(...)I see
Mary Who is spinning very quickly under the pergola, where the grapes
are growing bigger and bigger. Some time must have elapsed because the
apples are beginning to redden on the trees and the bees are humming
near the fig flowers already mature.
Elizabeth
is now quite stout, and she is walking heavily. Mary looks at her
carefully and lovingly. Also Mary's sides appear more round when She
gets up to pick up the spindle which has fallen far away from Her. The
expression on Her face has changed. It is more mature; before She was a
girl, now She is a woman.
The
women go into the house because it is now getting dark, and the lamps
are lit in the room. While waiting for supper, Mary begins to weave.
« Does it never tire You? » asks Elizabeth, pointing to the loom.
« No, you can be sure of that. »
« I am exhausted by this heat. I have not suffered any longer, but now the weight is too heavy for my old kidneys. »
« Take
courage. You will soon be free. How happy you will then be. I am
longing to be a mother. My Child! My Jesus! What will He be like? »
« As beautiful as You are, Mary. »
« Oh
no! More beautiful! He is God. I am His maid. What I meant is, will He
be fair or dark? Will His eyes be like a clear sky, or like the eyes of a
mountain deer? I imagine Him more beautiful than a cherub, with golden
curly hair, His eyes the same colour as the Sea of Galilee when the
stars begin to peep on the horizon, His tiny little mouth as red as a
pomegranate that bursts when it matures in the sun, and His cheeks as
pink as this pale rose, with two little hands that could be contained in
the hollow of a lily, they are so small and tiny, and two tiny feet
that I can hold in the hollow of My hand, so soft and smooth, even more
so than the petal of a flower. See. The idea I form of Him is taken from
all the beautiful things that nature suggests to Me. And I can hear His
voice. When He cries - because My Child will cry a little when He is
hungry or sleepy, and it will always be a great pain for His Mummy Whose
heart will be pierced every time She hears Him cry - when He cries, His
voice will be like the bleating that now comes from a little lamb, only
a few hours old, when it seeks its mother's breast, and her warm
maternal fleece to sleep. When He laughs - and My heart in love with my
Creature will then be full of Heaven, for I can be in love with Him,
because He is My God, and it will not be against My consecrated
virginity to love Him as a lover - His voice when He laughs will be like
the merry cooing of a happy little dove which is full and content in
its cosy little nest. And I think of Him when He is taking His first
steps… a little bird hopping on a flowery meadow. The meadow will be His
Mother's heart, it will
be
laid under His tiny pink feet with all Her love, so that He may not
tread on anything that may hurt Him. Oh, how I will love My Child! My
Son! Also Joseph will love Him. »
« But You will have to tell Joseph. »
Mary's
face darkens, and She sighs. « Yes, I will have to tell him… I wish
Heaven would tell him, because it is so difficult to tell. »
« Shall I tell him? We will ask him to come for John's circumcision… »
« No.
I have entrusted God with the task of informing him of his happy
destiny of putative father of the Son of God, and He will do so. The
Spirit said to Me that evening: "Be silent. Entrust Me with the task of
justifying You". And He will do so. God never lies. It is a great trial,
but with the help of the Eternal Father, it will be overcome. No one
must learn from My mouth what the benignity of the Lord has done.
Certainly you are the exception, because the Spirit revealed it to
you. »
« I
have not mentioned it to anybody, not even to Zacharias who would have
been very happy. He thinks you are a mother according to nature. »
« I
know. And I decided that out of prudence. The secrets of God are holy.
The angel of the Lord did not reveal My divine maternity to Zacharias.
He could have done so, if God had wanted, because God knew that the time
for the Incarnation of His Word in Me was already imminent. But God hid
this joyful light from Zacharias, who rejected your late maternity as
something impossible. I have complied with the will of God, as you have
seen. You perceived the secret living in Me. He did not perceive
anything. Until the screen of his incredulity does not fall before the
power of God, he will be separated from supernatural lights. »
Elizabeth sighs and becomes silent.
Zacharias
comes in. He offers some parchment rolls to Mary. It is the hour of
prayer before supper. Mary prays in a loud voice in place of Zacharias.
Then they settle down at the table.
« When
You are no longer with us, how we shall regret having no longer anyone
to pray for us » says Elizabeth, looking at her dumb husband.
