Analysis of Maria Valtorta's Work by Gabriele M. Allegra

The Blessed Father Gabriele M. Allegra, a renowned biblical scholar, was a reader of Maria Valtorta's work as early as 1961, at a time when the work was still officially on the Index. He explored the work in depth and shared his approach with various correspondents.

Then, starting in 1968, he noted his reflections in a "Journal" which was later formatted with the aim of being published.

He then wrote a "Critique"". This was only published after his death, on the occasion of the opening of his beatification cause. His beatification was proclaimed on September 29, 2012, during the pontificate of Benedict XVI.

The writings of Blessed G.M. Allegra were first published in the Bolletino Valtortiano No. 6 of September 1972 and then in No. 29 of January-June 1984, on the occasion of the opening of his beatification process. The French translation appeared in March 2009 in No. 217 of Chrétiens Magazine.

Excerpts from the journal of Blessed Gabriele Allegra

Holy Tuesday and Wednesday, April 9-10, 1968, Macao

The Poem of the Man-God by Maria Valtorta was published as a novel, and I hope that under such a title it will continue to be reprinted in the future, and often; but it is not a novel. It is the complement to the four gospel traditions, and their explanation.

This explanation sometimes surprises us; it seems so new, so true and energetic, that we are ready to neglect it. These are private revelations! And then, made to a Woman! And we men, priests, know well how to imitate the Apostles who dismissed the visions that little Women had of the resurrected Christ as delirium. Certainly St Paul, in the list he gives of witnesses to the Resurrection, excludes Women; but the Gospels, on the contrary, give them a predominant role. And yet all priests want to imitate St Paul on this point!

In fact, the Poem of the Man-God does not really deserve to be so confidently and arrogantly neglected as many modern theologians do. In the Church is the Spirit, and therefore the charisms of the Spirit. I think it is only with a charism of the Holy Spirit – only with His help – that a poor sick Woman, of limited biblical culture, could write, in the space of three years, 20,000 pages which, once printed, amount to 10 volumes. And what pages! And I also note that some of the Lord’s speeches – whose main topics are merely touched upon in the Gospels – are developed in this work with such naturalness, such a logical train of thought, so spontaneous, so intrinsically linked to time, place, and circumstances, that I have not found in the most famous exegetes.

I will only cite the Lord's discourse with Nicodemus and that on the Bread of Life. But exegetes, trained in the "Form-Critical Method" will never humble themselves (!) to glance at this work where many problems are solved with marvelous ease, and where so many discourses, of which we unfortunately only had the theme, are recovered.

In sum, I affirm that this work of M. Valtorta deserves at least the attention that theologians have given to the "Mystical City of God" of the Venerable Marie d'Agréda, the revelations of Blessed Anne-Catherine Emmerich, and those of St Bridget.

No one will make me Believe that a poor invalid, solely by virtue of her fervent religious sentiment, wrote the Poem, especially since she did not see the various images or scenes of the Lord's life in chronological order, but rather, they were presented to her in an unpredictable succession over three years.

What was this charism? What were its dimensions? How did the human instrument cooperate with it? What comes from the Spirit through the thought and Heart of a pious Christian woman, and what is the exclusive fruit of the psyche of M. Valtorta? And with the hypothesis of supernatural visions, why did Jesus adopt the language of 20th-century theology and not that of His own time? Perhaps He wanted to teach us what can be found in the Holy Scriptures, and how they must be expressed today? There are so many questions that deserve study and meditation before reasonably exposing how the Poem of the Man-God never Contrary denies the Gospel, but admirably complements it, making it lively and powerful, tender and demanding.

Once well determined the nature of the charism of the Spirit and the reality of His action in Maria Valtorta, what attitude should the Christian adopt in reading these admirable gospel pages?

It seems to me that the same practical conclusion imposes itself on anyone who has read and studied the documents of the History of the Apparitions of Paray-le-Monial, Lourdes, Fatima, Syracuse...

And with the same degree of faith, and insofar as the Lord Jesus and the Church desire it, I believe it.

Holy Thursday 1968

Beside the pious Women who assisted at the crucifixion of the Lord on Calvary, among whom four are named and several others remain anonymous, St Luke also speaks of some acquaintances of Jesus: gnostoi, who attended His death at a distance. Who are these acquaintances? One might think of Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, Manaen, Chouza(?), and other relatives of these high social status characters.

Without addressing the problem, Maria Valtorta in her Poem of the Man-God identifies these acquaintances as the group of (12) Shepherds and some Disciples. While the condemned was tortured, and while He, the tortured, was still alive, the friends of the culprit were not allowed to approach, because they were men. Only His Mother and the pious Women who were with Her were granted the right by the Centurion to come near the Cross, as well as to John whom he [the Centurion] believed to be the son of Mary and the brother of the condemned.

Good Friday 1968, Macao

According to M. Valtorta (Poem of the Man-God), the main physical causes that led to the Death of Jesus were: 1) the hemorrhage before the Crucifixion, which occurred during the Agony in Gethsemane and the Scourging; 2) pulmonary edema; 3) fever; 4) tetanus; 5) and more particularly the spiritual suffering endured through abandonment by His Father. During this ineffable, incomprehensible trial of the Man-God, He somehow felt separation from His Father as someone who is damned. Truly, He became sin personified. Illum qui peccatum non noverat peccatum fecit! Redempti enim estis pretio magno! (He who knew no sin made Him sin! For you were bought at a great price! [2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 6:20])

During the Passion and Death of the Lord, the Mother of Sorrows fulfilled her role as the new Eve co-redemptrix, accepting from her Heart the Will of the Father, sympathizing as only She could with her Son Jesus, and forgiving and praying for us men, His crucifiers.

