Archived Testimonies

Over the years, I have lived with one book of Maria Valtorta's works that has given me more spiritual growth than any other book I've found, anywhere, which is Notebooks 1943. Every morning, before Mass, I open it up at random and let my eyes fall on a specific underlined passage, Wow! Our Blessed Lord, His Mother, the Holy Spirit, God, I get my words of wisdom and help from the greatest Sources. How Blessed I am. When I first began to use it, I first went through it page by page, thought by thought, underlining what I found helpful. And many years later, I still find gems I had missed, so I always keep my highlighter close by.

I have started reading Notebooks 1943 – every word is finding a home in my heart… What a special, blessed day you shared with us in Boyanup… (and the) honest open sharing which touches the hearts of others as we are all such broken people… I too had a conversion experience, and thank God every day for the gift of faith in Him. Maria Valtorta’s books have been a most treasured possession (which have) helped me very much on my faith journey, and others who have borrowed my books…

I just wanted to say how much I am enjoying The Maria Valtorta Notebooks 1943 ... The more I read the work, the more I find answers to all the questions I would like to ask Jesus if I could. I feel He has anticipated my doubts, fears, wonderings and my need for clarity on many aspects of my spiritual journey – so wonderfully. I am amazed…

…Good Friday has taken on a new meaning since The Poem books. I had no idea what a crucifixion was, and how intense Jesus’ suffering and His Mother's suffering were. I presume I thought that He had all the help from Heaven and didn't really suffer much. Now I go to Mass and cry, because of the horrors that He and His mother went through. And they went through these alone, as Heaven wasn't with them... I had always seen it through Jesus' sufferings, but [later] MY whole focus was on Mary's suffering, and on her dealing with the greatest evil of all time. I gained a lot of respect and love for Her, seeing this from Her perspective...

I have read these books at least 7 times, and each time I find this reading more interesting, I love the way Jesus talks with Peter, the way He encourages him to improve his behaviour. And John of Endor is an example of Divine Mercy. I just want you to know that these books have changed my life and my point of view of Judas Iscariot. He had all the help, he had all the attention, he had all the tools to be saved, and at the end he didn´t want to be saved.

My mother and I first read The Poem of the Man-God a few years ago. My mother, being a speed reader, has gotten through (the five volumes) at least three times. She says her favourite is the first on Our Blessed Mother. We each were reading our own particular volume, and each night we would read aloud three of four chapters – which lead us to discussion and a clearer understanding of Our Lord’s teachings. Some of it was very daunting, and at times we felt like children who had gotten into trouble and had lessons to learn. But there was always the Love. We experienced all emotions, and (thanks to God) we never doubted the writings. Although we had conflicts from outside, we trusted in Him, and stumbled along on our spiritual life. I love The Poem. He is there.

Over the past eleven years, my life has been turned upside down… A personal test in Faith – most definitely; the right to question – most probably; a reason to give up – possibly. The response to my simple based Faith, my belief in my God, my heart-spoken prayer – a simple but often repeated message to “Build My Church” ... I knew that Jesus did not mean me to take His word literally – so what did He mean? Where to begin? More anguish, frustration, prayer, and above all more perseverance and trust were needed. I came across “The Nativity, the Shepherds, and the Three Wise Men – Extracts from Maria Valtorta’s The Poem of the Man-God”. Within a few days I was totally in love with my new discovery. I would read parts and the tears would begin to flow. The lump in the throat would become so big I thought it would choke me. I would seek out my wife, and fighting back the tears, would re-read the parts to her before we would both, with tears streaming down her cheeks, sit and reflect on the parts of the story we had just completed. My wife was so impressed that she bought the first volume as a Christmas present, then the second for my birthday, and so on for subsequent volumes throughout the year. I opened the first page on Christmas night, and am currently more than half way through the third volume. Whilst I walked a lonely road to an unknown destination, lost, confused and somewhat downhearted, I met this Man, Who was walking in the opposite direction with some others following Him. He looked at me with such big, beautiful blue eyes. He smiled at me and said: “Come, follow Me and help build My Church, My Name is Jesus.” I have followed Him, through this three-dimensional book, across the plains of the Holy Land, in the boats on Galilee, in the various synagogues of Jerusalem and other places. I have followed Him through the countryside, visiting places I have never heard of or could not even pronounce. I have met so many people, both good and bad. I have witnessed miracles first-hand and listened spellbound to His sermons and parables. I have shed tears with Jesus, experienced anger at Judas, felt the love of Mary and John, and laughed with Peter and Thomas. I have spent Retreat times with Jesus and His apostles. I have prayed with them, been dispatched on mission work with them (hurrying back to report to Him and share my successes and failures with those of the apostles), and I have witnessed Jesus pray to His Father. I have spent just over two years of His public life with Him and I know Him intimately. I love Him so much. I want to give Him my shoulder to cry on, my chest to lean on, my arms to rest in, my heart to love Him, my soul to relieve Him, and my life to do with what He wills. I follow Him every day. By following Him I simply love Him, and by showing His daily life I am able to touch people in an intimate way, in the same way that I have watched Jesus touch people. In the ministries in which He has led me – the youth, the sick, the aged and the grieved, I simply act as an extension of the Jesus that I follow and know so well. Yes, my Lord, I will “Build Your Church”. I now know now because You are showing me firsthand. You show me how to love my neighbour, my friends, even my enemies. You show me pure Charity, pure Love. You teach me, by your example, the way You want me to act towards others. I bless You for the day we met on the road, for Your invitation to follow You, and for the opportunity to get to know and love You so much...

For me, The Poem has been a significant part of my spiritual journey and has given depth of understanding to my reading of the Gospels… I started out very skeptically checking and cross-referencing every scrap that I read against a Bible dictionary, Bible atlas, and the Gospels themselves. I remember very early in my reading, I was telling my brother-in-law (he is a member of the Uniting Church, I worship with the Anglican Communion) of this amazing book I had found, but also expressed my reservations about the aspects which I could not validate. He asked me what had been the fruit of this book in my life, so I told him of the increased depth of my prayer-life and increased search of the Scriptures. His very dry comment: “good fruit, keep reading” seemed to be the turning point for me. From that point I could totally accept that the Holy Spirit had led me to these volumes.

I was given a copy of your recent bulletin regarding the Maria Valtorta writings, and I can honestly say there was nothing I needed more to convince me of the hand of God being in these writings. Only recently a friend was telling me she had been advised against reading or promoting The Poem, and this saddened me greatly, as I have been reading the fifth volume over the past few weeks, during my hour in the Chapel first thing each morning. As a result I feel drawn so much closer to Jesus and His Holy Mother, and one can really feel part of the experiences…