Alphaeus of Meroba

This young child from Capernaum has a sad life: orphaned of his father Jacob, he is rejected and beaten, like his two brothers, by Meroba, their remarried mother.

The Virgin Mary, moved by pity, asks Meroba to entrust the child to her:

"But take him! Take him! If only you could take the other two! But I do not know where they are..." exclaims the mother.

Alphæus gradually regains his balance through the contact with the Women Disciples and then Jesus places him under the Protection of Sarah of Aphek*, a rich childless widow, who moves to Capernaum for this purpose.

His name

Alphæus (Halphaï) means "ephemeral".

Where is he mentioned in the work?

GRM 449

GRM 450GRM 451GRM 452 GRM 454 GRM 455 GRM 456 GRM 457 GRM 458 GRM 460 GRM 465 GRM 490

GRM 577

Learn more about this character

Other unfortunate children:

Benjamin, the shepherd of Enon. He is unfairly exploited by a violent great-uncle. Delivered by Jesus, he becomes one of the seventy-two Disciples.

Mary and Matthias, orphans, The Hungry and driven away. They are adopted by Chuza and Joanna, his Woman.

Martial, the illegitimate son of a Roman. He is killed defiantly before the Christ.

Ruben, Elisha and Isaac, three Samaritan orphans barely rescued from bandits and returned to their Family.

Shalem, the deformed child of a Sanhedrist who comes to seek death from Jesus.

Notes and references

Note: Quotations from the work of Maria Valtorta on this page currently use machine-translated text and will gradually be replaced by the official English translation. Until then, the official translation may be consulted through the reference link provided with each quotation.