Discover the experiences shared by our readers
These detailed testimonies reveal the profound impact of Maria Valtorta's work on the spiritual lives of its readers. Each account witnesses the graces received and conversions experienced.
208
testimonies collected
These detailed testimonies have been collected according to a structured methodology, allowing precise documentation of the impact of Maria Valtorta's work on readers' spiritual lives. Each testimony addresses the discovery of the work, its impact on faith, the graces received, and recommendations for other potential readers.
Noel Ashcroft
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.
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.
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 wouldnât 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.
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 thatâs a strong endorsement of the value of the work.
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.
Gerard Beer
Like many I discovered âThe Poemâ from Our Lady Queen of Peace, Medjugorje. One of the Visionaries asked about Our Ladyâs life and she recommended this book. That was 1988 and I continued reading it.
It deepened my prayer life as well as returning to Confession.
It deepened my relationship with Jesus as well as having a deeper relationship with his friends who are the many characters throughout the book.
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.
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.
Anthony Smith
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, âWould you like to read it?â and I said yes. It was Volume Four. I couldnât wait to get the other volumes. Little did I know what I was being prepared for.
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 fatherâs feet and listen to him reading cowboy books.
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.
I have just gotten my sister to read a paragraph where Jesus appears to Judasâs mother to console her. My sister is seventy-seven years of age. Itâs never too late to learn.
At seventy-three years of age, I feel I was being prepared for events that I would not have been able to face without Godâs 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, âGod, Iâm finished; you have to take over,â and He did. That is why Iâm here to write this. God bless your work. Tony
Ed Chavez
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."
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.
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.
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.
Jean Louis
Via the internet on the website of Marie de Nazareth.
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.
I need to regularly read the writings of Marie Valtorta, I think this increases my faith.
One should not hesitate to discover it because there is no opposition with the Gospels.
Anonymous
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.
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.
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.
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!
Sr. Christine Kabumbu
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 âPoemâ. 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.
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 donât 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, âYou see? This is where Maria Valtorta has led you, so be ready for challenges.â This was like a prophesy.
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 Vartortaâs 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.
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.
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 Vartortaâs 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.
Pierre
Through the daily email "Jesus Today" and its reading.
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.
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.
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.
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.
ALAIN
I had distanced myself from the Catholic Church for about 40 years. In 2023, at the age of 63, having been in search of "truth" for several years, I discovered Maria Valtorta while watching the video "Maria Valtorta, a gift from God validated by science". Together with my wife, we decided to buy the 10 volumes of "The Gospel as it was revealed to me". At the same time, I read her "Autobiography" as well as Jean-François Lavère's study "The Valtorta enigma, a fictionalized life of Jesus?". Then we bought the "Notebooks", "The Book of Azarias" and later the Bible.
Reading "The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me" was a true revelation. My wife and I discovered in a clear text the depth of Jesus' teaching. Throughout the pages, we live alongside Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the apostles, the disciples. We share with them the joy of miracles and the suffering of hypocrisies, betrayals, the ordeal. By reading and rereading this work that nourishes us daily, we have "naturally" reorganized our life around faith in the church.
Reading "The Gospel as It Has Been Revealed to Me" has transformed our lives and led us to: - lose interest in many things of the "world": outings, shows... - talk about it to our 2 children and their spouses. We gave each of them the 10 volumes of "The Gospel as It Has Been Revealed to Me". - talk about it to our 3 grandchildren through the books of the "Discover the Life of Jesus" collection and the comic books of the "Ictus" collection. - learn about the lives of the Saints: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Therese of Lisieux. - confess our sins. - go to mass every week. - participate with a priest in a sharing group around the canonical Gospels. - pray for our surroundings, for the priests, for the Church, for the world.
- That the authenticity of "The Gospel as it was revealed to me" is for us indisputable because no human being is capable of creating such a work by their own will. - That this work, in addition to bringing joy on a daily basis, provides a deep understanding of the Gospels. - That we have been given a true treasure and that, as Pope Pius XII said: "Those who read, will understand".
Long
I discovered Maria Valtorta's online writings in 2016 thanks to a video from the Marie de Nazareth association. At first, I thought it was simply a pious woman who had imagined stories about the life of Jesus. But from the first readings, I was struck by the depth and accuracy of the words attributed to Jesus. I clearly found the Jesus of the Gospels there. Very quickly, I was seized internally and I read nine volumes in less than a year.
I had the feeling that my heart was burning as I read, a bit like the disciples of Emmaus when they listened to Jesus. There was so much wisdom, so much love in his words. I was born and raised in an evangelical Protestant environment. I had been active in my community for several years. But this reading increased my love for Christ tenfold, and it helped me to free myself from sins to which I had been attached for a long time. I no longer wanted to grieve the Lord, nor his Holy Mother whom I was learning to welcome into my life.
This reading was for me like a new conversion. It was one of the paths through which Jesus led me, a few years later, to enter the Catholic Church. Even today, I sometimes reread or listen to certain chapters. Like the Bible, it helps me keep my heart turned towards Jesus, nourish my prayer, and remain faithful in my Christian life, always loving His Church.
It is a gift for our time, which can nourish faith and lead closer to Christ.
Your testimony can encourage other people to discover Maria Valtorta's work and contribute to the ecclesiastical study of this important case.
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