The Basilica della Santa Casa ( en, Basilica of the Holy House) is a Marian shrine in
Loreto, in
the Marches,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. The basilica is known for enshrining the house in which the
Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...
is believed by some Catholics to have lived. Pious legends claim the same house was flown over by
angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...
ic beings from
Nazareth to
Tersatto (Trsat in
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
), then to
Recanati
Recanati () is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Macerata, in the Marche region of Italy. Recanati was founded around 1150 AD from three pre-existing castles. In 1290 it proclaimed itself an independent republic and, in the 15th century, ...
, before arriving at the current site.
["The Sanctuary of Loreto", Agenzia Nazionale Turismo]
/ref>
The basilica is also known for enshrining the Madonna and Child
In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent i ...
image of "Our Lady of Loreto". Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV (Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His ...
designated the religious image as patroness of air passengers and auspicious travel on 24 March 1920. Pope Pius XI granted a Canonical Coronation
A canonical coronation ( la, Coronatio Canonica) is a pious institutional act of the pope, duly expressed in a bull, in which the pope bestows the right to impose an ornamental crown, a diadem or an aureole to an image of Christ, Mary or J ...
to the venerated image made of Cedar of Lebanon
''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of tree in the genus cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great religi ...
wood on 5 September 1922, replacing the original Marian image consumed in fire on 23 February 1921.[Miller, Jennifer Gregory. "The New Advent Feast, Our Lady of Loreto", Catholic Culture, 11 December 2019]
/ref>
The church
The basilica containing the ''Santa Casa'' is a Late Gothic structure built starting from 1468,[ and continued by ]Giuliano da Maiano
Giuliano da Maiano (1432–1490) was an Italian architect, intarsia-worker, and sculptor, the elder brother of Benedetto da Maiano, with whom he often collaborated.
Biography
He was born in the village of Maiano, near Fiesole, where his fathe ...
, Giuliano da Sangallo
Giuliano da Sangallo (c. 1445 – 1516) was an Italian sculptor, architect and military engineer active during the Italian Renaissance. He is known primarily for being the favored architect of Lorenzo de' Medici, his patron. In this role, Giulia ...
, and Donato Bramante
Donato Bramante ( , , ; 1444 – 11 April 1514), born as Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect and painter. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance styl ...
. It is 93 meters long, 60 meters wide, and its campanile is 75.6 meters high.
The façade
A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'.
In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...
of the church was erected under Sixtus V, who in 1586 fortified Loreto and gave it the privileges of a town; his colossal statue stands on the parvis
A parvis or parvise is the open space in front of and around a cathedral or church, especially when surrounded by either colonnades or porticoes, as at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It is thus a church-specific type of forecourt, front yard or ...
, above the front steps, a third of the way to the left as one enters. Over the principal doorway there is a lifesize bronze statue of the Virgin and Child by Girolamo Lombardo; the three superb bronze doors executed at the latter end of the 16th century under the reign of Paul V (1605–1621) are also by Lombardo (1506-1590), his sons and his pupils, among them Tiburzio Vergelli (1551-1609), who also made the fine bronze font in the interior. The doors and hanging lamps are by the same artists.[
The richly decorated campanile (1750 to 1754), by ]Luigi Vanvitelli
Luigi Vanvitelli (; 12 May 1700 – 1 March 1773), known in Dutch as (), was an Italian architect and painter. The most prominent 18th-century architect of Italy, he practised a sober classicising academic Late Baroque style that made an eas ...
,[ is of great height; the principal bell, presented by ]Leo X
Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521.
Born into the prominent political an ...
in 1516, weighs 11 tons.
The interior of the church has mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
s by Domenichino and Guido Reni and other works of art, including statues by Raffaello da Montelupo
Raffaello da Montelupo (c. 1504/1505 – c. 1566/1567), born Raffaele Sinibaldi, was a sculptor and architect of the Italian Renaissance, and an apprentice of Michelangelo. He was the son of another Italian sculptor, Baccio da Montelupo. Both ...
. In the sacristies
A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.
