Detailed Testimonies
Discovery of the work
Around the age of 30, I regularly went to the Duquesnes Diffusion library in Paris (Lefebvrist), because the books were close to my ideas. I had started reading again at 25, and I gradually became interested in all subjects of reality, politics, philosophy, history, religion, ecology, which opened my mind.
Impact on love for the Gospel
Specifically, it was reading "A Romanticized Life" by Jean-François Lavère, studying point by point the work of Maria Valtorta, that convinced me that it could not be a coincidence. So I took the step. I had read many things that could have converted me (Padre Pio, Joan of Arc, ...), but it was the compilation of the extraordinary facts of this story that made me take the leap. I only read the work a few years later, and I have just finished it (I listened to the second half in a podcast), and I was overwhelmed by the life of Mary, the details of the conversions and Jesus' love for his "prey", which I did not distinguish as well in the somewhat laconic phrases of the Gospel ("he loved him", "he wept", etc.).
Concrete impact on faith life
So, I returned to the Church after reading Jean-François Lavère's book. I had a friend who told me that I had to confess before taking communion, which got me back on track very quickly. I then found a spiritual father 6 months later, and I have never looked back. I go to mass, pray every day, recite the daily rosary, say grace, always read a lot of things related to faith, am married to a Catholic with whom we used to go to Jeunes Pros and now to Equipes Notre Dame. Having 4 children, I don't have the leisure to do much more in the day, but try to pass on this faith to them.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
If you don't have the time, listen to the podcast. But reading the book touched me more I believe. Read the first book about Marie and the birth. It is short, and you will quickly see if this work speaks to you. Watch videos (Ignis 2 for example), which show the beauty and the extraordinary character of the work. How could the devil have wanted this work given the fruits it bears?
Additional testimony
I stopped at volume 5 because, in my opinion, the Church seemed to more or less advise against reading the work, so I preferred to stop out of obedience, even though I greatly enjoyed reading the work. I picked it up again somewhat by chance with the podcast.
Discovery of the work
By the association Marie de Nazareth and the sending of its daily email "Jesus Today". At first, I didn't know what to think of Maria Valtorta's work, then I read that Saint Mother Teresa always had with her a copy of "The Gospel as it has been revealed to me" by Maria Valtorta. I have great trust in Mother Teresa and this greatly reassured me in my reading.
Impact on love for the Gospel
I now read the "Jesus Today" email every day, first the Gospel in the strict sense, then the corresponding text in the writings of Maria Valtorta (The Gospel as it was revealed to me, then the commentary). This nourishes my faith daily, enlightens me, and helps me to let myself be gently transformed by the Lord.
Concrete impact on faith life
When I was young, I was a practicing Catholic but then I drifted away from the Church. Gradually, I felt my heart hardening and one day I decided to make a general confession. Since then, I confess quite regularly, I read "Jesus Today" almost every day and I go back to mass on Sundays and sometimes even during the week and I practice the Hour of Presence at the Heart of Jesus (Guard of Honor of the Sacred Heart-Paray le Monial). My husband, who comes from a non-practicing family (he was just baptized and made his first communion on our wedding day) now goes to mass every Sunday with me and reads "Jesus Today" every day with me or we read it together. My father-in-law, now 86 years old, who has always been quite reluctant about the Church and only went to mass with us at Christmas, recently asked us to be buried at the Church with a mass if possible.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
As Mother Teresa replied to a journalist: Read this work and see!
Discovery of the work
My mother having read the work in the years around 1987, I knew it existed. My brother still has these books. I thought I would read them later in advanced retirement, but I never thought that this work would move me so deeply. In fact, I did not read the paper work but the one on the internet www.maria-valtorta.org. I simply thought I would read a little, out of curiosity, and that I might eventually lose interest, but it was a revelation.
Impact on love for the Gospel
In the knowledge of His actions, His words and His wills which are simply love. Informing me about what is wrong or bad. Nourishing my mind and soul with a desire to move more towards charity in the example of Christ and Mary.
Concrete impact on faith life
After more than 30 years of cutting myself off and rejecting all religious and Catholic beliefs with the Church; this reading was the coup de grâce for me for an unconditional return to Christ and the Catholic Church. I wavered between various beliefs before this reading, my research having led me to reintegrate that Christ had really existed. This reading realigned all my beliefs about Jesus, his mother, God and the Church. And it put my mistakes in front of me with the intention of a return to God. Good will leading me...
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
Reading has been the most important thing in my life for me. There is so much easy-to-read information to know about Mary, Jesus and his teaching; it's like watching a movie or walking with him. It repositions ideas about God and corrects our thinking errors. Every priest should read this work. It promotes spiritual growth. Evil contributes to its non-distribution.
