Father Corrado Berti: Rome conference (1970)

Facsimile of Bollettino valtortiano no. 1, May 1970

In the first issue of Bollettino valtortiano, the publisher publishes on the front page the text of the conference by Father Corrado Berti on "Maria Valtorta and her writings." It was given on January 29, 1970, in an art and culture circle, "La Fiaccola," located at 11 Via Vittoria Colonna in Rome before a large audience. It had been ten years, almost to the day, since the Indexation had been published and four years since the procedure had been abolished in law and as a consequence.

Text of Father Berti's conference

The Family

Maria Valtorta descends from a relatively practicing, honorable Catholic family from Lombardy.

Her father, Giuseppe, born in Mantua in 1862, was a chief marshal, head armorer, in the 19th Hussars Regiment: a man of gentle character, accommodating, affectionate towards his only daughter. Around age 50, partly because of the discomfort of military life, he was struck by an intestinal poisoning that forced him to retire prematurely and caused a persistent state of exhaustion with repercussions on his mental and volitional faculties. He died in Viareggio in 1935.

Maria’s mother, Iside Fioravanzi, born in Cremona in 1861, was highly cultured, a French teacher, excessively severe, extremely demanding, suffering from liver disease. She was the one who, at the root, broke an innocent affectionate relationship contracted by her daughter with a good boy; and it was also she, later, who inexorably interrupted an engagement that was heading toward marriage. She died in Viareggio in 1944.

Maria Valtorta was born on March 14, 1897, in Caserta (Campania), where her father was temporarily stationed with his regiment.

Studies

Maria had a good education, the kind generally followed, at her time, by young girls from wealthy families: she went through, with a strong sense of duty and excellent results, the programs of the supplementary and technical school, middle and high school, in renowned institutions run by nuns: in Milan with the Ursulines and the Marcellines, in Monza with the nuns of S. Maria Bambina. However, she obtained no diploma, mainly because she could not pass mathematics.

Having moved to Florence with her family, she definitively left school with genuine regret: she did not abandon her studies but extended them by completing the Lectura Dantis and by dedicating herself to other regular readings, especially during the twenty months of rest and reflection she spent, as a house daughter, with a cousin, a highly cultured teacher who opened her well-stocked library, rich in literary works, the list of which, however, we do not know.

Returning from Reggio Calabria to Florence, she moved from there with her family, in 1924, to Viareggio (Tuscany). She could no longer devote much time to reading or studying, first because she was burdened with humble household tasks, she was weakened by various progressive illnesses, and finally because she became disabled and absorbed by religious writing activity, which we will discuss.

What we have stated so far about Maria Valtorta's reading and studies is confirmed by the low value and limited quantity of the existing library, then and still, in the Valtorta house: a cupboard with three one-meter boxes, for about 300 volumes. This is obtained from Maria's autograph catalog, composed in 1946, countersigned by Marta Diciotti, who witnessed and certified that the showcase, then placed on the top floor, was practically inaccessible because the mother of the disabled person kept it well closed and jealously guarded the key, as with the rest of every piece of furniture in the house.

Intellectual level

Maria Valtorta was undoubtedly very intelligent, gifted with tenacious memory, remarkable powers of observation, extraordinary sensitivity, and uncommon writing agility.

These statements are not exaggerated, as Maria was the top of her class, especially in Italian; everything she read was imprinted on her memory like on a phonograph record; nothing escaped her sharp eye; her sensitivity was such that it gave her the impression that from her fingertips emanated threads that circled the world and brought her the desired news.

Illnesses and other sufferings

It is impossible here to enumerate the spiritual and psychic sufferings, physical diseases, and tribulations to which our writer was subjected, purified, and sanctified: the Autobiography, already published, and many other unpublished autograph documents, faithfully echo and exhaustively expose these.

They range from the "sensation" of Divine Abandonment to the temptation to kill herself; from the deepest bitterness caused by persecutions, betrayals, disdain, and coldness, to an entire chain of diseases of all kinds, intensity, and duration, accompanied by paresis of the lower limbs that forced her to remain bedridden for 27 years, unable to get out of bed.

