Chapter IV
The Church Has No Doubts As already mentioned, in 1993 Pope John Paul II called the Holy House of Loreto “the first international sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin and, for several centuries, the true Marian heart of Christianity.” He also recalled how it was always the object of special attention on the part of Roman Pontiffs, who made it a frequent pilgrimage destination and object of their apostolic care. Over the centuries, no less than the popes attest to the importance and extraordinary nature of the Loreto Basilica and the miracle that took place in the Holy House. They have done so with various pronouncements and above all with the liturgy, through which both the authenticity of the Holy House and its miraculous translations have been officially recognized.
4.1 The Feast of the Translation of the Holy House First of all, we must emphasize that the liturgical feast that occurs on December 10 is that of the “Miraculous Translation” of the Holy House of Nazareth to Loreto, and not the feast of “Our Lady of Loreto,” as has been erroneously written in calendars for several years out of ignorance.65 It is certainly also a Marian feast, and one should bear in mind that in the traditional liturgical calendar, before the reforms of the Second 65 Cf. G. Nicolini, La veridicità storica della miracolosa traslazione della Santa Casa di Nazareth a Loreto cit., p. 36.
