Father Corrado Berti: quotes in the work

P. Corrado M. Berti, o.s.m. - (Florence March 17, 1911 - Rome December 15, 1980)

This article compiles the writings of Maria Valtorta referring to Father Corrado Berti. He appears late (March 1946). Maria Valtorta’s monumental work (The Gospel as Revealed to Me) is already largely written, which is why Father Berti is not mentioned on this occasion, unlike Father Romualdo Migliorini.

However, it is quickly seen that Father Berti begins a thorough study of the work and takes care of submitting it to the Supreme Pontiff.

March 18, 1946: Father Berti designated among the confidants

This text is excerpted from the Notebooks 1945-1950, March 18, 1946. It expresses Maria Valtorta's suffering following the departure of Father Migliorini, recalled to Rome because of his excessive proselytism. It is the first time Father Berti is mentioned.

"[...] I persistently recall all of Jesus' dictations, the far‑sighted and providential dictations by Jesus, from July 1943 on, concerning the need for silence regarding the spokesman and the dictated pages to bring peace to the spokesman himself as long as he lived so that he would not be disturbed and his work would not be exposed to snares. 'Only when these eyes and these hands, which now see and write, are in the tomb shall you make his mission known.'

This is more or less what He said... But because of a set of circumstances this order was not observed. I alone have always observed it, and I always will. The consequences of not having observed Jesus' counsels to the letter are now being paid. I‑who am not at all to blame‑also pay. May God make up for human mischief!

My angel you, Father, that the Holy Masses for the "voices" are to be read and known only by my superiors and should not be disseminated for any reason to anyone until after my death. Accordingly, except for you and, of course, the Father General, the Procurator General, and the other priest (= Father Berti) who teaches a course on the Sacraments (if you agree), no one else should be familiar with them in Rome or elsewhere.

April 17, 1946: Father Migliorini calls on Father Berti

(Letters to Mother Teresa Maria, Volume 1)

"[...] In his letter, Father Migliorini tells me that he confides in the Procurator General, Father Berti (chief theologian of the order), who is a good friend, as well as one of his friends from when they were novices, and that's all."

May 23, 1946: Father Berti is ready to endorse the value of the work

Father Migliorini considers the possibility of a donation of the work to the Servite order (Letters to Mother Teresa Maria, Volume 1, p. 143)

"[...] I also had the deed of donation read to Father Berti, who is enthusiastic about it. He has no difficulty issuing me a certificate in which he will declare having examined a good part of the Work and will state that he considers it of the highest importance for the order and for the faithful."

June 2, 1946: The theologian’s expertise is valuable

In his dictation of June 2, 1946 (Notebooks 1945-1950), Jesus extensively develops his instructions for the work. Unfortunately, his directives will not be followed. Opposition begins from then on. Father Berti rereads the work theologically, leading not to corrections of the original accounts, but to theological comments by him and Maria Valtorta.

"[...] I thus want a priest to replace Father Romualdo, here, where the spokesman lives (Maria Valtorta), for the initial copy of the manuscripts, which being corrected by the spokesman, shall be sent to Rome, to Romualdo, who shall continue the work. I approve the assistance by Father Corrado for Romualdo to seek out and correct errors in copying. Bear in mind that even a small mistake can lead to a sentence going against dogma and doctrine. Read, reread, and collate, then, so as not to give adversaries the occasion to find error. And I want the correction of the three parts of the Gospel (the two pre‑Gospels and the Gospel in a proper sense) to be carried out one last time, with the help of the hand written text, by little John." (affectionate nickname of Maria Valtorta)

June 3, 1946: Heaven keeps the Servites under watch

(Letters to Mother Teresa Maria, Volume 1)

"[...] I am quite ready to heroically resist to obtain all guarantees, clear, sincere guarantees, without double meanings or arbitrary and human conditions. Even better, it is the Lord who insists! And if the Fathers knew what punishment hung over their heads, I assure you they would not make so much fuss! When I wrote to Father Migliorini and to Father Berti, the chief theologian who, according to Father Mariano, is good, intelligent and very convinced, I barely mentioned this punishment; good that my guardian angel advised me to speak about it."

June 13, 1946: The Servites seek how to publish the work

(Letters to Mother Teresa Maria, Volume 1)

Maria reports to Mother Teresa Maria a letter she received from Father Migliorini:

(This is Father Migliorini writing): "Today I spoke with Father Berti about the position taken by the Father General on the immediate publication of the Gospel. I made clear enough (to Father Berti) what the current standing of the writings is before the Authority, and it was agreed that the viewpoint of the Father General is correct. He related to me two other almost identical cases that have occurred in recent years, after which this dicastery became very suspicious and closely watches us (the Servites). He (Father Berti) believes it will be necessary to overcome all obstacles very gradually. He therefore proposes, and I agree with him, to submit a copy of the Pre-gospel to four cardinals and bishops for private examination and to provide their written opinions. They are chosen among the most pious and learned favorable to us and known personally by Father Berti. Since the Father General noted that currently the order does not know these writings well enough and they should be examined, he would propose Father Berti for the scriptural part [...]".

At this time, Father Roschini studies "at the request of the Superior General" the examination of the first volume of the work. As for Maria Valtorta, she is deeply hurt by Father Migliorini’s maneuvers and the dealings of the Servite order. She confides: "I felt very bad after reading those letters. They kill me, and I assure you that if my love for God weren’t total, my saddened soul would detach indignantly from what is no longer the Church of Christ, in other words the fatherly help of shepherds to the lambs: it is calculation, coldness, disobedience, and the opposite of charity."

