The Blessed Virgin

But the surprise increases when one enters the interior. The room formed an oblong square. The ceiling, surmounted by a small bell tower, was of wood, painted azure and divided into several compartments, scattered here and there with golden stars. Around the walls and below the paneling, one noticed several semicircles that rounded off near each other and appeared interspersed with vases variously varied in their forms. The walls, about a cubit thick, built without a rule or level, did not follow the vertical line exactly. They were covered with a plaster on which one could see painted the principal mysteries of this sacred place. A fairly wide door, opened in one of the side parts, gave entry into this mysterious dwelling. To the right opened a narrow and unique window. Opposite rose an altar built of strong, square stones, dominated by an antique Greek cross, adorned with a crucifix painted on a canvas glued to the wood, where the title of our salvation could be read: Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews.

Near the altar, one could see a small cupboard of admirable simplicity, intended to receive the utensils necessary for a poor household; it contained a few small vases similar to those used by mothers to feed their children. To the left, a kind of fireplace or hearth, surmounted by a precious niche supported by columns adorned with fluting and volutes, and finished by a rounded vault, formed by five moons that joined and linked together mutually. There was placed a cedar statue, representing the blessed Virgin standing and carrying the child Jesus in her arms. The faces were painted a kind of color similar to silver, but blackened by time and no doubt by the smoke of the candles burned before these holy images. A crown of pearls placed on Mary's head enhanced the nobility of her brow; her hair, parted in the Nazarene style, floated on her neck and shoulders. Her body was dressed in a golden robe which, supported by a wide belt, fell flowing to her feet; a blue mantle covered her sacred back; both were chiseled and formed from the same wood as the statue itself. The child Jesus, of a larger size than that of ordinary children, with a face where a divine majesty breathed, and which was embellished by hair parted on the forehead, like that of the Nazarenes, whose garment and belt he wore, raised the first fingers of his right hand, as if to give a blessing, and, with his left, supported a globe, symbol of his sovereign power over the universe. The image of the holy Virgin, at the moment of her arrival, was covered with a red wool robe, which is still preserved today and remains without alteration. Such was the layout of the holy chapel when it came to rest in Dalmatia.

There was general astonishment; people asked one another what this unknown dwelling could be, what hand had traced these figures, what power had caused this new sanctuary to appear in an instant; everyone questioned, no one could answer, when suddenly the venerable pastor of the church of Saint George, Bishop Alexander, a native of Modruzia, rushed into the midst of the people. His presence excited a general cry of surprise; he was known to be gravely ill, with almost no hope of recovery; and yet there he was, full of life and health; the ailment had disappeared; the fever had not left the slightest trace.

At night, in his bed of pain, he had felt the most ardent desire to go and contemplate with his own eyes the prodigy of which he had just learned the news; in that moment he dedicated himself to Mary, whose miraculous image had been described to him. Suddenly the heavens opened before his eyes, the most holy Virgin appeared in the midst of the angels surrounding her, and with a voice whose sweetness ravished his heart inwardly: "My son," she said to him, "you have called me; here I am to give you effective help and to reveal to you the secret of which you wish to have knowledge. Know then that the holy dwelling recently brought to this territory is the very house where I was born and received almost all my education. It is there that, at the news brought by the archangel Gabriel, I conceived by the operation of the Holy Spirit the divine child. It is there that the Word was made flesh! Thus, after my passing, the Apostles consecrated this roof, illustrious for such high mysteries, and vied for the honor of celebrating the august sacrifice there. The altar, transported to the same land, is the very one that the apostle Saint Peter erected. The crucifix that one notices there was placed there formerly by the Apostles. The cedar statue is my image mad e by the saint Luc Evangelist to whom the carving of the statue of the Virgin is attributed. hand of the evangelist Saint Luke, who, guided by the attachment he had for me, expressed, through the resources of art, the resemblance of my features, as much as is possible for a mortal. This house, loved by heaven, surrounded for so many centuries with honor in Galilee, but today deprived of homage amidst the failure of faith, has passed from Nazareth to these shores. Here there is no doubt: the author of this great event is that God with whom no word is impossible. Furthermore, so that you yourself may be its witness and preacher, receive your healing. Your sudden return to health in the midst of such a long illness will be proof of this prodigy."

