The Magi (Wise Men, “Three Kings”)

From Wiki Maria Valtorta
Drawing of the Magi by Lorenzo Ferri according to the indications of Maria Valtorta. Source: documentary archives of the Maria Valtorta Heritage Foundation.
The tradition speaks of Kings Magi, but in Matthew 2:1–16[1], as in the work of Maria Valtorta, only Magi are mentioned. Yet they are indeed three, something not specified by the Gospel but by tradition.

They are men of science and faith. They are powerful and rich. Astrologers, each of them notices, independently, the appearance of an unknown star. "Born from the bosom of God, it had blossomed to announce to men a blessed truth, a secret of God. But men paid no attention to it, for their souls were sunk in the mud. They did not lift their eyes toward God and did not know how to read the words He traces—may He be eternally blessed—with the stars of fire across the vault of the heavens," explains the eldest of the three later to the Virgin Mary.[2]

They set out without knowing of one another, but all meet near the Dead Sea after a journey of about 3,000 km each.

The first comes "from the sources of the Nile" (Nubia–Sudan). He is the eldest. He speaks on behalf of all. He offers "gold, which it is fitting for a king to possess." His journey covered between 2,000 and 3,000 km, and the same distance for the return. Tradition names him Melchior.

The second comes from "distant India." He is the youngest. He offers "incense, as is fitting for a God." His journey covered 3,000 to 3,500 km. Tradition names him Gaspar.

The last comes from the "Mongolian ranges." He brings "myrrh, because your Child Born—he says to the Virgin Mary—who is God, is also Man, and in His flesh and human life He will know bitterness and the inevitable law of death." His journey covered between 3,000 and 4,000 km in about ten months. He must have traveled a little more than 10 km per day. Tradition names him Balthazar.

The star disappears above Jerusalem, while they are camped near the En Rogel spring.[3] This prompts them to go see Herod. Their declaration troubles the paranoid king, who summons the best scribes.

Thirty years later, witnesses of that time report to Jesus:
"We were summoned one day (by Herod) because three Wise Men had come to ask where the One born king of the Hebrews was."[4]
Hillel, the great Doctor of Israel, had also been consulted. The star, having reappeared, guides them to Bethlehem. The adoration takes place in a house, according to the Gospel, and not in a stable as popular devotion imagines. As they lay gold, incense, and myrrh at the feet of the young Jesus, aged nine to twelve months, Balthazar prophesies:
"He, your Son, is the Savior, the Christ of God, and for this reason He must, to save the earth, take upon Himself the evil of the earth, of which one of the punishments is death. This resin (myrrh) is for that hour, so that His holy flesh may not know the decay of corruption and may preserve its integrity until the resurrection. May He, because of these gifts, remember us and save His servants by granting them His Kingdom."
The gold will serve the Holy Family well for their flight into Egypt to Matharaea and their resettlement in Nazareth.

Warned in a dream that Herod the Great wants to force them to reveal the Messiah’s identity,[5] the Magi flee by way of Engedi, where they meet Abraham, head of the synagogue.[6] Learning this, Herod, in furious rage, orders the massacre of all children in Bethlehem under two years old.[7]

Their testimony—brief—forms what Jesus calls "the Gospel of Faith" in His commentaries to Maria Valtorta.[8]

Their Name and Appearance

In Maria Valtorta’s work, the three Magi are anonymous. However, if one wished to name them according to traditional names (Melchior, Balthazar, and Gaspar), one could say:

Melchior

The eldest, from Africa (Nubia–Sudan). His skin is very dark. As soon as he dismounts from a camel, he wraps himself entirely in a magnificent white silk garment. His forehead is encircled by a band of precious metal, and at his waist a rich belt from which hangs a dagger or sword with a gem-studded hilt.

His name, Melchior, comes from Malkiyyah, "the Eternal is king." Tradition also records the forms Melichior or Melkon (6th century).

Gaspar

The youngest, from India. He wears a billowing silk shirt emerging from wide, long trousers tight at the ankles. He is wrapped in a very fine shawl, a true flower garden in its vivid colors. On his head, a turban held by a chain adorned with diamond studs.

His name likely comes from Gondophares, the name of an Indo-Parthian king. He is called Goudnaphar or Goudnapharos in Greek (3rd century); Gathaspa, Gathaspar, Gaspar in the 6th century; and finally Caspar in the 8th century.

Balthazar

The last, from the "Mongolian ranges" on the borders of Persia. He wears a beautiful striped fabric dominated by yellow. This garment is shaped like a long domino[9] with a hood and cord that seem made in one piece of golden filigree, so richly embroidered are they.

