Loretto Cross

Loretto Cross
Awarded by the Basilica of the Holy House in Loreto
Art	Badge of honor
Awarded for	Services to the Basilica of the Holy House in Loreto
status	is no longer awarded
Data
Foundation year	1888
Precedence
Next higher award	Benemerenti (Pontifical Merit Medal)

The Loretto Cross was awarded by the Congregation of Loretto for services to the Basilica della Santa Casa . It was founded in 1888 and by the Holy See as decorations approved.

history

Pope Sixtus V in 1586 founded the Order of Knights Order of the Knights of Loretto with the task of highwaymen fighting in the area of the Basilica della Santa Casa. After only two years, the order was dissolved as a knightly order and the title was limited to the cathedral capitulars of the Holy House.

The Apostolic Administrator of Loreto was granted permission to award the honorary badge on November 26, 1888. This took place on the occasion of the 300th  anniversary of the change of the order of knights into a chapter badge. Men and women were allowed to be accepted as “ Honorary Treasurers ” or “Ladies of Honor of the Holy House of Loretto” after paying a donation or other service to the sanctuary and received a cross of honor in one of three stages. In addition, various indulgences .

The Loretto Cross was no longer awarded in 1983, but could have been awarded before under Paul VI. have been abolished.

layout

The award consists of a Maltese cross , in the middle of which there is a medallion with the image of the statue of the Black Madonna of Loreto on the front . This medallion is based on the medal of the Order of the Knights of Loreto. A golden ribbon winds around the cross arms.

The three stages of the cross are:

• 1st class: gold cross with blue enameled cross arms and white medallion on a blue ribbon with white ends separated by a thin yellow stripe; worn on a ribbon around the neck
• 2nd class: gold cross with blue enameled cross arms and white medallion on a blue ribbon with white ends separated by a thin yellow stripe; worn on the left side of the chest; worn on the left side of the chest
• 3rd class: gold-plated bronze cross on a red ribbon, which is broken in the middle by a white-blue-white ribbon and at the edges by dark yellow stripes; worn on the left side of the chest

On the back there is either the inscription BENEMERENTIBUS QUIBUS CORDI EST DECOR DOMUS LAURETANAE or VIRIS LECTISSIMUS QUIBUS CORDI EST DECOR DOMUS LAURETANAE or FEMINIS LECTISSIMUS QUIBUS CORDI [...] .

Capitulars wore the cross on a cord around their necks.

Remarks

1. ↑ The notation Lorettokreuz can be found in the literature. The Italian community in which the Basilica of the Holy House is located is spelled Loreto .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Jörg C. Steiner: Decoration of the treasurer of the Holy House of Loretto . Retrieved July 26, 2019.
2. ^ ^{A b} Hyginus Eugene Cardinale: Orders of knighthood awards and the Holy See . van Duren, Gerrards Cross 1985, p. 112.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Friedrich Marquis Guigue de Champvans de Farémont: History and legislation of the orders of knights, decorations and medals of the Holy See according to official sources . Institut historique et hèraldique de France, Paris 1932, p. 40.
4. ↑ Decorazione per i Cavalieri Lauretani -Be179 (Medaglia) . Retrieved September 4, 2019.
5. ↑ Cross of an Honorary Chamberlain of the Holy House of Loretto (Sogen. Loretto Cross) . Retrieved September 4, 2019.
6. ↑ Cross of an Honorary Chamberlain of the Holy House of Loreto (so-called Loreto Cross) . Retrieved September 4, 2019.