Additional testimony
Born into a Catholic family, the death of one of my sick brothers in 1989 contributed to my decision to cut myself off from all religious beliefs; my prayers and those of my family had not been answered. With my husband, I had kept only a presence for Christmas as a religious link, and had my children receive the sacraments only to please the parents and avoid argument. I also had, with this severance, the feeling of a moral liberation and obligation towards the Church (for example, attending masses). I had no desire for my four children to adhere to these beliefs, taking pride in my atheism. My will was to never even consider a return to anything that involved a connection with the Catholic faith. Shortly before her death in 2017, my mother asked me if I had baptized my children. I said yes to reassure her. A few months after her death, this question periodically came back to me and I don't know why, but it led me to want to know if there was another life after death.
Discovery of the work
Upon discovering on YouTube a video of a person testifying about what this work brought to their faith journey.
Impact on love for the Gospel
Through reading this work, Jesus speaks to me directly and reading the Gospel, as well as understanding it, becomes easier for me. Jesus is much closer, I learn to know him better and recognize him in my neighbor.
Concrete impact on faith life
This work has helped me in my return to God. I go to mass on weekdays (from Monday to Friday) as well as every Sunday. I confess once a month, pray the rosary every day and lead a prayer group for the deceased once a month in connection with Our Lady of Montligeon. I adore the Holy Sacrament every day of the week and participate in the parish's perpetual adoration by ensuring an hour per week; I also occasionally join the adorers of Mount Saint Odile. I make pilgrimages to Marian shrines (Our Lady of Laus, Lourdes, Medjugorje). I read the lives of the Saints: Padre Pio, St. Margaret Mary, Josephine Bakhita and currently Sister Marie Marthe Charbon. I fast every Friday on bread and water for the conversion of sinners.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
Let him read it.
Additional testimony
Personally, this work was given to me by Providence during my return to God, whom I was "fleeing", not wanting the cross of Jesus! And Jesus made himself present through these lines. I did not know how to read the Bible and then I read the 10 volumes with eagerness because I was discovering Jesus as well as the life of Mary. I am reading this work for the 2nd time and let myself be guided by the teachings of Jesus while meditating on His words. Thank you Lord for this gift that You have given me, which has helped me to fully return to You.
Discovery of the work
By a close one.
Impact on love for the Gospel
Maria has more than nourished my love for Jesus because she has been a "gateway" to heaven. Her writings are so detailed and felt in truth that they are like an open door to heaven and its mysteries, allowing a better understanding of Jesus' teachings and feeling them to live within us and in the accompanying peace.
Concrete impact on faith life
Every morning, I start my day with an excerpt from the gospels and writings of Maria, received by email from "Jesus Today" and "Pray Today", which certainly helps me to keep this bright door of heaven open and this is enough for me to live in peace, joy, love and hope for a better world.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
Read the writings of Maria and you will see that you will feel all the truth so sought after from the mysteries of the sky.
Additional testimony
I maintain hope that the Church will understand that it is in its best interest to recognize the writings of Maria Valtorta as a complement to the Gospels because her writings have such a powerful understanding that they can awaken dormant consciences and bring the peace that our world so desperately needs. Maria followed the path of Jesus by suffering for us and transmitting his words to us in writing so that we could understand them even better.
Discovery of the work
I discovered this work 10 years ago during the time of Lent through the book by J.F.Lavere while I was plunged into the darkness of a severe depression. Having only read a few pages, the imperative desire to read the work itself imposed itself. When I received it, I felt, to my astonishment, a deep joy. Each time I read it, I was captivated and seized. It was as if a ray of light came to illuminate my darkness. On Easter day, God, through a mystical experience, gave me the grace of a profound conversion and this work was the instrument.
Impact on love for the Gospel
For me, this work has been the instrument of my encounter with Jesus. How can one not fall in love with Him when reading it? It has allowed me to hear the Gospels that I have been hearing without really understanding them since my childhood in a new way, making them alive and current. When I read this work, I am with Jesus, Mary, the apostles, I live in a way with them. In addition to the teachings of Jesus reported in much more detail than in the Gospels and which allow us to grasp their sometimes enigmatic aspects, it is the everyday life situations described that are an inexhaustible source of teaching because Jesus instructs as much by his way of being as by his Word! I find particularly edifying the way she makes us apprehend with strength and clarity the dual nature, human and divine of Jesus whose all qualities shine through in a striking way. Finally, this work has led me to rediscover the Old Testament and its close link with the New as well as to better understand the historical context of the time.