The sacristy is usually located ...
on each side of the right transept
A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...
are frescoes, on the right by Melozzo da Forlì
Melozzo da Forlì (c. 1438 – 8 November 1494) was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. His fresco paintings are notable for the use of foreshortening. He was the most important member of the Forlì painting school.
Biography
...
, on the left by Luca Signorelli
Luca Signorelli ( – 16 October 1523) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Cortona in Tuscany, who was noted in particular for his ability as a draftsman and his use of foreshortening. His massive frescos of the ''Last Judgment'' (1499–15 ...
and in both there are some fine intarsia
Intarsia is a form of wood inlaying that is similar to marquetry. The start of the practice dates from before the seventh century AD. The technique of intarsia inlays sections of wood (at times with contrasting ivory or bone, or mother-of-pear ...
s; the basilica as a whole is thus a collaborative work by generations of architects and artists.
The ''Santa Casa''
The main focus of Loreto is the Holy House itself (in Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
, the ''Santa Casa di Loreto''). It has been a Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
pilgrimage destination since at least the 14th century and a popular tourist destination as well.[
]
The "house"
The "house" itself consists of three stone walls.[ It is a plain stone structure, with a door on the north side and a window on the west. The size is 31 x 13 feet, i.e. 9 x 4 m] (or 9.52 m by 4.10 m and 4.30 m high.
The Black Madonna of Our Lady of Loreto
A niche contains a 33 inches high image of the Virgin and Child richly adorned with jewels, is above the altar.[ The statue was commissioned after a fire in the Santa Casa in 1921 destroyed the original Madonna, and it was granted a ]Canonical Coronation
A canonical coronation ( la, Coronatio Canonica) is a pious institutional act of the pope, duly expressed in a bull, in which the pope bestows the right to impose an ornamental crown, a diadem or an aureole to an image of Christ, Mary or J ...
in 1922 by Pope Pius XI.
A legend attributes the original statue of olive wood to Saint Luke, but the style suggests it was created in the 15th century. The original statue, dating back to the 1400s, was an image of the Black Madonna
The term ''Black Madonna'' or ''Black Virgin'' tends to refer to statues or paintings in Western Christendom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, where both figures are depicted with dark skin. The Black Madonna can be found both ...
with the Christ Child, both of whom were covered since the 16th century with a jeweled mantle or dalmatic.
The statue was stolen by Napoleonic troops in 1797 and taken to Paris. It was returned with the Treaty of Tolentino and ended up in Rome, from where the image made an eight-day journey as a pilgrim Madonna, arriving in Loreto on 9 December 1801. During the absence of the original statue from the Holy House, a copy made of poplar wood was placed in the niche and remains the only copy to have been venerated in the Holy House. This copy is now enshrined at the Chiesa della Buona Morte in Cannara.
In 1921, a fire broke out inside the Holy House which incinerated the sculpture. At the behest of Pope Pius XI, a new image similar to the original was immediately carved, using the wood of a cedar of Lebanon from the Vatican Gardens. It was modeled by Enrico Quattrini and executed and painted by Leopoldo Celani.[ In 1922, the statue was crowned in ]St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
in the Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
and solemnly transported to Loreto.
There is a local tradition in the city of Treia that the original statue of Our Lady of Loreto was hidden and replaced with a copy before Napoleon's troops looted the basilica. When the copy was returned to Loreto, the exchange with the original statue never took place. Thus, it was the copy that was destroyed by fire. The original statue was hidden in a convent and then taken by Visitandine nuns to Treia, where it is enshrined at the Church of Santa Chiara. Much like the Holy House, it is associated with miracles.
The sculpted marble screen
Around the house is a tall marble screen designed by Bramante[ and executed under Popes Leo X, ]Clement VII
Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...
and Paul III
Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549.
He came to ...
. A small part of this sculpture was the work of Andrea Sansovino
Andrea dal Monte Sansovino or Andrea Contucci del Monte San Savino (1529) was an Italian sculptor active during the High Renaissance. His pupils include Jacopo Sansovino (no relation).
Biography
He was the son of Domenico Contucci of Monte ...
