FLYING LADY OF LORETO
The Virgin Mary supposedly flew her house in Nazareth to Loreto in 1294 on the
twelfth day of December. In 1291, the angels carried it to Illyria which is
Tarsetto in modern Croatia from Nazareth and from Illyria it went to Loreto. But
excavations made by archaeologists in the 1960s indicate that the stones were
moved from Palestine to Loreto by ship. As for the angels they seem to have been
introduced into the story by somebody who was hard of hearing for a family
called Angeli that ruled Epirus was responsible for the move. A document was
found not many years ago that was written in 1294 that stated that the stones
were part of a dowry in a royal wedding. The stones seem to have been inscribed
upon by Jewish believers in Jesus which makes them ancient. But it is hard to
believe that the Jews who attacked Mary in their writings even though her faults
would not have reflected badly on Jesus and though the idea of worshipping her
was popularised by the Church centuries later would have tolerated such a house.
It would have been razed to the ground. The inscriptions
are fake and there is no evidence of authenticity. No doubt there would always
have been a few Jews who believed in Jesus but only as a Jewish prophet. It is
even believed that the Virgin was born in the house. This idea originated with
Pope Julius II from about 1507. But there no evidence that she or her parents
always lived in the house. If Mary and Joseph had to go to Bethlehem to register
in the census then it seems probable that they were born there so the claim is
improbable. When Jesus seemed to have been accepted as a king by Pilate it would
seem to have been the case that Pilate knew he was king which would mean that
Mary was really the beautiful Mariamme who was married to King Herod and who
disappeared and was thought to have been murdered. This Jewish princess would
hardly have been living in a stone house in Nazareth.
The New Catholic Encyclopaedia under Loreto says that the house of the Virgin
was moved four times because it took that to find a place where it would be
venerated properly. Surely the angels that carried it would not have got it so
wrong so often! Were they stupid? The stone and mortar are said to be from
Nazareth and the house has no foundations which is supposed to support the idea
that angels lifted it and carried it. One would expect angels to lift
foundations and all.
The research of a man called Chevalier in 1906 found that there was no evidence
that the house was ever in Nazareth and its disappearance was not mentioned
until the 1500s and there was no evidence for the miraculous translation until
1472 when it was too late.