The name Balthasar, or Balatsu-usur in Babylonian, means "may he protect his life." Many spellings exist: Beltchatsar, Beltschatsar, Belteshatsar, Beltsatar, Beltassar, Baltassar, Beltshassar. Tradition later produced forms such as Bithisarea, Balthasar (6th century), and Bautezar (Provençal).

Where Are They Mentioned in the Work?

EMV 34 EMV 35 EMV 41
EMV 390
EMV 426 EMV 436 EMV 464 EMV 493
EMV 645.9

Learn More About These Characters

Extracts from the Dictionary of Gospel Characters, according to Maria Valtorta (Mgr René Laurentin, François-Michel Debroise, Jean-François Lavère, Salvator Editions, 2012):
The Gospel of Matthew mentions neither their number nor their names.[10]-[11]

In the Protoevangelium of James (an apocryphon of the 2nd century), the Magi are anonymous and come from the East, without further details. They arrive in Bethlehem at the Nativity.[12] This anachronism inspired many later representations. The Magi trigger the massacre of the innocents by their arrival: therefore it is impossible that the presentation of Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem took place afterward.

In the Pseudo-Matthew (late 6th century), they arrive in Bethlehem two years after the Birth of Jesus.[13] This is taken up by later tradition: Origen, Eusebius, Epiphanius, etc.[14] It is more consistent with the historical sequence.

Their names appear for the first time in a 6th-century manuscript.[15] They are called "Bithisarea, Melichior, and Gathaspa."

At the same time, the Armenian Gospel of the Infancy, a 6th-century apocryphon, gives them the names "Balthasar, Melkon, and Gaspar."

At the beginning of the 8th century, a treatise attributed to Bede the Venerable[16] names them "Melchior, Balthasar, and Caspar" according to a Greek source.

In the 13th century, Jacobus de Voragine gives them[17]-[18] different names depending on the language:

Appellius, Amerius, Damascus, in Latin,

Galgalat, Malgalat, and Sarathin, in Hebrew,

Caspar, Balthasar, Melchior, in Greek.

In the 17th century, Mary of Ágreda does not name them but situates them as "originating from Persia, Arabia, and Sheba, east of Palestine."[19]-[20] In the Middle Ages, it was claimed that their relics had been found by Saint Helena in Sheba, in Persia.[21] This was likely in reference to the prophecy of Isaiah: "All the people of Sheba will come, bringing gold and incense; they will proclaim the praises of the Lord."[22] ([23]-[24]-[25]-[26]-[27]-[28]).

In the 19th century, Anne-Catherine Emmerich gives them names different from the traditional ones: Theokeno, Mensor, and Sair.[29] She is the only one to speak of "kings," whereas all the other cited writings speak only of "Magi."

All these different sources agree on three Magi.

The lords of Les Baux-de-Provence (France) claimed descent from Balthazar and adopted the motto "At random, Balthazar."[30]

Notes and References

  1. ↑ Matthew 2:1–16
  2. ↑ EMV 34
  3. ↑ EMV 493
  4. ↑ EMV 464
  5. ↑ Cf. Matthew 2:12.
  6. ↑ EMV 390
  7. ↑ EMV 73
  8. ↑ EMV 34.10
  9. ↑ Domino: an open garment reaching the heels, with a kind of hooded cape.
  10. ↑ Matthew Chapter 2
  11. ↑ Matthew 2:1–16
  12. ↑ Protoevangelium of James, § 21.1.
  13. ↑ Pseudo-Matthew, §16.1.
  14. ↑ J. Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, Princeton, 1964, pp. 233–234.
  15. ↑ Excerpta Latina Barbari, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, p. 51B.
  16. ↑ The Excerptiones Patrum.
  17. ↑ The Golden Legend, Paris 1992, Epiphany of the Lord, p. 149.
  18. ↑ The Golden Legend
  19. ↑ Mary of Ágreda, The Mystical City of God, Vol. 3, Book 4, Chapter 16, §552, p. 399.
  20. ↑ Mary of Ágreda "The Mystical City"
  21. ↑ Louis Réau, Iconography of Christian Art, PUF 1957, Vol. 2, p. 239.
  22. ↑ Isaiah 60:6
  23. ↑ Jeremiah 6:20
  24. ↑ Ezekiel 27:22
  25. ↑ Psalm 72:10, 15
  26. ↑ Genesis 10:7
  27. ↑ 1 Chronicles 1:9
  28. ↑ 1 Kings 10:1ff
  29. ↑ A.C. Emmerich/C. Brentano, The Life of the Virgin Mary, Presse de la Renaissance, Paris 2006, p. 262.
  30. ↑ "At random, Balthazar," in Provençal "à l'asard Bautezar." This village in the Alpilles is located not far from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, where the painter Vincent Van Gogh stayed in 1889 and 1890. Les Baux-de-Provence gave its name to bauxite, the ore from which aluminum is extracted.
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