June 17, 1946: Father Berti had dictations read to Monsignor Carinci who advises him

(Letters to Mother Teresa Maria, Volume 1)

Maria Valtorta receives a letter from Father Berti which she comments for Mother Teresa Maria:

"[...] Father Berti went to see one of the bishops: Monsignor Carinci, secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. He gave him to read, as a trial, the dictations on Purgatory, on Hell and on the Bread of Life (John 6:22-59). He read the first two and was amazed. He gave advice on how to proceed to obtain printing authorization. I note that he would not have given such advice if he had not recognized the quality of the content."

July 12, 1946: For the first time, recourse to the Holy Father is mentioned

In this dictation (Notebooks 1945-1950), Jesus insists that the originals of the visions be kept by Maria Valtorta. It is a premonition of what will happen in February 1949 when the Holy Office attempts to destroy the work. For the first time, a Servite from Viareggio, Father Pennoni, suggests asking the Holy Father directly.

"I was weeping because it was Friday, the day for Holy Communion, and I was deprived of it... The agony, always acute, became tremendous. My whole spirit, wounded, was moaning, and my flesh suffered as if mortally stricken.... And, while weeping, I thought of both the cruel and the good ones among my brothers in religion, considering that the good ones suffered with me and for the same cause as I. And I offered my suffering to relieve theirs and to wrest a definitive "yes" from Jesus concerning the manuscripts. For this time divine intransigence was not bending to any prayer.

My Lord came and consoled me, saying: 'Here I am, little John. They do not let us be one: I in you; you, a ciborium. containing Me, for the joy of both of us. Little, little John, let us love one another, and may love be fusion, Come. On my chest, little John, like the other John, and let my love enter into you to give you what has been denied you.'

Union bestows confidence. Blessed, I asked for the grace which Father Berti, Father Migliorini, and others requested.

Jesus grew severe, with the unbearable gaze of the moments when He is more Justice than Mercy.... I looked at him in fear, even though I knew that glance was not for his poor Maria. He moved slowly around the room and bent over the handwritten notebooks which had come back from Rome for the corrections to the Pre‑Gospel. He repeated some isolated sentences found therein. I recognized them. He turned and asked, 'You understand them, don’t you?'

'Yes, my Lord. Do you want me to write them?'

'No, they are already written. To repeat them would mean provoking their judgment, which is always the same: "Is that the way you speak to priests?" The sentence spoken to Me on numberless occasions by the priests of Israel, for those who are at fault speak imperiously to silence those who are right, saying, 'You are at fault,' in order not to say, 'I have been at fault.' And even when the words come from Wisdom and are known to come therefrom, they say, 'It's you that have spoken' in order to strike out at the creature. Do not rewrite them, then. They are already written here so that they will read them. And they are written elsewhere, where no human hand can manage to destroy or human eye refuse to read. For this reason I tell you that in all truth they shall read them one day. But these notebooks and the others which are still in Rome must return to this house, under your protection. The delay obtained does not change the decree. Even if it were my own Vicar who, with the heart of a true Christ, took the Work and you under his protection‑and grace and blessing would descend upon his head from the Divinity‑the manuscripts must return here, to the house of my spokesman.

The sign of my condemnation of what has been done against your spirit must remain as an admonition for those who have acted and those who will be their successors. The tremendous torture they have caused you shall never be erased from your spirit either on earth or in heaven: here, as a mark of agony; there, as a sign of glory‑great tribulation becoming election, as stated in John's Apocalypse. Let the sign remain for them as in you. For I can forgive all that is done to the 'instrument,' since I have mercy on the 'dead,' like those of the Church in Sardis, and I give them time to confirm what is not yet dead and revive what has been extinguished‑that is, the capacity for understanding God through you, my voice. But I cannot pass over without a sign of punishment what is being done to your spirit, and even more to Me, in refusing to let us be united in the Sacrament, to nourish you with the Sacraments which I have instituted for all the souls in the grace of God or in need of returning to Grace. And to refuse while knowing your conditions and those of this city.

"With my Blood I paid for all souls. I paid in advance. I gave Myself so that you may have Me. Who can refuse Me to my beloved children? I cannot forgive everything because, if it is true that I am He who forgives, as the condition for the measure of forgiveness I establish the measure of the love shown by the blameworthy. Here no love has been shown either God‑for whom communicating Himself is a joy‑or you, a soul for Whom to receive Me is life. And if I forgive the pain caused the spokesman, I punish for the pain caused your soul as a Christian. Make this known as well to those to whom it should be said. "

And Jesus departed after having blessed me.

This was at 9:30.... At 11 the mail brought me two letters‑or, rather, three: one from Father Migliorini, in contrast to the one from Father Berti the same day, one from Sister Saviane in Venice, and the third from Father Pennoni who mentioned his intention of turning to the Holy Father to receive protection. I shall not make any comments. I simply observe that Jesus has already set forth this possibility, confirming, however, that even in this case the manuscripts must return to me."

July 25, 1946: The Father General disengages. Situation summary

(Letters to Mother Teresa Maria, Volume 1)

"[...] Yes, you [Mother Teresa Maria] do well to pray to snatch me from death, at least until I finish my Mission and see this work approved. Because if I die, I who keep it active, those reverend Fathers will do nothing more, since the Father General is opposed to it at 1000%... Irremediably opposed. And it’s only because he has Against him Fathers Berti, Pennoni, Gargiani, Vannucci, Roschini, and others still, that is, the pillars of the order, that he dares not make manifest acts of rejection. But all fear he is brewing some mischief.

