Mother of Levi
This young widow from the Sharon plain was married to a Roman veteran, Cornelius, a blacksmith in a farrier’s workshop. Her child, Levi, who has just turned twelve, is about to have a difficult life because he is a "bastard".
A young widow passes by with her brood of children... What misery! The youngest is completely naked, wrapped in his mother’s torn veil... the older ones have just enough to keep decency. Only the eldest, a scrawny boy, has what one could call a garment but on the other hand he has no shoes. - "Levi has come of age... I had to accompany him to the Temple... me... since he no longer has a father."[1]Johanna of Chuza takes them all in for work in her rose garden in Bether.
"Do you understand, Woman? My children and I. I will work. But what is a protected and safe work? It is joy! And my Levi will not wear himself out with agricultural labor, because the disciple who takes us puts him in the rose gardens... A game, I tell you! Ah! May the Eternal give glory and Good to his Messiah!"[2]
Her name
The mother is anonymous.
Levi means "Attachment". Historical reference: 3rd son of Jacob and Leah. He is the ancestor of the Levites, the priestly caste.
Where is it mentioned in the work?
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.