Valeria
Young Woman Roman whose baby, Faustina (Fausta), was saved by Jesus.[1]
She is the first in the group of Roman women to convert to Judaism, as the Religion of Jesus, and the first to free all her slaves in His name.[2]
Pressed by her parents to return to Italy, she declines this offer despite the times of Trials ahead:"if I lose bWatercoup by losing the Master (who has just announced His death Neighbore), I will not lose everything, for the faith will remain and I want to stay where she was born. I do not want to take Fausta where nothing speaks of You. Here... everything speaks of You and certainly, you will not leave us without a guide, we who wanted to follow you."[3]
Character and Appearance[edit | edit source]
She is a young Woman of distinguished appearance, tall, slender:"(she) appears in her charm of a young mother, with full but still very youthful forms, and a calm gaze of a mother happy to nourish and see her child grow thanks to her milk. Rosy complexion, chestnut Hair, she has a peaceful smile, but so gentle."[4]
Apostolic Journey[edit | edit source]
Sensitive to the teaching of Jesus, she embarks on a path that distances her, like the group of Roman women, increasingly from a corrupt life. She is involved in the liberation of Aurea for whom she offers to be the nurse of her baby Fausta. At the request of Mary, she gives her to Jesus, not without sorrow for not being able to keep her:"Tell your Son these words: 'In memory of Faustina whose flesh you saved, Valeria leaves Aurea to you so that you save her spirit...' It's true! We are too corrupt... to trust a saint... Domina, pray for me!"[5]She confides in Jesus her sorrows as a married and abandoned Woman:
"God loved you so much that He gave you back your daughter so that you always have present in your spirit the goodness and the power of the true God truth, and that you possess a bridle against the pagan license and a comfort in all your sorrows as a married Woman. It is because in your affections, you are pagan, oh Woman. It is not your fault. It is the fault of the age you live in and of the gentility in which you were raised. Only one who is in the true Religion knows how to give affections their value, their measure, and their proper manifestations. You, pagan wife, loving, faithful, you loved your husband as an earthly God with carnal love, your bWater God who was adored by you by lowering your dignity from equal to servile slave."[6]Her husband, weary of the change that has occurred in his Woman's Soul, leaves for Antioch with his favorite slaves. He asks for a divorce, but up to that point Jesus encourages her to be a virtuous wife.
"I am Master and before Me is a creature who can grow in the life of Grace. If you were not what you are, I would demand less of you. But you have good mettle and suffering purifies and tempers more and more your metal."Without delay, she becomes the herald of Jesus among the freed Romans.[8] Even when the Sanhedrin bans Jesus and launches a discredit campaign, Valeria not only keeps her conviction, but even deepens it.[9]
- "You and your daughter will become wise in the faith that will bear my Name."[7]
"Do you know that Valeria, after her husband divorced her, became a proselyte? She did it for real. She leads a life of righteousness that is an example for many of us. She freed her slaves and teaches them all in the true God. She took a house in Zion."[10]Friend of Johanna of Chuza, she is found by her side at the moment of the ascent to the calvary. It is with her, on her property in Bether, that she takes refuge after the death of Jesus.[11]
Her Name[edit | edit source]
In Latin Valeria is the feminine of Valerius (valeo, valere) which means "to be powerful, vigorous".
Where is she mentioned in the work?[edit | edit source]
EMV 155 EMV 158 EMV 167 EMV 193
EMV 204
EMV 370 EMV 371 EMV 378
EMV 400 EMV 425 EMV 426 EMV 433 EMV 437 EMV 438 EMV 439 EMV 448 EMV 461
EMV 514 EMV 531 EMV 532 EMV 534 EMV 549 EMV 563 EMV 566 EMV 582 EMV 583 EMV 596
EMV 630
Learn More About This Character[edit | edit source]
Saint Anastasia, martyred under Nero in 68, would be the daughter of Fausta (Faustina), a Christian, and a Roman pagan. The chronology could allow extrapolation on Jesus’ prediction to Valeria: "You and your daughter will become wise in the faith that will bear my Name," but this is only conjecture in the absence of overlap with Saint Anastasia, martyred under Diocletian (3rd century).
There is also a Valeria, martyred under Caligula, emperor from 37 to 41. This martyr is associated with Saint Martial. If there were any truth to it, it would be Martial, the adopted son of Peter, and not Martial, bishop of Limoges in the 4th century.