I explain who they are: you now know Berti and Pennoni. Vannucci is the doctor in Christian hagiography, and I don’t know what else. He is a giant! Gargiani is the Procurator General. Roschini is the general theologian of the order, moreover an accomplished writer, author of a Life of the Virgin printed in 1945. He is also a qualificator at the Holy Office, intimate of Monsignor Traglia, vice-regent of Rome, who approves everything Roschini presents to him on his own authority.

This Father, whom Father Migliorini had naturally fled like the plague, has now taken on the charge of advancing things until the end, because he read the entire Pre-Gospel (Birth and life of the Virgin until her Weddings, birth of Jesus, life of the Holy Family until the death of Saint Joseph, and departure for public life), and is enthusiastic. It is obvious that he, who wrote this Life of Mary and therefore scrutinized all books speaking of her by revelation or authors’ wisdom, must know what is said about her! He assures, however, that all is new to him, and at the same time conforms to dogmatics.

He has taken responsibility before the Holy Office and to ask for approval. He also convinced (on the 22nd) the Father General to print the Work. But, as Father Pennoni maintains, do not imagine that the general will persist in this idea, for “he will try to invent something to do nothing”— this is written literally in Pennoni’s letter of yesterday. Meanwhile, he has done too much: he killed me! He and Father Migliorini destroyed me, and without a miracle, I shall not live. I suffer horribly!"

September 30, 1946: Father Berti finally trusts Maria Valtorta

(Letters to Mother Teresa Maria, Volume 1)

Monday at 4pm, Father Berti came. Ring the bells! I was finishing eating and was about to lie down, exhausted by a crisis lasting four hours…

My impression? Excellent…

He is young—36 years old—humble yet erudite, pious, and frank. He did not deny the faults and responsibilities of the Father General nor others. I firmly expressed to him my point of view [...] Then various questions… and detailed answers. Finally, in conclusion: cautious confession that Father Migliorini is not sincere in the letter where he declares that Monsignor Carinci and Father Roschini are causing difficulties. Father Berti assures that both are convinced. And then?

After that, I sent Father Mariano away, who was present, and it was tête-à-tête with Father Berti that I said the rest. I mentioned the behavior of the Fathers here, their sly temptation game to trap me, I recounted the remarks… concerning Father Mariano's spiritualism and my surprise at hearing myself told: "But because you have indulged in spiritualism! — Me? Who says that? — In the convent, here. — I have always fought spiritualism because it frightens me greatly, to the point that I had the first house we owned here sold because, in winter, the tenants had made it a nest of spiritualistic séances."

[...] When Father Berti saw that notorious funeral memorial booklet of Antonia Dal Bo  bore the mention “dictated by heavenly voices,” he was terrorized. He could not restrain an exclamation typical of Florentine manner: "What a fool, this confrere!" Moral: after having stayed here three and a half hours and heard the last passage of The Gospel (chapter 8 of Saint John: "I am the Light of the world", etc.), after seeing that my… religious wisdom stops at the Catechism of Pius X and rests on it, after scrutinizing me in all directions, he assured me he would himself write to the bishop of Como for advice. His Excellency A. Macchi who cared for Sister Benigna and Sister Tommasina might enlighten me too [...]

October 11, 1946: Father Berti speaks respectfully of the "spokesperson"

(Letters to Mother Teresa Maria, Volume 1)

"[...] And the day before yesterday, Father Dal Pino [...] asked to greet me before leaving for Louvain. And he conveyed to me the greetings of Father Berti. He was very cautious, but I understood that Father Berti — and not only him — talked to him in Rome about the spokesperson, and with due respect, not to the creature but to the instrument God uses. I don’t know if I express myself as clearly as I would like. I demand no respect for Maria, but I want the instrument to be respected, because if he is treated as mad, it is the whole Work that is treated as mad. Do you agree with me?"

January 31, 1947: In view of the appeal to the pope, Father Berti prepares a dossier

That day (Notebooks 1945-1950), Maria Valtorta receives a letter from Father Berti asking her to prepare a dossier for the papal audience (which will take place one year later). He also begins scrutinizing the theological content and it is Jesus himself who answers one of his questions.

"[...] I also took the liberty of repeating to Jesus, present and so good, a question I had been asked by a Servite Father‑I don't know exactly who, but I think it was Father Berti, and I don't know whether it was by his own initiative or as suggested by others‑concerning Jesus' descent into Hell, which I had accidentally come across again, referred to on January 15, 1944, and which seemed to have provoked someone.

He replied.... Father Berti's letter then arrived, asking me to write a note to be presented to the Holy Father. And Jesus, smiling, completely luminous, said to me as soon as the letter was brought to me, 'This is why precisely now, after four months, I am satisfying you, and for this priest, to whom I previously told you, you could communicate this point. As for the other points, you know who you must give them to and when, and how to notify them. And now listen, for I shall repeat the beginning.'

Jesus says: 'You shall give these words to Father Berti. You now know it was he who asked you about them'"… (follows explanation).

February 1, 1947: Father Berti met the Holy Father’s archivist

This letter of Father Berti is fully reported in a letter that Maria Valtorta sends the next day, February 1, 1947, to Mother Teresa Maria (Letters to Mother Teresa Maria, Volume 2). Father Berti reports his meeting with "a good priest from the Pontifical Archives, charged precisely with placing on the Pope’s desk the requests exclusively reserved for him." Together they elaborated detailed conditions for this appeal to the Holy Father.

