Research concurs with Catholic tradition

Christians honor the Loreto Shrine in Italy as the house in Nazareth in which the Holy Family lived, and which was allegedly transported by angels to Loreto, Italy in December 1294.

For a century pilots and travelers have prayed to the Virgin Mary to keep them safe while in the air. Marking this milestone anniversary of the declaration of Our Lady of Loreto as the patron saint of aviation and aviators, Pope Francis earlier this year conceded a Lauretan Jubilee for all air travelers, and for pilgrims who come to the Holy House Shrine.

In our January 9, 2020, A Moment with Mary article adapted from the Catholic French newspaper La Croix, titled "Loreto, one of the most important shrines in the world," we implied that the walls of the house of the Virgin Mary at Loreto, had been transported by sea.

However, recent scientific studies seem to align with the tradition that it was transported by air, carried by angels! The other explanation, asserting that a noble family named De Angeli, arranged for its transport on a ship, appears to be a falsification, according to an Italian article of December 10, 2019 (1), which we quote here: 

"This is a historical forgery, produced by the De Angelis family of Palermo, in order to make it appear that their house was descended from the princely "Angeli" family from Epirus (Greece), as can be seen in the recent book by Frederic Catani entitled The Miracle of the Holy House of Loreto, published in 2018. This books summarizes the conclusions of a publication by Professor Andrea Nicolotti—of the University of Turin—that the falsified nature of the history of the Byzantine documents produced by the De Angelis family gives rise to strong suspicions about the credibility of their sources..."

We are happy to provide this information to our readers, so that they can form a more cognizant opinion.

(1) Santa Casa

The Marie de Nazareth editorial team

Adapted from: Vatican News