14 March 1897
Maria Valtorta was born on 14 March 1897 in Caserta, where her parents, who were from Lombardy, were temporarily residing.
She was the only child of a cavalry marshal, a kind and submissive man, and a French teacher, a despotic and strict woman.
After nearly dying at birth, the little girl was entrusted to a nanny of ill repute, who went so far as to leave her for hours among the furrows of wheat in the sun-baked countryside.
Early 1900s – Milan
Frequent family moves, caused by the relocation of the regiment in which her father served, led her to spend the early years of her life in Faenza, in Romagna, and later in Milan, where Maria attended nursery school run by the Ursuline nuns.
It was here that, at an early age, she had the mystical intuition that would mark her forever: that of seeing pain inextricably linked to love, so much so that she desired to “console Jesus by becoming like Him in the pain voluntarily suffered for love”.
1905 – Confirmation
She also began primary school in Milan with the Marcelline nuns, becoming top of her class. In 1905, at the same institute, she received the sacrament of Confirmation from Cardinal Andrea Ferrari (now Blessed), who called her “Valtortino” because he noticed a masculine strength in her character.
He continued his primary education in Voghera, in municipal schools, and also in Voghera he took French lessons from some nuns who had been expelled from France due to an anti-clerical law.
October 1908 – First Communion
The nuns themselves prepared her for her first Communion, which she was able to take in Casteggio in October 1908, but without her father present, as her mother considered his presence unnecessary. Deeply attached to her father, she suffered greatly when, at the age of 12, she had to submit to her mother’s arbitrary decision to send her away from home to boarding school.
1909–1913 – Bianconi College in Monza
On the other hand, it was the beautiful Bianconi College in Monza, run by the Sisters of Mary the Child. She considered it her “haven of peace”, which for four years satisfied her love of study and discipline.
When she left at the age of sixteen, a sermon by a bishop made her understand that the Lord was asking her to live a life of loving penance while remaining in the world.
After 1913 – Florence
At home, she found her father physically and mentally impaired, so much so that he retired early and the family moved to Florence. Maria enjoyed living in the city of culture and art.
He often went to visit her in the company of his father. But there he suffered the pain of seeing his promising engagement to a distinguished young man, whom he had only just met, cut short by his mother’s harshness.
1917 – The Great War
Also in Florence, in 1917, in the midst of the World War, she joined the corps of volunteer nurses (known as Samaritans) who cared for wounded soldiers in military hospitals; and that experience shaped her.
But in 1920, she was attacked on the street by a communist subversive, who struck her in the kidneys with a club, leaving her disabled.
1920–1922 – Reggio Calabria
He then had the fortunate opportunity to spend two years in Reggio Calabria, without his parents, staying with his mother’s cousins, who were wealthy owners of two hotels.
Their sincere affection and the natural beauty of the place restored her spirits. During that holiday, she felt a new urge to live a life rooted in Christ. But her mother, even from afar, still hurt her feelings as a woman, and her return to Florence in 1922 plunged her back into “bitter memories”.
1924 – Viareggio
In 1924, her parents purchased a house in Viareggio, where the family settled and where Maria began an unstoppable spiritual journey, expressed through firm resolutions and culminating in heroic offerings of herself for the love of God and humanity.
1933–1934 – Final illness
At the same time, she was involved in the parish as a cultural representative for young women in Catholic Action and gave lectures that were also attended by non-practising members. But it was becoming increasingly difficult for her to get around.
On 4 January 1933, he left his home for the last time, with great difficulty, and from 1 April 1934, Easter Sunday, he never got out of bed again.
1935 – Marta Diciotti and the death of her father
On 24 May 1935, a young orphan girl named Marta Diciotti was taken into the household. She would become her assistant and confidante for the rest of her life.
A month later, on 30 June, her beloved father died, and Maria was on the verge of dying of grief.
4 October 1943 – Death of his mother
Her mother, whom she always loved out of natural duty and with supernatural feeling, as she repeatedly attests in her writings, died on 4 October 1943 without ever ceasing to harass her daughter.