Successive Titles of the Work

Article published in the Bollettino valtortiano no. 99 (January to June 2020), p. 3

The main work of Maria Valtorta, known today as The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me, has undergone several title changes throughout its history. It is sometimes difficult to keep track. That is why Emilio Pisani, a witness and early participant, created its historical overview in his Bollettino valtortiano no. 99 (January to June 2020), page 3. The first five titles given to the work were assigned during Maria Valtorta's lifetime and with her consent.

The 8 Titles of the Main Work

Vangelo di N.S.G.C. come rivelato al piccolo Giovanni

"The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ as it was revealed to little John" is the original title of the work. It is, writes Emilio Pisani, the title given to Maria Valtorta by Jesus. However, it is not a literal quotation from Jesus, but the perfect summary of what He says repeatedly and in various forms:

• "Little John, you must work. The Gospel awaits" (Notebooks of 1944, December 27).

• "Little John, I wanted to call you 'little scribe'[…] because you teach the truth about my mortal time" (Notebooks from 1945 to 1950, March 29-30, 1945).
• "For twenty centuries a countless crowd of men have nourished themselves on it (the four Gospels), and now, through my little John, I have come to increase the number of episodes and words." (Notebooks from 1945 to 1950, January 19, 1947).
• "Accept the Work in full tranquility as I had it given to you. It is just, and it is supernatural." (Notebooks from 1945 to 1950, December 6, 1947).

• "Little John speaks divine words, it is evident that the Author of wisdom, the Holy Spirit, lives in him with the fullness of His gifts. Therefore, once again, the Work is the word of God." (Idem).

• Etc.

The current title "The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me" is directly inspired by this title derived from Jesus’s indications.

Parole di vita eterna

"Words of eternal life" is the title the work would have had if it had been published by a specially designed publishing house (1948), but it was not completed, composed of a few laypeople in collaboration with two religious. It was an attempt by the Servites of Mary, including Father Romualdo M. Migliorini, to appropriate the work. This initiative had been taken hastily following the papal hearing of February 27, 1948. To do so, the imprimatur of Mgr Constantino Barneschi had been obtained and a pamphlet containing the summary and an excerpt was published. It did not bear the author's name. It is under this title that the typescripts circulated in the Vatican and consequently on the desk of Pius XII.

La divina tragedia

"The Divine Tragedy" is the title given to the work by Maria Valtorta and Michele Pisani in the contract signed in Viareggio on October 6, 1952. In the unwritten intentions of the author and the publisher, it was a temporary title, just to start the typographic composition of the work, whose definitive title would have been established at the time of the press run of the first volume.

Il poema di Gesù

"The Poem of Jesus" is the title suggested by Dr. Nicola Pende, an admirer of the work. It was approved by Maria Valtorta and the publisher. This title appeared on the first volume but had to be changed because a publishing house claimed exclusive use of it for having put it on a previously published book in verse.

Il poema dell’Uomo-Dio

"The Poem of the Man-God" is the modified title. It appeared on the first edition of the Work in four volumes (1956-1959), credited to an anonymous author since Maria Valtorta did not want her name to appear during her lifetime.

The same title was used on the new edition in ten volumes (1961), followed by the words "Writings of Maria Valtorta," since the first of the ten volumes was published the year the author died.

The English translated this title as "The Poem of the Man-God" though the word Poem primarily evokes poetry in verse but it can also be employed more broadly, especially in elevated literary contexts.

El Hombre-Dios

"The Man-God" is the shortened title that the Spanish edition of the work had to adopt to avoid ambiguity of the term "poem". The same issue would have arisen in translations into other languages. In Italian, the word poema does not necessarily refer to a text in verse but can also refer to a grand literary work, often epic, narrating events of great scope (like Dante’s La Divina Commedia). This title thus suggests a majestic and inspired work, recounting the life of Christ in a form that evokes a grand narrative. But in Spanish, the word poema is more strictly associated with poetry in verse. Using this term could have caused confusion and led to the belief that the work was a poem in the strict sense, which it is not. The title was thus shortened to avoid any ambiguity. The German edition made the same choice, probably for the same reasons. But the term it uses, "Der Gottmensch" (the Man-God), is a title that could seem theologically strong, as the term Gottmensch is often used in Christian theology to denote the dual nature of Christ. This meaning is universal.

The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me

This is the title of the French edition of the work. The translator (Félix Sauvage) had authorized the publication of his work only if the publisher chose a title consistent with the original Italian. Formulated in the first person in the French version, the title is preceded by the name Maria Valtorta. She thus declares she is not the author in the full sense of the term, but that she wrote with her own abilities what she saw and heard by revelation.

L’Evangelo come mi è stato rivelato

"The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me," preceded by the name Maria Valtorta as the author, is the title placed on the original Italian edition translated from French after fourteen years of dissemination in that language. Easily translatable into any language, it has become the title of all versions of the work. This is the definitive title.

Degree of relevance of the current title

The first title (The Gospel of Jesus as it was revealed to little John) is not a literal quotation but the reformulation of various instructions of Jesus. The current title is similar to it.

Shortly before the audience granted on February 27, 1948, by Pius XII, Jesus gave his directives by proposing three titles for the work, without particularly choosing one. He indicated that these three proposals together constitute the title. The first proposal The Word that Gives Eternal Life was retained almost unchanged for an unfinished publishing project. It was this title that suffered the wrath of the Holy Office, which encouraged, at least presumably, the publishers to find a more neutral title. The new title did not prevent either the placement on the Index nor the dissemination of the work since the title Il poema dell’Uomo-Dio endured until 1993 for the Italian edition.

The first five titles of the Work, as reported by E. Pisani, received the agreement of Maria Valtorta. They are therefore legitimate by definition since in the same dictation Jesus declared: "Remember that the slightest modification, the slightest addition, must be submitted to your judgment, for it is I who guide you." The title is therefore adapted as best as possible to the context.

Certainly, the word Gospel contained in the current title makes some people initially wary, but it was not included in the title when the work was placed on the Index. It was therefore not a reason for rejection, and it is this word that often prompted readers to open the work.

However, this title The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me comprehensibly responds to three directives given by Jesus in his dictation on the night of February 20-21, 1948, namely:

1. that it (the Work) contained the words of Eternal Life,
2. that God was its author,
3. and that Maria Valtorta was its penholder.

He accepted any concession of form (but not content) provided that the Work be known to the public.

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Fellowship of the Church who are not part of the clergy or religious orders.

In a Christian sense, study concerning God and divine things in the light of Revelation.