Martha of Bethany

Drawing of Martha by Lorenzo Ferri based on the indications of Maria Valtorta. Source: documentary collection of the Maria Valtorta Heritage Foundation.

Jewish-Syrian from Bethany, of the race of David through her mother. Sister of Lazarus and Mary (of Magdala). Second child of Theophilus, a Syrian proselyte, governor of Antioch, and Eucheria of Theophilus. She suffers the backlash of her sister’s dissolute life:

"Martha sacrificed because of you. One does not marry the sister of a courtesan."

She hopes for the conversion of Mary of Magdala (Magdalene) and will be the first to receive this good news. She is an excellent housekeeper.

"She possesses the practical and intelligent genius of organization. She is made for the home, and to be the physical and spiritual comfort of those who live there."

This is a particularly important quality, considering Bethany’s position as a key base of evangelization, both due to its proximity to Jerusalem and the Protection offered by the Romans to the Bethany family.

Character and Appearance

"She is not tall like her sister, but tall nonetheless. She is brunette whereas the other is blonde and fair. Yet she is a beautiful young woman with harmonious features. Hair the color of jet with a slightly dark and even forehead beneath. Her eyes exude gentleness, are black, large, velvety, framed by dark lashes. Her nose is slightly aquiline and her vermilion mouth contrasts with the brown color of her cheeks. She smiles showing beautiful very white teeth. Her woolen garment is dark blue with red and dark green trim at the neck and at the ends of the wide sleeves which stop at the elbow, from which emerge other very fine white linen sleeves tightened at the wrist by a small cord that gathers them. At the top of the chest, also at the base of the neck, appears this very fine white shirt tightened by a cord. Her belt is a fine azure, red and green sash, tightening the upper hips and falling with a fringe knot on the left side. It is a rich and chaste garment."

Her qualities as an excellent housekeeper lead to the famous admonition by Jesus:

"You worry about too many things, Martha. For her, there is only one. But that is the one that suffices for her spirit and especially for her Lord who is also yours. Let go of useless things. Imitate your sister. Mary has chosen the better part. The one that will never be taken away from her."

And at the resurrection of her brother, Jesus comments:

"Why do you act instead of contemplating?"

Martha is a virtuous young woman:

"Give me this hand that has never sinned, which has known how to be gentle, merciful, active, pious. She has always made gestures of love and prayer. She has never become lazy. She has never corrupted herself."

This loving devotion gains its full value during the long illness of her brother, for whom she ceaselessly hopes for healing by Jesus.

Her Journey

Witness to the Resurrection of her brother Lazarus, then of the Christ and the Ascension.

A disciple along with her brother, she joins the group of women who follow Jesus in a specific apostolate, The Women Disciples. She has, like Lazarus, great hope in the conversion of her sister, Mary of Magdala (Magdalene). Active in this call to conversion, she rejoices in receiving its first signs.

Martha reveals herself during the death of her brother Lazarus. Her practical mind, her sense of comfort, but also her faith, are shown in all their fullness. It is she who sends word to Jesus of Lazarus’s agony, despite his instructions to only do so after his death. She hopes, until his death and beyond, for the miracle.

But towards the end, waiting for Jesus who does not come to save her brother, nor to his funeral to resurrect him, she yields to doubt.

Jesus finally arrived four and a half days after Lazarus’s death and resurrected him. Following this, he says to Martha:

"Why do you act instead of contemplating? It is holier. You see? Your strength, because it was too focused on earthly things, gave way to the observation of earthly facts which sometimes seem without remedy.
In truth, human things have no remedy if God does not intervene. The creature, because of this, needs to know how to believe and contemplate, to love until the very end with all the strength of the whole man, with his mind, his Soul, his flesh, his blood, with all the forces of man (...)"

As persecutions increased, the Bethany Family chose to exile themselves:

"You certainly cannot say that Lazarus, Mary and Martha were fearful creatures. You see, however, that, with extreme pain, they left here to carry the divine Word elsewhere, where it would have been stifled here by the Jews."

This supports the tradition of their exile to Gaul.

Her Name

In Aramaic, "lady" or "mistress."

Where is she mentioned in the Work?

In Judea before communal life: GRM 112 GRM 117
Year-end celebrations: GRM 135 GRM 136
The female apostolate: GRM 157
The second paschal journey: GRM 198 GRM 200
Apostolate in Judea: GRM 206 GRM 206 GRM 210
The conversion of Mary Magdalene: GRM 226 GRM 229 GRM 231 GRM 235 GRM 237 GRM 238 GRM 239 GRM 240 GRM 241 GRM 242 GRM 243 GRM 244 GRM 245 GRM 247 GRM 248 GRM 249 GRM 250 GRM 252 GRM 253 GRM 254 GRM 255
Sending of Apostles and Disciples on Mission: GRM 260 GRM 261
Perea, Gilead and Trachonitis: GRM 281 4.149 - GRM 286 GRM 287 GRM 290 GRM 293 GRM 294 GRM 302
Phoenicia and Upper Galilee: GRM 338
The Transfiguration and the Bread of Heaven: GRM 362
The penultimate Passover: GRM 365 GRM 367 GRM 370 GRM 371 GRM 372 GRM 375 GRM 376 GRM 377 GRM 378
Pentecost, Decapolis and Esdraelon Plain: GRM 415
The Feast of Tabernacles: GRM 485
In Moab and Judea: GRM 519 GRM 536
The resurrection of Lazarus: GRM 541 GRM 542 GRM 543 GRM 544 GRM 545 GRM 546 GRM 548 GRM 550
Exile in Samaria: GRM 560 GRM 566 GRM 568 GRM 571 GRM 574 GRM 575
The return to Jerusalem: GRM 576 GRM 578 GRM 579 GRM 581 GRM 583 GRM 584 GRM 586 GRM 587
Holy Week: GRM 589 GRM 590 GRM 596
Resurrection Sunday: GRM 616 GRM 616 GRM 619 GRM 622 GRM 626 GRM 628
From Resurrection to Ascension: GRM 636 GRM 638 GRM 641 GRM 648

Learn More About This Character

The Church honors Saint Martha on July 29, eight days after her sister Mary of Magdala (Magdalene).

According to tradition, she emigrates with the whole Bethany family to Gaul (Provence) during the first persecutions against Christians. This emigration is not surprising, as Gaul (France) was a place where historically banned and disgraced figures such as Herod Antipas and Herodias, Pilate and Claudia Procula were found.

Martha settled in Tarascon, where her battle against a monster, the Tarasque, believed to be a crocodile escaped from a Roman circus, is celebrated.

The probable tarasque is undoubtedly a marine crocodile. The similarity is striking.

See the articles:

• Visions of Anne-Catherine Emmerich: "Exile of Lazarus and his Sisters in the Gauls".
• Article by Jean Aulagnier: "Evangelization of Gaul".

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.

Person of non-Israelite origin who renounces their beliefs to join Judaism.