The amazing geological accuracy of Maria Valtorta's writings

In the middle of the 20th century, the Italian Catholic mystic Maria Valtorta received more than 600 visions of the life of Jesus, which she transcribed into thousands of handwritten pages. The meticulous study of these writings, undertaken after her death, never ceases to amaze specialists. One of them, Professor Vittorio Tredici, head of the Italian Metallurgical Mining Company, was amazed to find that Maria Valtorta's geological and mineralogical descriptions are perfectly accurate despite the fact that she had never physically been there and that no documentation containing these details existed at the time.

Maria Valtorta, aged 15 / © CC0/wikimedia

Reasons to believe:

Maria Valtorta could not, humanly speaking, have had the knowledge she shares in her transcriptions (topographical, geological, and mineralogical details), for three reasons:

she never physically visited the places she describes;

she describes certain geographical features that have since disappeared, or that have changed so much over the last two thousand years that they have become unidentifiable to non-specialists in geology;

no documentary database containing all this information existed at the time when she wrote down her visions.

Summary:

Throughout her writings, entitled The Gospel as Revealed to Me (formerly The Poem of the Man God), Maria Valtorta names some 50 types of mineral: emeralds, turquoise, opal, amethyst, jasper, sapphire, hyacinth, topaz, ruby (117.6), beryls, onyx, chrysolites (294.3), cipollino marble (370.1), porphyry (375.3), sard, agates (525.6), basalt (558.3), etc.

Vittorio Tredici (1892-1967) was a highly experienced mineralogist, president of the Italian Metallic Minerals Company, vice-president of the Extractive Industries Corporation, and president of the Italian Potassium Company, who had done mining research in Jordan. In January 1952, after reading the Gospel as Revealed to me, he confirmed Maria Valtorta's geological and mineralogical descriptions in a context devoid of scientific documents that could have informed her writings (cf. Pro e contro Maria Valtorta, p. 90-93). He also noted that Maria Valtorta describes (in vision 287) the use of superimposed blocks of limestone that resemble granite, a detail that "can only be appreciated, on the site, by an expert", as well as the presence of a spring near Gerasa, indeed attested, but so small that it is very easy not to notice it.

Married and father of nine children, Professor Tredici was a devout Catholic. Impressed by Maria Valtorta’s writings, he went to meet her in Viareggio. In 1952, he issued his “declaration” as a man of science and of faith. In a signed testimony dated January 1952, he wrote:

"To the extent that I must consider myself as simply a layman from the viewpoint of theological training, the immediate impression that I got was that this Work could not be the fruit of simple human will, even if she was gifted with knowledge of the doctrine and the culture, and with truly superior capabilities. I sensed here the unmistakable imprint of the Divine Master, even if He presents Himself to the eyes of the reader under so realistically human a light than would be apparent from just reading the Gospels. Yet this Humanity—while humble and natural—remains throughout the Work the true Humanity of Our Lord Jesus Christ—always, unmistakably—just as in our meditations and our aspirations we have continually envisioned Him near us in all our life as sinners. I also get the impression that while the Work is able to stir up an immense tumult of thoughts, feelings, and good works from the depths of our being, at the same time it convinces us—I dare to say definitively—that the truth exists solely and exclusively in the Gospel because – even in our highest concepts—He is accessible in a clear and perfect way in everyone’s mind. 64 What struck me most deeply in the Work, from a critical point of view, was the perfect knowledge the writer had of Palestine and areas where the preaching of Our Lord Jesus Christ took place. This is knowledge that in some passages surpasses your average geographical or panoramic knowledge, becoming specifically topographical and even, geological and mineralogical. From this viewpoint, no publications exist —as far as I know—in such detail as in this account, above all for the area beyond the Jordan (now also Jordanian), that would allow even a scientist who has not physically been to the site, to imagine and describe whole paths and roads with such perfection as would perplex [or astound] those who have in fact had the opportunity of actually going there. I have traveled all over Palestine and Jordan, and other Middle Eastern countries on numerous trips. I remained for a while in Jordan in particular for mining purposes so I was able to see and follow with a keen eye what those sketchy and inaccurate English publications (the only ones that exist on the subject for those areas) cannot even remotely offer. Well I can declare with a clear conscience that after reading the description given in the Work about one of Our Lord Jesus Christ’s journeys over the Jordan up to Jerash, I recognized the path of Our Lord so perfectly. With the vivid memory that sprang to my mind from my reading, I recognized the description made with such precision that only those who could actually see it or have seen it could possibly be able to describe it! But my surprise was intensified further when, as I continued reading, I read a statement of a mineralogical nature where, in describing some protruding dykes like granite, [Valtorta] affirms that they are not, in fact, granite, but limestone! I declare that this distinction could be appreciated—on site—only by an expert! And I continued to read that at a little distance across the summit, before resuming the gentle descent to Jerash, there is a small spring where Our Lord Jesus Christ stopped with a caravan to eat a quick breakfast. Now I think that this spring is so small and inconspicuous that it would have been missed by anyone, even passing close by it, who had not been particularly attentive. In addition to the description of that whole journey, there are elements where the tradition in that area is supported by confirming that the towns and countries that I have seen are still almost 100% Christian, in a predominantly Muslim country. And they have been so from the time Our Lord Jesus Christ preached there. This factor cannot leave anyone feeling indifferent. 65 These facts and others, which I do not quote for the sake of brevity, have struck my critical spirit and have reinforced in me the absolute conviction that this Work is the fruit of the Supernatural; if not, I would not be able to find a humanly convincing explanation for these facts that I have cited and which are nevertheless completely verifiable. But, more than my critical spirit, it is my heart that feels better every time I read more pages from this Work, which assures me that it is "God's Work". With all my being, I hope that this Work will become the heritage and dominion of all mankind, as soon as possible – to be urgently propagated – because I think and I feel that through these Works many, many, many wandering souls will return to the Fold."

Rome, January 1952, Vittorio Tredici.

This testimony by Pr. Vittorio Tredici was one of the documents accompanying the petition addressed to Pope Pius XII on January 29, 1952 by the Archbishop and Secretary of the Congregation of Rites, Archbishop Alfonso Carinci, following the Holy Office's repeated attacks on Maria Valtorta's transcriptions.

Fabrice-Marie Gagnant

Going further:

The most complete compilation of documents, testimonies and statements on Maria Valtorta's writings to date: A Summa and Encyclopedia to Maria Valtorta’s Extraordinary Work

More information:

Article about Maria Valtorta
Article "Maria Valtorta: Jesus' pen" in Mystics of the Church website
Archbishop Carinci's Approval of Valtorta and Her Work (Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Rites from 1930 to 1960)
Video of a talk at the First International Italian Valtorta Conference by Stephen Austin (from the United States) is entitled “Promoting Maria Valtorta’s Extraordinary Writings Around the World”