Dearest sister,

It is through a lost person that I came to know a good priest of the Holy Father’s Archives. charged precisely with placing on the Pope’s table requests that are exclusively reserved for him. This priest has already rendered me valuable services on various occasions. Here are the conclusions of the interview:

I° Given the nature and size of the Work, little is to be hoped from Bishops, maybe even nothing: they dare not take such responsibility and their approval – even if given – would guarantee nothing certain: an appeal to the Supreme Authority could always remain possible and effective.

II° Thus, it would be good for you to write yourself a memorandum for His Holiness, which we will transcribe putting it in the third person. In this memo you will explain what may shed light on your person and the Work. Accordingly:

• a) Name, first name, Age, address, studies completed, state of health.

• b) How and with what means you write: Using books or not. Little at a time or in long passages. With few corrections or many. Slowly or quickly.

• c) The general division of the Work and a brief description of its content. Its volume if finished or still in process.

• d) The writer’s opinion on the Work: supernatural visions or dictations (what you see and how you describe it; what you hear and if you write under dictation, and by whom).

This memorandum will be accompanied by a request for a special audience. The Holy Father will examine or have examined (I have been assured the examiners are learned and pious) the memorandum and the first three small volumes (Pre-Gospel and part of the Gospel), and he will give you his opinion.

If he is favorable, then (that is to say in a second phase) we ask permission to publish the Work explaining the manner in which you desire it to be published.

I only ask you to consult the Lord and send me promptly either the memorandum or at least a line. May the Lord's Grace be with all and help us always do His Holy Will. Signed P.C. Berti.

For the memorandum, I advise maximum clarity, order, accuracy and conciseness (one or two pages).

February 12, 1947: Father Berti was accused of "modernism" by the Holy Office

"[...] Father Mariano told me the day before yesterday, in casual talk, that Father Berti had been reprimanded and condemned by the Holy Office for 'modernism' at the beginning of his teaching career. Yet it is precisely to Father Berti that Jesus makes me send the dictation of February 3 (addressed to the Holy Father) in which modernism is precisely mentioned. By the way, I know nothing of it, I do not even know what it is. ... Are these not coincidences that make one think?"

This lesson of February 3, 1947, was fully taken up in GRM 652, the final dictation of the 'The Gospel as Revealed to Me and which recapitulates the seven reasons for the gift of the work. This dictation is the first cited, which indicates its importance. What is noteworthy is that the same Source (Jesus) chooses Father Berti as defender of the work before the Holy Office and dictates a work that intends to struggle Against modernism: "The deepest reason for the gift of this work is that in these times where modernism, condemned by my Holy Vicar Pius X, corrupts itself to give birth to increasingly harmful Doctrines, the holy Church, represented by my Vicar, has more resources to fight those who deny … (follows the constitutive elements of the eternal Gospel)."

The reasons given by Jesus largely reprise what is called the anti-modernist oath, except notably for the rejection of scientific exegesis (which Pius XII had just rehabilitated). This oath, which all teachers had to take annually, is extracted from the Motu proprio Sacrorum Antistitum, published by Pius X on September 1, 1910, following his condemnation of modernism three years earlier. John Paul II subsequently promoted similar norms in his Motu proprio Ad Tuendam Fidem, of June 30, 1998, annotated by Cardinal Ratzinger. Opportunely, this dictation on modernism would be included in the dossier for the Holy Father.

February 24, 1947: The dossier for the appeal to the Holy Father is prepared

"[...] Father Berti writes me (received the 19th) as follows:

"I received your letter with the memorandum and another two days later. Everything is fine. It is well done. There is no difficulty. Everything is clear. What a miracle! you will say. Certainly, but that’s how it is.

I only have one question to ask you. How can Father M(igliorini) be excluded? I told him I would appeal to the Holy Father. At first, he was unfavorable, but then, after a few days, he spontaneously told me that the planned approach was the only really effective and sure one. I also informed him of the audience I was going to ask for him and myself with His Holiness, and he was favorable. He too is now opposed to mutilations [of the work].

It seems to me that henceforth, [Father Migliorini] should no longer harm but only serve.

Personally, I would do this:

In direct presentation to His Holiness:

1° I would submit the memorandum with the attached dictation (on modernism)

2° I would request a private audience for Father Migliorini and myself, or at least a special one (small group).

3° I would add the Pre-evangelical and the First Year (something concrete is needed)

Agreed? Answer me quickly: by express or telegram.

May the Grace of the Lord always be with you.

Father Corrado M. Berti"

I replied quickly, by express.

September 19, 1947: Jesus gives instructions for this appeal

In this dictation (Notebooks 1945-1950), Jesus insists on the prior "Nihil obstat" for publication, on the supernatural character, and on the need to keep a copy at Viareggio. He describes what should be done, but also sees what will be done contrary to his directives. Father Berti is not named explicitly, but these instructions concern him.

"Jesus says: 'Start at once to review the texts to make them legible for others. Because you cannot occupy yourself with them any longer, and they must do so now. You will soon receive a letter that you must believe in and yield to. When you get it, you will be convinced. Proceed so as to prepare what they request.

