When Pope St. Pius X appeared to Maria Valtorta.
Pope
St. Pius X was pope from 1903-1914, he appeared to Maria Valtorta on
February 8, 1946.
Valtorta
writes:
Kindly,
candid and good-natured, the figure of holy Pope Pius X appeared to
me at the time of Holy Communion. He came forward just as he surely
looked in his final days. Slightly obese, burdened by ailments, with
his silent gait somewhat shuffling, his shoulders somewhat bent,
rounded, supporting a head covered with silvery hair - already haloed
with splendor - above his short neck, with a youthfulness in the
flesh of his elderly face, and a virginal sweetness in the gaze of
his limpid, serene eyes. He was wearing the white clothing of the
Pontiffs, but without a red mantle or camauro.
Oh,
not at all! He was a priest dressed in white rather than black -
that's all. But he was so much ‘himself’ that he was more
venerable than if he had been in the magnificence of pontifical
apotheoses, amid banners and flabella
[ceremonial
fans],
shining
guards, the red of cardinals, and so on. He was the holy Pope.
He
uplifted his short, chubby hand to bless me. He spoke:
“Woman
blessed by the Lord and the Immaculate Virgin, may the Lord and Mary
always be with you. Do not take offense, blessed one! Continue,
continue on your way. The Lord is pleased. Be simple,
increasingly simple, like
a child. One of those children whom our blessed Lord so loved. Feed
on the Eucharist because you are the little host that is consecrated
only when Our Lord Jesus Christ is transubstantiated in the large
Host. The more you feed on the Holy Eucharist, then, the more you
become a host with Him.
“O
blessed one! If I were on the throne of Peter and they told me that
there was a creature who had become a “voice” after having been a
“voluntary cross”, I would not leave you in this anguish. But I
would have comforted you with my blessing, reading the blessed pages
[the writings of her revelations] on my knees.
“Remain
a girl, won't you? Always a girl [...]
with
your eyes free from all malice and your heart free from all pride, to
understand the Most Blessed Master at all times, who provides
instruction for the good of many. The
Eucharist and simplicity. The
way of the children of love. St. Therese's way, and also mine as a
poor servant of the Lord who is still amazed at having become a
Pontiff after being a priest”.
And
he wept gently, humble and holy in his weeping as he was holy in his
smile. He lifted up his head and looked at me again - he, too, a big
‘child’; his expression was so pure. He again smiled at me and
said:
“I
give you my blessing. Are you happy? I bless you, soul of the Lord
and of Mary Most Holy. Continue in patience and faith. In Paradise
nothing is remembered except having always done the Most Holy Will of
God, and in this, one
is blessed. Paradise is so beautiful that none of the lovely things
you see can equal it. You could not see Paradise as it is because
your heart would burst.
“When
you get the chance, send my blessing to that blessed soul, Sister
Giuseppina. [Sister
Giuseppina of Jesus Crucified, a
nun whom Valtorta knew personally.] Tell
her that her Patriarch always remembers the Institutes of the Most
Holy Child Mary, and especially those very dear ones of his Venetian
region. Peace, peace to those places and those who live there! And
peace to you, little child of my Jesus. Good-bye. Always remember the
Pontiff of children and the Eucharist.”
He
again raised his hand in blessing, and the whiteness of the woolen
robe turned into an incandescence in which St. Pius X was
transfigured and disappeared. And now I can say that I, too, have
seen a Pontiff! And what a Pontiff!
[...]
I was very happy that he spoke to me so informally, like a good
pastor, as when he was one in his Venetian region - and he was
already holy and great in the sight of God - as when, acting as the
Patriarch and later as the Pontiff, he would linger informally with
his friends, with the simple folk, with whom the very humble and holy
Pope Pius X must have felt quite at ease.
Maria
Valtorta, The
Notebooks, 1945-1950,
Feb. 8, 1946, p. 185.
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