Thus spoke Mary, and, rising toward heaven, she disappeared, leaving the room perfumed with a celestial odor. The faithful minister felt the ailment vanish, the fever extinguish, strength reborn; to rise, to throw himself on his knees, to bless his benefactress, to run to the august sanctuary to offer his thanksgiving, were all at once both the need of his gratitude and the proof that this supernatural visit was not a chimera born in a brain led astray by pain.

Nicholas Frangipane, who was governing that region at the time, was absent; he had followed Rudolph of Habsburg to war: in the midst of this military expedition, he received news of this prodigious event. The prince gave him permission to leave the camp to go and ascertain the truth. The length of the journey did not stop him; he came in person to Tersatz, where, without letting himself be carried away by an initial enthusiasm, he took the most meticulous information. This was not yet, in his eyes, a sufficiently assured demonstration: four of his subjects, chosen by his own hand, wise and prudent men, among whom were noted, besides Bishop Alexander, Sigismund Orsich and John Gregoruschi, traveled to Nazareth to examine and compare the circumstances of this extraordinary fact. Their commission was fulfilled with as much fidelity as diligence. Their report was conclusive: in Nazareth of Galilee, the natal house of the most holy Virgin was no longer to be found; it had been detached from its bases, which still existed; there was no difference between the nature of the stones remaining in the foundations and the quality of those that composed the holy edifice; there was perfect conformity in the measurements for the length and width of the building. Their testimony was drawn up in writing; it was confirmed by a solemn oath; it was authenticated according to the forms required by law.

No more doubt, no more uncertainty. Devotion took a rapid flight; the people flocked from all parts. The provinces of Bosnia, Serbia, Albania, and Croatia seemed to empty themselves to spread their inhabitants over this land favored by heaven. To facilitate the eagerness of the pilgrims, Frangipane had the blessed walls surrounded with large beams covered with planks, according to the taste of the country, where constructions of this kind were still in use, and lavished rich offerings to increase the splendor of this venerable sanctuary as its fame spread the knowledge of it further afield.

Three and a half years after its arrival in Tersatz, the house of Nazareth, carried by the hands of angels, rose again into the air and disappeared from the sight of that desolate people. The prince had a small chapel built on the same spot and on the same remains, where one can still read today: "Here is the place where the most holy dwelling of the blessed Virgin of Loreto once stood, which is now honored on the lands of Recanati." On the path, this inscription in the Italian language was engraved: "The holy house of the blessed Virgin came to Tersatz on May 10, 1291, and withdrew on December 10, 1294." The sovereign Pontiffs granted several graces to the commemorative chapel of Tersatz. The clergy and the people continue to sing this hymn there: "O Mary! You have come here with your house, in order to dispense grace as the pious Mother of Christ. Nazareth was your cradle, but Tersatz was your first port, when you were seeking a new homeland. You have carried your sacred dwelling elsewhere, but you have nonetheless remained with us, O Queen of clemency. We rejoice to have been judged worthy of keeping your maternal presence."

From that time until our days, one sees every year the Dalmatians crossing the Adriatic Sea in groups, and coming to Loreto, as much to lament their widowhood as to venerate the cradle of Mary. Always on their lips are these solemn words: "Return to us, Mary, return." In the year 1559, more than three hundred pilgrims from that region with their wives and children arrived in Loreto, carrying lit torches, stopped first at the great door, where they prostrated themselves to implore the help of God and his holy Mother, then were all arranged on their knees in order by the priests they had brought with them, and thus entered their temple crying out with a single voice in their native idiom: "Return, return to us, O Mary! Mary, return to Fiume!" Their sorrow was so keen, and their prayer so fervent, that the witness who wrote the history of it sought to impose silence upon them, fearing, he said, that such ardent supplications might be answered, and that the holy chapel might be snatched away from Italy to go to Tersatz to resume its former position. Thus, the sovereign Pontiff wished to favor the devotion of this good people by founding a hospice in Loreto to receive several families from Dalmatia who could not bring themselves to return to their country while leaving the Virgin of Nazareth, and no longer regarded as their homeland anything but the place she herself had deigned to choose for her residence.

As for the history of the new translation, here are the terms in which a hermit of the time and the country, Paul Della Selva, wrote it to the King of Naples, Charles II.