As for the way you should act, I can only repeat what I have always told you: protection of the Work, secrecy concerning the spokesman, the supernatural character of the Work beginning with the first edition‑you shall indicate the parts reserved for the public from the general work reserved for the clergy‑publication to avoid manipulation‑there already has been some, as I told you‑but publication after the Church's due nihil obstat. Two copies of a document signed by the General or the person delegated by him, and by you which, on behalf of the whole Order, makes a commitment to protect the Work entrusted to it and to your care, in addition to returning the manuscripts and a transcribed copy, which must remain in your house until the initial publication of the Work. Afterwards you may hand over the manuscripts, too.

"I will give you the other instructions from time to time. It suffices to write these down to show them at the proper time and have them see that it is I who guide you and you obey.

"And the others should obey. The way things stand today, the General should feel no aversion or fear. If he goes on resisting, He brings Me great pain Therefore with the matters which may cause him fear taken out of the way, he can draw up the document, and you and they can then go forward as I will.'"

September 22, 1947: Maria Valtorta suffers because of the Servites

Maria Valtorta notes (Notebooks 1945-1950) the great pain caused by the Servites’ disobedience. The papal audience becomes more credible and gives human ambitions.

"I am correcting.... But I cannot resolve to write to Father Berti.... I am afraid of them; I have suffered too much on their account. Jesus persists like a trumpet blaring without respite.... If only it were true! But who can trust any more?!"

October 12 and 13, 1947: Mention of a visit by Father Berti

(Notebooks 1945-1950).

"In Fatima with the pilgrims. Prayers in the night and in the basin strewn with lights.... And Our Lady of Fatima at my side .... In the morning, too, while Father Berti was here in the room ...."

October 30, 1947: Father Berti is the confidant of the revelations

(Notebooks 1945-1950)

Everyone knows, the Holy Office as well.

"Yesterday one of my seven witnesses informed me that a Dominican had written to him, saying, "I know from a soul that communicates with Our Lady that we 'will be saved through Mary.' I cannot tell you anything else. Remember this statement, and in two or three years you'll be able to say something more to me.”

This witness of mine does not know about the communications I have received on the need to resort to Mary: the only final salvation for us. Except for Father Berti, no one knows about them. And Father Berti himself does not know about the next to‑last one on October 23 (about a Holy Year with a Marian character). This concomitance of voices on Mary's power to save us gave me one of those sudden starts I always experience when from other sources‑unknown to me, as I am to them‑I hear things being repeated which I have been told.

The same witness informed me that Father Pietro Pennoni, in his recent visit to Camaiore (September 1947), had told Mrs. Favilla (one of the many fanatic women to whom, in an imprudent and disobedient way, the notebooks from 1943 to 1945 had been given by Fathers Migliorini, Pennoni, De Santis, and others) that Father Migliorini was continuing to write and copy the communications of the "spokesman" and that some notebooks had been presented to the Holy Father and the Holy Roman Rota (?) in order to be examined. Doesn't this obstinacy in being tact less, imprudent, and so forth ever yield? May God forgive them and make provision."

October 31, 1947: Jesus gives Father Berti the nickname "Isaac (of Yutta)"

(Notebooks 1945-1950)

"[...] ... I was left in bad shape by this dictation... And very unsure about conveying it. I asked Jesus. He replied:

“When someone is obstinate in offending charity, Charity tells him what until then its Mercy had spared the blameworthy one. But you be the judge about whether or not to pass it on to Romualdo. I demand, though, that you never destroy these words and submit them to the just Isaac of this time, Isaac for Me and you, so much like the one in my time, who did not have the severe harshness of a furious Jeremiah, but the sweetness of a lamb worthy of following the Divine Lamb and guiding people to the Divine Lamb."

Jesus called Father Berti "Isaac." In dictating or showing Gospel episodes He has often said to me, "Such‑and‑such a per son, or Father A or Father Z, are like this man or woman," pointing out characters who have appeared and are described in the work.... This has given me good knowledge of them, completing my knowledge with the visual illustration (if this is the right expression) of their souls, of their real conscience and spirituality.... And I have quite often received no pleasure from knowing them so well. I preferred to deceive myself....

I also asked my Master if I should tell Father Berti about Father Pennoni's behavior. He told me I should. I will do so. The face of my Lord is serious as on few occasions, very severe. Only on resting his hand on my head to bless me did his face brighten up with a smile of mercy for me."

November 9, 1947: Father Berti is the confidant of mystical visions

Maria Valtorta describes (The Little Notebooks) a series of mystical visions she had in May 1948. They concerned the Marian apparitions of Tre-Fontane.

On May 5, Maria Valtorta had the vision of Our Lady of Fatima and sees all her "The "Hail Mary" (Ave Maria)" turning into roses falling in various places around the world.

"[...] Others are falling here and there all over Italy, but I don’t understand well exactly where, on Spain and Portugal (many here, around Fatima) one in Belgium, three in Ireland, one near London, others here and there aound the globe, as I told R. P. Berti."

A bit further:

[...] On 19 October I am contemplating the vision of the Archangels St. Michael and St. Gabriel appearing between heaven and earth in the same place between the Tiber and the old Appian Way where I saw roses falling in May. (See the little map I gave to R. P. Berti). St. Michael cried out three times pointing to the glorious Virgin: «Use Mary as a weapon against the advance of the great Serpent»

November 18, 1947: Father Berti is recipient of a "great lesson" on the Mass.

(The Little Notebooks)

Jesus develops a great catechesis on the meaning and course of the Mass starting from the genesis of the Eucharist.