Holy Saturday, April 13

Once Jesus was dead, Mary acted as [[Virgin Mary#Marie Co-rédemptrice[69]|co-redemptrix]] through her desolation until the moment of His Resurrection.

The desolation of the Sorrowful includes a direct, personal attack by Lucifer, then many indirect assaults Against her faith in the Resurrection, and even for her, abandonment by the Father.

In two long chapters, M. Valtorta describes what she saw and heard during the night of Good Friday, the Sabbath day, and the Sabbath night [Holy Saturday].

What little I have read about the Mother of Sorrows on this subject is confined to generalities; and cannot compare to these powerful and very tender pages of Maria Valtorta. I absolutely cannot convince myself that these are a simple meditation of a pious Christian woman, no, this Soul saw and heard!

Digitus Dei est hic! (The Finger of God is here!)

July 30-31, 1968

For a book so absorbing, so charismatic, so extraordinary even from a purely human point of view, like the Poem of the Man-God by Maria Valtorta – for such a book, I find a theological justification in First Corinthians 14:6, where St Paul writes: "Now, brothers, suppose I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, if I do not bring you revelation, knowledge, prophecy, or teaching?"

In this work, I find so many revelations that are not contrary to the Gospel narrative, but rather complement it.

I find the knowledge, and such knowledge in theological fields (especially mariology), exegetical, mystical, that if it were not infused, I do not know how a poor sick Woman could have acquired and mastered it, even if she had outstanding intelligence.

I find the charism of prophecy in the true sense of the voice through which M. Valtorta exhorts, encourages, and consoles in the name of God and, on rare occasions, elucidates the Lord’s predictions.

Finally, I find the teaching, and such teaching is sure; it embraces almost all fields of revelation. And so, it is one and multiple, immediate, luminous. Although at times some Doubt may touch my mind, thinking of the complexity of this teaching, I tell myself: I must think about it better; the opinion of the blessed seer is nonetheless possible.

My Doubts particularly revolve around what M. Valtorta says about Original Sin; about the Apostles’ call, which seems contradictory to the Gospel of St John; about some points in the discourse of Jesus on the Tabor after the Resurrection and on the hill near Nazareth; about Jesus’ declaration of being God, the Son of God, and the Messiah. And if these declarations by the Lord were true, how to explain Ebionism? precisely born in Palestine? And Gnosticism?

Since these are not insurmountable difficulties; I only say that I have not yet succeeded in overcoming them.

And the Messianic Secret (particularly in the Gospel of Mark), how can it agree with the very frequent assertions of Jesus which are readable in M. Valtorta's Poem?

Enlighten me, Lord, because I want to spend this little life I have left to know You more and more. Enlighten me, because Your servant wants to present himself before his King adorned with light.

August 25-26

The Poem of the Man-God impresses me more and more from a literary, exegetical, theological point of view.

Literarily, no need to resort to supernatural gifts; the extraordinary intelligence of M. Valtorta and her very keen sensitivity suffice to explain this work. However, even on this point, one must not forget that the Author did not follow the chronological order of Jesus’ life, but the order in which Jesus showed her the visions.

Regarding M. Valtorta’s exegesis, there would be enough to write a book. Here I limit myself to reaffirm that I find no other work among the eminent scripture specialists that complements and clarifies the Canonical Gospels as naturally, spontaneously, and with as much liveliness as the Poem by M. Valtorta. In the Gospels, crowds, miracles, and some great strokes of the Lord’s discourses are constantly mentioned. In the Poem of the Man-God, however, the crowds move, shout, act; the miracles, one might say, are seen; the Lord’s discourses, even the most difficult in their conciseness, become as clear as the sun.

And what amazes me the most is that M. Valtorta never errs theologically; on the contrary, she renders the revealed mysteries easier for the reader by translating them into popular and modern language.

Certainly, I am not convinced by the explanation of original sin, the call of the first Apostles; the identification of Magdalene with Mary of Bethany, although on this point, I have almost yielded as an exegete; the chronology of Jesus’ life… but I cannot prove that the opinions held by M. Valtorta in her Poem are wrong. It may be that I myself am in error, and with me many others.

Whoever reads this work after the articles and monographs of so many modern Disciples of the Formgeschichte [Form criticism] and the Redaktionsgeschichte [Redaction criticism], finally breathes the atmosphere of the Gospel, and almost becomes one (he had to be a number, he is always luckier than the Bultmannian exegetes!), it almost becomes, I say, one of the crowd that followed the Master.

Natural and mystical gifts harmoniously combined, that explains this masterpiece of Italian religious literature, and perhaps I should say, of worldwide Christian literature.

September 7-8, 1968

The figure, virtues, mission of the Madonna have been and are described by many saints, wise men and devotees, yet none does it with the simplicity of Maria Valtorta in her Poem of the Man-God.

M. Valtorta saw and heard, others mostly only thought and meditated. But what surprises me most is the sure vision of the gifts of most holy Mary.

