The Italian Air Force participated in the celebrations on the 9th and 10th of December
The Armed Forces thus renewed their devotion to the Heavenly Patroness, taking part in the prayer vigil and the procession with the Sacred Effigy escorted by aviators in Friday evening dress uniform, and in the solemn mass celebrated in the Basilica by Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, and by the Archbishop of Loreto and Pontifical Delegate, Monsignor Giovanni Tonucci, held on Saturday morning. The latter was also attended by a delegation from the National Association of Air Force Officers (ANUA),
To the Virgin of Loreto, Mother and Patroness, has been addressed by Cardinal Piacenza “the reliance on the Italian Air Force in carrying out the noble service of security and peace on our earth”. General Cormio, representing the Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, underlined how ”[...] On this most solemn day of the highest significance, we find ourselves ideally united around our most holy patron saint to renew that communion of faith and sincere devotion which constitute our spiritual heritage. It is a precious heritage, which finds its deepest roots in those values of strong inner motivation and enthusiasm that have sustained us and continue to sustain us even in the most difficult moments of our service aimed at safeguarding peace, where it is consolidated by freedom and respect for others, and at restoring it where it is denied by selfishness and hatred.
Before the solemn mass and in the presence of the highest local religious and civil authorities, and the Marche Aeronautica Arma Association with some sections of the region, the new positioning of the MB.339 PAN (National Aerobatic Patrol) aircraft was inaugurated, having been removed from its previous location along via Sisto V and now placed on static display at the intersection with via Benedetto XV. The ceremony concluded with a visit to the Loreto historical aeronautical museum, curated by the A.A.A. - Loreto Section “Gen. Douhet”, which offers a uniquely donated collection of memorabilia.
The celebrations on the 9th and 10th of December commemorate the so-called “Festa della Venuta” (Feast of the Coming), an annual religious observance recalling the translation to Loreto of the “Holy House”, the masonry structure preserved within the Basilica of Loreto. According to tradition, this is the house in Nazareth, Galilee, where the Virgin Mary was born, raised and received the Annunciation; on the night between the 9th and 10th of December 1294, the structure was transported to the Marche region. The popular belief that the translation took place “by the hands of angels” is why Our Lady of Loreto began to be venerated as the patroness of aviators from the very earliest days of Italian aviation; until 24 March 1920, when the Blessed Virgin of Loreto was officially proclaimed “patron saint of aeronauts” by Pope Benedict XV. Ever since, the Italian Air Force, founded as an Armed Force on 28 March 1923, has also venerated Our Lady of Loreto at all its bases and celebrated the observance of 10 December.