"In the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1294, on Saturday, December 10, when everything was plunged into silence, and the night in its course was in the middle of its path, a light from heaven came to strike the eyes of several inhabitants of the shores of the Adriatic Sea, and a divine harmony, awakening the wisdom of the most asleep, drew them from sleep to make them contemplate a wonder superior to all the forces of nature. They saw then and contemplated at leisure a house surrounded by a celestial splendor, supported in the hands of the angels, and transported through the air. The peasants and the shepherds stopped, stunned at the sight of such a great wonder, and fell to their knees in adoration, awaiting the end and the conclusion where this prodigy would lead. However, this holy house carried by the angels was placed in the middle of a great wood, and the trees themselves bowed as if to venerate the Queen of heaven. Today one still sees them bent and curved as if to testify to their joy. It is said that in this place there was once a temple dedicated to some false divinity, and surrounded by a forest of laurels, which gave it the name of Loreto, as it is still called today. Scarcely had the morning arrived, when the peasants hastened to go to Recanati, to recount what had happened, and all the people hastened to run to the wood of the Laurels, to ensure the truth of this narration. Among the nobles and the people, several remained mute with astonishment, several could not resolve to believe the miracle. The best disposed wept with joy, and said with the Prophet: 'We have found it in the fields of the forest'; and again: 'He has not dealt thus with all nations.' They honored this small and holy house, and, penetrating into the interior with devotion, they rendered their homage to the wooden statue of the divine Virgin Mary, who held her Son in her arms. Upon returning to Recanati, they filled the city with a holy joy; the people often left the city to go to venerate the holy chapel; it was a perpetual concourse of the faithful who crossed paths on the road.

"However, the blessed Virgin Mary multiplied the prodigies and the miracles. The rumor of such a great wonder spread into distant regions, as well as into the neighboring provinces, and all ran to the forest of the Laurels, which was soon filled with different wooden dwellings, to serve as a refuge for the pilgrims. While these events were taking place, the infernal lion who turns incessantly, seeking some prey to devour, stirred up brigands, whose impious hands defiled the sacred wood with thefts and homicides, so that the devotion of many cooled through fear of the evildoers.

"At the end of eight months, the first miracle was confirmed by a second prodigy. The holy house left the profaned forest, and was placed by the ministry of the angels in the middle of a hill, belonging to two noble brothers, the counts Etienne and Siméon Rainaldi de Antiquis, of Recanati. However, the devotion of the faithful grew, and the small and holy dwelling was enriched by great gifts and numerous offerings. The noble and pious brothers were its depositaries; but soon they yielded to avarice, applied the gifts to themselves, and let their judgment be perverted to the point of coming to scandalous discussions to know which of the two would prevail over the other.

"Then the holy house withdrew, four months after its arrival, from the hill of the two brothers, and by a third miracle was carried by the angels to a new site distant about a stone's throw, in the middle of the public road that leads from Recanati to the seashore, and it is there that I still see it today and that I contemplate with my own eyes the continual graces that it grants to those who come to offer their prayers there."

However, the citizens of Recanati viewed the weakness of the holy walls with anxiety; placed upon the earth, they had no foundations to support them. Was it not to be feared that, suffering little by little the effects of time, they might collapse and thus deprive the country of its most beautiful ornaments? What further increased their fear was the very situation of the place, exposed to violent whirlwinds and frequent storms, where torrents of rain seemed to conspire with the fury of the winds. They decided, consequently, to raise around this frail edifice a strong wall established on solid bases and built of fire-hardened bricks. They did even more, and, instructed each day of the numerous miracles that God operated through the virtue of this holy house, they called upon skilled painters to represent with the brush, on this wall, particularly on the north side, all the details of the prodigious history, in order to give everyone, and especially the ignorant, the ease of understanding this wonder and of giving thanks to the most holy Virgin.