"[...] You wilI gave these sheets of paper to young Isaac (Father Berti], just as they were written under my dictation, reserving the right to copy them afterwards. You will tell him to copy them by typewriter and send the copy back to you Rome so that you can re-copy it, or attach it to the instructions. This way you’ll see that I care about him and that when I dictate to you, and I give you the strength to follow me you don’t make a single mistake - sometimes I don’t tell you everything for my own inscrutable reasons."

January 6, 1948: Father Berti advocates with the Servites

(Notebooks 1945-1950).

"Before I was left by the Most Holy Voice, I said, 'O Most Divine One, now that you are speaking often again, they will say that this is not good. Because Father Berti told me that he had convinced them that now You, O Most Divine One, speak very sporadically.' He replied: "I do as I wish. I have shown that I come every day or do not come for dozens of days, nor do you fill those voids with words of your own. And this is a lesson for them. I have done everything to convince them. But it is as was written: 'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance; we sang a dirge, but you did not mourn.' But these are not pages for them. Indeed, I order you to remove them from here and make them into a separate notebook to be given in the manner and to the persons I indicated to you. They have received what was needed to obtain the approval of Jesus' Work. The rest is a treasure which one must merit in order to possess it. And there is someone who has deserved it because of having done our Will in regard to you with perfect charity and with no pretension about his work in relation to you. And there is also another reason involving Divine Providence which originates this order."

May 20, 1948: Father Berti is the guardian of Jesus’ wills

(Notebooks 1945-1950).

"The lessons on the Letter to the Romans continue here. are continuing here. The other lessons are in the two notebooks given to Reverend Father Corrado M. Berti, who felt it was appropriate to withdraw them, even though the last one was not yet finished, just as the commentary of the Holy Spirit on the Letter to the Romans is quite far from being finished. But because of all the respect and gratitude‑gratitude, above all‑I owe to Father Corrado for the way he has always behaved with charity and patience and obedience in regard to me, a poor creature, and the Lord's wishes, I agreed to hand over what I had.

It is right for so much to be given to those who have done so much for the Work. Father Migliorini, too, did a great deal.... It would suffice to consider how much he typed! But.... Everything has its "but." And the Work has this "but"; however, if Father Berti had not been there, in view of the behavior of all, or of all except for very few‑‑‑.real exceptions in the mass of the Fathers of the Servants of Mary, who have always blocked, criticized, and caused excessive pain and only recently changed their orientation and outlook towards the Work of Jesus and Jesus' poor instrument‑the Work would surely have ended up not going to the Order of the Servants of Mary But gentleness, sincerity, and honesty overcome. Yes, God and the instrument of God over come‑the instrument must tenaciously defend the interests and desires of God, even if this costs a great deal, for it is not pleas ant to dispute, reproach, and threaten punishments.

I don't know how long I will remain on earth or whether it will me granted to me to see the Work published. But I insist on declaring that if the Work proceeds to bring light and goodness to souls and glory to the Order of the Servants of Mary, souls and Servants of Mary must be grateful to Father Berti and Father Migliorini, who, in different ways, but with the same constancy, have labored so that the Divine Will may be done and souls may receive God's gift. And, after the first two, I would like to recall a few others who cooperated, with charity, to bring relief to the instrument and assistance to the two main artificers of the triumph of God's Will and Word: Father Gargiani, Father Sostegno Benedetti, Father Tozzi and Father Mariano De Santis."

July 11, 1948: The tomb of Saint Peter

Four and a half months after the papal audience, the Secretariat of the Holy Father asks Maria Valtorta, through Father Berti, where the tomb of Saint Peter was located. At that time, the tomb was being sought with costly archaeological excavations. This request, in which Father Bea (future cardinal) and Monsignor Carinci were involved, shows the high regard the circle around Pius XII had for Maria Valtorta's revelations. She had indeed seen the apostle’s burial. She describes it: it was at the Ostrianum, a place where Peter baptized and where Christians often gathered.

However, this cemetery was hard to locate after 20 centuries and the place where the body of the first pontiff was placed was not necessarily where his relic (mummified according to Maria Valtorta) remained.

Jesus, questioned, reveals the place and shows it to Maria Valtorta, but having no external reference, she cannot specify exactly. Jesus does not want the worship of the bones, but the return of His Church to the Spirit that animated St. Peter.

The dossier on the tomb of Saint Peter is inserted at the very end of the "Little Notebooks". It led to several researches by Italian scholars. Father Berti fulfilled his intermediary role from July 11, 1948, to September 21, 1948.

October 2, 1948: Father Berti is warned of a secret action being prepared

(The Little Notebooks)

"[...] Re-read that dictation to Fr Corrado so that he can see and believe that We, the Three who are One, will not wait until this subtle action is completed to forewarn the spokesperson, we will act much, much sooner. We know every human thought, even if it is one in the distant future."

Two paragraphs prior, Jesus warned about an anonymous person:

"But that’s the way it is for one who is not pure of heart. The one who should have enlightened him became darkness because he wanted to judge the supernatural with proud human judgement."

December 16, 1948: The Holy Office manifests its opposition

(Letters to Mother Teresa Maria, Volume 2)

Sunday 5 [December]: at 5 pm, Father Berti arrived unexpectedly [...] the news he brought me about the work was like knives in my heart. He found me already immobilized and very ill but he had to speak anyway. Here is what he said, I leave you to judge.

As you know, on October 25, the Holy Father advised to follow the hierarchical path so that we were more certain to obtain the approval that would safeguard the work from future traps. He therefore addressed His Excellency the Bishop of Sora, who examined everything and declared himself disposed to approve.

