The Gospel as Revealed to Me, Simplified
 Cover page of volume 1, EMVF, 2022 reissue
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| Work Details | |
|---|---|
| Author | Maria Valtorta |
| Text selection and commentary | Valérie Arroyo for the collection - Vincent Julien for the first volume |
| Pages | 298 |
| Publication | 2015, 5th revised and expanded edition, 2022 |
| Publisher | Éditions Maria Valtorta France |
| ISBN | 978-2-36463-397-1 |
| Distribution | Bookstore - online sales - Publisher's website |
This collection reprises the major work of Maria Valtorta "with the authentic dialogues, without the long descriptions." It was designed for "youth (from 12 years old) and adults" wishing to access the essentials of these visions. The selection of texts, as well as the explanatory notes, were done by Valérie Arroyo for the entire collection, assisted by Vincent Julien for the first volume.
Valérie Arroyo, born in 1960, was trained at the Cathedral School of Paris[1] and in Spiritual Discernment. She taught biblical courses in parish and now does catechesis.
Genesis of the project[edit | edit source]
In 2015, the publisher Maria Valtorta France (EMVF) asked her to adapt The Gospel as Revealed to Me for teenagers, which she undertook by adapting Maria Valtorta's monumental work for this audience. The 33-volume collection required 10 years of adaptation.
Content[edit | edit source]
This transcription is faithful to the original work translated into French. It includes the authentic dialogues, without the long descriptions. Numerous added notes help readers find the canonical Gospels and the spiritual heritage of the Church. Indeed, they provide details about the biblical references mentioned in the Work, articles of the Catechism of the Catholic Church involved, the various characters encountered, and places of Palestine traveled by Jesus and his Apostles...). The chapters "To go deeper" inserted at the end of each volume are intended to deepen points of Doctrine or Jesus' teachings on different spiritual themes. Finally, the title highlights a striking theme of each volume.
Preface to the collection of thirty-three volumes[edit | edit source]
This text presents the nature and interest of the collection by giving the floor directly to Jesus, giving his instructions to Maria Valtorta whom He briefly presents."Maria Valtorta (1897-1961), a suffering mystic soul, lived the privilege, for nearly ten years of her life, of contemplating in visions scenes of the life of Jesus. Jesus Himself opened up to her to explain this particular charism that the Lord allowed:"I have planned to alternate your contemplations and My consequent clarifications with true and proper dictations to comfort you and your spirit, granting you the beatitude of seeing, and also because in this way the difference in style between your composition and Mine will be obvious. Furthermore, with so many books dealing with Me and which after so many revisions, changes and fineries have become unreal, I want to give those who believe in Me a vision brought back to the truth of My mortal days. I am not diminished thereby, on the contrary I am made greater in My humbleness, which becomes substantial nourishment for you, to teach you to be humble and like Me, as I was a man like you and in My human life I bore the perfection of a God."[2]Jesus even specifies to Maria Valtorta His intentions through these writings:
"Do you know, Mary, what you are doing? Or rather, what I am doing, in showing you the Gospel? Making a stronger attempt to bring men to Me. You yearned for it with your fervent prayers. I will no longer confine Myself to words. They tire men and detach them. It is a fault, but it is so. I will have recourse to visions, also of My Gospel, and I will explain them to make them more attractive and clear.I give you the comfort of seeing them. I give everybody the possibility of wishing to know Me. And if it is of no avail, and like cruel children they should throw away the gift without understanding its value, you will be left with My present, and they with My indignation. I shall be able once again to repeat the old reproach: 'We played for you and you would not dance; we sang laments and you would not weep'.[3]
But it does not matter. Let them, the inconvertible ones, heap burning coals on their heads and let us turn to the little sheep seeking to become acquainted with their Shepherd. It is I, and you are the staff leading them to Me."[4]
Editorial stance[edit | edit source]
It is the knowledge of the young audience that led Valérie Arroyo and the publisher to define this "simplification". But it also reaches a broader audience sometimes puzzled by the many details contained in the visions. They are useful in creating the conditions of an immersive experience and in justifying the authenticity of the vision, but they surprise some.
Collection summary[edit | edit source]
| Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3 | Volume 4 |
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Notes and references[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Known as the Collège des Bernardins, it is the theological faculty of the Diocese of Paris. It hosts about 3,000 students annually, clerics or laypeople.
- ↑ The Gospel as Revealed to Me, Volume 1, GRM 44.8.
- ↑ See Matthew 11:17 or Luke 7:32.
- ↑ The Gospel as Revealed to Me, Volume 1, GRM 45.9.