All these multiple sufferings of Maria Valtorta were crowned between 1958 and 1961 (the year of the pious passing) by a state of forgetfulness and absence by which, little by little, she came to the point of no longer moving, no longer feeding, no longer listening, and no longer speaking.

Spirituality

Maria Valtorta's spirituality was both profound and simple, theological and popular, biblical and devotional, conservative and progressive: but always in strict adherence to the Catholic, apostolic, and Roman Church.

She loved Jesus with all her strength, in His person and that of His first Vicar, the Pope; she fed on the Bible and especially on the Gospel; she constantly preached, venerated, and invoked the Virgin Mary, Mother of God and ours; she was always very faithful to obedience to God and His representatives, even in moments when such conformity seemed to cost her blood.

Her entire spirituality can be summarized in Saint Paul's cry to the Galatians (2:19-20): "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."

It was this ardent desire to identify with Christ, the crucified Christ, expiatory victim for the world's sins, that urged her to ask the Lord to make her participate in all the sufferings experienced by the Savior.

Victim

She ended up offering herself as a victim not only to Merciful Love (like Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus), but also to the fearful Justice of God (like Sister Benigna Consolata Ferrero). She wished to be an expiatory victim in likeness of Jesus and for the same purposes for which the Redeemer of the world sacrificed Himself to His eternal Father: so that God's children, scattered by original sin and by their own sins, might return to form in Him, through the Church and in the one and true Church that is His, a flock whose Christ is the supreme Shepherd and whose Roman Pontiff is, on earth, the visible supreme Vicar.

From various documented indications, it seems one must deduce that this victim offering is the deepest, supernatural explanation of the physical inertia and psychic absence state in which Maria was during the last years of her earthly life. Indeed, the Lord is said to have told her: "You will forget the world in my Love."

Death

Similarly, Maria Valtorta's pious passing (death) was the conclusion of a whole life rendered conformable to Jesus, an obedient Victim unto death, and death on the Cross.

As soon as Father Innocenzo M. Rovetti of the Servite Order of Mary, local director of the Third Order of the same religious family, reciting the prayers for the dying, reached these words: "Go forth, O Christian soul, from this world ..." Maria, who at least apparently seemed unaware, immediately turned her head and expired. It was October 12, 1961, at 10:30 in the morning.

The exposition of the body was conducted in a dignified but simple manner; the funeral was celebrated in the parish Church, S. Paolino, early in the morning, in accordance with Valtorta's express will. Before this, the imprint of the death mask was taken, now preserved in Maria Valtorta's house in Viareggio. A few witnesses admired a phenomenon, rare in such circumstances: the left hand indeed appeared more cadaverous than in other deceased, but the right, with which she had written so many thousands of highly religious pages, stood out by a color, suppleness, and liveliness more vivid than that of a dead person.

The Author

Maria Valtorta was, without doubt, a born writer; from the earliest years, she was recognized as such by her teachers, who several times assigned her to compose essays to be read later in solemn school academies, then in vogue.

Later, but always before 1940, in her free time, she gave some religious conferences within the framework of the parish Catholic Action; she also worked on a partially and secretly autobiographical novel entitled "The Heart of a Woman." It remained unfinished and unpublished. The writer wanted it destroyed or to be destroyed.

Autobiography

Around 1942, Father Romualdo M. Migliorini, of the Servite Order of Mary, former parish priest in Canada, former missionary and former apostolic prefect in Southern Africa, then prior of the convent of S. Andrea in Viareggio, went to visit Maria Valtorta, and until 1946 he was her confessor, spiritual director, consoler, and support.

With his enlightened priestly experience, Father Migliorini soon saw in Maria not only a severely afflicted invalid by various diseases and anxieties but a person extraordinarily gifted with many natural and supernatural gifts.

That is why Maria Valtorta, consenting to the explicit request of her spiritual director, wrote and dedicated to him her Autobiography, in which, without hesitation, she revealed all the evil and good she believed, in conscience, manifested itself in her. This Autobiography extends from 1897, the year of birth, to 1943, the year of its composition. We have faithfully published it at the Tipografia Editrice Michele Pisani of Isola del Liri in 1969, accompanied by an introduction and biographical, historical, hagiographical, biblical, theological notes, etc.