, but the greater part was executed by Raffaello da Montelupo
Raffaello da Montelupo (c. 1504/1505 – c. 1566/1567), born Raffaele Sinibaldi, was a sculptor and architect of the Italian Renaissance, and an apprentice of Michelangelo. He was the son of another Italian sculptor, Baccio da Montelupo. Both ...
, Tribolo and others of his assistants and pupils. The four sides represent the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Arrival of the Santa Casa at Loreto and the Nativity of the Virgin, respectively.
The Hall of the Treasury
The Hall of the Treasury dates from the beginning of the 17th century. It contains votive offerings, liturgical objects and vestments. The frescoes on the vaulted ceiling are exquisite examples of late Roman Mannerism and were created in 1605-1610 by Cristoforo Roncalli, known as Pomarancio.[The Pilgrimage Town of Loreto: Loreto is a typical case of a shrine that created a town](_blank)
at "Shrines of Europe", retrieved 10 April 2020 The apse is decorated with 19th-century German frescoes.
Traditional account
Late medieval religious traditions developed suggesting that this was the house in which the Holy Family
The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the fir ...
(Mary, Joseph and Jesus) had lived while in Judea
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous sou ...
at the start of the first century AD.[ According to this narrative, this is the Nazareth house in which ]Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
had been born and brought up, received the Annunciation, conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit, and had lived during the childhood of Christ.[ After Jesus's Ascension, the house was converted into a church where the Apostles placed an altar, at which ]Saint Peter
) (Simeon, Simon)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire
, death_date = Between AD 64–68
, death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire
, parents = John (or Jonah; Jona)
, occupat ...
celebrated the first Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
after the Resurrection
Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...
, the "Altar of the Apostles" inside the "house" being venerated as the authentic one.
Just before the final expulsion of the Christian Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
from the Holy Land, in order to protect it from Muslim soldiers, the house was miraculously carried by angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...
s and initially deposited in 1291 on a hill at Tersatto (now Trsat, a suburb of Rijeka, Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
), where an appearance of the Virgin and numerous miraculous cures attested to its sanctity. The miraculous translation of the house is said to have been confirmed by investigations made at Nazareth by messengers from the governor of Dalmatia.[Weninger SJ. Francis Xavier "The Translation of the Holy House of Loretto". ''Lives of the Saints'', 1876. CatholicSaints.Info. 3 June 2018]
/ref>
As pilgrims were prey to bandits, in 1294, angels again carried it across the Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
to the woods near Ancona
Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...
(although the reasoning is not clear as to why this happened); from these woods (Latin ''lauretum'', Italian ''Colle dei Lauri'' or from the name of its proprietress Laureta) the chapel derived the name which it still retains (Lat. ''sacellum gloriosæ Virginis in Laureto''). The house that gave rise to the title ''Our Lady of Loreto'', applied to the Virgin.[
It was afterward removed in 1295 to a hill near ]Recanati
Recanati () is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Macerata, in the Marche region of Italy. Recanati was founded around 1150 AD from three pre-existing castles. In 1290 it proclaimed itself an independent republic and, in the 15th century, ...
, but being too close to the sea and therefore exposed to the dangers of Turkish raids, after eight months to a hill a mile away, Monte Prodo, near Loreto. Here two counts sought to acquire title to the land in order to profit from the pilgrimages. One in 1296, the Santa Casa is moved for the fifth time to the road that goes from Recanati to Porto Recanati, and therefore not on private property.
Historicity
An authority on Loreto has summed up the controversy concerning the miraculous flight of the Holy House by writing that it has attracted "the ridicule of one half of the world and the devotion of the other."[
]
Pro arguments
Analysis by Italian archaeologists and architects reached the conclusion that the Holy House
* is built of two types of limestone found in Nazareth, but not in Loreto and the Marches
* the mortar between the stones is typical for 1st century Palestine, but not for Italy
* the graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
on the wall
are similar and contemporary to those discovered at the Basilica of Annunciation, Grotto of the Annunciation in Nazareth
* the "house" has no foundations, stands directly on dusty ground not cleared in any way and containing snail shells, acorns and a dried walnut, and even stands atop a thorny bush
* the three-wall "house" fits exactly the measurements of the foundations excavated in front of the Grotto in Nazareth, and those of the "missing" wall fit the Grotto, therefore:
* The Holy House is placed partly on a public road connecting Recanati with Porto Recanati
Porto Recanati () is a town with some 12,500 inhabitants in the province of Macerata, in the Marche region. of central Italy. It is the northeast coastal town of the province. It was made an independent town on 15 January 1893, when, due to a De ...
