The Blessed Virgin Mary ~ Our Lady of Loreto

The meaning behind the celebration

+ Since the middle ages, Christians have honored Mary under the title “Our Lady of Loreto,” inspired by the shrine of the “Holy House” in Loreto, Italy.

+ According to long-standing tradition, the house in which the angel Gabriel appeared to the Blessed Mother at the time of the annunciation was miraculously transported to Italy from the Nazareth in the 13^th century. This shrine has been visited by countless pilgrims, including dozens of saints, such as Saint Bridget of Sweden, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Saint John Henry Newman, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, and Pope Saint John Paul II.

+ Because of this miraculous origins of the shrine, Our Lady of Loreto has come to be honored as the patron saint of pilots and aviators.

+ The current image of Our Lady of Loreto honored in the shrine of the Holy House was installed in 1922. It is carved from a cedar of Lebanon harvested from the grounds of Vatican City, replacing the image that was destroyed by fire in 1921.

+ Pope Saint John XXIII visited the shrine of Our Lady of Loreto in October 1962 to ask the intercession of the Blessed Virgin for the Second Vatican Council.

+ Pope Francis added the commemoration of Our Lady of Loreto to the General Roman Calendar in 2019, recognizing that “this celebration will help all people, especially families, youth and religious to imitate the virtues of that perfect disciple of the Gospel, the Virgin Mother, who, in conceiving the Head of the Church also accepted us as her own.”

For prayer and reflection

“Oh Mary,
Oh Virgin,
Oh Mother of God,
Oh Queen of Heaven!
Oh holy One!
Oh Immaculate One!
Oh my Mother and Queen!
Oh my help,
I hardly know how to praise you.
I feel more than words can express!”

—from the Spiritual Diary of Blessed Francis Mary of the Cross Jordan

Vocations

- The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the Loretto Sisters): https://ibvm.us/

- The Sisters of Loretto: https://www.lorettocommunity.org/

- The Carmel of St. Therese of Lisieux (Loretto, PA): https://lorettocarmel.org/

Spiritual bonus

On this day the Church celebrates seven martyrs who died in London on December 10, 1591: Saint Edmund Gennings, Saint Polidore Plasden, Saint Swithin Wells, Blessed John Mason, Blessed Sidney Hogsdon, Saint Eustace White, and Blessed Brian Lacey. The witness of these martyrs testifies to the courage and fidelity of the many Catholics, both clergy and laity, who suffered during the fierce persecutions during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

These seven martyrs were beatified in 1929. Saints Edmund, Polidore, Swithin, and Eustace were canonized in 1970 and are honored among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

Prayer

O God, who, fulfilling the promise made to our Fathers,
chose the Blessed Virgin Mary
to become the Mother of the Savior,
grant that we may follow her example,
for her humility was pleasing to you
and her obedience profitable to us.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.