To complete Maria Valtorta's biography from 1943 to 1961, the year of the pious passing, we have many elements scattered in other autograph writings and numerous letters, still unpublished.

The Writings

But the writings of Maria Valtorta that interest us particularly consist of 15,000 pages of autograph notebooks, written especially between April 23, 1943, and April 27, 1947; and, to a very small extent, between 1948 and 1951.

These 15,000 pages were written under unfavorable conditions: in wartime, displacement, fear, famine, infirmity, affliction, trials of all kinds, almost complete lack of useful books for that purpose, having only a Bible in a popular edition and Pope Pius X’s Catechism. These 120 notebooks were filled without preparatory outlines, without drafts, directly and in one go, without reading what was already written, practically without rereading, without erasures or corrections of any kind.

All these pages are composed of meticulous descriptions of environments and people; or of precise doctrinal expositions, always very clear and very deep; the two — descriptions and expositions — harmoniously fused with each other. These environmental descriptions and doctrinal expositions seem to suppose or reveal deep knowledge of geology, botany, zoology, geography, topography, archaeology, history, ethnology, psychology, cultic matters, theology, etc., which are hard to find again in a single erudite person or even among a group of specialists.

The entirety of the valtortian writings seems to arise from genuine originality, bringing "a new, remarkable, or even singular contribution," both in environmental descriptions and doctrinal expositions. Indeed, until now, nobody has been able to demonstrate — documents in hand — from which sources Maria Valtorta depends (except the Holy Scriptures!) and which books she copied or even simply drew inspiration from.

These 15,000 autograph pages were typed by Father Migliorini, who transcribed the individual notebooks as the invalid finished and transmitted them. This first typed manuscript is what we call the first typescript (D 1), from which the Father extracted a second, partial transcription, indicated by us as the second typescript (D 2).

The aforementioned priest, with the good intention of consoling people and the community harshly tested by World War II and its consequences, lent and distributed various valtortian files, even before they were published. However, this initiative displeased the superiors greatly and was the first source of various painful discussions, vicissitudes, and oppositions, which continued and increased especially between 1946 and 1961, when they ceased after peaceful dialogue that could demonstrate to the competent authority the positive opinion expressed by the wise Pope Pius XII in 1948, and show the excellent autograph attestations issued between 1946 and 1952 by eminent ecclesiastical and lay personalities, including Father Agostino Bea, SJ, rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute, later a famous cardinal, and Professor Camillo Corsanego, professor at the Pontifical Lateran University and dean of consistorial advocates.

The Main Work

Eleven thousand pages, partly scattered among the aforementioned 15,000 or partly already gathered, came to constitute — once duly ordered by Valtorta herself and specifically typed (D 2) by Father Migliorini — the main work written by Maria, which was later published under the title "The Poem of the Man-God."

Two editions of the "Poem" have already been published. The printer-publisher for both was the honorable Cav. Michele Pisani, from Isola del Lira (Frosinone), who dedicated himself to publishing the aforementioned writings under very difficult conditions.

The first edition, in four large volumes, totaling 3,932 pages, was published between 1956 and 1959; it was very imperfect because it was not possible to base it on the valtortian autograph manuscripts, which the writer did not lend out for prudence, but only on the typed copy which was not absolutely faithful (D 2) and very mutilated.

But from 1960, Dr. Emilio Pisani, son of Cav. Michele (who died in 1965), undertook meticulous collection work, ensuring that the Valtortian originals were faithfully reported in the publication and that the system of notes was complete and well arranged.

Thus was born the second edition of "The Poem of the Man-God," in ten volumes, totaling 5,500 pages, published between 1961 and 1967, which we consider critical because it conforms to the originals and is endowed with biblical, theological, historical, etc. notes.

The still unpublished writings

Some 4,000 autograph valtortian pages remain unpublished (in 1970), but they concern either the writer herself or subjects of the Old Testament, the New Testament, notably Saint Paul (commentary on Romans) and Saint John (incomplete commentary on Revelation); and moreover, they extend to various other theological, cultic, hagiographical, practical themes, etc.

