Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Maria Valtorta
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Born on August 26, 1910, and died on September 5, 1997. Founder of the Missionaries of Charity. Canonized by Pope Francis on September 4, 2016.
According to what Father Leo Maasburg reports, National Director of the Pontifical mission Societies in Austria and confessor of Mother Teresa for 4 years, Mother Teresa always carried three books: the Bible, her Breviary, and a third book. When Father Leo asked her about it, she told him it was a book by Maria Valtorta. When he asked about the content, she simply said: "read it".[1]
This event has been attested to on three occasions by Msgr. Leo Maasburg, who details it in his 2026 filmed interview.
2009[edit | edit source]
Asked in 2009 by "Chrétiens Magazine" about Mother Teresa's opinion on the work of Maria Valtorta, Father Leo Maasburg confirmed:As for Mother Teresa's attitude toward Valtorta, I clearly remember her positive reaction, though I don't recall more details.[2]
2016[edit | edit source]
He confirms this again in writing to Father Anthony Pilari, in the year of Mother Teresa of Calcutta's canonization.
2026[edit | edit source]
On Saturday, August 15, 2026, Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, near Vienna, Austria, Msgr. Leo Maasburg gave a filmed interview to the Catholic investigative media outlet Edifiant.fr, in which he looked back on this event[3]. Here are his words:
“It must have been sometime between 1984 and 1986. While traveling with Mother Teresa, I noticed that she sometimes had different kinds of books in her bag. One day, I saw that she had Maria Valtorta in her bag, and since I am an avid reader of Maria Valtorta, I asked her what she thought of the book, and she replied to me: ‘Read it yourself.’So I found myself once again being referred back to my own judgment.
This gave me a certain confidence that she was advising me to read it, because I knew her as someone who was extremely obedient to the teaching of the Church. She would never have advised me to read something that she was convinced was contrary to the faith.
This then encouraged me to continue reading it even more and dispelled my concerns about reading something possibly heretical or otherwise. So I am very grateful to the Lord for this encouragement, simple but precious.”
Notes and references[edit | edit source]
- ↑ See the signed statement.
- ↑ Excerpt from "Chrétiens Magazine" no. 218, 03/15/2009, page 5.
- ↑ See the video (1:32): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k913EPZTteI.