Now, here is what happened, according to the testimony of a historian, Father Riera: "Public rumor," he says, "has spread in the provinces of Ancona, as a great miracle, that at the moment when the work had just been finished, the new walls were found to be so separated from the old ones that a small child could easily pass through with a torch in his hand, to show the crowd, when the occasion presented itself, the truth of this gap. This prodigy struck minds vividly, especially since it was known with certainty that beforehand they were so tightly joined that there was not the thickness of a hair between the two. Hence this common opinion that absolutely nothing can remain attached to the walls of the august house of Loreto, the holy Virgin willing it so, to prevent the belief that she needs the help of men to support her venerable dwelling. Whatever the cause of this phenomenon, the truth of the fact is beyond all controversy; for even today there live several witnesses who have contemplated this admirable spectacle with their own eyes. Also, when, in the time of Clement VII, Rainero Nerucci, architect of the holy chapel, and who has since remained with me in sweet intimacy, wanted, by order of the Pontiff, to tear down this brick wall, which time had already almost overturned, to raise in its place this magnificent marble monument that one sees today, he noticed, not without great astonishment, that, against the rules of architecture and the plans of human art, all the stones foreign to the holy house had moved away as if to pay it just homage. The same Rainero, as well as several others, also told me that these added walls had, for several years, opened up so much that through long slits, one could easily contemplate the old building and enjoy the admirable delights that seem to emanate from its holiness."

At the beginning of the 14th century, the inhabitants of Recanati erected a temple in Loreto to enclose the Holy Chapel. A town formed around it, to which the sovereign Pontiffs have not ceased to lavish spiritual and temporal favors. In the year 1464, Pope Pius II offered a gold chalice to Our Lady of Loreto to obtain the healing of an illness, which he indeed obtained there. The same year, his successor, Paul II, who erected a new basilica around the Holy Chapel, said in a bull of October 15: "One cannot doubt that God, at the prayer of the most holy Virgin, mother of his divine Son, grants every day to the faithful who piously address their vows to her singular graces, and that the churches dedicated in honor of her name deserve to be honored with the greatest devotion; however, those must receive more particular homage in which the Most High, at the intercession of this august Virgin, performs more evident, more striking, and more frequent miracles. Now, it is manifest, by experience, that the church of Saint Mary of Loreto, in the diocese of Recanati, because of the great, unheard-of, and infinite miracles that the power of this blessed Virgin manifests there, and which we have experienced ourselves in our own person, attracts to its enclosure the peoples of all parts of the world."

Sixtus IV, successor to Paul II, declared Loreto the property of the Holy See; all persons attached to the service of the church would report immediately to him, and would be exempt from any other jurisdiction; two capable subjects would be appointed by the sovereign Pontiff: one to take care of spiritual matters, under the name of vicar; the other to watch over temporal interests, with the title of governor. The vicar would institute eight chaplains obliged to reside and charged with singing a solemn mass every day, since called the votive mass: the penitentiaries would add to the powers of absolution already granted that of dispensing from vows, or rather of commuting them into good works and aid applied to the needs of the Holy Chapel. The Carmelites, charged with the guard of the Holy Places of Palestine, were called to guard the holy chamber of the Mother of God.

Leo X renewed all past privileges and granted more precious and abundant ones. A collegiate church was established with twelve canons, twelve mansionary priests, and six choristers; the indulgences of the apostolic stations in Rome were extended to the sanctuary of Loreto, where one could gain by visiting a single church what could only be obtained by visiting several churches in the capital of the Christian world; the autumn markets in Ancona, Pesaro, and elsewhere were suppressed to give more luster to the one held in Recanati at the time of the Nativity; where one saw not only Catholics, but even Greeks and Armenians, although schismatic, vying in devotion for Mary with the faithful children of the Catholic Church. The vow to make a pilgrimage to Loreto was reserved to the Pope, like those of visiting the tombs of the holy Apostles or the sepulcher of Jesus Christ. The famous sculptor Sansovino was commissioned to surround the precious sanctuary with magnificent work in white Carrara marble. The governor received the privilege of celebrating mass in pontifical vestments and giving the episcopal blessing to the people. Orders were given to fortify the castle and build boulevards, bastions, and ditches defended by large pieces of artillery, in order to shelter the temple from surprise and attacks.

