Detailed Testimonies
Discovery of the work
It's been over a decade since I began engaging on online discussion boards, where I encountered many lost and misguided souls. I wanted to better answer their questions about Christian core beliefs and doctrines, Gospel scenes, as well as address heresies (e.g., Antidicomarianism, reincarnation). Therefore, my mother recommended The Poem of the Man-God, which she knew of through her own mother; both are long-time devout Catholics and advocates of this Work. I read it, and since then I've researched Maria Valtorta further, discovered her other God-Authored Works as well, and re-read and advocated for them all.
Impact on love for the Gospel
The Poem of the Man-God is an illumination of the Gospel, because it is a more in-depth look into, and an intimate understanding of, Jesus's mortal days, where He is made greater in His humility, which is substantial nourishment for us to teach us to be humble and like Him, a man like us, who bore the perfection of a God. Furthermore, in it, the lives of other characters are made more known as well, such as Joseph and Mary of Nazareth, Mary the Magdalene, apostles Peter and Judas Iscariot, Pontius Pilate, the Pharisees and scribes, and countless others. Their journeys, weaknesses, strengths, failures, and victories are shown in greater detail, serving for us as lessons to be better understood and applied. Lastly, as I read the Work, I experience narrative transportation. These are just a few brief reasons that contribute to my having lived, in a way, with Jesus and His companions, and to coming to know them more personally through their times of holy joys, comforts, sorrows, and sufferings, all of which ever fortify my increasing desire to love Him by living and sharing the Gospel.
Concrete impact on faith life
In reading the Work, I find that I've been increasingly regular at integrating God into my day-to-day life in the following ways: reading the Gospel, receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist, practicing spiritual and corporal acts of mercy, being vigilant of and deliberate in my desires, thoughts, words, actions/deeds, and emotions/feelings, being cognizant of how they can affect my soul and eternal destiny, as well as influence the spiritual journeys of others, and offering more sacrifices and expressing thankfulness to God throughout the day. Furthermore, it has increased my God-given fortitude so that, when I stumble in my humanness, I may more readily resist unholy fear, despair, and hopelessness, and rather run to Him with sincere repentance, trust, humility, and much love, as well as first give others the opportunity to do the same when they sin against themselves or another, rather than judge and condemn them, because faith in God is a responsibility. These are just a few examples of concrete Graces that this Work of God has brought to my spiritual life.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
The four Gospels are essential and sufficiently describe Jesus—the minimum necessary for bringing one to belief and salvation—but it's not a complete knowledge of Him (Jn. 21:25), and His Mother is little known, etc. There's more helpful knowledge to learn and understand. To the little sheep seeking to become acquainted with their Shepherd, Jesus, Maria Valtorta is the staff leading you to Him.
Additional testimony
Like others, I have and will continue to share the God-Authored Works by Maria Valtorta with others, especially priests, in the hope that they too will recognize the Voice of our living, loving, and interactive God, as well as the voices of other heavenly persons, such as the Blessed Virgin Mary, apostles Peter, John, and Paul, and others.
Discovery of the work
A non-Catholic friend told me about it as we traveled home from a meeting about the Virgin Mary. She had only just begun reading it, and we were able to continue reading it together for the next few years. We met once a week to discuss it and to pray the Rosary. My friend later entered the Catholic Church and has been a strong Catholic since. I absolutely loved Maria's work, and I treated it as my exciting reward to read in the evenings after busy family days.
Impact on love for the Gospel
It strengthened my faith and was like a continual conversion, as it helped me understand the Gospels more. Maria's writings filled in gaps in the Gospels for me. It was like coloring in black-and-white Gospel pictures, and all became alive. It certainly helped me to know Jesus and to see how perfect He is; hence, I continually fell in love with Him more and more. It also helped me see, know, and love Blessed Mary, and helped me know and understand the Apostles, and laugh and cry along with them.
