Andrea Bocelli and Maria Valtorta
Andrea Bocelli, born in Tuscany (in Lajatico near Pisa) in 1958, is a world-renowned tenor. He became blind at 12 years old as a result of glaucoma.
A man of faith, he has never hidden his admiration for John Paul II, before whom he sang Schubert's Ave Maria in 2000[1] and to whom he dedicated an album (Credo) shortly after his death, in 2005. In 2023, he gave a great concert in Lourdes.
Andrea Bocelli had the opportunity to testify about his personal relationship with the work of Maria Valtorta at the conference held at Citadelle Ciel - NouvWaterx Horizons on October 9, 2021, for the 60th anniversary of Maria Valtorta’s death (October 12, 1961).
On October 12, 2022, he joined the ceremonies of the 61st anniversary of Maria Valtorta's death: first at the conference given at the Santa Rita parish of Viareggio, then at the "Valtorta House" where he was able to meet again with H.E. Mgr Paolo Giulietti, Archbishop of Lucca and Ordinary for the cause of Maria Valtorta, as well as Emilio Pisani, historical publisher of the work of Maria Valtorta and founding president of the Maria Valtorta Heritage Foundation (Isola del Liri), before participating in the commemorative Mass celebrated at the Church of Sant'Andrea by the archbishop and Don Ernesto Zucchini, founding president of the Maria Valtorta Foundation of Viareggio.
Commentary on an Andrea Bocelli interview from April 2021
Emilio Pisani comments on an interview of Andrea Bocelli published in "Il Timone", a monthly magazine analyzing current affairs, history, culture, and the Church. He draws a parallel with the release of a book on Maria Valtorta[2]."Valtorta-Bocelli: a cultural Covenant""Circulus et calamus fecerunt me doctorem." Who said it? It is a maxim I have heard attributed to Saint Thomas Aquinas, though the attribution remains uncertain. Strictly speaking, it means that one becomes learned through social interaction (circulus) and the use of the pen (calamus). Broadening the meaning beyond the metaphor, one can say that culture is acquired through frequenting human relationships, especially through travel and conversation, and through diligent research, which implies familiarity with writing.
The memory of this Latin phrase came back to me when reading Andrea Bocelli's interview in the magazine Il Timone of April 2021. What could still surprise me about a tenor known worldwide? Certainly not his passion for music, nor the success of his concerts, nor the discography counted in millions of copies. What is acquired no longer makes the headlines. I listen with pleasure, but without the same surprise as the first time, to the account of his relationship with a religious sister, nurtured by reading[3] the work of Maria Valtorta, which he describes as “flour from God's sack.”
The surprise this time was offered by Bocelli himself: he listens to and pays attention to a person, he is interested in her story, just as he shows a passion for literature and sensitivity to a folk song. Openness to knowledge distinguishes the cultured person from the scholar who locks himself into his own knowledge.
I increasingly discover that those who refuse to approach the work of Valtorta are often those who cherish their own scholarship, those who lack “attention and humility”, as Bocelli suggests, qualities that are needed.
Bocelli’s interview in Il Timone appeared simultaneously with a publication concerning the culture of Maria Valtorta, a writer known worldwide for her work, just as Bocelli is a famous artist for his voice. Behind the literary work that captivates, as behind the voice that fascinates, there is the person who reveals something edifying about herself. Learning that Maria Valtorta put her personal culture at the service of spiritual elevation is, in itself, edifying[4]."
Testimony of October 9, 2021
| Text in Italian of the testimony | Indicative English translation |
|---|---|
| L'impatto che hanno avuto su di me gli scritti di Maria Valtorta e Maria Valtorta stessa perché, dopo aver letto tutto L'Evangelo come mi è stato rivelato e la sua biografia, e in questi giorni I Quaderni, posso dire di avere una, quasi, conoscenza diretta di lei, come persona.