« You will pray then, Zacharias » says Mary.
He
shakes his head and writes: « I will never be able to pray again for
other people. I became unworthy when I doubted of my God. »
« Zacharias, you will pray. God forgives. »
The old man wipes a tear and sighs.
After supper, Mary goes back to the loom.
« That's enough! » says Elizabeth. « You will become too tired. »
« Your time is approaching, Elizabeth. I want to prepare for your child clothes worthy of him who will precede the King of the House of David. »
Zacharias writes: « Of whom will He be born? And where? »
Mary
replies: « Where the Prophets said, and of whom the Eternal Father will
choose. Whatever our Most High Lord does, is well done. »
Zacharias
writes: « Well, in Bethlehem then! In Judah. We shall go and worship
Him, woman. And You will come to Bethlehem, too, with Joseph. »
And Mary, bowing Her head over the loom says: « I will come. » The vision ends thus.
--------------------
Mary says:
« The
first charity towards our neighbours is to be exerted towards our
neighbours. This must not seem a pun to you. There is charity towards
God and charity towards our neighbours. Charity towards our neighbours
comprises also charity towards ourselves. But if we love ourselves more
than our neighbours, we are no longer charitable, we are selfish. Also
in lawful matters, we must be so holy as to always give priority to the
needs of our neighbour. Be sure, My children, that God provides for the
generous by means of His power and His bounty.
It
was this certainty that led Me to Hebron to assist My relative in her
condition. And to My eagerness for human help, God, giving beyond
measure as He is wont, added an unforeseen gift of supernatural
assistance. I went to give material help and God sanctified My good
intention by sanctifying, through it, the fruit of Elizabeth's womb, and
by means of that sanctification, by which the Baptist was
presanctified, He relieved the physical pain of the elderly daughter of
Eve, who had conceived at an unusual age.
Elizabeth,
a woman of fearless faith and confident submission to God's will,
deserved to understand the mystery that was enclosed within Me. The
Spirit spoke to her through the bouncing in her womb. The Baptist
pronounced his first speech, as the Announcer of the Word, through the
veils and the diaphragms of veins and flesh that separated and united
him at the same time to his holy mother.
Neither
did I deny My prerogative of being the Mother of the Lord, because she
was worthy of the information and the Light had revealed Itself to her.
To deny it would have meant denying God the praise that it was just
should be given to Him, the praise that I bore in Me, and which, since I
could not tell anyone, I repeated to the herbs, to the flowers, to the
stars, to the sun, to the singing birds and the patient sheep, to the
warbling waters, to the golden light that kissed Me descending from
Heaven. But it is sweeter to pray together rather than say our prayers
by ourselves.
I would have liked all the world to know of My destiny, not for My own sake, but that they might join Me in praising My Lord.
Prudence
forbade me to reveal the truth to Zacharias. That would have implied
going beyond the work of God. And if I was His Spouse and Mother, I was
still His servant, and I could not take the liberty of substituting Him
and exceeding Him in a decree, simply because He had loved Me beyond
measure.
Elizabeth in her holiness understood, and was silent. Because a holy person is always submissive and humble.
The
gift of God must increase our goodness. The more we receive from Him,
the more we must give. Because the more we receive, the more obvious it
is that He is with us and within us. And the more He is with us and
within us, the more we must endeavour to reach His perfection.
That
is why I worked for Elizabeth, postponing My own work. I was not afraid
that I would not have time. God is the master of time. He provides for
those who hope in Him, also in normal things. Selfishness does not speed
matters up, it delays them. Charity does not delay, it speeds up.
Always bear that in mind.
How
much peace there was in Elizabeth's house! If I had not been worried
about Joseph and… and my Child, Who was the Redeemer of the world, I
would have been happy, But the cross was already casting its shadow on
My life and I heard the voices of the Prophets like a knell…
My
name was Mary. Bitterness was always mingled with the sweetness that God
poured into My heart. And it increased more and more until the death of
My Son. But when God calls us, Mary, to the destiny of victims for His
glory, oh! it is sweet to be ground like corn in the millstone, to
convert our pain into a bread that can strengthen the weak and make them
capable of reaching Heaven!
Now, it is enough. You are tired and happy. Rest now with My blessing »
Written by Maria Valtorta. From POEM OF THE MAN-GOD, volume one, pp. 96-110.