Today, Saturday, December 10, the Church commemorates the liturgical feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Loreto, to whom the parish church of Għajnsielem is dedicated. Archpriest Can. Frankie Bajada will lead a concelebrated Mass at 6pm. Mro Frankie Debono will lead the orchestra and choir.

Loreto, a sizable hill town to the south of Ancona, Italy, is the site of the Santa Casa di Loreto, the Holy House believed to have been inhabited by the Blessed Virgin Mary at the time of the Annunciation in Nazareth. It now stands within the Basilica della Santa Casa, a popular Catholic pilgrimage site.

The parish church of Loreto in Għajnsielem.

A late medieval tradition asserts that it was miraculously transported by angels from Nazareth just before the final expulsion of the Christian Crusaders by Muslims in 1291. Now there is some evidence that it was actually pulled down by the Angelos, a noble Byzantine family, to reassemble it in a safer place. Hence the tradition. It was transferred from one place to another until it finally found a resting place in the town of Loreto.

The Għajnsielem Mass will be broadcast on Radju Lauretana 89.3 FM and www.radjulauretana.com.