Concrete impact on faith life
It has helped me pray more sincerely. The Mass and Confession became more meaningful. Jesus became a strong Friend during my daily life activities. At the time of discovering these writings, I was feeling quite disillusioned with the Church, so I do wonder where I would now be if I hadn't started reading these wonderful writings. I am so grateful to God for pointing me towards them.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
The only way to know if you believe it or not is to read it. In 1948, Pope Pius XII said, "Publish this work as it is. Those who read it will understand." That is so true. If you want to understand the Gospels more, read Maria's writings, and they will help the Gospels come alive for you.
Discovery of the work
I heard about it on a pilgrimage to Medugorie in 1986. I got hold of the first volume of Poem of the Man God. After reading for a relatively short while (couple of hours), I quickly felt that this was not written by a human mind. I read on and became increasingly convinced that God was directing this writing. From then on, I could not put the book down. I knew I was listening to Jesus speaking and thirsted for more. The upshot was that I bought the full set of the Poem and, later, the Notebooks, Autobiography, Azariah, and everything published.
Impact on love for the Gospel
My faith has gone from strength to strength since 1986, and I attribute this to a great extent to these readings. I have not been able to put these writings down, as they have continued to create a spiritual thirst in me. I read this pretty much every day and have read everything at least six times and continuing, and get much more from the writings each time I read them. I know I will continue this until I can no more. I am currently 81 years old.
Concrete impact on faith life
I find I now talk to God many (very many) times a day, either to the father, Jesus or the Holy Spirit, depending on circumstances, much of this being thanks to God in what I see around me. For example I see people doing ordinary automatic things and I give silent thanks to God on their behalf as it wouldn’t occur to them to say thanks as it was automatic to them. At other time a tree or plant and often the immensity of the sea, and then creation itself. The work has given me a feeling that I know Jesusin his daily life and can talk to Him more freely as a brother. The work has given me a feeling that I know Jesus in His daily life and can talk to Him more freely as a brother. I now love Him and Mary much more.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
I would ask them to read a piece for an hour or two and see how they go. I often tell people that Mother Teresa always kept one of the volumes with her as she travelled, and that’s a strong endorsement of the value of the work.
Additional testimony
If I look back over my life, there have been many things and people that have contributed to where my faith is today, as a committed practicing Catholic. However, without a shadow of a doubt, I believe these works by Jesus through Maria Valtorta have been, by far, the major positive influence on how I see and respond to God.
Discovery of the work
Like many I discovered ’The Poem’ from Our Lady Queen of Peace, Medjugorje. One of the Visionaries asked about Our Lady’s life and she recommended this book. That was 1988 and I continued reading it.
Impact on love for the Gospel
It deepened my prayer life as well as returning to Confession.
Concrete impact on faith life
It deepened my relationship with Jesus as well as having a deeper relationship with his friends who are the many characters throughout the book.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
Research shows that there is an imprimatur, as well as approval by many holy clergy and laypeople. One in particular is Dr. Mark Miravalle, Doctor of Mystical Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville and Ave Maria University, Florida.
Additional testimony
In conclusion, it has illuminated the Bible for me. Some of my favorite characters are Lazarus, who was well off but in no way attached to his wealth; additionally, Maximinus, his steward, and, of course, his dear sisters Mary Magdalene and Martha, as well as Sidonius, Mary Clopas, and Mary Salome. These individuals helped me connect the dots with the Poem, so to speak, in my Air Force travels to France 23 years ago. The Dominicans in St. Baume, France, as I do, believe that they evangelized there. Additionally, these Saints are mentioned in the Lives of the Saints. Finally, the Early Church and Western Church believed that Mary Magdalene, Lazarus, and Martha were indeed siblings, as the Poem demonstrates.
Discovery of the work
I remember being in the local parochial house at a meeting with the priest at the time, about twenty-five years ago, and I saw this book, The Poem of the Man-God, in his book cabinet. I asked him about it, and he said, “Would you like to read it?” and I said yes. It was Volume Four. I couldn’t wait to get the other volumes. Little did I know what I was being prepared for.