The Apostles must have known the fullness of revelation… a fullness that the Church achieves by continuously progressing, under the action of the Holy Spirit.

The dogmas that the Church defines over the centuries – especially the Marian dogmas – are a solemn affirmation of the faith of the Apostles. M. Valtorta has been, by an ineffable charism, plunged back into the tender, moving, spontaneous faith of the Apostles, especially of St John.

Holy Saturday

Certainly Jesus, during His mortal life, did not speak in the theological terms that came later, and perhaps by developing the heavenly richness of His word, as it appears in the Poem of the Man-God, that is, as He made it seen and heard to his dear Maria Valtorta.

How to explain this? I would answer this way: Jesus, after twenty centuries, repeats and explains His Gospel using all the theological terminology of His Church, to tell us that the teaching of the latter is already implicitly contained in His Gospel – M. PouGath would have said: equivalently – and that this other teaching is nothing but the authoritative and infallible explanation that the Church gives and alone can give, guided and illuminated by the Holy Spirit.

As for some truths, for example the Most Holy Eucharist, the dignity and mission of the Virgin Mary, Jesus already spoke more clearly about them during His life than the Church has done for all these centuries, so that the dogmatic progress for these truths and others is a return to the fullness of the source.

Finally, I observe that M. Valtorta’s work is indirectly proof of the historicity of the Gospels: these are, yes, a catechism, a kerygma, but based on the maturity of the texts chosen and approved by God. Quite the opposite of Formgeschichte!

Resurrection of the Lord

The effectiveness of God’s word is conditioned by the quality of the soil on which it falls. Man has the terrible gift of freedom, by which he can say no, even to God!

Keeping in mind the parable of the sower, man's freedom, and my conviction that the Poem of the Man-God is the work of Jesus first and of Maria V. after, the reaction of readers to this work is expressed as follows:

- The Work or the Poem faces: distracted readers, honest readers, pious readers, critical and hypercritical readers.

- The theologian and exegete should be at once among honest readers and critical readers.

The speeches of Jesus in the plain of the Beautiful Water (M. Valtorta, The Poem of the Man-God, II) are the explanation of the Decalogue. By these, Jesus, keeping His manifest purpose ever present, intends to restore the Law to its original fullness, freeing it from human accretions. These speeches do not follow the order of the commandments but respond to particular needs of some present persons, needs known only to the Lord, since He is not only the Son of Man but also the Son of God.

This intimate contact with Souls, whether in sin or desiring redemption, men or Women, betrayed wives or mothers wounded by the conduct of their children, gives the Lord’s words a living, current tone, still throbbing today.

In the melancholy plain of the Beautiful Water, between Jericho and Ephraim, in the melancholy days of November and December, at the end of the first year of public life, the Lord made His first great sowings, sowing the everlasting and imperishable Word.

To what extent are the Lord’s words, reported by M. Valtorta, authentic? Here: I cannot persuade myself that the seer invented or added anything of her own: no, she reproduces what she hears and as she hears it.

But on the other hand no one can deny that there is a translation of the Lord’s words into the language of the Church today, that is the rich and polymorphic language of our theology, as it was formed after and through so many centuries of controversies, discussions, sermons.

Who made this version, which is in fact double insofar as Jesus, from 1943 to 1947, spoke Italian while on this earth in His mortal life He spoke Aramaic, Greek, and perhaps occasionally Latin? And above all, why in speaking with M. Valtorta did He adopt our theological language? It can only be Jesus Himself. And if He acted thus, I think it is either to show us that the teaching of His Church is nothing else than the declaration of His words, or to engrave His eternal Gospel in the Hearts of contemporaries.

Just as the speeches of the Beautiful Water explain the Law, so the Sermon on the Mount represents a step forward, that is the perfection of the Law, either by referring to the intention of the Divine Supreme Legislator, or by meditating on it in the light of the Incarnation of the imminent Redemption.

This double series of speeches is completed by the Conversation of Jesus with the Apostles, by His disputes in the Temple and at Jerusalem or on the paths of Palestine, and finally by His gentle heavenly confidences with the Apostles, the Disciples, men and Women, and especially His Most Holy Mother… What a work this Poem is!

In the Poem of the Man-God, Mammon often equates to Satan, it is another name for him; and I note that Theodor Zahn, in his commentary on the Gospel of St Matthew, arrived at the same conclusion.

The Poem reserves many surprises of this style, which confirms that we are not dealing with the reveries of a sick Woman, but that we are in the Presence of a witness, certainly the only witness, but so trustworthy.

This sick Woman, with only the gift of an easy pen, well cultivated up to the level of average literary studies, writes in less than four years a work of ten volumes, in which she resurrects the religious, political, and cultural atmosphere of the first century, and what terrifies even the specialists themselves, she tells in order – but this order was only recognized and stabilized once the visions ceased – the life of Christ, complementing the Gospels without ever contradicting them.

Sometimes, it is true, I have remained and still remain doubtful about how to explain, unfold, supplement the evangelical narrative, but it always concerns exegetical subjects or knots, which lend themselves to various interpretations.

After the Gospels, I know no other life of Jesus that can compare to the Poem, just as I know no other lives of St Peter or St John that render the characters of the twelve holy Apostles so vividly.

I cite these two because something about them is found in Scripture, while the others of the Apostles have practically only their name. Now, all the characters are always so well drawn and so consistent, that one faces a dilemma: either the Author is a genius of the caliber of Shakespeare or Manzoni, or she saw.

