaced by My most pure Blood. It is valid both for those who are circumcised and for those who are uncircumcised in their bodies, providing the latter have received My Baptism and they renounce Satan, the world, the flesh, out of love for Me. Do not despise the uncircumcised. God did not despise Abraham. Because of his justice God chose him as the head of His People even before circumcision had bitten his flesh. If God approached Abraham uncircumcised, to give him His orders, you can approach the uncircumcised to teach them the Law of the Lord. Consider to how many sins and to what sin the circumcised have come. So do not be inexorable towards the Gentiles. »
« But shall we have to tell them what You taught us? They will not understand anything, because they do not know the Law. »
« You say so. But did Israel, who knew the Law and the Prophets, understand? »
« That is true. »
« But be careful. You will say what the Spirit advises you to say, verbally, without any fear, without wanting to do it by yourselves. When false prophets arise among the believers, and they profess their ideas as if they were inspired, and they are the heretics, then you will have to fight their heretical doctrines with means firmer than words. But do not worry. The Holy Ghost will guide you. I never say anything that may not happen. »
« And what shall we do with heretics? »
« Fight the heresy itself with all your strength, but with every means try to convert the heretics to the Lord. Never get tired in looking for the sheep that have gone astray in order to take them back to the Fold. Pray, suffer, get people to pray, to suffer, go around begging the pure, the good, the generous believers for sacrifices and sufferings, because these are the means to convert your brothers. The Passion of Christ continues in Christians. I have not excluded you from this great work, which is the Redemption of the world. You are all members of one single body. Help one another, and let those who are strong and healthy work for the weaker ones, and those who are united stretch out their hands and call their brothers who are far away. »
« But will there be any, after they have been brothers in one house? »
« There will be some. »
« Why? »
« For so many reasons. They will still have My Name. And what is even more, they will take pride in that Name. They will work to make it known. They will help in making Me known as far as the extreme boundaries of the Earth. Let them do, because, I remind you, who is not against Me is for Me. But, poor children! their work will always be incomplete, their merits always imperfect. They cannot be in Me if they are separated from the Vine. Their works will always be incomplete. You, I say you, referring to your future successors, must be where they are. Do not say pharisaically: "I am not going in order not to be contaminated". Or lazily: "I am not going, because there already is who preaches the Lord". Or timidly: "I am not going in order not to be driven away by them". Go. I tell you: Go. To all peoples. As far as the boundaries of the world. So that all My Doctrine and My Only Church may be made known and souls may be able to become part of it. »
« And shall we tell them or write all your actions? »
« I have told you. The Holy Ghost will advise you what it is right to say or be quiet about, according to the times. You can see it! What I have done is believed or denied, and at times is used as a weapon against Me, manipulated as it is by hands that hate Me. They have called Me Beelzebub when, as the Master, I worked miracles in the presence of everybody. And what will they say now, when they learn that I have acted in such a supernatural manner? They will curse Me even more. And you would be persecuted before the time. So be silent until it is the time to speak. »
« But if that hour should come when we, the witnesses, are dead? »
« In My Church there will always be priests, doctors, prophets, exorcizers, confessors, people who work miracles or are inspired, as is necessary so that peoples may have from the Church what is necessary. Heaven: the Church Triumphant will not leave the Church Teaching all alone, and the latter will assist the Church Militant. They are not three bodies. They are only one Body. There is no division among them, but communion of love and of purpose: to love Charity and enjoy it in Heaven, its Kingdom. And for this reason the Church Militant will have to provide with love for the suffrages on behalf of that part of it which, already destined to the Church Triumphant, is still excluded from it, because of the satisfactory expiation of faults absolved but not entirely expiated with regard to the Perfect Divine Justice.
In the mystic Body everything is to be done in love and through love. Because love is the blood that circulates in it. Assist your brothers who are being purified. As I said that the works of corporal mercy achieve a reward for you, in Heaven, so I told you that also the spiritual ones achieve it for you. And I truly tell you that a prayer for the souls of the dead, that they may enter into peace, is a great work of mercy, for which God will bless you and the souls for whom you have prayed will be grateful. When, at the resurrection of the bodies, you are all gathered before Christ Judge, among those whom I will bless, there will be also those who showed love for their brothers who were being purified, making offerings and praying for their peace. I tell you. Not one of the good actions will be left without fruit, and many will shine brightly in Heaven, without having preached, administered, made apostolic journeys, embraced special states, but only because they-prayed and suffered to give peace to the souls that were being purified, to lead men to conversion. They also, priests unknown to the world, unknown apostles, victims whom God alone sees, will receive the reward of the workers of the Lord, as of their lives they made a perpetual sacrifice of love for their brothers and for the glory of God. I truly tell you that one can arrive at eternal life along many ways, and this is one of them, and it is so dear to My Heart. Have you anything else to ask? Speak up. »
« Lord, yesterday and not only yesterday, we were thinking that You said: "You will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel". But now we are eleven… »
« Elect the twelfth. It is your duty, Peter, to do so. »
« Mine? Not mine, Lord! I ask You to choose him. »
« I elected My Twelve once and I formed them. Then I appointed their chief. Then I gave them Grace and I infused the Holy Ghost into them. It is their turn now to walk, because they are no longer babies unweaned unable to do so. »
« But at least tell us where we are to lay our eyes… »
« Here you are. This is the chosen part of the herd » says Jesus, making a circular gesture on those of the seventy-two who are present.
« Not us, Lord. Not us. The place of the traitor frightens us » they say imploringly.
« Let us take Lazarus. Do You agree, Lord? »
Jesus is silent.
« Joseph of Arimathea?… Nicodemus?… »
Jesus is silent.
« Yes! Let us take Lazarus. »
« And do you want to give the perfect friend that place that you do not want? » asks Jesus.
« Lord, I should like to say something » says the Zealot.
« Speak. »
« I am sure that Lazarus for Your sake would accept also that place and would hold it in such a perfect manner as to make people forget whose place that was. But I do not think it is befitting to do so for other reasons. Lazarus' spiritual virtues can be found in many among the humble people of Your flock. And I think that it would be better to give them the preference, so that the believers may not say that we sought only power and wealth, as the Pharisees do, instead of virtue only. »
« You are right, Simon. And what you said is so much more true, as you have spoken with justice, without letting Lazarus' friendship prevent you from speaking. »
« Then let us appoint Marjiam as twelfth apostle. He is a boy. »
« In order to cancel that horrible empty space, I would accept it, but I am not worthy of it. How could I, a boy, speak to an adult? Lord, You must say whether I am right. »
« You are right. But do not be in a hurry. The time will come and you will be surprised at all being of the same opinion. Pray, in the meantime. I am going away. Withdraw to pray. I dismiss you for the time being. Ensure that you are all at Bethany on the fourteenth of Civ. »
He stands up, while they all kneel down prostrating themselves with their faces on the grass. He blesses them and the light, the maid who announces Him and precedes Him when He comes as she receives Him when He departs, embraces Him and hides Him, absorbing Him once again.