Maria Valtorta Readers' Group, March 2025

The most evident mark of God's anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clergy who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than charity and affection of devoted shepherds ... Instead of nourishing those committed to their care, they rend and devour them brutally.

Instead of leading their people to God, they drag Christian souls into hell in their train. Instead of being the salt of the earth and the light of the world, they are its innocuous poison and its murky darkness....

They abandon the things of God to devote themselves to the things of the world and, in their saintly calling of holiness, they spend their time in profane and worldly pursuits.

When God permits such things, it is a very positive proof that He is thoroughly angry with His people, and is visiting His most dreadful anger upon them. That is why He cries unceasingly to Christians, "Return O ye revolting children ... and I will give you pastors according to My own heart". (Jer. 3:14,15) Thus, irregularities in the lives of priests constitute a scourge upon the people in consequence of sin.

October 3, 1948

"Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all this is accomplished." — Mt. 24:34; Mk 13:30; Lk 21:32

Maria Valtorta:

Jesus speaks on the subject of Chapter 24 of St. Matthew, and especially in St. Mark 13:30, in St. Luke 21:32, a theme amply taken up again and treated in the epistles of the Apostles Peter, Paul, and John.

Jesus:

I was not in error when I said: "This generation will not pass away before all this is accomplished" (the Antichrist, signs in the heavens, signs of the times, end of the world, return of the Christ and the Final Judgment), because I cannot err.

But it was those who heard Me who erred (the Apostles and disciples) in interpreting these My words. And by measuring and judging with human measures and judgment, they interpreted My words to mean that the generation of which I was speaking was the common human generation of a few years of life. Hence they believed that within a few years of My Death and Resurrection, all had to be accomplished.

And so they taught, unintentionally creating for those who do not believe in Me, or who are no longer living members of the Mystical Body, an argument to demonstrate that: 1- the Gospel is the work of men; 2- that those men never received teaching from a Divine Master; 3- that the double infusion of the Holy Spirit is a lie; 4- (and the ultimate blasphemy), that the Christ God-Man did not exist, that the Word was not made flesh and never taught; 5- that it is all a fable, created by a group of men; 6- that the Church as founded by Christ is a lie, a coterie and nothing more, a party, an association, but not the Church of Christ, not His Mystical Body, not the repository and Teacher of the truth; 7- that the primacy of Peter and the assistance of the Holy Spirit for the Vicar of Christ in matters of faith and morals, does not exist; 8- that the sacraments are [only] figures, the Sacrifice of the Altar and every rite are simply choreography.

The Apostles were: men. As all the scholars are men who for twenty centuries read the Gospel without understanding certain key phrases.

The Apostles were men. Men even after the double infusion of the Holy Spirit, as they also are men who, even though having received the fullness of the Holy Spirit for their ministry as Shepherds, still do not understand the true meaning of My words.

The creature is always imperfect. And even if surrounded and penetrated by the splendors of Sapiential Light, the creature brings with it the clouds and heaviness of its nature: human and limited. And though [the creature] may emerge from a direct communication with God, its human thought and judgment spread like smoke or tighten like a noose on the truth it has heard, without having the will or capacity to destroy or hide [the truth]—because, in fact, My servant wants it to live and be revealed. But he maims and obscures the truth because of an inborn weakness in the creature's nature as man.

They, the Apostles, embraced the letter of My phrase, but did not understand its spirit. Hence, they believed that I was speaking of the generation of their time, and hence, too, they judged My return would be quick.

An error of irreparable and damaging consequences? No. It rather served, and serves through the ages, and will serve until the end of time to keep vigilant those spirits who can be compared to the wise virgins [Mt 25: 1-13]. The others, even without this error—which they use as a pretext to combat the Truth—would have been, are, and ever will be against the Truth and God and the Church. Each one draws from the depths of his heart what he harbors there, and it is not what enters that kills, but what thrives there, finding a propitious terrain [cf. Mt 15: 11-18; Lk 6:45].

But listen. My phrase should be understood thus: This generation (I was surrounded by the Apostles and disciples, that is, believers in Me) will not pass away, this generation of My sons, of the sons of God—because whoever believes in Me and welcomes Me is born in God and of God, and acquires the right to be a son of God, as was said by John in the beginning of his Gospel and in his first Epistle (Chaps. 4 & 5)— this generation will not pass away before the end of the world comes with all its foreshadowing and final signs.