I opt, if forced to choose, for the latter.

As for the Mariology of this Work, well, I know no other books that have such a captivating and convincing, so firm and so simple, so modern and at the same time so ancient, while being open to its future progress.

Likewise, and especially on this point, the Poem enriches our knowledge of the Madonna, and irresistibly also our poor love, our languorous devotion to Her.

In treating the mystery of the Compassion of Mary, it seems to me that M. Valtorta, by the breadth, depth, and psychological exploration of the Heart of the Virgin, even goes beyond St Bonaventure and St Bernardino. Could she accomplish this without seeing and hearing supernaturally?

Macao, January 8, 1970

I would like to see the Poem of the Man-God translated into other languages, because I am certain that many, by reading it, would grow in knowledge and love of the Lord Jesus. I entrust my desire to St Clare and Lucia Mangano.

Some "holy deaths" described or evoked in the Poem: the death of St Joseph, that of Alphaeus the husband of Mary, aunt of Jesus, that of Saul of Kerioth, of Jonas the old shepherd, of Saint John the Baptist, of Lazarus, of Abraham of Engedi, of John of Endor, of the Good Thief, of Saint Stephen…

Veni, Domine Jesu!

In his tragic destiny, a powerful and moving figure in the Poem is Mary of Simon, the mother of Judas, beloved by Jesus. No poet or dRamah (Judea)turge has ever envisioned such a robust, delicate, and at the same time so full of compassion profile as this unhappy and gentle Woman.

Macao, January 9, 1970

The great speeches of Jesus in the Poem of the Man-God are embedded in environment and circumstances, which show us them more spontaneous and natural.        

The speeches of Beautiful Water are like the true authentic explanation of the Decalogue, the Sermon on the Mount is the great map of the Kingdom of Heaven, the parables scattered throughout the book and always anchored to some circumstance which gave birth to them and helps to understand them fully, and the great speeches of Jerusalem, and the continual instructions given to Disciples, men and Women, make the Poem a treasury of heavenly treasures.

Remarkable is the way Jesus explains the Old Testament, applying it always to the present, to the Messianic Era already in action and fulfilling itself.

Even the speeches of the Apostles, especially those of Peter and John, are like an echo to the thought of Jesus... I do not believe it is wise and just to remain indifferent before such treasures.

January 1970

Emotional memory: the names of the little children friends of Jesus as well as the Poem of the Man-God. Jesus was attracted to and attracted children, which is why it is impossible to list all His dear young friends, yet for reasons explained in the Poem, some deserve to be especially recalled, namely:

At Capernaum: Benjamin, Joanna and her little brother Tobias, James who brought to the Lord the purse of Matthew...

At Magdala: Benjamin.

At Corozaïn: Joseph, the little carpenter.

Then: Mary and her little brother Matthias, adopted by Johanna of Chuza, and especially Margziam, the orphan-symbol child, adopted by Peter.

Nisi efficiamini sicut parvuli, non intrabitis in Regnum caelorum (unless you become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven - Matthew 18:3).

Macao, January 11, 1970

The instructions which the Lord gives in the Poem, while being imbued with the thoughts and culture of His time, are at the same time in accord with the teaching of the Catholic Church of our times.

While admitting that Jesus, the Incarnate Word, could have spoken thus, I prefer to think that He repeated His Gospel to Maria Valtorta in this way, that is, modernizing it, to teach that the current Doctrine of the Church constitutes His own eternal teaching. That is the reason, I think, why the Lord gives teaching on the Christian triad: Faith, Hope, and Charity; on the constitution of the Church, albeit embryonic, and on the Sacraments, and especially on Mariology, on Celibacy, on the Sacrifice of the New Covenant... teachings so alive and current.

Practical consequence: I am a child of the Church! I am in the boat of St Peter!

Veni Domine Jesu!

Macao, January 12, 1970

The instructions that Jesus, according to the Poem of the Man-God, gave to His cousin James on the summit of Carmel (EMV 258), are complemented by the Savior Himself in the speech He delivers after the resurrection, on Tabor (EMV 634).

The speech to which the title refers is: Loquens de Regno Dei, or: Sermo de Regno Dei.

The Lord limits Himself to the essential lines of His program and lets the Holy Spirit illuminate and strengthen His Church, who guides it through the centuries according to needs.

Who is in the true Church of the Lord is nourished by the word of Jesus, enlightened by His Light, moved and nourished by His Spirit.

What glory and what joy to be able to say: I am a child of the Church!

Macao, January 14, 1970

The Lord’s speech to the Disciples on the works of corporal and spiritual mercy (EMV 275) is a complement to the Sermon on the Mount. That is, according to the Poem of the Man-God, the Sermon on the Mount insists especially on the duties of sons towards the Father in the New Kingdom, the Disciples’ speech rather insists on the duties of brothers towards their brothers.

Both speeches make deeply and tenderly felt that the Kingdom of Heaven is a Family, the Family of God.

Living in this Family, in this house, as sons, to love and be loved because sons, that is the sublime vocation of the Christian, of him who by faith in Jesus is born of God.

Quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri... ex Deo nati sunt! (But to all who received Him, He gave power to become children of God, children born of His name. They are not born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man: they are born of God - John 1:12-13).

