Derek Owens (80 years old)
Father Gino Violini received a copy from an Italian lady in Calgary. Father Violini asked me to read it to him. His reaction was, “I wish I had all this when I was a seminarian.” When I finished the last page, he asked me to start reading it again from page one.
As I read on, I knew—or something in my soul assured me—that this was an authentic record of the life of Christ. An overwhelming conviction, full of love, came over me, assuring me beyond the shadow of a doubt that this was a true exposition of Gospel events. Its penetrating wisdom filled me with awe.
It was a rich medicine for me, more effective than any spiritual retreat I had ever attended, and it compelled me to correct many things within myself and expel sleeping faults from my system. It was like a sieve, removing clumps of imperfections previously unnoticed by my conscience. The revelation was a radical reformer. It inspired justice and love in matters I had not considered before. It showed me my imperfections and steered me in the right direction. It gave me a picture of the perfect personality of Jesus, an example I wanted to copy.
It is a miracle almost impossible to imagine. It is Christianity from the Fountainhead. You will see the Gospel unfold before your eyes in bright colors. The day the Work was published, crowds should have lined up around the block to get their first copy.
If I were a priest instead of a bookbinder, I would tell my congregation to study every lesson given to us in the Valtorta revelations. It would make them all saints.