Page 8 - Italian-American Herald - November 2022

8 ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM | NOVEMBER2022 ITALIAN-AMERICANHERALD
Barbara Ann Zippi-Och, Executive Producer Text/Cell/WhatsAp 610 566 4883 CiaoBellaLivingItalianStyle@gmail.com
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The House of the Holy Family in the “other Loreto”
The Black Madonna of Our Lady of Loreto inside The Holy House
The Courtyard leading to the Basilica, inside is The Holy House
A Side Wall of The Holy House with line forming to enter
Looking at the front of The
Holy House under the Dome.
The Altar of the Apostles is in the forefront
Inside the Basilica with modern technology added
Inside wall, the mortar between stones is typical 1st Century Palestine not Italy
Modern Technology for 1 Euro and Free Literature in multiple languages
Inside The Holy House
My mother’s parents are from Loreto Aprutino, a small medieval village in
the Abruzzo region of Italy. Throughout the years, I’ve heard of the ‘other Loreto’, also along the Adriatic in the Marche region. I only knew it was a town devoted to the Blessed Mother, until my visit this year. My Loreto Aprutino cousin Irene Acciavatti insisted we take the 2 hour drive North along the coastline where locals come to the beach and literally
eat from the sea, for Sunday mass and Blessings. With husband Renato behind the wheel and daughter Greta my adventure begins.
A Pilgrimage site since the 14th century, the Holy House, 31x13 feet, is believed to have been where Mary was born, raised, received the Annunciation and lived with Joseph raising Jesus in Nazareth. After the Resurrection it became “The Shrine of the Holy House” where St. Peter offered the first Eucharist at the “Altar of the Apostles.“
Legend claims during the Christian Crusades, the ‘House’ was flown over by Angelic Beings from Nazareth to Tersatto (Croatia) then to Recanati, before arriving (1295) at the Hilltop of Loreto protecting it from Turkish invasions. 16th Century iconography translation shows the Holy House on a ship on ocean waves/clouds.
From the time of Pope Julius II (1507) the Holy House was a devotion to the Virgin of Loreto as Patroness of the Family. A Pilgrimage site over centuries, it has hosted numerous Popes.
Pope Benedict XV in 1920 proclaimed the Madonna, Patroness of Pilots and Air Travelers. Charles Lindbergh took a statuette on his flight across the Atlantic and Apollo 8 carried a medallion on its Flight to the Moon. Just as the Holy House was moved to Loreto, The Madonna became Patroness of those in Exile and Emigrants for those making their home in another country.
Why is she called, The Black Madonna of Our Lady of Loreto? Once stolen in 1797 and taken to Paris by Napoleon troops, the Madonna statue was destroyed by fire in 1921. Pope Pius XI, in 1922,
proclaimed a “Canonical Coronation” of the new statue, made from Cedar of Lebanon and from the chars of the fire earned the name “The Black Madonna.”
A courtyard pays tribute to Pope John XXIII on his October 4, 1962 visit, over- looking restaurants and shops that host hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Our trip, off season in February, had no lines and mostly locals coming for Sunday Mass.
On September 8, 1979, Pope John Paul II made a pilgrimage proclaiming The House of the Holy Family as the First Temple and First Church, on which the Mother of God blessed us through her motherhood. The Holy House is INSIDE this Basilica structure of numerous altars with real candles to light and free vials of consecrated Holy Oil in Fonts. Free printed materials in numerous languages and modern technology
allow pilgrims the ultimate experience.
Walking inside the Holy House behind the Altar of the Apostles is humbling. Witnessing the “other Loreto” is on my list of places to recommend if your feet are on the ground in Italy. Whatever your religion, it’s a place of Faith, not man-made rules of the churches in our lives. Opening your eyes to unexplained structures of history and nature, when inside the walls of the Holy House,
you can feel the Blessings.
The “House” connections to Nazareth include graffiti on the walls similar to those discovered at the Grotto of the Annunciation, no foundations show signs of snail shells, acorns and dried walnuts by the ground and the excavation measurements in front of the Grotto in Nazareth fit exactly those of this Holy House.
It took everyday miracles to build places like this centuries ago. I do believe in modern miracles, from the tiniest that happen to us everyday, our angels are powerful beings waiting for our attention
Ciao Bella! Lady Z
Leaving this hilltop village overlooking the Adriatic Sea Mc Donald’s must be a sponsor
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