Our Lady of Loreto

Our Lady of Loreto, referred to Mother Mary, leads to the house where she was born and raised and where the Annunciation occurred. Tradition holds that angels miraculously transported the home from Palestine to Loreto, Italy, in the 13th century. The legendary journey reveals why Our Lady of Loreto is the patroness of aviators. The story goes to a patron family who holds the name "Angelo," who had either moved house or had stones for a replica home imported from the Holy Land. The stones in the shrine in Italy match the stones of a structure that still stands in Nazareth that is believed to be another part of Mother Mary's home. The home's history states that after Jesus' ascension, the apostles converted the home to a church. During the pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 336 AD, Empress Helen had a large basilica built over it. At the close of the Crusades, European forces feared that the house would be destroyed, and it was moved. Miracles took place wherever it was, and the home finally rested in Italy. Before the Second Vatican Council in 1962, Pope John XXIII made a pilgrimage to Loreto. Fifty years later, in 2012, Pope Benedict XVI made a second pilgrimage to the site to mark the council's anniversary and dedicate the Year of Faith to Our Lady of Loreto. 

Prayer

O God, who at the announcement of your angel willed that your Word would take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant, we pray, to us who remember this great mystery in this holy place, the ability to celebrate both in faith and in holiness of life, the immensity of your mercy.

Prepared and updated by:

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,

Penampang, Sabah Malaysia.