Igreja do Loreto
Igreja dos italianos em Lisboa,
dedicada a Nossa Senhora do Loreto na Itália,
onde se encontra a Casa da Sagrada Família de Nazaré.
Bula
da fundação da Igreja do Loreto
08 de Abril de 1518
Santuário do Loreto
O Pontifício Santuário da Santa Casa de Loreto
está localizado na região de Marche,
a uma curta distância do mar de Porto Recanati.
A Santa Casa é mantida dentro da Basílica construída entre 1469 e 1587 e é o coração do Santuário.
Jovens Neocatecumenal no Santuário da Santa Casa de Loreto
Em 29 de julho, o Santuário da Santa Casa de Loreto recebeu um grupo de jovens da Via Neocatecumenal de Portugal
Procissão com Nossa Senhora de Loreto na Vigília da Vinda - 12/09/19
Our Lady of Loreto "Black Virgin"
Inside the Holy House of Loreto an icon of the Virgin painted on wood was venerated,
which, due to its dark colour, gave rise to the tradition of the cult of a black Our Lady.
It is known from the oldest history of the Shrine that,
together with the walls of the Holy House,
transported from Nazareth to Loreto, it was initially venerated not a statue of the Virgin,
but an icon painted on wood:
"such a sweet and beautiful painting; beautiful face and a bit dark and reddish".
In the dark or dark colour of many ancient images of the Virgin (the famous Black Ladies),
some scholars find a symbolic sign of the supernatural world and of a return to the origins of life:
"and Mary generated us in Christ for true life."
However, it happens that in the past many sacred images were darkened and even made unrecognizable by the smoke of candles and lamps. So much so that they often had to be repainted, so that there are icons with 4 or 5 coats of paint! The same probably happened to the beautiful icon of the Holy House.
Why does tradition call Our Lady of Loreto "Black Virgin"?
In the first trinet of the 16th century, the primitive image was replaced by
a delicately polychromed statue of red fir wood.
However, the smoke from the many oil lamps, which burned for centuries
in the small enclosure of the Holy House,
darkened even the outer stones and gave the wooden statue a very dark colour.
The statue, destroyed in the 1921 fire, was, in 1922 and by L. Celani,
replaced by another, according to Quattrini's sketch,
this time with cedar wood from Lebanon and, unfortunately,
with a uniform and markedly dark paint,
more than was usual to see in Our Lady of Loreto.
( 3D model of the Basilica and Sanctuary of Santa Casa do Loreto, including Apostolic Palace and entourage. "Arch. João Bianchi" )
Patroness of air travellers
The Lauretan tradition of transporting the house of Mary by the hand of Angels from Nazareth to ancient Illyria (1291) and from there to the ancient territory of Recanati (1294) seemed suggestive
for the choice of Our Lady of Loreto as patroness of air travellers.
In fact, already in the 17th and 18th centuries, poets and painters had represented
that prodigious transport on a fanciful note, imagining the flight of the Nazarene house as if it were a modern flying object.
In 1912, the Society of Airplanes and Aeronauts, based in Turin,
gave itself over to the protection of Our Lady of Loreto. A few years later, around 1915, that Society,
under the presidency of Carlo Montù, had its own flag decorated with the image of the Virgin Lauretana.
It is also known that in 1915, the walls of the Holy House were reproduced on the slings of the XXV Esquadrilha, a sign of an explicit devotion to Our Lady of the Flying House.
In June 1917 and following many requests, the Aero Club of Italy promoted an intense action to obtain the agreement of all aeronautical societies in the country to choose Our Lady of Loreto, as the only patroness of aviation, without, however, having succeeded. During the fascist period, when the nationalist sense was strong, not only in Italy but also in other European countries, it was said that such a proposal had been rejected, because "either Our Lady of Loreto would mean only Italian citizenship or else Our Lady would not be wanted".
THE DECREE OF BENEDICT XV
After the First War, in 1919, Lieutenant Colonel Ercole Morelli, administrative secretary of the Aero Club of Italy, made a further attempt in the same direction, addressing some cardinals and bishops directly to ask the competent ecclesiastical authority to proclaim Our Lady of Loreto as patroness of the aeronauts. Cardinal Agostino Richelmy of Turin, Cardinal Amedeo Ranuzzi de' Bianchi, who was Bishop of Recanati-Loreto from 1903 to 1911, and Bishop Alfonso Maria Andreoli, at the time of the same diocese,
were involved in the request.
The three prelates acceded to the request and addressed the Congregation of Rites. The official request was transmitted by Monsignor Andreoli, as ordinary of the recanatense-lauretan diocese. The Prefect of the Congregation, Cardinal Antonio Vico, born in Agugliano in the Diocese of Ancona, submitted the request to Benedict XV, who welcomed it with enthusiasm, i.e. "very willingly", as we read in the respective Decree, issued on 24 March 1920,
the eve of the Annunciation of the Lord, solemnized in Loreto at that time with the uninterrupted celebration of Mass at the Holy House from midnight on the 24th until noon on the 25th.
The Holy House of Loreto
The Holy House of Loreto has witnessed the great mystery of the Incarnation,
when the Archangel Gabriel, shining with light, was sent from heaven to earth, to Nazareth,
to bring the greatest and most consoling revelation to the human race.
In her parents' house, lived a humble and modest maiden;
“ And the Virgin’s name was Mary ”.
There has Jesus Christ dwelt, submiss to his parents Joseph and Mary,
during the first thirty years of his life.
According to tradition, the house has been miraculously carried by angels
to Loreto in Italy, at the end of the 13th century.