Illustrations of the "Poem"

Maria Valtorta herself, directly on the notebooks or on separate sheets, sketched a map or a sketch of places, monuments, etc. Those inserted in the notebooks have been reproduced in the critical edition; the others will be published in due course.

Moreover, the artist Professor Lorenzo Ferri, under the personal guidance of the writer, whom he met several times, drew about 360 illustrations, in black and white or color. 60 of them were reproduced in the first edition of the critical edition; the others will be published in their time, perhaps in a special album, together with the aforementioned 60.

Indexes and maps

Various indexes and maps of the Work "The Poem of the Man-God" or for the entire valtortian doctrinal production are in the process of printing or preparation:

• a) Descriptive list of the characters of "The Poem of the Man-God," written by Maria Valtorta herself;
• b) Index of the main speeches concerning Jesus, Mary, Peter, prepared almost entirely by Father Migliorini, completed and updated by Maria Valtorta's spiritual mother, the cloistered nun M.T.M.;
• c) Index of biblical passages cited by Maria Valtorta in the text (about 600) or by me in the notes of "The Poem of the Man-God" (about 7,000), compiled by Edmea Dusio and published by Tipografia Editrice M. Pisani in 1970 (68 pages). The usefulness of this index is remarkable, as shown in the Presentation;
• d) Index of persons and places, in preparation;
• e) Index of topics, in preparation;
• f) Geographical and topographical maps showing the routes of Jesus, places and monuments, etc. indicated in the "Poem": the complete panoramic map, with all place names mentioned in the "Poem" and located according to its descriptions, has already been prepared by Major Giovanni Jacono.

Interpretations or explanations of the valtortian phenomenon

There are two fundamental interpretations or explanations of the origin and nature of the valtortian writings, published and unpublished:

1) Some, after reading or without reading (!) the ten volumes of "The Poem of the Man-God," explain the phenomenon by asserting that Maria could write so much and so well because she is:

• a) very intelligent;
• b) gifted with remarkable or excellent culture;
• c) possessed of unfailing memory (phonographic recording);
• d) possessed of extraordinary sensitivity: these "threads" she felt coming out of her fingers would have connected her with realities and thoughts distant in time and space, in which nothing was destroyed;
• e) possessing a very sharp spirit of observation;
• f) having remarkable ease of expression;
• g) having great and deep assimilation and mystical identification with Jesus Christ, in whom all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom are present.

2) Maria Valtorta, and other readers with her, explain the phenomenon without denying intelligence, culture, memory, sensitivity, spirit of observation, fluidity of the pen, union with Jesus Christ, but emphasizing two elements:

• a) that the object of the environmental descriptions was shown to her, time after time, in a supernatural vision; and Maria carefully described what she saw;
• b) that the doctrinal expositions (speeches and dialogues, etc.) were supernaturally dictated to her; and Maria transcribed what she perceived as faithfully as possible.

Perhaps the two aforementioned hypotheses to explain the phenomenon converge and mysteriously intertwine, because those who are deeply identified with Christ (see Galatians 2:19-20), and to the extent that they are, see with His eyes, think with His spirit, speak or write as His instrument, animated and moved by the Spirit of the One who is the Holy Spirit. The human contribution is not destroyed but constantly surfaces, as in St. John and St. Paul, in St. Teresa of Avila and St. Catherine of Siena. And to the extent, always imperfect in us mortals, that the identification with Christ makes possible and explains possible errors: errors from which only persons (biblical hagiographies, papal infallibility) or collectives (Ecumenical Councils, universal Church) can be exempted. The Holy Spirit preserves from errors in matters of faith and morals, that is in what is necessary for eternal salvation.

Conclusion

Our mission is to publish the valtortian writings critically, not to comment on the different explanations given, or to be given, about the phenomenon.

We reserve canonical judgment to the sole competent ecclesiastical authority; and strictly scientific judgment to scholars in each branch of knowledge.

We, curators and editors, will adhere to what Pope Pius XII, in a special audience granted to Father Migliorini and myself on February 28, 1948, wisely and prudently suggested:

"Publish this work as it is: whoever reads will understand."

Rome, January 29, 1970

Father Corrado M. Berti, O.S.M.

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