Maria Valtorta - Early Life

Early Life

Valtorta was born in Caserta, in the Campania region of Italy, the only child of parents from the Lombardy region, her father being born in Mantova and her mother in Cremona. Her father, Giuseppe, was in the Italian cavalry and her mother, Iside, was a French teacher.

At age 7 she was enrolled in the Institute of the Marcellienne Sisters and at age 12 she was sent to the boarding school in Monza administered by the Sisters of Charity. As the family moved around Italy due to her father's military career, she received a classic education in various parts of Italy and focused on Italian literature.

In 1913, when she was about 16 years old, her father started his retirement from his position and the family moved to Florence. She stated that in 1916 she had a personal religious experience and felt a closeness to God which transformed her life. In 1917, during the First World War she volunteered as a Samaritan Nurse and for 18 months worked at the military hospital in Florence.

On 17 March 1920, at the age of 23, while she was walking on a street with her mother, a delinquent youth struck her in the back with an iron bar for no apparent reason. As a result of that injury, she was confined to bed for three months. Although she seemed to have recovered after three months, and was able to move around for over a decade thereafter, the complications from that incident eventually confined her to bed for 28 years, from April 1934 to the end of her life.