Mary and Matthias of Chuza
These are two young orphans from the Esdraelon Plain. She is between eight and nine years old, he is four. Their father died at work and their mother, pregnant, "by too much work."[1] Indeed, after the death of her husband, so that her master Ishmael Ben Fabi could keep her, she had to add to her service that of her husband because he said:
"I made the agreement for the work of two people and if you want to stay here, I want your work and the work of your dead husband".[1]
She died from it with the child she was carrying. Ishmael, known to be the most ruthless master in the region, then drives away the young children, useless mouths for him:
"On the road, the hungry dogs."[2]
They end up frightened and hungry on the property of Jacob of Merom in anger, who also chases them away: for him, they are thieves and they are not from the region:
They must be very poor children because they are wearing poor faded garments, which are also torn and their faces are sad and thin. [...] Her little brother is holding onto her shabby little tunic. "I am hungry, sir. I was given only one piece of bread yesterday and I kept it for Matthias… Why did they not put us into the grave with our mother?" The little girl weeps desolately and her little brother imitates her.
Faced with Jacob's refusal to help the orphans, Jesus makes a late autumn apple tree bear fruit. The fruits collected feed the hungry children.[3]
In the past, to reward him for having given him a bread and shelter, Jesus had blessed the fields of Jacob of Merom, then reduced to misery:[4] his harvests had therefore been very abundant and he was thanks to this "the richest in the region this year."[5]
Jacob inherits a curse: he will be needy, but not completely destitute. Jesus explains to Peter what will happen to him:
"Justice. He will not starve, because his granaries are well stocked for a long time. But he will suffer shortage, because the seed he sows will yield no corn and his olive and apple-trees will be covered with leaves only."[6]
Jesus takes with him the children he brings and entrusts[7] them to Johanna of Chuza who became sterile after her illness and the death of her firstborn. Dying, she had been healed by Jesus.[8] She and Chuza her husband, very happy, adopt them.
Jesus says to them about the children:
"Come. They are coarse and frightened, but good. You can trust Me because I can read the hearts of men and the future. They will give peace and strength to your union, not so much now as in the future. You will find yourselves again in their love."[9]
Joanne runs to caress them and "holds the two orphans to her bosom, kissing their emaciated cheeks, while they watch amazed at the beautiful lady whose clothes are covered with jewels."[10]
Jesus predicts the destiny of happiness of Mary of Chuza and her blessed death[11] for which we have found no historical trace.
Mathias and Mary benefit from an apparition of the resurrected Jesus, during the additional Passover.[12] In Judaism, this feast allowed those who had been prevented from doing so, to perform the Passover rite one month later. In the work of Maria Valtorta, Jesus, before His Passion, had dismissed from Jerusalem the youngest or most sensitive disciples. He had arranged to meet them for this additional Passover.[13]
His name
Mary: in Hebrew Miryam. This common name can mean bitterness or "the one who is exalted," "Prophetess" or the feminine of "Lord."
Mathias: Mattathias - Matthias - Matthew: come from the Hebrew "mattityah" gift of the Eternal - Historical reference: the father of the Maccabees brothers,[14] liberators of Israel.
Where is he mentioned in the work?
GRM 338 GRM 348 GRM 350 GRM 366 GRM 371 GRM 378