Because if it is true that at the end of time there will be little faith, since few will have known how to persevere to the end by resisting the doctrines of the false prophets, of the antichrists or (if you prefer) the sons of Satan, it is also true that faith in Me will not die, and there will be those who believe in Me on every continent.

Therefore "this generation," Mine, that of the "sons of God," will not have passed away, died, or been destroyed, before I return.

Thus was My phrase to be interpreted, and thus should it be interpreted in order to be understood in its truth. But be patient with him who understands it badly, even if he is an apostle or scholar, bearing in mind that even the apostle and scholar is still and always a man.

"No, the work [The Gospel as Revealed to Me] has not perished, though men have perfectly served Satan's intentions to make it perish. I tell you: it has not perished. It cannot perish. I and My Mother watch over it. They will perish, those who protected it badly and judged badly; but the work is not perishing. Men may prevail with their impure sentiments but cannot destroy the work of God. Punishment will befall those who have sinned and sin. But the work does not sin, and you have not sinned. Therefore, it shall not perish."

As I made you write the words "of My chalice" in the vision of John and James' mother, who asked for a place for her sons, so I tell you to point out the passage of yesterday's vision: "he who falls against this stone will break in pieces." In translations they always use "on." I said against and not on. And it is a prophecy against the enemies of My Church. Those who oppose It, hurling themselves against It, because It is the Headstone, are crushed. For the last twenty centuries the history of the Earth has confirmed what I said. The persecutors of the Church are crushed as they hurl themselves against the Headstone. But it is also true, and those who think that they are secure from divine punishments, because they belong to the Church, should bear this in mind, he on whom falls the weight of the condemnation of the Head and Bridegroom of this Bride of Mine, of My mystical Body, will be crushed.

In this interpretation, "crushed" doesn't just refer to physical destruction; it encompasses spiritual, moral, and even societal consequences. It indicates that opposition to the Church and to Christ will inevitably lead to ruin—whether in this life through physical, political, or social collapse, or in the next life through spiritual separation from God.

The last twenty centuries of history confirm this by showing that those who oppose the Church—whether by direct persecution or by moral corruption—have often faced downfall, while the Church itself has endured and grown, often in spite of intense opposition. This enduring truth illustrates the foundational stability of Christ and His Church, symbolized by the "Headstone" that ultimately triumphs over those who stand against it.

People's good or evil works always serve a supernatural purpose, because human wickedness is gathered by God and the touch of His hands turns it into an instrument of good. God leaves no stone unturned in His far-sighted work to achieve His purpose, which is to gather human beings into one single nucleus for the last day, just as from one single nucleus they did spread out on the Earth, dividing like brooklets overflowing from the bowl of a fountain.

The work has already begun and the persecutors who harm and offend what is human do not know they are setting up by their iniquity the great day of the Lord. On that day I will gather like scattered sheep My huge flock at the foot of the Cross, I will recall by the name of "lambs" the young that became wild in the flock which was already Mine, and I will drive out those who under My sign are the vipers and wolves of human society.

Let us gaze together at the times which, like a peaceful dawn following a stormy night, will precede the Day of the Lord. You will no longer be there. But from your resting place you will delight in it, because you will see mankind's struggle about to end and sorrow already diminishing to give time to the living to gain new strength for the Earth's last short upheaval, before hearing the order assembling in it all its living and all its dead, past and present, from the time of Adam onwards.

I have already told you: My Church will have her day of hosanna before its final passion. Then the everlasting triumph will come.

At that time the whole world will know the Church of Rome, because the Gospel will resound from the poles to the equator and the Word will go from one side of the globe to the other, like a belt of love. Catholics, leaving behind the terribly savage struggle of which this one [World War II] is but the prelude, weary of murdering one another and of following ruthless rulers, will turn from the unquenchable thirst to kill and the insurmountable violence, turning towards the Triumphant Cross, rediscovered after their long blindness. Above the great din of massacres and abundant blood, they will hear the Voice that loves and forgives and they shall see the Light, whiter than the lily, descending from the Heavens to instruct them for the Heavens.