Macao, January 16, 1970

Citing and arguing on the Scriptures, Jesus, in the Poem of the Man-God, adapts to the Italian version, even when it diverges from the original. There must be a reason for this. I think it is the following. The divergences always revolve around secondary points, practically no version is perfectly faithful to the original, but we have only many versions approved by the Holy Mother Church and so He cites and argues using the version (that of Father Tintori) approved by it and that Maria Valtorta used. If only the "difficult doctors" used the Holy Scripture with the intention with which M. Valtorta used it!

Jesus’ way of doing confirms once again the greatness of the authority of the Church. St Joan of Arc said that between the Lord and the Church there is no difference... What to say about today's challengers?

Macao, March 10, 1970

In the New Testament, we find brief glimpses of Jesus’ apostolate in Samaria, but these passages contain so many things fully revealed in the Poem of the Man-God. It seems to me, therefore, evident the success of the Evangelization of Samaria that is spoken of in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 8:5-25); at least, I say this, the Poem makes it more natural and like an expected event, given Jesus’ ministry, His mercy, His miracles among these poor "separated brothers".

I add that the most beautiful parables – except those in the gospel – among the "additions" are those that the Lord pronounces in Samaria.

The reaction of the Samaritans to the Lord’s message was generally more sincere than that of the Jews, who out of envy and spite of their contemporaries, refused to Homelir the promised and awaited Savior.

June 18, 1970 – St. Ephrem

In the Poem of the Man-God there are three seer figures – for the moment I see no other – on the lips of whom the Lord places His word, which is an explanation of the true mission of the messiah and the true character of His Kingdom.

The first is Saul of Kerioth, dead on Jesus’ chest; the second, the Samaritan leper, healed along with the nine others; the third is Sabea of Bethlehem.

Sabea’s speech is longer, more complete, more ardent.

To these authentic seers, who report the words of God, are opposed the speeches of some enSatanized, full of spite, blasphemy, envy... for example that of Judas Iscariot when surprised stealing from Johanna of Chuza’s coffers, and others of Elchias, of Caiphas (Joseph), the High Priest, of Doras... The struggle between Darkness and light: the testimony given to the light and the testimony given to Darkness.

Since I have read and reread M. Valtorta’s Poem of the Man-God, I no longer have a taste for biblical-evangelical novels. Nevertheless, between yesterday and today I read The Centurion by L. Witbuley, a novella, which perhaps would have fascinated me before knowing M. Valtorta’s Poem, but which now only interested me for its concise, pure style, and for the good knowledge that the author has of Palestinian customs at the time of Jesus.

Many "conjectures" in the plot of this novel do not please me, especially the presentation of Judas and the description of his betrayal. But being convinced that M. Valtorta "saw", in a way that I have not yet fully explained, while Willebury, like Lloyd Douglas, or L. De Wohl, and others... only artistically rethought the pages of the gospel, I am not allowed to be so demanding.

No one asks of the apocrypha what only the Gospels can give.

The Autobiography of M. Valtorta stands out from similar works, even those written by saints. It is powerful and original to the point that it often reminds me of that of B. Cellini in style: robust, lively, spontaneous.

It is also a dramatic book, because the drama lies in the nature of things and facts: The drama arises, I would say, from the character of her mother, who unfortunately had nothing or almost nothing of the Heart of a wife and mother. The description of this selfish Woman is so lively it imprints itself on the reader and makes the daughter’s pages hard to read, this daughter who became Jesus’ "voice" and who wrote the Poem of the Man-God. What a difference in character between mother and daughter! And what heroism in Maria! What trial, what crosses, what martyrdom of the Heart!

The Valtorta Family is opposite to that of St Francis. In the latter, the father Pietro di Bernardone did not understand his son, who on the contrary was always understood by his mother, the gentle Pica; in the Valtorta Family, by contrast, the father loves and understands his daughter, whom the mother, on the other hand, does not understand at all and always makes suffer.

The Heart of this Woman is even darker than that of the Prince, father of the nun of Monza, and one remains very bitter reading these pages because they were written, naturally out of obedience, by the daughter.

A vigorous, very lively, abundant, and colorful style, which perhaps surpasses that of the Poem of the Man-God. Pages rich in thoughts and psychological depths, which help us understand the spiritual physiognomy of Jesus’s spokesperson: Maria Valtorta.

In Father Allegra’s journals, there was also found the note on the article published in 1961 in La Civiltà Cattolica, which we reported in the previous chapter. It is written daily, under the dates of January 27 and 28 and of February 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, 1970.

Critique of Maria Valtorta’s work by Blessed Gabriele Allegra

In June 1970, taking advantage of being bedridden in the hospital in Macao, Father Allegra wrote a report on the work of Maria Valtorta intending to illustrate it for potential translators. We report it omitting the first part, in which he briefly reconstructs the history of the work based on approximate information.

The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me contains, or more exactly, is a series of visions witnessed by the Author (Valtorta), as if she had been contemporary.

She sees and hears what concerns the life of Jesus from the birth of the Most Holy Mary, which took place, by divine Grace, at an advanced Age of Anne and Joachim, to the Resurrection and Ascension of the Lord, or better, until the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin into Heaven.