But on November 29, just as the presses were about to start, the Holy Office called the Procurator General of the Servite Order and ordered him to tell Father Berti and Father Migliorini to no longer take care of the work, if they did not want to be struck by the Holy Office’s decrees for having illegally stolen (?) Monsignor Barneschi's approval contrary to Canonical Law, since that bishop is neither the bishop of the publishing house nor of the author, and especially because: 'He is the bishop of the Zulus' (Do the Zulus not have souls? And is an Italian bishop, just because he is in Africa, less bishop than one who lives in Italy?).

Father Berti rushed to Father Bea, then to Monsignor Carinci and Monsignor Fontevecchia, to other bishops, to other Jesuit Fathers, and all answered unanimously: 'Go ahead anyway. They cannot do anything to you.'

But, and I cannot blame them, the Fathers did not risk spending millions [of lire] for a publication that could later be blocked by the Holy Office. They also did not want to disobey its orders, after having been threatened with suspension a divinis.

What he told me must be true because he made me write to Father Bea — his intimacy with the Holy Father allows him to contact him without witnesses and whenever he wishes — to bring my cry to the Pope without the ordinary or extraordinary affairs substitutes of the Secretariat of State preventing it, as they prevent Father Berti from being received in audience...

[...] Father Berti decided to tell me everything (he wanted to spare me some details, considering my physical state) when I made him read a dictation from Our Lord, dated November 21, 1948, in which he curses the persecutors of his gift and threatens them with draconian measures.

Pray, pray that the devil, who holds too much, may finally be defeated and that God may triumph.

[...] Yesterday’s Osservatore Romano [December 15, 1948] told us that Father Roschini, O.S.M., member of the Holy Office, well known and companion of Father Berti at S. Alessio, was received by His Holiness. I do not know whether to connect this audience to the Work or if it was granted for other reasons. I say what I understand."

January 6, 1949: Father Berti and the Servites go too far

(The Little Notebooks)

The success (temporarily) of Maria Valtorta’s visions and the case of St. Peter’s Tomb push the Servites to consider her as a prophetess whom they interrogate on all subjects. Father Berti allows himself proselytism. Jesus intervenes to put order:

"[...] However, in truth I tell you it is best never to tempt the Lord, or his instrument, by mistaking them for a fortune teller. That is, if you don’t want what happened to Saul, according to what Samuel told him, to happen to you. Let me remind you also of 1 Corinthians, chapter 12 verses 7, 8, 9,10 and 11. Little Giovanni received the gift of seeing Me among men. Me, the Master, and to hear the Good News from my lips. This and not other gifts which you claimed. For the phrases and the tombs consult others in whom you might believe more, even if they are not my most beloved little Giovanni.

[...] To me: "See… Know… be silent… with everyone. Don’t be seduced by flattery and don’t be frightened by threats. Obey only Me, you who know how to obey.

I had said that P.B. should not tell...He spoke. Always, disobedience. And always against love. So I say to you, “Know and be silent, with everyone, even with your family, even with the Father...”

January 28, 1949: Father Berti and Jesus give other readings to Maria Valtorta

(The Little Notebooks)

Having finished the visions of Jesus’ life, Maria Valtorta discovers other seers like Anne-Catherine Emmerich (in whom Maria Valtorta does not recognize the visions she received) or Sister Josefa Menendez (in whom she recognizes herself). Jesus comments on her reactions:

"I am in Josefa. You immediately heard me. Just as you heard me in the few words that Fr. Berti sent you, or in the writings sent by Mons. Crovella. My style is unique. I can expand my words to fill a complete work like the one I have given you, or reduce them as with Josefa, but one can hear me. You will show this to the Father. Read it as well, if you can, about what it says about my Life. Now you can read. That’s because you have seen and written everything about Me for two years."

"To make this dictation understandable," Maria Valtorta notes a little further:

"[...] On the 22 of this month, Giovanni Chessa brought me some books on the lives of the Saints to give to souls who wanted a good read. He had done this other times, and I needed those old books to help various people. I handed them out without reading them.

This time he brought me the book “An invitation to Love” (written by Sister M. Josefa Menendaz).

I had wanted to read her writings for a long time, since when I had been sent a picture of the Spanish Nun by chance.

However, I was always banned from looking for the book, as Jesus had prohibited me from reading books of revelations, or similar types, saying that he wanted to teach me Himself.

Together with the book by Sister Josefa, which carried a preface by the then Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (1938), Chessa brought me “The Revelations of A.C. Hemmerich”. I said to myself, «This time I’m going to read it! I’ve always heard about it! Now, let’s see!»

Jesus appeared to me saying, «Read, read! But start with this one», and indicated Sister Josefa’s book. I was surprised by Jesus’ smile...different from his usual one. It seemed as if he was gently making fun of me. I obeyed.

In the writings of the Spaniard I heard my Jesus. I found everything; both in the lessons and in the description of the Passion.

But in the other book! What a disappointment! I was bewildered! So much so that when I had read the last word, I asked myself, «Has she really written, or at least dictated, what she saw? Or did whoever help her write her visions change the desciptions arbitrarily?» I feel inclined to accept the latter because it doesn’t seem possible to me that a soul that loves God could allow herself to change the truth.

Jesus, in today’s conference, answers me in this way... Maybe this lesson will also serve the Church.

For sure I’m going to keep Sister Josefa’s book for myself, because I hear my Jesus there. As for the other, I’ll give it away as soon as I’ve shown Fr. Berti some things I’ve noted in it.