Like a march of millions and millions of tribes, men will go with their spirits towards Christ, and place their trust in the only entity on Earth in which there is no craving for oppression or desire for revenge.

It will be Rome that speaks. But not the more or less great, more or less lastingly great Rome which may be conquered by the leaders of peoples. It will be the Rome of Christ. The one that overcame the Caesars; conquering them without weapons, without battles, with one force only: love; with one weapon only: the Cross; with one rhetoric only: prayer. It will be the Rome of the great Pontiffs which, in a world darkened by barbarian invasions and dazed by acts of destruction, was able to preserve civilization and to spread it among the uncivilized. It will be the Rome that stood up to arrogant men and through the mouths of her holy Elders was able to side with the weak and sting with a spiritual punishment even those who appeared to be immune to any remorse.

You cannot, you dissimilar peoples, arrive at lasting agreement among yourselves. You all have the same aspirations and the same needs, and, like the pans of a scale, the weight of one nation's good share is detrimental to the other. You live so as always to get the better share and you kill one another for it. It is a seesaw situation which gets worse and worse.

Listen to the voice of the one who has no craving for domination, but, in the Name of his Most Holy King, wants to reign only over spirits. The day will come when, disillusioned with men, you will turn to him who is already more spirit than man and conserves only that minimum of humanity needed to make you convinced of his presence. There will come from his mouth, which I will inspire, words similar to the ones I would say to you—I, the Prince of Peace. He will teach you the most precious pearl of mutual forgiveness. He will convince you that there is no weapon more beautiful than the ploughshare, which wounds the clods to make them fertile, and the scythe, which cuts the grass to make it more beautiful. He will teach you that the holiest labor is that which is performed to obtain bread, clothing, and a house for one's brothers and sisters, and that only by loving one another as brothers and sisters will you no longer experience the poison of hatred and the tortures of war.

During My short rule over the world, I will be the One reigning—I and the remnants of My people—that is, the true faithful, those who did not deny Christ and cover the sign of Christ with Satan's tiara. Then the false gods of excessive power and the obscene doctrines that disown God, the almighty Lord, shall fall.

My Church, before the hour the world comes to an end, will have her shining triumph. Nothing differs in the life of the Mystical Body from what was in Christ's life. There will be the hosanna on the eve of the Passion, the hosanna when the nations, seized by the fascination of the Divinity, will bend their knee before the Lord. Then the Passion of My Church Militant will come, and finally the glory of the eternal Resurrection in Heaven.

O blessedness of that day, when the conspiracies, retaliations, and the struggles of Satan and of the flesh will be over forever! My Church will then be made up of real Christians, in that time, in the next-to-last day. Few as in the beginning, but holy as in the beginning. The Church will end in holiness as it began in holiness. The liars, betrayers, and idolaters will remain outside, those who on the last day will imitate Judas and sell their souls to Satan, harming Christ's Mystical Body. In them the Beast will have its replacements for its last war.

And woe to those in Jerusalem, in the last times, who become guilty of such a sin. Woe to those who exploit their function therein for human gain. Woe to those who let their brothers and sisters perish and neglect making the Word I have entrusted to them bread for the souls hungry for God. Woe. I will not distinguish between those openly denying God and those denying Him with their works. And in truth I tell you, with the sorrow of the supreme Founder, that in the final hour three-fourths of my Church will deny Me, and I will have to cut them away from the trunk as dead branches corrupted by an unclean leprosy.

But you that remain in Me: hear Christ's promise. Wait for Me faithfully and lovingly, and I will come to you with all My gifts. With the gift of gifts: Myself. I will come to redeem and to heal. I will come to illuminate the darkness, to defeat it, and rout it. I will come to teach the people to love and worship the Eternal God, the Most High Lord, the Holy Christ, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. I will come to bring you not the peace of this world, the endless destroyer of peace, but the Peace of the Kingdom that does not die.

My Church has already known periods of obscurantism due to a number of different things. It should not be forgotten that, if the Church, taken as an entity, as a work, is perfect like its Founder, when taken as a group of people it presents the imperfections characteristic of what comes from people.