As an auditory witness, she begins with a description of the location of the scene she contemplates, she reports the conversations of the crowds and the Disciples then, based on what she sees or hears, she describes the miracles, relates the speeches of the Lord, or the dialogues of those who are present with Him or with the Disciples, or the dialogues amongst them. This re-evocation of the life of Jesus, His time and surroundings, in various physical, political, social, family aspects, is done without effort. The Author reports what she has seen or heard. Her style does not emanate the erudition noticed in the most famous lives of Jesus. It is rather the report of an eye and ear witness.

If Mary Magdalene or Johanna of Chuza had been able, during their lives, to see what Maria Valtorta saw, and if they had written it, I think their testimony would not be much different from that of The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me.

Maria Valtorta observed with such precision the places and characters of her visions that anyone who has traveled to the Holy Land for studies and has continually immersed themselves in the Gospels needs no excessive effort to reconstruct the scene.

That a novelist or a genius author can create unforgettable characters is well known, but among the many novelists or authors who have approached the Gospel for use in their creation, I know none who have drawn such richness and traced with such force and so pleasantly the figures of Peter, John, Mary Magdalene, Lazarus, Judas – especially Judas and his tragic and pitiful mother, Mary of Simon – and many others (and I am not speaking now of Jesus and Mary), as naturally and effortlessly as Maria Valtorta does.

I think many readers of the Poem have often paused to reflect and, like M. Vinivio when he listened to St. Peter’s re-evocation of the Lord’s Passion at the Ostrianum, have said: she has seen.

The speeches

What impresses me the most, at least for myself, are the speeches of the Lord. Naturally, all those are in the holy Gospels, but developed, as many themes which are barely outlined or evoked in the Gospels are developed. There are also many other speeches recounted, which are not in the Gospels but which the circumstances led Jesus to pronounce.

These also are built like the previous ones (those found in the Gospels). It is the same Lord who speaks, whether He adopts the style of the parable – The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me contains about 40 parables – or the style of exhortation, or the prophetic style, or finally when He uses the sapiential style current among the rabbis at the time of the New Testament.

So, alongside the great speeches of the Gospels (such as the Sermon on the Mount, the sending on Mission, the eschatological speech, those of the last Week and of the Last Supper), there are in The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me... others, that is to say those that explain the Decalogue, works of mercy corporal and spiritual, or those that constitute specific instructions for men and Women Disciples, for particular persons, and for Jewish or gentile listeners... Finally, there are speeches on the Kingdom of God or more clearly on the ’Church’, pronounced before the Passion (like the colloquy between the Lord and His brother/cousin James, on the Carmel), and those developed afterward after the Resurrection, when the Lord speaks to the Apostles and the Disciples on the Tabor, and on another mount of Galilee, the theme of which is indicated by St Luke by the simple phrase "speaking about the Kingdom of God".

Considering the content treated in these speeches, they encompass all content of the Faith, Life and Hope of Christians. The tone and style never fail, and always remain the same, clear, strong, prophetic, sometimes full of majesty, sometimes overflowing with tenderness. I will give some examples.

We know the effort of the greatest exegetes to situate and explain in their context for example the colloquy with Nicodemus, the discourse on the Bread of Life, or theological disputations at Jerusalem: how many efforts have been made, and how varied! In The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me their connection is spontaneous, natural, as logically flowing from circumstances.

The facts

What is said of the speeches applies to the miracles. In The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me there are so many, that the Gospel summarizes in one phrase: and He healed all (Matthew 8:16). There are also some facts to which neither exegetes, novelists, nor apocrypha had thought. For example, the evangelization of Judea alluded to in St John (John 3:22) at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry; the merciful apostolate of the Lord in confessing Samaritans, the poor, the peasants of Doras or of GioCana, the inhabitants of the poor district of Ophel, the continuous journeys of the Master through the territory of the twelve ancient tribes, and the plot contrived by some in good faith, and many in bad faith to proclaim Him King, so as to destroy Him more easily by Roman hands – a plan to which John (6:14-15) very soberly alludes.

And how to forget the heroic fidelity of the twelve shepherds of Bethlehem and the double imprisonment of the Baptist? And those converted by the convert Zacchaeus, and those whom Jesus materially saved, like Sintica, Aurea Galla, Benjamin of Aenon?

Or the last prophetic voices of the chosen people: Sabea of Bethlehem, the healed Samaritan leper, Saul of Kerioth? Or how to forget the relations of Jesus with Gamaliel, with some members of the Sanhedrin, with a group of pagan Women surrounding Claudia Procula, the Wife of Pontius Pilate?

Or the story and figure of Mary Magdalene, or young Marziam?, or that of each Apostle, whose personal character is indelibly imprinted in the Heart of the attentive reader: especially those of John, Peter and Judas and his pious and unhappy mother?

The Palestinian world

And how much have we learned about the politics, religion, economy, social and family life of Palestine in the 1st century AD, even from the speeches of the humblest—and especially from them—reported by Maria Valtorta, eyewitness and ear witness!

One can say that in this work the Palestinian world of Jesus’ time comes to life before our eyes, while the best and worst of the character of the chosen people – the people of extremes and despising all mediocrity – springs to life before us.

Private revelation

The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me is presented to us as the complement of the four Gospels and a long explanation of them; Maria Valtorta illustrates the scenes of the Gospel: explanation and complement, partly justified by the words of St John: "There are many other miracles Jesus did in the presence of his Disciples, which are not written in this book…" (John 20:30) and "Jesus did many other things which if they were written one by one, I think the world itself could not contain the books that would be written" (John 21:25).