Impact on love for the Gospel
It made it all so real for me. I became enthralled by this incredible mission, I would call it. I feel very fortunate that I had a great love of reading, given to me by my father. When I was a child, I would sit at my father’s feet and listen to him reading cowboy books.
Concrete impact on faith life
I started to take my faith very seriously: to go to Mass more, to receive Jesus at every Mass and to do so with reverence, and to try to live my life the way Jesus would want me to.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
I have just gotten my sister to read a paragraph where Jesus appears to Judas’s mother to console her. My sister is seventy-seven years of age. It’s never too late to learn.
Additional testimony
At seventy-three years of age, I feel I was being prepared for events that I would not have been able to face without God’s help. You see, twenty years ago this month, my only son died in a car accident. He was just twenty-one. It was our nine-eleven. He was a passenger in the car his friend was driving. I had gone to sleep the night before reading Volume Five, the paragraph where Jesus was lying in the arms of his mother after being taken down from the cross. Shortly after, at about five a.m., I got the word that my son was dead. I just said, “God, I’m finished; you have to take over,” and He did. That is why I’m here to write this. God bless your work. Tony
Discovery of the work
I first heard of Maria Valtorta's work in the 1980s on a network site and later through a fellow parishioner. My interest was piqued because I had been searching for some form of study of scripture that was informal and not just another catechism class, and designed for a personal pace. When I read an excerpt of "The Gospel as Revealed to Me," I was hooked and quickly bought the five volume set and gradually obtained the Notebooks and additional supporting volumes. They were so engrossing I read them quickly and have since been re-reading them slowly just to savor them. It is always "new."
Impact on love for the Gospel
The volumes have nourished my faith and love for scripture by the vivid portrayals of the gospel. The scenes and explanations not only sharpen the events but bring out such subtleties such as His glances, smiles, reproaches, parts of speech, and silence displaying His true humanity within the hypostatic union. Listening to the Gospel at Mass brightens up as I immediately recall the description shown in the work.
Concrete impact on faith life
The work has brought me the grace of a deeper comprehension in my spiritual life: the Eucharistic sacrifice, the mysteries of the rosary, reconciliation, and a firm hope for eternal life. It's a solace that has kept me less defensive about my faith and at peace with a renewed resolve in its truthful foundation.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
Time and again I encourage others to read just one chapter. Most are daunted, however, by the sheer volume of the work and its details: "Too descriptive of the landscape," "Dialogues are too long," etc.
Discovery of the work
Via the internet on the website of Marie de Nazareth.
Impact on love for the Gospel
This allows me to better understand and illuminate certain passages of the Gospel, to put the events in their context, the gospel thus becomes much more alive, (we thus share Jesus' life better). This has allowed me to better know the life, the characters of the disciples, those close to Jesus (women, friends, etc..), to see all the problems with the Pharisees and the scribes, and also to realize the love and tenderness of Jesus for his mother.
Concrete impact on faith life
I need to regularly read the writings of Marie Valtorta, I think this increases my faith.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
One should not hesitate to discover it because there is no opposition with the Gospels.
Discovery of the work
I found out about Valtora's work when I started googling for answers about what the Catholic Faith had to say on certain topics about the End Times, Angels and Human Morality. It was at an inflection point in my life, when I realised that the modern world had no answers for the many questions I had during that period of my life.
Impact on love for the Gospel
The work has really filled in all the gaps of what I previously understood my faith to be. It has challenged and shaken the foundations of this modern world view for me. It has gently, but shockingly at the same time, set me on the correct path again. It has done this because of the love it has reignited in me- the love for Jesus Christ.
Concrete impact on faith life
Prior to the reading of this work my prayer life was not a priority. There has been a profound shift in my prayer habits, which I can 100% attribute to the mastery of Jesus' words and lived examples as imparted by Valtorta.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
Anything I tell you would never be good enough for you to fully understand why I read Valtorta. I have read the works through now 4 times, and each time I finish I cannot wait again to go back to book 1. It's just something which cannot be fully understood until you read it from the beginning to its end!