, its apparition forcing the magistrates of Recanati to build a diversion of the road - this makes an intentional construction at such a location look improbable
Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, explicitly claims that the house was transported by angels, even to her own near-disbelief:
Counter-arguments
Translation by Angelos/Angeli family
In modern times, the Church traced the linguistic origins of the story to an aristocratic family called "Angelos
The House of Angelos (; gr, Ἄγγελος), feminine form Angelina (), plural Angeloi (), was a Byzantine Greek noble lineage which rose to prominence through the marriage of its founder, Constantine Angelos, with Theodora Komnene, the you ...
", which were responsible for the transfer. There are 16th-century bas-reliefs, which suggest that the Holy House was transported by sea. In May 1900, papal physician Giuseppe Lapponi indicated that he had read in the Vatican archives documents suggesting that the members of the noble Byzantine family named Angelos had saved the stones of the House from Muslim devastation and transported them to Loreto. In a second step, in late 1294, Nikephoros, ruler of Epirus from the Angelos family (in Italian: Niceforo Angeli), sent on the bricks to Italy as a wedding gift for his daughter who had married Prince Philip
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...
, the son of the King of Naples
The following is a list of rulers of the Kingdom of Naples, from its first separation from the Kingdom of Sicily to its merger with the same into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Kingdom of Naples (1282–1501)
House of Anjou
In 1382, the Kin ...
, in October that year.[ In both Greek and Latin, the family name Angelos/Angeli means "angels".][Did angels really carry the Holy House of Mary to Loreto, Italy?](_blank)
by Courtney Mares, Catholic News Agency (CNA), 10 December 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2020. The stones considered by researchers to be authentic are still visibly marked with Roman numerals, by scratching or with coal, which suggests that the three walls were carefully taken apart with the intention to faithfully reassemble them at another location, which actually happened.[ The traditional date of the miraculous translation, 12 May 1291, is compatible with the historical dates - the port city of Acre, the Crusader capital, fell six days later, theoretically allowing for the shipment of the stones, once they had been carried by cart from Nazareth to the port of Acre.][
Archaeological excavations were carried out in 1962–65.][ Among the numerous coins found underneath the building, there were two bearing the inscription "Gui Dux Atenes".][ Meant is ]Guy II de la Roche
Guy II de la Roche, also known as Guyot or Guidotto (1280 – 5 October 1308), was the Duke of Athens from 1287, the last duke of his family.''The Latins in Greece and the Aegean from the Fourth Crusade to the End of the Middle Ages'', K. M. S ...
, the Regent of Athens from 1280 to 1287.[ His parents were the Frankish nobleman, William I, ]Duke of Athens
The Duchy of Athens ( Greek: Δουκᾶτον Ἀθηνῶν, ''Doukaton Athinon''; Catalan: ''Ducat d'Atenes'') was one of the Crusader states set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade as part of ...
, and Aromanian Greek princess Helena Angelina Komnene, the daughter of John Doukas, Prince of Thessaly
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, The ...
, also known as John Angelos
The House of Angelos (; gr, Ἄγγελος), feminine form Angelina (), plural Angeloi (), was a Byzantine Greek noble lineage which rose to prominence through the marriage of its founder, Constantine Angelos, with Theodora Komnene, the you ...
.[ Through his mother, Guy was related to the ]Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
families of the Komnenos
Komnenos ( gr, Κομνηνός; Latinized Comnenus; plural Komnenoi or Comneni (Κομνηνοί, )) was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 to 1185, and later, as the Grand Komnenoi (Μεγαλοκομνην ...
and Doukas
The House of Doukas, Latinized as Ducas ( el, Δούκας; feminine: Doukaina/Ducaena, Δούκαινα; plural: Doukai/Ducae, Δοῦκαι), from the Latin title '' dux'' ("leader", "general", Hellenized as 'ðouks'', is the name of a Byzan ...