Explanation and complement, I repeat, justified only partly or in principle, given that, from the historical-theological point of view, Revelation was closed with the Apostles, and anything added to the revealed deposit, even if it does not contradict it but happily complements it, can at best be the fruit of an individual charism that imposes trust in the recipient, as well as in those who believe it is a question of true charism or charisms – which in our case should be a charism of revelation, vision, and discourse of wisdom and discourse of knowledge (1 Corinthians 12:8; 2 Corinthians 12:1...).

In short, the Church does not need this work to unfold its saving Mission until the second coming of the Lord, just as it did not need the Apparitions of the Madonna at La Salette, Lourdes, Fatima... But the Church can tacitly or publicly recognize that certain private revelations can be useful for knowledge and practice of the Gospel and the understanding of its mysteries, and also, it can approve them in a negative form, that is declaring that the revelations are not contrary in their wording to the Faith. Or it can officially ignore them, leaving its sons full freedom of judgment.

It is in the negative form that the revelations of St Bridget, St Mathilde, St Gertrude, the venerable Marie d'Agréda, St John Bosco and many other saints were approved.

Comparison with other works

Anyone starting to read The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me with an honest and attentive mind can see by themselves the immense distance that exists between Maria Valtorta’s work and the Apocryphal Gospels; especially the Apocryphal Infancy and the Apocryphal Assumption. And they can also note the distance between this work and those of the venerables Catherine Emmerich, Marie d'Agréda, etc.

In the writings of these last two seers, it is impossible not to feel third-party influences, which seems to me absolutely excluded from The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me.

To be convinced of this, it suffices to compare the vast and sure Doctrine – theological, biblical, geographical, historical, topographical – filling each page of The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me, and the same materials of the visionary works mentioned above.

I am not speaking of literary works, for there are none that cover the life of Jesus from Birth to the Assumption of the Madonna, or at least I do not know any. But even if we stick to the plots of the most famous such as: Ben Hur, The Robe, Simon the Fisherman (The Great Fisherman), The Silver Chalice, The Spear..., none could withstand comparison with the natural and spontaneous montage plan relative to the context, events, and characters of so many characters – a real crowd! – which forms the powerful structure of The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me.

I reiterate, it is a world drawn from life, and Maria Valtorta masters it as if she possessed the genius of Shakespeare or Manzoni. But for the works of these two great men, many studies, many wonders, many reflections were necessary!

On the contrary, Maria Valtorta, even if she possessed a brilliant intelligence, a quick and solid memory, had not even completed secondary school; she was bedridden for years and years, had few books – the entirety fitting on two shelves of her wardrobe – had read none of the great Bible commentaries – which would have justified or explained her astonishing scriptural culture; she used a simple popular version of the Bible. And despite all this she wrote the 10 volumes of The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me from 1943 to 1947, in 4 years!

Striking details

We know how much research scholars have done, especially Jewish researchers, to establish various maps of the political geography of Palestine, from the time of the Maccabees to the Bar Kokba insurrection.

For over 20 years they had to consult a multitude of documents; The Talmud, Flavius Josephus, inscriptions, traditions, ancient roads... And yet, the identification of many localities remains uncertain.

In The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me, whatever the judgment on its origin, there is no uncertainty. At least 4 times out of 5, recent studies confirm the identifications assumed in Maria Valtorta’s work, and this number would grow, I think, if some specialist accepted to study this question fully.

For example, Valtorta sees road junctions, milestone stones, the variety of crops in correspondence with the nature of the terrain, many Roman bridges crossing rivers or watercourses, the springs fed in some seasons, and dried up in others.

She notes pronunciation differences between various inhabitants of different regions of Palestine, and a mass of other things that perplex the reader, or at least give him something to think about.

There is a series of visions in which the mystery of the birth of Jesus, His agony, His passion and resurrection are described with heavenly words and images, with angelic eloquence, while on the other hand, such great light is cast on the mystery of Judas, on the attempt to proclaim Jesus king, on His two brothers/cousins who do not believe in Him, on the impression awakened in the gentiles about Him, on His love for lepers, the poor, the elderly, children, Samaritans, and especially on His so ardent and delicate Love for His Immaculate Mother.

And not only from the human point of view, but especially from the theological perspective. Who can remain indifferent reading the two chapters of the desolation of His most holy Mother after the tragedy of Calvary, which reveals how greatly the Co-Redemptrix was tempted by Satan, and how greatly her Redeemer Son was tempted?

The sublime theology of these two chapters can be compared to that of so many lamentations (Planctus) of the Mother of Sorrows.

Historical and doctrinal harmony

Nowadays exegetes—even Catholic ones—take the most strange and bold liberties concerning the historicity of the Infancy Gospel and the Resurrection narratives, as if with the "Form Criticism" ["Formgeschichte"] and the Method of Redaction Critique ["Redaktionsgeschichte" Method], one finds the panacea to all difficulties, difficulties not unknown to the Fathers of the Church.

In truth, to speak only of some of the more recent exegetes such as Fouard, Sepp, Fillion, Lagrange, Ricciotti... on these difficult points they said their luminous and balanced words. But today, different masters are followed with trust, even by ours...