Those who haven’t seen the reality might like it, but me, no. In fact it gives me displeasure because it diminishes the grandeur of Jesus and Mary."

March 16, 1949: This is a punishment for all who despised God’s directives

On Tuesday, February 22, 1949, Father Berti was summoned to the Holy Office by Monsignor Giovanni Pepe, in charge of book censorship, and by Father Girolamo Berruti. He has no right to speak, only to sign the Holy Office letter and hand over the manuscripts in his possession. Maria Valtorta, struck by a bad flu lasting more than 40 days, resumes correspondence with Mother Teresa Maria. She is internally boiling with frustration at her powerlessness.

"[...] I am of the same opinion as you: this is a punishment for all who despised God’s directives knowingly for six years (starting with Father Migliorini then with Father Berti and so on. Meanwhile, I am the one in torment although I never left obedience to the Lord.

And what increases my suffering over the unjust decree is the near certainty, based on factual proof in my hands, that the Fathers who always wanted to publish the work without approval and as a human work are in cahoots with the laity and the Holy Office, etc. They wanted to classify it as "scientific," in other words, given its style, as "mediumistic," causing me dishonor both humanly and spiritually. This made me look like a spiritist who saw and heard what I described and wrote in the work like a medium (in other words Satanically because for me all that is mediumistic or spiritist is Satanic).

[...] God had said not to diffuse the work. They diffused it. To avoid fuss. They made fuss. They involved thousands of people. They ignored my wishes based on God’s will. They lied.

Yes. They lied. I have to say this to excuse the Pope, for if the Fathers had not lied, the Pope would have lied, since for more than a year I am told that he wants the work published, etc., etc. I was told that on February 2, during the candle offering to His Holiness, he repeated to Father Berti and a Servite student his will to approve the work rapidly... yet 20 days later it was condemned ! I am told "His Holiness does not know."

August 16, 1949: The work is that of the Holy Spirit

In this dictation (Notebooks 1945-1950), Jesus does not explicitly name Father Berti but he stands out in the background, motivating the insertion of the following quote in this article.

"[...] What should I do to take care of the Work and make it triumph? Should I bring into action the tremendous God of Sinai, the God of the times of indignation and severity, and strike them dead in their sin, in their sins, for many are the sins contained in their arrogance towards my will. What else, if not this?

"Through you, I have provided all the proofs. In you there is no sin of rebelliousness, simulation, or haughtiness. You are the docile victim of their will. You yourself defend their will‑for they are 'the Church'‑from those who would like to trample on it. Because of your crucifixion it is certain that you cannot scrutinize the books of doctors. Because of your cultural background, it is certain that you cannot write those pages. And what else do they want, if this does not suffice for them to say, 'Yes, it is the Spirit of God present here'? There is no dogmatic error there truly is none in the Work.

"If the Spirit has provided lights (lights of grace) to render fully luminous what one school or another has illuminated with a ray in one point over twenty centuries, let them bless God for his grace and not say, 'But we say something different.'

"Who is Wisdom? Is she their servant or queen?

"But in order not to call themselves rebels out of human pride, to conceal these wounds of theirs, they say, 'It is up to God.'

"God has acted and acts. But the prince of the world holds sway in this world, whereas the King of kings reigns in Heaven, and, faithful‑He is faithful‑to the free will He has left to man‑to test, reward, or, quite often, condemn him‑He does not do violence to their will, but awaits them, and soon, in judgment.

"They would do well to meditate on the page in the Gospel where I, the Teacher of teachers, Incarnate Wisdom, Word, and Truth, say that sins against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

"And this truly is a work of the Spirit of the Spirit of God, of the Love of the Father and the Son, of the Spirit who knows all truth and comes to tell it to the men caught in the present whirl wind‑or, rather, whirlwinds‑so that they can defend them selves from the doctrines of hell."

This dictation followed upon a text by Father Cordovani on the need for the knowledge of theology among lay people, too, and their request for true and valid theology..."

May 25, 1950: The conflict at its peak

(Letters to Mother Teresa Maria, Volume 2, pp. 304-305)

After the attempt to destroy the work on February 22, 1949, and the intervention of Luigina Sinapi ("Luciana"), agitation is at its height. "Partisans" and "opponents" of the work struggle to obtain or prevent arbitration by the Holy Father. The Holy Year mobilizes attention and the conflict is not conducive to the Vatican atmosphere. Pie XII is kept away from this. It is only in January 1952 that confrontation resumes with a petition to the pope, initiated by Monsignor Carinci, which will end ... at the Holy Office. Father Berti is not a signatory. He disappears from the Vatican corridors to focus on the publication of the works. He will return to the Holy Office only in 1960 after the Index.

[Monsignor] Carinci said Father Berti’s letter of April 17. He claimed in the letter that the Holy Father wanted to receive the four men in audience. Carinci says, on May 17, that the "Holy Father refused the audience more than a month ago." His refusal therefore dates to April 17. Was it he who refused it, or rather Callori, or the 'evil insiders', in the Pope’s name and without his knowledge? Mystery. I think it was the others, and not the Pope. I gave my opinion very clearly to Monsignor Carinci.

See also

• Father Corrado Berti and Maria Valtorta
• Text of Father Berti's conference, Thursday January 29, 1970
• Father Berti's sworn statement (1978)
• Memories of Father Berti by Emilio Pisani
• Final testimony of Father Berti (1980)

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