Discovery of the work
In 1999 while doing my Master's degree, I went to our Mother House but had an attack of malaria. I was on medication and couldn't sleep. So I went to get a boring book to help me sleep. I found a thick one with the word ‘Poem’. In less than a page, I fell asleep. In mid-1999, I went to Tanzania for a research program for three months. While there, I met a devout Catholic man who told me about Valtorta's books and he insisted I get them. Back in Zambia, my friend Maria told me about Valtorta. I went and found that 'boring Poem' at the back of my locker. These three things led me to Valtorta.
Impact on love for the Gospel
I felt a real thirst. I recall how my life felt so empty after finishing one volume. I felt something missing. The more I read, the more my spiritual life completely changed because Jesus took control of everything, He became so meaningful and close. I felt my studies meant nothing without Jesus. I graduated from the school of Jesus rather than from the school of natural sciences. I was on a higher plane with regard to my religious and Christian life. I was very prayerful and aglow with the spirit. Through the writings, I came to love the name of Jesus and I don’t tire talking about the people and events. In 2000, I was elected as a councilor in the leadership team of my congregation. Our then Apostolic Vicar for Religious who was my spiritual director and now a bishop congratulated me saying, “You see? This is where Maria Valtorta has led you, so be ready for challenges.” This was like a prophesy.
Concrete impact on faith life
In 2016, I became the Superior General of my congregation. It has been the most turbulent of my human life. I believe the Faith, which the reading of Maria Vartorta’s writings instilled in me, has kept me sane! There are many inspiring words in the writings of Maria Valtorta which I have amassed and use for my meditation and counsel. They speak to me very profoundly because it is Jesus, Mary and the Apostles speaking to me directly.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
They are to be shared - I took the five volumes back with me to the University where I shared them with other devout students and friends.
Additional testimony
These are my memorable experiences of how deeply the Valtorta works have affected people who open their hearts. When my late elder sister she read the passion and death of Our Lord, she could not contain herself. She could not sit still but started going round the house just to get rid of her emotions. Before my sister died (much later), after being acquainted with Vartorta’s works, she looked forward to dying to meet the Man-God. Another experience was that of a teacher who was dying. I used to go to him to read the Poem of the Man God during his sickness. Each time I arrived with the volume, the sick man would sit up, weak as he was, to give glory and praise to God who he said had spoken to him more than ever in his life. The teacher cried tears of joy for having encountered God just before his death. The man died happily having received the gift, as he put it, of hearing the voice of God. These two experiences left a deep impression on my life and I always wished many people would open-handedly and open-heartedly receive the Work of Maria Valtorta and not miss something great.
Discovery of the work
Through the daily email "Jesus Today" and its reading.
Impact on love for the Gospel
Having been very interested for a long time in the "history" of Christ and having made two trips to the Holy Land to see the places described in the Gospels firsthand, reading Maria Valtorta, the descriptions, the "atmospheres" of everyday life that she relates, have completely opened me up to faith.
Concrete impact on faith life
From an occasional practice, I now go to mass every Sunday and on holidays, I read the mass every day, as well as the "message of mercy" (living next to Poitiers, I went to the tomb of Sister Josefa Mendenez) and 1000 reasons to believe. Finally, I try to recite the Rosary every day.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
The reading of the day's mass followed by the reading of Maria Valtorta provides a new light on the gospel, a finer understanding of Christ's message. It's as if we find ourselves in the presence of Christ, in his steps, through the eyes of Maria. The additional explanations from Christ, the Holy Virgin, her Guardian Angel or other Saints are very clear and lucid.
Additional testimony
Thank you for allowing us to discover the work of Maria Valtorta. It is regrettable that the church does not appropriate these writings. I have tried to talk about it with priests, but each time the subject is quickly dismissed.