, Emperors of Constantinople and Epirus.[ Helena was Regent of the Duchy of Athens from the death of her husband in 1287 until her son's reaching the ]age of majority
The age of majority is the threshold of legal adulthood as recognized or declared in law. It is the moment when minors cease to be considered such and assume legal control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thus terminating the contr ...
in 1294, covering the entire time span of the translation of the Holy House from Nazareth, to Epirus, to Recanati (Loreto).[ The presence of the two coins are proof that the Angelos family, known in Italian as Angeli and later as De Angeli, supervised the event.][ The law of Recanati categorically prohibited construction of any type of building on public roads, providing for its immediate demolition; only an intervention from a very high authority could have led to a suspension of the law, as it obviously happened in the case of the House.][ Archaeological examination offered further proof for both the provenance of the stones from Nazareth, and for them being reassembled at Loreto, where several phases of support construction for the three-wall structure could be detected.]
Chronological issues and late origin
The documented history of the house can only be traced as far back as the close of the Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...
, around the 14th century. An early brief reference is made in the ''Italia Illustrata'' of Flavius Blondus (1392–1463), secretary to Popes Eugene IV, Nicholas V
Pope Nicholas V ( la, Nicholaus V; it, Niccolò V; 13 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene made ...
, Calixtus III
Pope Callixtus III ( it, Callisto III, va, Calixt III, es, Calixto III; 31 December 1378 – 6 August 1458), born Alfonso de Borgia ( va, Alfons de Borja), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 April 1455 to his ...
and Pius II
Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August ...
; it can be read in its entirety in the ''Redemptoris mundi Matris Ecclesiæ Lauretana historia'', contained in the ''Opera Omnia'' (1576) of Baptista Mantuanus.
According to Herbert Thurston
Herbert Henry Charles Thurston (15 November 1856 – 3 November 1939) was an English priest of the Roman Catholic Church, a member of the Jesuit order, and a prolific scholar on liturgical, literary, historical, and spiritual matters. In ...
, in some respects, the Lauretan tradition is "beset with difficulties of the gravest kind", which were noted in a 1906 work on the subject. There are documents which indicate that a church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin already existed at Loreto in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, that is, 180 years before the time of the supposed translation; and there is no mention of the supposed miraculous translation of the Holy House in 1472.[Thurston, Herbert. "Santa Casa di Loreto." The Catholic Encyclopedia]
Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 10 December 2017
Statue before legend theory
Thurston suggests that a miracle-working statue or picture of the Madonna was brought from Tersatto in Illyria (more precisely: Dalmatia) to Loreto by some pious Christians and was then confounded with the ancient rustic chapel in which it was harboured, the veneration formerly given to the statue afterwards passing to the building.[
]
History
In 1797, Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's troops sacked the church.[ The treasury was emptied, either looted by soldiers, or its contents requisitioned by the pope who needed money for the payments required by the Treaty of Tolentino, which he had signed with Napoleon.][ Still, by 1821 the Black Madonna had been returned from the ]Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
via Rome, and the treasury was again filled with valuable offerings.
Papal support
Papal support of the Loreto tradition comes relatively late. The first Bull mentioning the translation is that of Julius II
Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or the ...
in 1507), and is a rather guarded expression. Julius introduces the clause "''ut pie creditur et fama est''", "as is piously believed and reported to be".[
On 4 October 2012, ]Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
visited the Shrine to mark the 50th anniversary of John XXIII
Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...
's visit. In his visit, Benedict formally entrusted the World Synod of Bishops and the Year of Faith to the Virgin of Loreto.
On 20 June 2020, during the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
The Immaculate Heart of Mary () is a Roman Catholic devotional name used to refer to the Catholic view of the interior life of Mary, mother of Jesus, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love ...
, Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
added three invocations to the Litany of Loreto
The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Marian litany originally approved in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V. It is also known as the Litany of Loreto (Latin: ''Litaniæ lauretanæ''), after its first-known place of origin, the Shrine of Our Lady of Lo ...
