Shrine of the Holy House (Loreto, Italy)

According to a very ancient tradition, the Nazareth home of Mary is preserved in the Shrine of the Holy House of Loreto.

Mary’s earthly home at Nazareth was made up of two parts: a grotto cut out of the rock, which is still venerated in the basilica of the Annunciation at Nazareth, and by a stone-built house that was in front of and above the level of the grotto.

According to tradition, it was in 1291, when the Crusaders were finally expelled from Palestine after losing the Port of Accon, that the stone-built house of Our Lady was transported by the angels, first to Tersatto (Dalmatia) and then to the hill of Loreto (1294), situated on Italy’s east coast, south of Ancona.

However, as a result of discoveries made after archeological digs under the Holy House (1962-65), as well as philological and iconographical studies, a new hypothesis has been formulated according to which the stones of the Holy House could have been taken to Loreto by ship across the sea by the Crusaders themselves. In fact, five red cloth Crusaders’ crosses, probably dating back to the thirteenth century, were found walled up among the stones of the Holy House. These crosses could well have been ex-voto, belonging to the Crusaders responsible for the transportation.

Some very old pictures of the translation show the stones of the Holy House or even the house itself on a ship steered by men and escorted by the Virgin and Child, high above the ship on a cloud.

Whatever the truth behind the transportation of the Holy House — whether by angels or through human intervention, but divinely inspired — it is certain that Loreto has a very special connection with Mary’s Nazareth home.

Adapted from the spiritual guide, “Loreto, The Shrine of the Holy House,” from the Universal Congregation of the Holy House