Detailed Testimonies
Discovery of the work
A friend lent me his books.
Impact on love for the Gospel
I have come to know and love Jesus in His humanity and His divinity.
Concrete impact on faith life
I shared it with my spouse who had a rather latent faith. He fell in love with Christ and is now heavily involved in the Church.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
I recommend to everyone and the clergy to read this great Gift of Jesus Christ, for our time. It changes nothing of His Gospel, but brings delightful clarifications. We feel Him so close to each person and so welcoming to all.
Additional testimony
A must read. Thanks to Jesus for this generous Gift. Thanks to Maria Valtorta for agreeing to write her visions under more than difficult conditions.
Discovery of the work
First, I discovered Maria Valtorta's work through audios on Youtube. Then, I read the 10 volumes of The Gospel as it was revealed to me. Finally, I subscribed to Jesus Today, the email from the Marie de Nazareth association which allows me to discover other revelations of Jesus to the Italian mystic.
Impact on love for the Gospel
Maria Valtorta's work is a very good complement to the Gospel that I read every day. In it, Jesus reveals things about the meaning of certain passages (like the passage where Jesus sleeps in Peter's boat while the storm rages), some mysteries are lifted (we know precisely what Jesus wrote in the sand in the episode with the adulterous woman). This work makes us feel even more the infinite love of our Lord Jesus Christ for each one of us. We become even more aware of the phenomenal humility of the Man/God that is Jesus. We feel closer to Jesus, we have more desire to imitate him.
Concrete impact on faith life
When I discovered the work of Maria Valtorta, I was in the midst of returning to the church and I could not find a spiritual director. While I was struggling with major personal problems (health, family, finances), I did not find serious help from the priests. None were available to guide me. The only one who agreed was elderly and he would fall asleep while I was telling him about my troubles. Jesus then became my spiritual director through his revelations to Maria Valtorta. I understood that I had to offer my sufferings to Christ, that they would bear much fruit. I do not blame the priests for their weaknesses, Jesus made me understand that I had to carry them in prayer. I feel that Jesus speaks to me through this work among others. Despite great difficulties, I remain in peace and joy. I even created a Youtube channel, Finding Peace and Joy, where I evangelize.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
I would tell him that this work is a magnificent gift that Jesus gives us. A gift of love, which allows us to follow Jesus from his birth to the Ascension; a great life lesson to become better and thus gain access to Paradise where he wants to reunite us all.
Discovery of the work
On the internet, by ordering religious objects from a site. I was given an excerpt from these works.
Impact on love for the Gospel
The work enlightened me on certain passages of the gospel and on the infinite love that Jesus carries for us. This work touched me a lot and sometimes, some words read come back to me. As if my heart had memorized them.
Concrete impact on faith life
She teaches me to pray with the heart.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
That this work does not question the teachings of the Church or the catechism. On the contrary, it reinforces them.
Discovery of the work
"Seek and you shall find.." I don't remember exactly how I discovered the work. But I was in search of God's love. I wanted to know Him better, and quench my thirst. And as soon as I read the first volume, I wanted to read everything but due to lack of time I bought the audio version which I listened to every day in my car on my way to work. It was the blessed moment when God made Himself present in my day.
Impact on love for the Gospel
The reading of the Gospel simply illuminated itself page by page. How many times I told myself that God truly loves us to share such graces with us (a misunderstanding was clarified and untangled, an action of God or an explanation deeply touched my heart, ...). The discovery of Jesus' life shown to Maria truly made me encounter Christ, taught me to love Him and trust Him completely. This brought me closer to the Church, and I attend every mass if I am available, even sometimes during the week.
Concrete impact on faith life
Alas, I will say that it somehow taught me the catechism at a time when we were taught nothing but coloring!! I was born in 1971. No one ever explained the mass and its symbolism to me, and even as an altar boy, I didn't really recognize the words before the consecration, the moment when I had to ring (I don't even know the name of the object). In short, a lost generation in a republican, freemason, therefore satanist, world where all the media were already denigrating religion. But my heart knew that Jesus really existed, and that I would meet him later, that I would become interested in him again when I was old, at 33 years old... This is the little internal promise I made to myself thinking about God. And years later, at my 33 years old, God came back into my life, and reading Maria Valtorta contributed a lot to it. I have been trying since then to think about God, to thank him, to pray to him, to meet him in communion and confession, to sing to him.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
As the Pope and Padre Pio said in their time: read, and you will understand. I would tell them how much it has changed and beautified my life. And that they have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.
Discovery of the work
My mom gave me the 10 volumes. But reading them seemed like a mountain to me, and I didn't find the covers very attractive...
Impact on love for the Gospel
One day, at Easter, I felt like reading the latest volume related to the Resurrection, and I was very touched by Jesus' solicitude, even though I did not always understand the ties that united the characters. My heart was burning, and I wanted to read everything. I restarted my reading from volume 1, and, 3 years later, I arrived at the end. It was Christmas Eve... The coincidence of dates struck me. These were 3 years of intense happiness and diligent reading. I literally plunged into the Heart of Jesus.