: Mother of mercy, Mother of hope, and Solace of migrants. He later approved the extension of the Jubilee Year of Loreto to 2021. The jubilee year marks the 100th anniversary of the official proclamation of Our Lady of Loreto as the patroness of pilots and air passengers. It began 8 December 2019 and was due to end 10 December 2020, the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, but was extended to 10 December 2021 because of disruptions due to the coronavirus.
Similar traditions
A competing tradition holds that the location of the Annunciation was at or near the site of the present Basilica of the Annunciation, whose lower level holds the Grotto of the Annunciation, said to be the remains of Mary’s childhood home. ( The Church of Saint Anne in Jerusalem is also said to have been built on the site of Mary's childhood home.) However, proponents of Loreto maintain that the Holy House and the Grotto were originally part of the same dwelling.
The shrine at Walsingham is the principal shrine of the Blessed Virgin in English. The legend of "Our Lady's house" (written down about 1465, and consequently earlier than the Loreto translation tradition) supposes that in the time of St. Edward the Confessor a chapel was built at Walsingham, which exactly reproduced the dimensions of the Holy House of Nazareth. When the carpenters could not complete it upon the site that had been chosen, it was moved and erected by angels' hands at a spot two hundred feet away.
Veneration
Our Lady of Loreto is the title of the Virgin Mary with respect to the Holy House of Loreto and the image displayed therein.
In the 1600s, a Mass and a Marian litany was approved. The "Litany of Loreto" is the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Marian litany originally approved in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V. It is also known as the Litany of Loreto (Latin: ''Litaniæ lauretanæ''), after its first-known place of origin, the Shrine of Our Lady of Lo ...
, one of the five litanies approved for public recitation by the Church.
The Russian icon of the Mother of God "Addition of Mind" is based on the image of Our Lady of Loreto.
Feast day
In October 2019 Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
restored to the universal Roman calendar, the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, as an optional memorial commemorated on 10 December.
Patronage
In 1920 Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV (Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His ...
declared the Madonna of Loreto patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of air travellers and pilots.
Iconography
The Santa Casa is occasionally represented in religious art borne by angels.
In popular culture
Due to Our Lady of Loreto being the patroness of aviators, Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
took a Loreto statuette with him on his flight across the Atlantic, and Apollo 8 carried a Loreto medallion on its flight to the moon.
See also
* Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth
* House of the Virgin Mary
The House of the Virgin Mary ( Turkish: ''Meryemana Evi'' or ''Meryem Ana Evi'', "Mother Mary's House") is a Catholic shrine located on Mt. Koressos (Turkish: ''Bülbüldağı'', "Mount Nightingale") in the vicinity of Ephesus, from Selçuk in ...
near Ephesus
* Our Lady of Loreto and St Winefride's, Kew
Our Lady of Loreto and St Winefride's is the parish church for the Roman Catholic parish of Kew Gardens in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The church is located at 1 Leyborne Park in Kew.
History and description
The Society of M ...
* Territorial prelature of Loreto
** Giovanni Tonucci
Giovanni Tonucci (born 4 December 1941 in Fano, PU, Italy) is an Italian archbishop of the Catholic Church. He worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1971 until his retirement in 2017.
Diplomatic career
From 1971 till the end of ...
(b. 1941), archbishop in charge of Loreto since 2007
* History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes
The early domes of the Middle Ages, particularly in those areas recently under Byzantine control, were an extension of earlier Roman architecture. The domed church architecture of Italy from the sixth to the eighth centuries followed that of the ...
* History of Italian Renaissance domes
Italian Renaissance domes were designed during the Renaissance period of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Italy. Beginning in Florence, the style spread to Rome and Venice and made the combination of dome, drum, and barrel vaults standar ...
* History of early modern period domes
Domes built in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries relied primarily on empirical techniques and oral traditions rather than the architectural treatises of the time, but the study of dome structures changed radically due to developments in mathemati ...
References
Bibliography
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External links
Sanctuary of Loreto
- Official site
* For the treasury:
*
Video of the painted ceiling.
Retrieved 10 April 2020.
*
Retrieved 10 April 2020.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basilica Della Santa Casa
Casa Santa
Catholic pilgrimage sites
Shrines to the Virgin Mary
Properties of the Holy See
Loreto, Marche