The Holy House of Loreto

The Gift that was Taken Away

by Father Ladis J. Cizik

(This sermon was delivered at a Traditional Latin Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on Saturday, December 10, 2016 on the Feast of the Translation of the Holy House of Loreto.)

In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

During this Holy Season of Advent, Holy Mother Church prepares us to celebrate both the first and second comings of the Messiah, Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. As we approach the first coming of Jesus Christ at Christmas, we are reminded to keep Christ at the center of the Advent and Christmas Seasons. As it is said: ‘Christ is the Reason for the Season.’ In addition, we are admonished to also be prepared for the second coming of Christ, at the end of time, where He will come to judge the living and the dead. As it is known: ‘Christ has Died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again.’ Today, we are given a Christ-centered Advent and Christmas gift from Almighty God. Today, we are given the Feast of the Translation of the Holy House of Loreto. The Holy House of Loreto is the home of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph which was transported on the wings of Angels from Nazareth to eventually, Loreto, Italy, where it still stands today. The Holy House of Loreto is made of stone native to the Holy Land. The Holy House has no foundation, since the stone foundation is still in Nazareth. The exact dimensions of the Holy House (thirteen by thirty-one feet) and the exact type of stone used in its construction match the foundation which is still in Nazareth.

The Holy House was lifted from its foundations by Angels and taken away from Nazareth on May 10, 1291 when it was threatened with destruction from Muslim invaders to the Holy land. The home of Jesus, Mary and Joseph was carried across the Mediterranean Sea to the small village of Tersatto in Dalmatia (now Trsat, a suburb of Rijeka, Croatia).

Shepherds in Tersatto were amazed by the sudden and unexpected arrival of this tiny church without a foundation and alerted the local Priest, who prayed to Our Lady for enlightenment. The Mother of God appeared to the weary old Priest, who suffered from crippling arthritis, and proclaimed: "Know that this house is the same in which I was born and brought up. Here, at the Annunciation, I conceived the Creator of all things.

Here, the Word of the Eternal Father became Man. The Altar which was brought with the house was consecrated by Peter, the Prince of the Apostles. This house has now come to your shores by the power of God. And now, in order that you may bear testimony of all these things, be healed. Your unexpected and sudden recovery shall confirm the truth of what I have declared to you."

As the scourge of Islam advanced toward Dalmatia, with Muslims taking over Albania in 1294, the Holy House once more took off on a miraculous flight to avoid desecration at the hand of the infidels. Shepherds in Dalmatia reported seeing the home of Jesus, Mary and Joseph being carried through the sky, across the Adriatic Sea towards Italy, by Angels on December 10, 1294. Hence, December 10th is the day which the Church traditionally celebrates as the "Translation of the Holy House."

Accordingly, today’s Feast on December 10, 2016 is the 722nd Anniversary of that miraculous flight. A grand Basilica was built over the small Holy House, which had landed upon a frequented rough dirt road. Inscribed over the entrance to the Basilica are the words: "Tremble all ye who enter here. This is the holiest place on earth." Indeed, this declaration reflects the awesome reality which is memorialized in an inscription above the ancient traditional main Altar inside of the Holy House: "Hic verbum caro factum est" ("Here the Word was made flesh.").

Note that whenever the Holy House was faced with destruction, God intervened to save it. Today, the Holy House is under attack again by a force more insidious than Islam known as Modernism. In "Pascendi Dominici Gregis" ("on the Doctrine of the Modernists") Pope Saint Pius X says that Modernists are "puffed up like bladders with the spirit of vanity."

Hence, for Modernists, Saint Pius X noted: "the scholarship of a writer is in direct proportion to the recklessness of his attacks on antiquity, and his efforts to undermine tradition…" Pope Saint Pius X continued: "…they destroy as far as they can the pious traditions of the people, and bring into disrespect certain relics highly venerable from their antiquity."

In a booklet published in the 1980’s by the Universal Congregation of the Holy House entitled: "Loreto: The Shrine of the Holy House: Spiritual Guide" by Father Giuseppe Santarelli, he suggests an outrageous Modernistic explanation that instead of Angels, that it was the "Angeli family" that brought the Holy House over on a ship as a part of a "bride’s dowry."

In his 1984 book, "Loreto: its history and art," he posits another novel speculation, what he calls a "pastoral innovation," that the Holy House was reconstructed by the Crusaders who brought its pieces over to Italy on cargo ships. These miracledenying theories, of course, are impious nonsense since no one would construct a stone building without a foundation atop an uneven public roadway.

Always remember my Three R’s of Modernism: Recognize it; Refute it; and Return to Tradition. In the context of this Traditional Latin Mass we thank God for the venerable traditions surrounding the Holy House of Loreto, including its translation to Italy on the wings of Angels, as celebrated from antiquity. To this end, following this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we will recite the traditional "Litany of Loreto," also known as the "Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary."

The Holy House of Loreto is a gift from God which we commemorate, in a special way, during this Advent Season leading to Christmas. Although Modernists in our midst may mount new attacks upon this gift from antiquity, we pray that it will not be taken away once again. We pray that the gifts of our One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith, our pious traditions, and our Catholic belief in miracles, which all form the true foundation of the Holy House of Loreto, will always remain the bedrock of the faithful. In this way, may we be prepared not only to properly celebrate Christ’s first coming at Christmas, but also be prepared for the eternal judgment of the second coming.

So let this sermon now end with the recitation of the traditional prayer most intimately linked to the Holy House. That prayer, constructed upon a foundation of unchanging Catholic Truths, is the ‘ Angelus:’ V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.

R. And She conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee, Blessed art Thou amongst women, and Blessed is the Fruit of Thy Womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

V. Behold the Handmaid of the Lord.

R. Be it done unto Me according to Thy Word.

Hail Mary, full of grace…

V. And the Word was made Flesh. R. And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary, full of grace…

V. Pray for us, O Most Holy Mother of God.

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

V. Let us pray: Pour forth we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son, was made known by the message of an Angel, may by His Passion and Cross, be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

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