CHRIST 

ON 

FREE WILL

AND

OPPOSITION

TO THE  POEM

†

 
– From the Mystical Revelations of Maria Valtorta –
— INTRODUCTORY  NOTE —


The sad history of Maria Valtorta's masterwork, The Poem of the Man-God, is one of frequent opposition and rejection especially by ecclesiastics —even those of the Order of the Servites of Mary, which was commissioned with sponsoring and guarding the Work. Yet, from Valtorta's personal experience of the revelations she received in The Poem, she was utterly convinced of the Divine origin of this precious gift to the Church and to modern man. Hence, she was devastated by the obstinate negative reaction of Church authorities toward the Work. She was especially dismayed by attitude and action of the Holy Office, above all when the Work was placed—invalidly—on the Index of Forbidden Books. However, a later commissioner of the Holy Office then verbally approved of its publication (on this see Fr. Conrad Berti's "Testimony"  posted elsewhere on this web site).

 Because Valtorta was convinced of the great Treasure contained in The Poem, and knew the pain and sorrow this opposition caused her Divine Master, she asked Him—as He passed in procession near her home—why He did not force the authorities, by an act of power, to accept its Divine origin and approve it for publication. 

The extract translated here from Valtorta's recently published [2000] Quadernetti collection, is introduced by that question of Valtorta's, and Christ's response gives us His answer to her question, which involves the gift of Free Will that He gives to each soul.
— Translator


   FREE  WILL & OPPOSITION TO THE POEM
 
[June 14, 1953 -7:45 pm1]


Valtorta : Jesus answers the question I asked while the Most Blessed Sacrament passed at the corner,  near my house: "Why not force with an act of power, Lord, those who for years oppose the publication of the Work [The Poem]?"  His answer—


JESUS :
I do not violate the free will which I have given to man. I limit Myself to indicate—with clear words and spiritual counsel—what it is good to do, in order to merit My blessing On Earth and eternal glory in Heaven; or else [to merit] My chastisement here, and [in the] Beyond. So did My Father do with the angels and with Adam and Eve, because it was necessary to act thus, in order to confirm [them] in grace or not. And so do I do with all men of every class and social condition: from kings to the poor, from Priests to laity, from scholars to the ignorant.

I subject all to the test which must [either] confirm them in grace or make them fall in disgrace. But woe to those who, like your First Parents—through a spirit of haughtiness and envy—make evil use of the free will that I gave them, in order to examine their virtue—like the goldsmith examines the purity of a metal in the crucible. To them will be given the same condemnation as Adam and Eve: [who were] expelled from the earthly Paradise, separated from the nearness of the Father Creator, fallen from Grace, [and] condemned for years to Limbo. To these [haughty and envious ones it will also be given]—and not in Limbo, but in Purgatory:  which is a place of much greater torment. Till the end of the ages they will expiate their sins of haughtiness, envy, spite, injustice and, above all, their lack of charity towards their neighbor—that is, toward you [Maria], and [towards] all those souls who, through the Work2 [The Poem], would have found faith and, hence, Life and eternal Salvation.

These [haughty, envious clergy] must render an account to Me for all those souls who—through their fault—could not be saved. And they must expiate the evil use which they made of the free will which I gave them. But not only that:  they are enlightened, supported, guided with the proper charisms which the Priesthood confers on every Minister of the Clergy, and which are more ample and powerful the higher their religious level and theological culture. The higher their office and culture, the more severe also is the chastisement for their faults. It is I Who tell you this, [Maria].  Ah! These Shepherds of souls who forbid wholesome pasture to the sheep and the lambs, and who do not bother to save them when they are straying and in peril—what sins they commit, what pain they give Me!3

In vain will they then later, in the particular Judgment, invoke My forgiveness, My Mercy!  I can only answer them: "I gave you bread and living water for whoever was hungry and thirsting, and you rejected Me and My gift. Now, I reject you.  Go and expiate, each of you in proportions to the sin you committed. You did not want to recognize Me in the Work [The Poem]. Now, I do not recognize you.  Go.  I am Mercy, it is true.  I am Charity, it is true.  But I am also perfect Justice.  And now I make My Justice act—this only—since while you were in life you rejected Me:  Mercy and Charity.  Nothing justifies your actions and obstinacy toward the Work [The Poem]. Hence, nothing can change My Divine judgment.  Go and expiate!"

"Another thing for which I cannot forgive any of you, and which you must expiate:  your lack of truth toward My instrument.4   You have always lied with her and to her—she, poor creature, a teacher of truth for you.  Expiate this too, because there is never too much expiation for one who obstinately wrongs [another].  What mercy could I give any of you, if you never had mercy?  Go and expiate."
 
I am always He Who rebuked the guilty of the Temple.  I do not change.  You [must] all expiate like them. They expiated later—after My Death, Resurrection, and Ascension—with the loss of everything: Temple, power, wealth, country, and even material and spiritual life.

______________________________________________________

— NOTES —

1.  Maria Valtorta, Quadernetti (Edizioni Pisani / Centro Editoriale Valtortiano srl, Via Po 95, 03036 Isola del Liri (FR), Italia, 2006): 214-216.
2. "...through the Work would have found Life and eternal Salvation." —A severe condemnation that—as the next paragraph makes clear—refers especially to those ecclesiastics who have hindered or prevented the publication and dissemination of Christ's "Work" —the term He frequently uses to refer to His Poem of the Man-God.
3. Christ continues the severe condemnation of these ecclesiastics, "these Shepherds of souls..." who oppose publishing The Poem—which He here refers to as "wholesome pasture," and which they forbid the sheep and the lambs to enter.
4. "...My instrument."  Christ often refers to Valtorta as His "instrument".