Clement VII Clément VII Pope mentioned as having possessed a relic of the saint. realized the sublime plan formed by his predecessor and relative Leo X, the plan for the magnificent decorations that were to cover the humble walls of the Holy House with white marble sculptures on the outside. He called upon the most illustrious artists for this great work, to vie in talent and genius in the accomplishment of such a noble undertaking. He established the famous Nerucci as chief architect, for the church as well as for the portico. The marbles had already been carved, and the ornaments were already ready to be put in place. Nerucci had the ancient wall torn down, which was found, as has been said, to be separated from the fragile walls of the miraculous chamber. For several days, it remained exposed in all its simplicity to the eager gaze of popular devotion and curiosity. Everyone could verify that it was placed without foundations on the bare ground. Below it, one could see a dusty and crushed earth, similar to that of a frequented and busy road; one even noticed a bramble that had been caught under the holy burden deposited by the Angels; everything suggested a public road, in accordance with the constant testimony of tradition. However, it was necessary to begin the excavations required for the construction of the bases that were to support the precious marbles; and then it was easy to be convinced without any doubt that the holy walls were placed as if suspended on uneven and dusty ground. Jerome Angelita, in his official report to the same Pope Clement VII, makes particular mention of all these prodigious facts, which cannot be called into question.

The foundations were already emerging from the ground, but the plan decided upon by Leo X and approved by Clement VII required that the only door of the Holy House be walled up, and that three others be opened in its place, to avoid the accidents that occurred every day due to the crowding of pious pilgrims in such a narrow space. At this news, the people were in consternation; a sudden rumor arose from all sides. Who would dare to violate with the blows of an audacious hammer these walls that the centuries themselves have respected? However, the Pope's order was pressing; the common good demanded its execution; the beauty of the work imperiously required it. The architect Nerucci armed himself with courage, raised his hand, and struck a first blow; instantly he turned pale, he trembled, he felt his strength failing, he fell unconscious; he was carried to his house; the danger was imminent, his very life seemed compromised. His pious wife, seeing him in this fatal state, prostrated herself at the feet of Mary and invoked the august patroness of Loreto; her prayers were answered, the mortal lethargy soon dissipated, and the imprudent architect was happily returned to his family and his work.

However, they hastened to inform the Pontiff of this marvelous event and to ask for his decision in such a difficult case. He replied in these terms: "Do not fear to pierce the walls of the august sanctuary and to open the doors: thus orders Clement VII." Such a formal command and all the authority of the Apostolic See could not determine the architect Nerucci to set aside his fear and obey. In vain they urged him, in vain they strove to persuade him; all attempts were useless. On one side, the Pope's order pressed for the work; on the other, public stupor halted its execution. Suddenly, against all expectations, a man presented himself for a task that seemed so dangerous; he was a cleric and attached to the choir of the sanctuary, his name was Ventura Perini Ventura Perini Cleric who succeeded in piercing the walls of the house after the architect's failure. . He first took three days to prepare himself for this enterprise through fervent prayers and a rigorous fast; on the last day, towards evening, he advanced towards the Holy place, surrounded by an innumerable crowd of people; he bent his knees, he kissed and kissed again a thousand times the holy walls, he took the hammer; but before striking, with his arm suspended in the air, he addressed Mary and said to her with confidence: "Forgive me, O holy house of the purest of Virgins! It is not I who pierce you, it is Clement, Vicar of Jesus Christ, in the ardor that animates him for your embellishment. Permit it, O Mary! and satisfy the good desire of his heart." At these words, he struck a first blow, followed by several others, without feeling any harm; the other workers regained courage and imitated him in his work as in his devotion; the doors were opened, the stones collected with respect were used to close the only opening that previously gave entry into the precious sanctuary; the beam that served as an architrave was preserved in the building as a monument and a souvenir of the ancient layout of this place, and the new plan with its magnificent sculptures was executed.

Sixtus V, having become pope in 1585, considering, as he said, that the city of Loreto is famous throughout the world and that it contains within its walls a distinguished collegiate church under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; considering how venerable this church is, in the midst of which rises the august house consecrated by the divine mysteries, where this pure Virgin was born, was greeted by the angel, and conceived the Savior of the world by the Holy Spirit; considering that this house was transported to this place by the ministry of angels, that miracles are performed there every day through the intercession and merits of this powerful patroness, and that the faithful servants of Jesus Christ flock there from all parts of the world to satisfy their devotion through pious pilgrimages, Sixtus V raised the city of Loreto to the rank of a city, gave its church the title of cathedral, and established a bishopric there.

Clement VIII, having become Pope in 1592, made the pilgrimage to Loreto in person, and forbade the singing of any litanies other than those which the Church now uses and which are vulgarly called the Litanies of Loreto, because it was in this church that they were sung for the first time, according to the drafting of Cardinal Savelli, to whom they are commonly attributed, on the faith of a silver plate on which they were engraved in the year 1483, with this inscription which one reads at the bottom: "Paul Savelli, Prince of Albano and Imperial Deputy."

