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I rarely believe private revalation.
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that would be a mistake as well, Paul clearly says to test all prophecy and not to quench the Spirit…often, when one has gotten deep into Mental Prayer, you will start to notice little nudges or events during the day that show God is speaking…Bill Wilson, the founder of AA, even mentions this in the Big Book…
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"Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, etc., that would be considered ‘private revelation’”: I think that the books of the Bible are public revelation, part of the “deposit of faith.” The Catholic Catechism says, “There have been so-called “private” revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith.”
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The Wikipedia page on Maria Valtorta says, " In 2025, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith declared her writings as non-supernatural in origin. " It has a link to a Vatican press release of 22 Feb 2025.
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What happens when one’s private revelation contradicts public revelation. Which do you believe to be true?
The problem that I have with private revelation is that individuals who claim to be prophets today are mentally off (And maybe I would have thought the same of Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, etc. had I lived in their day.) Take for instance someone who believes God is telling them to blow up an abortion clinic, but public revelations tells us that this is wrong. Who is correct? I side with public revelation.
I do not doubt that God speaks to individuals. I believe He has guided my life, through others, signs, situations and opportunities. These were meant for me and not for the entire world. It isn’t that I am special, but rather that these revelations were not meant for everyone, but customized to my relationship with Him.
God knows who the leaders are. If He has a public message meant for everyone, He knows not to come to me ; )
Great point! I agree with this. I appreciate you sharing.
I merely reported what I discovered. Until yesterday I had not heard of Maria Valtorta. I do not have an opinion about her or her writing, nor do I have an obligation or an inclination to investigate claimed private revelations.
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“I do not doubt that God speaks to individuals. I believe He has guided my life, through others, signs, situations and opportunities. These were meant for me and not for the entire world.” I have had the same experience. One example: a few years ago I was praying with others outside an abortion clinic. A man was yelling at us and being kind of nasty. I thought I heard the Holy Spirit tell me that the man had lost a child to abortion, so I asked the guy whether he had lost a son or daughter to abortion. He said yes and said he wasn’t sorry. Did I have a private revelation? Did I make a lucky guess? Was I Captain Obvious, stating what anybody could figure out? I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I politely said something.
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Why are you so infatuated with this Maria Valtorta? What is your agenda? What has she revealed to you that you want the world to also believe to be true?
“You looked up Maria Valtorta, found a recent statement by The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith that her writings “cannot be considered to be of supernatural origin”, and shared it on a public forum without knowing anything else about her. Why do that unless you blindly believe what you read to be true?”
I do not accept the requirement that I investigate a case myself before telling others about a Vatican statement I found. And if I blindly believe what I read, I would accept what you wrote about Maria Valtorta. My quoting a Vatican statement is not a good reason for your harsh criticism.
You forgot the word “alleged” words ; )
Also, the alleged prophet Joseph Smith also claimed to have received visions and was given sacred texts and revelations from God.
How does He do this? Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would say that the “prophet” Joseph Smith was His true spokesman.
And these members do not lack faith, humility, or love. Mormons would say the Book of Mormon, revealed to Joseph Smith by an angel of the Lord, is confirmed through personal spiritual experiences, the testimony of the Holy Ghost, and the testimony of witnesses who saw the gold plates (which has also been questioned by individuals who are skeptical).
I have friends who are LDS and they love Jesus, the Holy Bible, and are genuinely good people, but they believe things that are not in line with the Church founded by Jesus (though they might argue that Christ restored His Church through Joseph Smith).
My point here is not to debate LDS Beliefs, but rather to illustrate how Catholic Christians need to be careful of taking hold of private revelation and applying it as public revelation.
If you read Maria Valtorta and it inspires your faith in Jesus Christ, then this is better than having no faith. I would say the same about my Mormon friends.
Nope. I am not interested in what God allegedly revealed to some rando. I am more interested in what God has reveled to the rondos in the Bible and to their successors. I feel like latching onto supposed, modern prophesies could lead one astray (no offense). I know that you are very passionate about this, but it is not something that I am interested in entertaining.
I do believe in both private and public revelation. And I believe God is actively speaking to us in many ways. Where I get cautiously skeptical is when individuals use terms like “spokesperson of God” or confuse private revelation with public revelation. Or worse, thoughts of a mad-man as revelations from God (I’m not saying that this is the case here, but I tend to stick to what is sound.)
That is the important question when talking about this topic.
I do. The Catechism says that “no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ” (CCC 66).
Paragraph 67 says, “Throughout the ages, there have been so-called ‘private’ revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history… [The] Christian faith cannot accept ‘revelations’ that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment…”
St. Paul says, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good” (1 Thess. 5:19-21).
Maybe I do wrongly despise prophetic utterances and quench the Spirit when I hear someone claiming to be “a spokesperson of God.” And I do it out of caution.
I am also skeptical of what is being referred to as “the spirit of synodality.” I think a lot of individuals are pushing an agenda (again, I’m not saying that this is the case with Miss Valtorta).
The Church has said, “It should be reiterated that alleged ‘visions’, ‘revelations,’ and ‘messages’ contained in the writings of Maria Valtorta—or, in any case, attributed to them—cannot be regarded as having a supernatural origin. Rather, they should be considered simply as literary forms that the author used to narrate the life of Jesus Christ in her own way.”
Fr. Mark Slatter said in an article, “To keep a sane view of private revelation, you must know first and above all that you do not have to accept any private revelation whatsoever, nor are you bound to it in any way except to that which already reflects the truths of Scripture and Tradition.”