L'impatto che hanno avuto questi scritti su di me è stato talmente forte, che io oggi non sono in grado di ricordare come sono venuto a conoscenza di questa mistica italiana, nata a Caserta, (immagino che molti lo sappiano) nel 1897 e poi deceduta a Viareggio, a pochi chilometri da casa mia, nel 1961; io ho letto tutto L'Evangelo durante il lockdown, ma più che letto, posso dire che l'ho divorato perché... queste migliaia di pagine sono scorse con una piacevolezza e una facilità, che mai prima d'ora mi era accaduto di sperimentare. E l'impatto è stato fortissimo perché dalla lettura de L'Evangelo ho avuto l'impressione di avere incontrato fisicamente il Cristo. Cristo che dalla lettura dei Vangeli esce un po', almeno per quello che mi riguarda, come una sequenza di fotogrammi, nel racconto di Maria Valtorta esce la percezione precisa dell'uomo che è stato, perché sono raccontati i suoi giorni dall'alba al tramonto, perché sono raccontati con tutta l'emozione di chi li ha visti, di chi è stato al centro della scena. E posso dire che, dopo aver terminato questa lettura, mi sono senTitus diverso, mi sono senTitus un uomo un po' diverso, spero di poter dire anche migliore perché il racconto di Maria Valtorta richiama ai valori cristiani in modo forte e chiaro. Tant'è che ho senTitus proprio il bisogno, poi, di andare a visitare la sua abitazione, la casa dove lei ha scritto tutte queste pagine, dove... dove ha giaciuto, per tanti anni, inferma, come tutti sanno, dove ha ascoltato la viva voce del Cristo, dove esistono ancora tanti cimeli della sua vita privata. Io consiglierei a tutti, consiglierei a tutti di leggere la Valtorta, di leggere, se non tutto, almeno qualche pagina, perché... il romanzo della Valtorta: L'Evangelo come mi è stato rivelato non è un romanzo di cui si debba leggere dall'inizio alla fine per conoscere la vicenda, perché la vicenda si conosce già; io credo sia fondamentale iniziare da qualche parte con una pagina qualunque, perché non c'è una sola pagina di quel libro che non ti tocchi profondamente nell'anima. Di tanto in tanto sceglievo qualche pagina, facevo un copia/incolla e la mandavo al resto della famiglia, perché sono convinto che da quella lettura, non possa che scaturire... non possa che scaturire una fonte viva di energia nuova e positiva. Recentemente sono stato anche a visitare la sua tomba e anche quello è stato un momento molto forte. perché all'idea che sotto quella pietra ci fosse quello che resta di questa persona che è sicuramente un'eletta una donna che oggi è nella gloria di Dio, mi è venuto veramente voglia di parlarle, di dirle: GRAZIE. |
The impact that the writings of Maria Valtorta — and Maria Valtorta herself — have had on me is such that, after having read the entire The Gospel as Revealed to Me and her biography, and these days The Notebooks, I can say I almost have a direct knowledge of her as a person.
The impact these writings had on me was so strong that today I am unable to remember how I came to know this Italian mystic, born in Caserta (I imagine many know this) in 1897 and then deceased in Viareggio, just a few kilometers from my home, in 1961; I read all of The Gospel during lockdown, but rather than read it, I can say I devoured it because... these thousands of pages flowed with a pleasantness and ease that I had never before experienced. And the impact was very strong because from reading The Gospel I had the impression of having physically met Christ. Christ, who from reading the Gospels appears to me somewhat as a sequence of still images, in Maria Valtorta’s account presents a precise perception of the man He was, because His days are told from dawn to dusk, with all the emotion of one who saw them, who was at the heart of the scene. And I can say that after finishing this reading, I felt different, I felt a somewhat different man, I hope also better, because Maria Valtorta’s account strongly and clearly calls to Christian values. So much so that I felt the need to go visit her home, the house where she wrote all these pages, where... where she lay, bedridden for many years, as everyone knows, where she heard the living voice of Christ, where many relics of her private life still exist. I would recommend to everyone, to everyone, to read Valtorta, to read, if not everything, at least some pages, because… the novel of Valtorta: The Gospel as Revealed to Me is not a novel that must be read from beginning to end to know the story, because the story is already known; I believe it is essential to begin somewhere with any given page, because there is not a single page of that book that does not deeply touch one’s soul. From time to time I chose a page, copied and pasted it, and sent it to the rest of the family, because I am convinced that from that reading can only spring... can only spring a living source of new and positive energy. Recently I also visited her tomb and that was a very strong moment. Because at the thought that under that stone lay what remains of this person who is surely a chosen one, a woman who is today in the glory of God, I really wanted to speak to her, to say to her: THANK YOU. |
Notes and references
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwp1CH5R-w4
- ↑ Maria Valtorta, I miei libri, le mie letture (My books, my readings). 102 pages, CEV.
- ↑ Audio format reading.
- ↑ Bollettino valtortiano, December 2021.