Well, returning to us, I invite readers of The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me to read the page devoted to the Resurrection, reconstructing the events of Easter day, and they will see how everything is harmoniously linked – exactly what so many exegetes following the historico-theological critical method have tried to do, but without fully succeeding.

Such pages do not disturb, but delight the Heart of the faithful and strengthen his faith!

Language

But there is another surprise: this Woman of the 20th century who, though confined to her bed of pain, became the happy contemporary and disciple of Christ, heard the Apostles and Jesus speak Italian, but in an "Aramaized" Italian – except at certain moments that she carefully notes, that is when Jesus or the Apostles pray in Hebrew or Aramaic.

Moreover, the Lord, the Madonna, the Apostles, even when dealing with questions relating to the New Testament, adopt the theological language of today, which is the language initiated by the first great theologian, St Paul, enriched throughout so many centuries of reflections and meditations, and which then became precise, clear, and irreplaceable.

There is therefore in Maria Valtorta’s work a transposition, a translation of the Good News announced by Jesus into the language of the Church today, a transposition willed by Him, since the seer was deprived of any theological technical formation. And this aims, I think, at making us understand that the Gospel message proclaimed today by His Church of today, in the language of today, is substantially identical to that of His own teaching of twenty centuries ago.

The Valtorta phenomenon

An imposing work, composed in exceptional circumstances, and in a relatively short time; this is one aspect of the phenomenon.

The Author continually confesses that she is simply a "mouthpiece," a "phonograph," one who writes what she sees and hears, while she is "bedridden".

Hence, for her, The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me is not hers, does not belong to her, it is revealed to her, shown. She does nothing but describe what she saw, report what she heard, while participating intimately with all her Woman and faithful Christian heart in the visions.

From her intimate participation arose her aversion she feels against Judas, and on the opposite side, the intense affection she has for John, for Magdalene, for Sintica..., and I do not even speak of Lord Jesus or the most holy Madonna towards whom, at times, she pours her Heart and love in terms of passionate lyricism worthy of the greatest mystics of the Church.

In the dialogues and speeches, which form the backbone of the work, there is, in addition to the inimitable spontaneity (the dialogues), something ancient and sometimes hieratic (the speeches). In summary, one hears an excellent translation of the way of speaking Hebrew or Aramaic, in vigorous, multiform and robust Italian.

It should be noted anew that in these speeches’ structure, Jesus moves either in the wake of the great Prophets, or adapts to the method of great rabbis who explained the Old Testament by applying it to contemporary circumstances.

Allow us to recall the "Pesher" (interpretation) of Habakkuk discovered at Qumran and compare it, beyond the words, to that which Jesus gives us.

We can also compare other explanations that the Lord gives us of other passages of the Old Testament, for which we have, wholly or partially, the commentaries of the rabbis of the 3rd or 4th century, but which obviously follow a style of composition much more ancient, and probably contemporary of Jesus.

Next to an external similarity of form, we will perceive such a superiority of depth, substance, that we will finally fully understand why crowds said: "No one has spoken like this Man".

A gift from the Lord

I conclude that the work (of Maria Valtorta) requires a supernatural origin. I think it is the product of one or several charisms and should be studied in the light of the Doctrine of charisms, while also making use of contributions from recent studies in psychology and related sciences, which certainly could not have been known by ancient theologians such as Torquemada, Lanspergius, Scaramelli, etc.

It is the characteristic of charisms to be bestowed by the Spirit of Jesus for the Good of the Church, for the edification of the Body of Christ, and I do not see how it can reasonably be denied that The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me edifies and enchants the sons of the Church.

Without any Doubt Charity is the way par excellence (1 Corinthians 13:1); it is also well known that some charisms which abounded in the early Church became rarer later. But it is equally certain that they never totally disappeared.

The Church, over the centuries, must verify whether they come from the Spirit of Jesus, or whether they are a disguise of the Spirit of Darkness taking the appearance of an angel of light: "Test the spirits to see whether they are from God" (1 John 4:1)

Now, without anticipating the judgment of the Church, which I already accept with absolute submission, I allow myself to affirm that given that the main criterion of Discernment of spirits is the Lord’s word: "By their Fruits you shall know them…" (Matthew 3:20) and that The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me produces good Fruits in a growing number of readers, I think it comes from the Spirit of Jesus.

Father Gabriel Allegra Gabriele-M. (o.f.m.)

Preliminary stage to canonization recognizing that a deceased person can be called Blessed because of their holiness.

Gift conferred by divine Grace for the common good.

Gift conferred by divine Grace for the common good.

People who analyze the historical, cultural, and literary context of Biblical texts to better understand what they meant at the time they were written and how they can be interpreted today.

In a Christian sense, study concerning God and divine things in the light of Revelation.

In-depth research on God, faith, religious Doctrine.

Analysis of the historical, cultural, and literary context of Biblical texts to better understand what they meant at the time they were written and how they can be interpreted today.

Analysis of the historical, cultural, and literary context of Biblical texts to better understand what they meant at the time they were written and how they can be interpreted today.

Person who analyzes the historical, cultural, and literary context of Biblical texts to better understand what they meant at the time they were written and how they can be interpreted today.

First part of the Bible from the book of Genesis until before the coming of Jesus Christ. Parallel

Second part of the Bible, from the coming of Jesus Christ until the Apocalypse.

Related to the Holy Scriptures (the Bible).