Our Lady of Loreto of Prague

Marian devotion of Prague (Prague)

Loreto's Tradition / Legend (in general) The devotion to Our Lady of Loreto is linked to the tradition that the house of the Virgin Mary in Nazareth - where the Annunciation would have taken place and where the Holy Family lived - was moved prodigiously first to the Dalmatia region (now Croatia) and then to Loreto, near Recanati, in Italy. This tradition, spread in the West since the Middle Ages, was welcomed by the Church, which allowed the liturgical commemoration of this advocation, but the details of the "miraculous transfer" belong to the field of piety and not to the documented history.

Main data

Origin and history

Loreto's Tradition / Legend (in general) The devotion to Our Lady of Loreto is linked to the tradition that the house of the Virgin Mary in Nazareth - where the Annunciation would have taken place and where the Holy Family lived - was moved prodigiously first to the Dalmatia region (now Croatia) and then to Loreto, near Recanati, in Italy. This tradition, spread in the West since the Middle Ages, was welcomed by the Church, which allowed the liturgical commemoration of this advocation, but the details of the "miraculous transfer" belong to the field of piety and not to the documented history.

Documented history of the Prague Loreto El Sanctuary of Our Lady of Loreto in Prague is located in Hradčany, the Castle district, and was conceived from its origin as a Marian pilgrimage place around a copy of the Italian Holy House. According to historical data, the founder was Benigna de Lobkowicz, lady of the noble Lobkowicz family, which promoted the construction of the Holy House in this location. The building began in 1626 and the Holy House was blessed the 25 March 1631. The initial architect was Giovanni Battista Orsi, working in a full style baroque.

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries the complex was completed, with cloister, chapels and the facade with the characteristic bell tower, while it was consolidated as most important Marian pilgrimage place in Bohemia. Today it is considered one of the great religious centers in Prague and the Czech Republic, closely linked to the Catholic life of the capital.

The image and the sanctuary

The image The sources of easy access in Spanish and generalists describe the sanctuary around the Santa Casa y a la devoción a Our Lady of Loretobut they do not offer a precise technical data sheet (material, author, dating) of the concrete image venerated inside. The presence of a Marian statue on the altar of the Loreto chapel, identified as Virgin of Loretowithout further iconographic details. There is no explicit description in these sources as "Black Virgin" with historical data (author, date, polychrome, etc.); it is not possible to say with certainty more than is documented: that it is a figure of the Virgin Mary venerated in the Holy House of Prague under the title of Our Lady of Loreto.

The sanctuary / temple

The set is officially called Sanctuary of Our Lady of Loreto in Prague (Pražská Loreta) and is presented as a sanctuary of Marian pilgrimage of the Catholic Church. The complex includes:

– The Holy House (réplica de la Santa Casa de Loreto, Italia), situada en el centro del patio. – Un claustro con capillas en torno a la Santa Casa. – La iglesia principal, dedicada a la Nativity of the Lord. – Una fachada barroca muy característica con bell y carillón. – El llamado Treasure of Loretowhere rich liturgical objects are kept, including the famous "Custody of diamonds" with thousands of precious stones.

The sources consulted present it as pilgrimage sanctuarybut do not explicitly mention the title of minor basilica nor a formal recognition as a national sanctuary; therefore, no such designation is included in the above-mentioned documents. It is located in Loretanská square 7, Prague 1-Hradčany, República Checa.

Sponsorship and coronation

The Spanish and English sources on the Prague Loreto highlight its importance as a place of Marian pilgrimage in Bohemia, but no indicates a patronazgo oficial (for example, patron of the city of Prague or of the archdiocese) expressly linked to this concrete image. Therefore, as regards specific local or national patterns linked to this apvocation of Prague, no consta documented information from the sources consulted.

As for the canonical coronation of the image venerated in the Holy House of Prague, accessible sources (including encyclopedic entrance and tourist and cultural descriptions) no mencionan an act of canonical coronation with a pontifical decree, date and celebrating authority. In accordance with this absence of verifiable data, it should be indicated:

> Canon coronation: there is no documented canonical coronation.

This case should be distinguished from the General Invocation of Our Lady of Loretothat it has received broad titles as patron of the aviators and of aviation at universal level, but that do not refer specifically to the image of the Prague Loreto.

Party and devotion

The litigation fiesta universal de Our Lady of Loreto se celebra el 10 December, a memory incorporated in the General Roman Calendar and related to the tradition of the transfer of the Holy House. Although the specific sources of the Prague Loreto do not detail its own calendar, it is reasonable to consider (by analogy with other Loreto shrines) that this date has a special devotional highlight; however, in the absence of an explicit document on Prague, the prudent formulation must be maintained: for the Prussian sanctuary no consta in the sources cited a direct mention to his main feast, beyond the general reference to December 10 in the Loretan devotion.

The sanctuary of Our Lady of Loreto is described as one of the most important Marian pilgrimage centres in Bohemia and the Czech Republic. Various guides and pages of tourist information stress that this is a place visited by both faithful and travellers, because of its character as a place of pilgrimageHis treasure and his chilli.

Devotional features include:

– La peregrinación a la Santa Casa, en continuidad con la tradición loretana. – La importancia del Treasure of Loreto, que testimonia siglos de fe y ofrendas. – El famoso bell towerwhich plays Marian melodies and has become a recognizable sign of the sanctuary and of the city.

No recent official figures of the influx of specifically religious pilgrims have been found; the above-mentioned figures often refer to cultural tourism, so from a strictly devotional point of view, no constan precise statistical data in the sources mentioned.

Link to the Rosary

The sources consulted on Loreto de Prague focus on the history of the Holy House, the Baroque architecture, the treasure and the chilli, but not document in a specific way a particular or own practice linked to the prayer of the Rosary in this sanctuary (e.g., the Rosary cofradies, its own rosarian processions, etc.).

It can be said, in general terms, that the sanctuary, as a place of Marian pilgrimage, is a natural environment for the prayer of Rosary, Marian prayer spread throughout the Church. The contemplation of the mysteries of life d