Optional memorial December 10Optional memorial · Patroness of aviators

Our Lady of Loreto

Honors the Holy House of Nazareth, which tradition says rests in the shrine of Loreto, Italy, and Mary as patroness of air travelers.

Attributed to Saturnino Gatti, The Translation of the Holy House of Loreto, c. 1490 · Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (public domain)

Who was Our Lady of Loreto?

Tradition holds that the house of the Holy Family in Nazareth, where the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, was carried by angels to Loreto, Italy, in 1294. A great basilica was built around it and became one of the world's most visited Marian shrines. Pope Francis added this optional memorial to the universal calendar in 2019.

Feast day and traditions

Because the house was said to fly, Pope Benedict XV named Our Lady of Loreto patroness of aviators in 1920, and she is loved by pilots, flight crews and military chaplains. The Litany of Loreto, prayed after the Rosary, is named after this shrine.

Prayer

Our Lady of Loreto, protect all who travel by air, watch over our homes and bring us safely to our home in heaven. Amen.

Novena

To pray a novena that ends on the eve of the feast, begin on December 1 and finish on December 9.

Mass readings

Read the Mass readings for December 10 from the US bishops (USCCB).

Open readings →

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Celebrate as a family

Bless your home together and pray for anyone traveling this Christmas.

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