Happy Feast of the Annunciation!!!
I first wrote this on the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, which commemorates the date when the Holy House first landed in Italy on December 10th, 1294.
Yes, you read that right.
The house LANDED in Italy.
Yes, it flew through the air and then, yes, it landed in Italy - in a town called Loreto.
It is quite a story, but there is lots of historical evidence that points to it being true.
I've given several retreats on it, because it is one of my favorite pilgrimage sites I've ever visited.
It is truly amazing.
I've researched it so thoroughly that I have far too much information to share in this short article.
But, if you believe God can work miracles, you can believe this is to be true.
For a far greater miracle than a simple house flying through the sky is what happened inside of it.
It is a story we've heard so often that we fail to realize how incredible and amazing it is.
The God, Who created the whole universe, Who created you and me and everything seen and unseen...
The God, who holds us in being... became flesh inside a young teenage girl, Whom He created, when she said yes.
This house has such an amazing story because of what took place inside it's walls.
God became man!
It is the Home of the Annunciation!!!
Imagine!
Think of how St. John Paul II traveled the globe far and wide - going to just about every holy place known to man, but when he entered into this holy for the first time, he realized:
"Here is the holiest place on earth!"
Imagine!
I first wrote this on the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, which commemorates the date when the Holy House first landed in Italy on December 10th, 1294.
Yes, you read that right.
The house LANDED in Italy.
Yes, it flew through the air and then, yes, it landed in Italy - in a town called Loreto.
It is quite a story, but there is lots of historical evidence that points to it being true.
I've given several retreats on it, because it is one of my favorite pilgrimage sites I've ever visited.
It is truly amazing.
I've researched it so thoroughly that I have far too much information to share in this short article.
But, if you believe God can work miracles, you can believe this is to be true.
For a far greater miracle than a simple house flying through the sky is what happened inside of it.
It is a story we've heard so often that we fail to realize how incredible and amazing it is.
The God, Who created the whole universe, Who created you and me and everything seen and unseen...
The God, who holds us in being... became flesh inside a young teenage girl, Whom He created, when she said yes.
This house has such an amazing story because of what took place inside it's walls.
God became man!
It is the Home of the Annunciation!!!
Imagine!
Think of how St. John Paul II traveled the globe far and wide - going to just about every holy place known to man, but when he entered into this holy for the first time, he realized:
"Here is the holiest place on earth!"
Imagine!
Imagine!
Here the “Word became Flesh”!!!
Imagine!
... standing, kneeling, praying in the same spot where the Angel Gabriel came to ask Mary if she would be the mother of God.
Imagine!
... being in the place where the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and overshadowed her -- and the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, God from God from all eternity, deigned to be conceived in the womb of this precious, innocent, faithful, warrior of a girl --
And HE BECAME MAN!
Here the “Word became Flesh”!!!
Imagine!
... standing, kneeling, praying in the same spot where the Angel Gabriel came to ask Mary if she would be the mother of God.
Imagine!
... being in the place where the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and overshadowed her -- and the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, God from God from all eternity, deigned to be conceived in the womb of this precious, innocent, faithful, warrior of a girl --
And HE BECAME MAN!
I was privileged to make a pilgrimage to the Holy House of Loreto -- a site that can claim to be the home of the Annunciation, Mary's birthplace and the home of the Holy Family in Nazareth - the home they lived in from the time they returned from Egypt!
Imagine!
... being in the home where the Holy Family ate, where they worked, where they slept, where they played and laughed...
... being in the place where Jesus grew up and became a man and the place where St. Joseph died....
... being in a place of countless miracles -- a place where even numerous Popes and saints came to pray and were cured.
The Holy House draws millions who seek God and the Holy Family and Our Lady's intercession.
Imagine!
... being in the home where the Holy Family ate, where they worked, where they slept, where they played and laughed...
... being in the place where Jesus grew up and became a man and the place where St. Joseph died....
... being in a place of countless miracles -- a place where even numerous Popes and saints came to pray and were cured.
The Holy House draws millions who seek God and the Holy Family and Our Lady's intercession.
Even it's presence on the coast-land town of Loreto in Italy is a miracle.
Evidence supports the tradition that the home was carried by angels from Nazareth at the time of one of the fiercest radical Muslim invasions!
It happened during a period when the Muslim invaders were determined to kill all Christians and destroy all the Christian holy places they held dear.
Evidence supports the tradition that the home was carried by angels from Nazareth at the time of one of the fiercest radical Muslim invasions!
It happened during a period when the Muslim invaders were determined to kill all Christians and destroy all the Christian holy places they held dear.
We know this in part because Mary told us so.
The Blessed Mother appeared first to a priest, and then, later, to a monk explaining the miraculous flight, but she also said that her home had become a Church from the earliest days of Christianity - specifying that St. Peter would often offer the Mass there after Jesus' resurrection, which is why you see the altar in their home.
She said her home had been saved again and again for centuries by the crusaders, but at one point it would have been destroyed except for the supernatural help of the angels.
The home has only 3 sides - as the fourth side was a grotto - a cave in the hillside.
This is why the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth is also honored as the place of the Annunciation -- as the Basilica stands over the cave that could not be destroyed.
She said her home had been saved again and again for centuries by the crusaders, but at one point it would have been destroyed except for the supernatural help of the angels.
The home has only 3 sides - as the fourth side was a grotto - a cave in the hillside.
This is why the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth is also honored as the place of the Annunciation -- as the Basilica stands over the cave that could not be destroyed.
There is so much much to share, but for now, I can summarize by saying: This is one of my favorite places on earth!
It was truly an amazing place to be, to pray at --
It was truly an amazing place to be, to pray at --
and it moved me so deeply that I have offered whole retreats around it in order to strive to share its mysteries.
May just hearing about its existence, its wonders and its holiness be a great source of grace for all who read about it!
May just hearing about its existence, its wonders and its holiness be a great source of grace for all who read about it!
And together may we ask:
Our Lady of Loreto, pray for us!
O, Holy Family, pray for us and for all our families!
O, Holy Family, pray for us and for all our families!
O dear unborn Jesus, conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, have mercy on us!
O, Holy Angels protect us!
To find out more:
Part I Video of the Holy House by Bob and Penny Lord
Part II Video of the Holy House by Bob and Penny Lord
© Janet Moore. 2020. All Rights Reserved.
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