When the Church—and by this I am now referring to the combination of its high dignitaries—acted according to the dictates of My Law and My Gospel, she experienced radiant times of splendor. But woe betide it when, putting the interests of Earth above those of Heaven, it defiled itself with human passions! Woe betide it three times over when it worshipped the Beast of which John speaks [Apocalypse ch. 13, 20], namely political Power, and let itself be enslaved by it. Then the light necessarily darkened into more or less obscure twilights, either due to the personal fault of the heads risen to that throne by human cunning, or due to their weakness in the face of human pressures.

Those are the times during which there are "idol shepherds," about whom I have already spoken, the consequence, at root, of the errors of all. Because if Christians were what they should be, whether powerful or humble, no abuses and intrusions would occur, and the punishment of God, Who withdraws His light from those who have rejected it, would not be provoked.

In past centuries, from these errors came the antipopes and schisms, and both the former and the latter divided consciences into two opposing camps, provoking incalculable ruin in souls. In future centuries, these same errors will manage to bring about the Error, namely, the Abomination in God's house [Matthew 24:15], the forerunning sign of the end of the world.

What will it consist of? When will it occur? It is not necessary for you to know this. I tell you only that from a priesthood cultivating rationalism excessively and serving political power excessively there can but fatally come a very dark period for the Church.

But have no fear. The prophecies of Zechariah are joined, like links in a chain, to John's. During this period of painful labor, the Church will be persecuted by hell's forces, and, like the mystical Woman spoken of by John, the Church will flee to save herself by taking refuge within the best members, and losing the unworthy ones in a mystical (I say mystical) flight. Afterwards she will give birth to the saints destined to lead her in the hour preceding the last times.

They will have a father's and a king's hand, those who are to gather the races around the Cross to prepare the assembly of Christ. Nor will any race fail to respond to the appeal, in its best children.

Then I will come and shall set up My power as a defense against all of Satan's traps and wiles, attacks and crimes against My earthly Jerusalem, the Church Militant.

I will pour out My Spirit upon all the redeemed of the Earth. And even those who now suffer, paying for their father's sins and unable to find salvation because they do not dare to turn to Me, will find peace, for, beating their breasts, they will call down upon themselves—in a way quite different from that of their fathers—that Blood already shed which drips inexhaustibly from the members their fathers pierced. Like a fountain I will stand in the midst of My flock, entirely reassembled, and will wash in Myself all the base actions of the past which repentance will already have begun to cancel out.

Then, as the King of Justice and Wisdom, I will scatter the idols of the false doctrines; I will purge the Earth of the false prophets who have led you into so many errors. I will take the place of all the scholars, all the prophets, more or less holy or more or less wicked, because the final teaching must be free from imperfection, as it must prepare those who have no time for purgation and who are to be called quickly to the tremendous inspection of the Last Judgment.

Christ the Redeemer, whose goal is to redeem you and Who leaves no stone unturned to do so, is already beginning and hastening His second teaching to counter with His voice of truth the cultural, social, and spiritual heresies which have arisen everywhere. He will speak with the signs of His Torment. Rivers of light and grace shall emerge from My Wounds, wounds which killed the Son of God, but heal the children of man.

These living rubies of my wounds shall be a sword against the impenitent, the obstinate, and those sold to Satan, and they will be a caress for the "little ones" who love Me as a loving father. This caress of Christ will come down upon their weakness to fortify them, and My hand shall carry them towards the trial in which only those who love Me with a true love can withstand. One third. But this portion shall be worthy of possessing the City of Heaven, the Kingdom of God.

Then I will come, no longer as the Teacher, but as King, to take possession of My Church Militant, by then made One and Universal, as My Will made it.

The centuries-long travail shall be over for her. The Enemy shall be defeated forever. The Earth shall be cleansed by the rivers of Grace descending one last time upon it to make it as it was in the beginning, when Sin had not corrupted this planetary altar—destined to sing with the other planets the praises of God, but which, because of man's sin, became the foundation for the scaffold of its Lord made flesh to save Earth. With all the seducers overcome, all the persecutors who, with a pressing rhythm, have distressed the Church, My Bride, She will experience tranquility and glory.

We will rise together for a final ascension, My saints and I, to take possession of the City without contamination, where My throne is prepared and where everything will be new and without pain. Immersed in My Light, you shall reign with Me forever and ever.

This is obtained for you by Him Who, for your sakes, became incarnate in Mary's womb and was born in Bethlehem of Judah to die on Golgotha.