Concrete impact on faith life
The Gospel according to Maria Valtorta has restored my taste for prayer, strengthened my faith, and increased my love for Jesus. Discovering Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the disciples in their daily lives has brought them closer to me and allowed me to better understand the Scriptures. The explanations given by Jesus are so enlightening! Today, I read the gospel of the day's mass and the corresponding passage from Maria Valtorta every morning: what a wealth! It is truly a deep joy to pray with these texts.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
Perhaps approach it step by step, through the gospel of the day, or in comic book format, or through the "teen" version... or start like me from the end! Volume 1 is full of wonders, it can be off-putting when you don't know these writings at all. But what a treasure to discover!
Discovery of the work
I got the books from my mother who had them all.
Impact on love for the Gospel
I rediscovered the life of Jesus and the apostles - and of the Most Holy Virgin Mary - through reading all the volumes of Maria Valtorta and this reading helped me understand the human and divine dimension of Our Lord, his sacrifices and his suffering on this earth. I learned to love him through his human and divine side and found answers to some of my questions. His story is angelic and Jesus' interventions are of infinite wisdom that transported me. A delight.
Concrete impact on faith life
This reading has deepened my faith in a surprising and joyful way.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
Do not hesitate. You are going to live with Jesus, in his time here below.
Discovery of the work
When I went to Medjugorje in 1984 during our bus trips because we were staying 1h30 away from the site of the apparitions. The person in charge of the pilgrimage talked to us at length during the daily journeys.
Impact on love for the Gospel
Truly becoming an integral part of everything that is happening. Living fully with all the described characters and above all, knowing the contexts of each story and description as precise.
Concrete impact on faith life
Crazy love for the Eucharist, intense life of prayer, rosary... Understanding of the gospels and personal prayers following the method of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Nourishing myself with the Word of God.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
Do not miss this opportunity at all costs. It brings so much happiness and joy to all the readers I regularly interact with.
Discovery of the work
At the end of her life, my mother would read Maria Valtorta over and over, 20 minutes a day. As for me, I studied it following the reading of the day's Gospel thanks to the daily publication of JESUS TODAY by the Association Marie de Nazareth, the excerpt from Maria Valtorta's text helping me to better understand and better retain the day's Gospel.
Impact on love for the Gospel
The Lord Jesus has become closer, His love for us more evident, His demands more understandable.
Concrete impact on faith life
The daily prayer. Obedience to God and the Church. The desire to testify of Christ's love.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
Subscribe to the daily publication of JESUS TODAY from the Association Marie of Nazareth, be faithful for several days and you will see the fruits of your effort on your faith.
Discovery of the work
It was a friend who introduced me to the work of Maria Valtorta. I was captivated by the simplicity, depth, and precision of the descriptions and subsequently, I bought the volumes as they were published in France in the 1980s.
Impact on love for the Gospel
This reading allowed me to better understand the texts of The Gospel, to better understand the SITUATIONS experienced by Jesus, by the apostles, by the holy women, by the Virgin Mary. We also discover the depth of the relationships between Jesus and all those He frequents. I also appreciated the concern to give precise descriptions of nature, cities, paths taken ... a real pleasure to journey with Jesus, with the apostles, ...
Concrete impact on faith life
A deepening of my faith, a need to read or reread the Gospels. I discovered the constant opposition encountered by Jesus, all that He suffered for us, a little more about how much God loves us.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
It is a grace that is offered to us, which is not indispensable for salvation, but when it is welcomed, it brings us closer to the Lord, it shows us how much our love can still grow.
Discovery of the work
32 years ago. Through a cousin who had read the work. I asked permission to read them from my companion at the time, a priest of the Opus Dei, who raised no objection.
Impact on love for the Gospel
Huge impact. The work allowed me to start reading the Bible regularly, something I couldn't manage to do until then despite my efforts. Step by step, I arrived at daily reading. Then to daily prayer. The work answered, through the teachings of Christ, many questions I had about the Bible and the Gospels and helped correct misinterpretations. It answered my questions and doubts about the role and place of the Virgin, for example, and women in the Church.
Concrete impact on faith life
I have been able to enter into a more intense, more daily, more confident life of prayer. I have been able to engage in an inner dialogue with Jesus, which I did not do before. These readings have nourished my practice of the rosary. They have strengthened my fidelity to the sacraments, allowing me not to abandon the mass in terrible trials where I no longer had the strength or the desire to go because they made me understand that the Eucharist is the heart of Christian life and that without Jesus host present in me with all his life, his strength, his graces, I could not go through what I had to live. These writings have given me a great love for the Church, have made me understand the importance of rooting myself in my parish church which I did not love. They have developed in me a great love and respect for priests, even if they are sometimes failing. They have sensitized me to my duty to pray for them who give us so much.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
A tree is recognized by its fruits. For me, considering the many fruits of conversions that I have received, I am sure that these writings are beneficial for my soul. They have given me decisive keys to grow in faith.
Additional testimony
These writings also gave me keys on how to live through some very specific situations. At the time, I was in a very conflictual relationship with my father. I was able to make positive decisions to rebuild a very damaged link by relying on certain teachings and examples from the book.