Clement IX, pope in 1667, prescribed, after a severe examination by the Congregation of Rites, by a solemn decree, to record in the Roman Martyrology, on December 10, the history of the great prodigy of Loreto with these remarkable words: "At Loreto, in the territory of Ancona, the translation of the holy house of Mary, Mother of God, in which the Word was made flesh." Innocent XII, in 1691, assigned a particular office and mass for this great solemnity, and had the history of this prodigy added to the Roman breviary at the end of the sixth lesson.

A defender of the ho ly house a Benoît XIV Pope who beatified Jerome Emiliani. s learned as he was zealous, Benedict XIV, before his elevation to the Holy See, had victoriously established its identity with the humble and modest dwelling of Nazareth against the criticisms of the Protestant Casaubon and other adversaries of the truth. Thus, we have no reason to be surprised that he preserved all the exemptions and privileges of his predecessors, and worked for the embellishment of the august sanctuary by the erection of the imposing mass of the great bell tower and by the completion of the beautiful terrace of the apostolic palace.

But the reign of this great Pontiff offers nothing more remarkable in relation to Loreto than the restoration of the pavement of the holy chapel and the consequences resulting from the examination made at that time. It was in the year 1751; Jean-Baptiste Stella, a Bolognese, governed the city; on the point of setting the workmen to work, he rightly believed he should surround himself with the most respectable witnesses. He begged Monsignor Alexandre Borgia to come and assist him on this important occasion, and he called at the same time four other prelates, the bishops of Jesi, Ascoli, Macerata, and Loreto. He officially summoned an architect and four master masons, to whom were joined by circumstance three foreign architects, who had come to the city to venerate the holy house. All being present, the excavations began; one soon arrives at the end of the holy walls, sunk less than a foot below the pavement; the architects and master masons, having descended first into the opening, pulled out a superficial and dried-out earth, mixed with small, half-crushed pebbles, similar to those found in beaten paths and public roads.

However, one of the most skillful architects strongly attached himself to the plan of digging deeper, to see at what depth the virgin soil was found, upon which it is customary to establish foundations to ensure their solidity. Already he had sunk so far under one of the sides that he disappeared entirely into the excavation. The guardian Xavier Monti began to tremble; the wall of the holy house is so thin, will it not fall into ruin? Will it not crack in some places? In vain he expressed his fears; the curious artist continued his research. The laborers had already reached a depth of eight to nine feet, when a cry arose: The virgin soil! The virgin soil! He gathered a handful, and, coming out full of joy, he showed it to all the assistants, who withdrew while blessing God, whose hand has sustained, against all the laws of architecture, for so many centuries and despite the tremors of earthquakes, the simple and humble dwelling of Saint Mary.

The holy house is not built, as some have thought, of fire-baked bricks, but it is composed of living and worked stones, light, reddish, porous, and impregnated with a certain odor of antiquity. It is built with materials unknown in Italy and common to Nazareth; all the objects it contains have an evident character of antiquity and orientalism which does not allow its origin to be fixed in the West; the dimensions of its extent correspond with complete exactitude to the foundations remaining in Nazareth; it subsists in a miraculous manner, remaining standing in the midst of the ruins of the most solid constructions, although placed without foundation and without plumb on the bare earth; it has always preserved an entire inviolability, without anyone ever being able to steal the slightest part of it with impunity; therefore the house of Loreto is not an ordinary building; therefore it is an enclosure protected by the all-powerful hand of God; therefore it was not originally raised on the lands of Italy, but was transported there from beyond the seas; therefore it is truly the room whose bases have remained as witnesses in Galilee, that is to say, the room of Mary, the room where the most august of our mysteries was accomplished.

To perpetuate forever the memory of the miracle of the translation of the holy house of the Virgin Mary, Clement VII (1378-1394) permitted the celebration of its feast in the basilica of Loreto. Urban VIII (1623-1644) extended this solemnity to all the churches of the March of Ancona. Innocent XII (1691-1700) approved a proper office for this feast; in 1724, Benedict XIII extended it to the entire Ecclesiastical State. This feast is popular in France, and a good number of our bishops have had it inscribed in the Proper of their dioceses.

Rohrbacher, Life of the Saints.