The Air Force celebrates the Blessed Virgin of Loreto on 10 December, the "Patroness of Aeronauts". In Rome, the Eucharistic celebration dedicated to the event will take place in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The rite will be officiated by the Military Ordinary for Italy, His Excellency Monsignor Santo Marcianò, in the presence of the Chief of Defense Staff, General Enzo Vecciarelli, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Squad General Alberto Rosso, and other top armed forces authorities.
The Lauretano Sanctuary has arisen in the place where, according to legend, the residence of the Virgin Mary would have been miraculously transported by the Angels in the night between the 9 and 10 December of the 1294. It dates back to the fourth century, is a destination for continuous pilgrimages and considered the Italian "Lourdes". The conviction of this miraculous "flying" translation led Pope Benedict XV to name the Blessed Virgin of Loreto "Patron of all aeronautics".
Pope Benedict XV, welcoming the pressing request of the pilots of the First World War (1914-1918), proclaimed, as mentioned, the Madonna of Loreto Patron of all the aviators with the Pontifical Brief of 24 March 1920. The Holy Father also approved the blessing formula of the planes, which he had included in the Roman Ritual.
The 12 September of the same year a religious-patriotic ceremony took place in Loreto for the proclamation of Our Lady of Loreto to Patrona. Shortly thereafter, the 28 March 1923, the Air Force would be founded as the Armed Force. Since then, in all the Departments of the Italian Air Force, Virgo Lauretana is venerated.
There is no place, with the Military Authorities and Departments where there is no statue of the Madonna of Loreto and the Italian aviators worship it with incredible devotion. They are inspired by her and hold her in the cockpit of every airplane. Every morning at the Storms and Departments, the staff of the Italian Air Force, during the whole day, appears at the "chapel" of the base and addresses to the Blessed Virgin a prayer, a thought, a plea, or a simple greeting. The Air Force, on the occasion of the celebration of the Madonna of Loreto, celebrates in a solemn way the protecting mother. All in great uniform, at the bases of Italy and beyond national borders, participate in the Holy Mass and pay homage to the one who accompanies them and protects them in all missions both in the military and in the civil world.
Insights
The liturgical feast of the Madonna of Loreto occurs on December 10, in memory of the date of the arrival of the Holy House of Nazareth in Loreto. The origins of the ancient and devout tradition of the translation of the House from Palestine to the Marche region date back to 1296, when in a vision, its existence and authenticity had been indicated to a hermit, frà Paolo della Selva and referred to by him to the Authorities. This is told by a chronicle of 1465, written by Pier Giorgio di Tolomei, called Teramo, which in turn had taken it from an old 'tabula' worn, dating back to 1300.
Some more significant passages are reported, which were then handed down in the narratives, more or less enriched in the following centuries; "The alma church of Santa Maria di Loreto was the chamber of the house of the most glorious Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ ... which house was in a city of Galilee called Nazareth. And in this house the Virgin Mary was born, here she was raised and then greeted by the Angel Gabriel; and finally in the same chamber he fed Jesus Christ his son ... Then the apostles and disciples consecrated that room in church, there celebrating the divine mysteries ... But after that people of Galilee and Nazareth abandoned their faith in Christ and accepted the faith of Muhammad, then the Angels took the aforementioned church from its place and carried it to Schiavonia, placing it near a castle called Fiume (1291). But there it was not honored as it was customary to the Virgin ... Therefore from that place they removed again the Angels and took her across the sea, in the territory of Recanati (1294) and put her in a forest of which was a noblewoman called Loreta; from here the church took its name: 'Santa Maria di Loreta ... ".
For the large number of people, unluckily even thieves and violence happened, for which the story continues, the Angels moved it twice more, always for the same reasons, depositing it at the end on the hill, on the night of 9-10 December 1294, where is currently found. "Then all the people of Recanati came to see the church, which stood on the ground without any foundation. For this reason, the people considering such a great miracle and fearing that this church would not be ruined, they surrounded it with another very large wall with a secure foundation ".
Since then, multitudes of believers have gone on pilgrimage to the great sanctuary, which contains the Holy House, begun to build in 1468 by Pope Paul II, soon became and is, according to a happy definition of Pope John Paul II, "Marian heart of Christianity".
AVIATOR'S PRAYER
God of power and glory
who gives the rainbow to our skies
we climb into your light to sing,
with the roar of our engines
Your glory and our passion.
We are men but we climb towards you
Forget about the weight of our meat
purified of our sins.
You, God, give us the wings of eagles,
the look of eagles, the claw of eagles,
to carry, wherever you give light,
love, the flag, the glory of Italy and Rome.
In the peace of our flights, make the most ardent flight:
he makes our strength in the war
Your strength, O Lord,
because no shadow touches our earth.
And be with us, as we are with you,
forever.