Concrete impact on faith life
It nourishes the contemplation and meditation of the life of Jesus and thus, prayer (particularly the Rosary) and oration, as well as it leads me to action, to put into practice the teachings of Jesus. The reported situations are so numerous that they allow for an in-depth study of the example Jesus gives us and it is a true guide to live in imitation of Jesus but also of Mary. Reading, rereading and meditating on it helps to immerse oneself more and more in the Spirit of Jesus, besides finding so many answers to the doctrinal questions of our time. I also find that this work helps to rediscover the sense of the sacred and to perceive the immense greatness and value of the Sacraments. Today, the Eucharist and the adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament are at the center of my days. The commitment in the Church to the catechumens, the organization of continuous adoration, and the help given to the poorest are the fruits of this, and the reading of Valtorta's work is one of the nourishments (after the Bible, of course!)
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
This work is a true gift of Divine Mercy that can only help us nourish our faith and our love for Christ and to live it by rediscovering the profound meaning of the Gospels that it illuminates. We cannot love Jesus without knowing him and the more we know him, the more we love him and this work makes us know him in a remarkable way!
Additional testimony
The richness and density of this work is such that it is difficult to talk about it in just a few words. This work, which I read and reread almost daily for 10 years and of which I share excerpts with my prayer group friends and goddaughters, is an essential nourishment of my spiritual life. I also hear, since discovering the writings of Louisa Piccarreta on the Divine Will, echoes of this Divine Will. Every time I read it, it puts me in the presence of Jesus and all parts of my being are mobilized, spiritual, intellectual, emotional and affective. In times of battles or troubles or even great dryness, it helps me regain my footing and find Peace or the feeling of closeness with Jesus. The contemplation of the scenes so remarkably described permeates my daily life and His Words resonate in me constantly. What a precious tool when you want to respond to Jesus' burning desire to share every moment of our life with Him, and this, always more intimately!
Discovery of the work
Through the Jesus Today newsletter.
Impact on love for the Gospel
Following Jesus, as a disciple, in the detail of the canonical gospels, taught me to truly love Him for who He is: God made Man, savior and redeemer, come to teach us to love God and our neighbor... following the example of His Life and His Death.
Concrete impact on faith life
Baptized, I had not been to the sacraments for over 20 years. "Following" Christ, like a disciple of his time for a year (reading time), allowed me to understand the meaning of the word "conversion"... that is to say, leaving the intellectual level of my relationship with God to truly move to the spiritual level. Since then, I go to the sacrament of forgiveness several times a month and I take communion as often as possible (several times a week).
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
As Pope Pius XII recommended: read (the entire work) and you will understand...
Discovery of the work
I became acquainted with the work of Maria Valtorta through a conference given by Father Pagès. I "accidentally" opened this video which encouraged me to read Maria's writings, published on the web. From the first lines, my love for Jesus literally exploded, my eyes were opened to the teachings of my childhood, my first communion and my solemn communion came back to my memory with astonishing precision, and I even remembered the words of the old priest to the little girls crowned in white: "For God, you are unique and irreplaceable!"
Impact on love for the Gospel
I saw Jesus as a living person, incarnate, I heard His Words as if I was present with his disciples. Every word became clear and accessible both to my mind and my heart, something I had never felt when I used to go to mass;
Concrete impact on faith life
I can accompany my grandchildren who have requested baptism; my view on my life and my sins has opened.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
What are you afraid of? In all religions, there are things to take and leave, But in the gospels, NOTHING is to be thrown away, each Word opens a world and Maria Valtorta allows us to receive this Word right in the heart!
Discovery of the work
Through the internet through various searches on faith.
Impact on love for the Gospel
Through the teachings of Jesus throughout the readings.
Concrete impact on faith life
Understanding the sacraments and the acts of Jesus.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
This is the revelation of Marie's life from her birth to her death, what she experienced and how she redeemed women. Also how Jesus redeemed men.
Discovery of the work
I knew him through the Marie de Nazareth association and Providence wanted that one day I stumble on Youtube on an excerpt from the Gospel as it was revealed to Maria VALTORTA.
Impact on love for the Gospel
Listening to the CDs allowed me to better understand the Gospel and the Infinite Love that Jesus has for us.
Concrete impact on faith life
I was a very great sinner but thanks to the Gospel as it was revealed to Maria VALTORTA, which allowed me to understand everything that Jesus did for us, I had a radical conversion (as the Exorcist Priest told me). I stopped sinning as I did out of love for Jesus, I will go every day (I have only attended mass once because I was hospitalized urgently), I pray the rosary every day, I have made an act of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary through the Scapular of Mount Carmel, I share excerpts from the Gospel as it was revealed to Maria VALTORTA on Facebook every day and I know that other people have also returned to prayer by reading the shares and that is thanks to this work. I should note that I had been away from mass for nearly 40 years.
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
Read this work, open your heart and Jesus will enter. You will not even notice it and yet a flame will ignite in you with such a burning fire that you will be ever more drawn towards GOD.