Marie de Nazareth
To Jesus, through Mary
This is what Saint Therese of Lisieux wrote about her visit to Loreto on November 13, 1887:
"I remember the great sense of happiness I had on my way to Loreto. What a perfect location the Virgin had chosen for her blessed house! Everything all around is poor, simple and primitive: the women have conserved their graceful Italian costume and haven't, like in the other cities, adopted the fashion of Paris. Loreto absolutely charmed me. What can I say about the Holy House?
My emotion was so great as I stood under the same roof as the Holy Family, to contemplate the walls where Our Lord set His divine eyes, to trod the earth that St Joseph had sprinkled with his perspiration, where Mary had carried Jesus in her arms, after having carried Him in her virginal womb.
I saw the small room of the Annunciation and I placed my rosary in the bowl of the Child Jesus. What delightful memories I have! But our biggest consolation was to receive Jesus in His house and thus to be made His living temple, in the very place He actually honored with His divine presence.
According to the Roman Catholic custom, the Holy Eucharist is only kept in churches on an altar; and from there only do priests distribute it to the faithful.
In Loreto, the altar is found in the Basilica which encloses the Holy House like a precious diamond in a marble case. This was not to our liking. We wanted to receive the bread of the angels in the diamond and not in its case.
Papa, with his usual meekness, followed the pilgrims, while his daughters, less submissive, walked directly towards the Santa Casa. By a special permission, a priest was about to celebrate Mass there; we told him what we wished. At once this devoted priest asked for two small hosts which he placed in the paten, and you can guess, Mother, the unutterable happiness of that communion! Words aren't strong enough to translate what we felt.
What will it be like then when we will eternally have communion in the House of Our Heavenly King !"