Holy House of Loreto Replica
Seven years in the making
While on Pilgrimage to Italy, Bob and Penny Lord (founders of Journeys of Faith) were in the Holy House of Loreto and they promised Our Lady of Loreto that they would build a replica of her house in the USA. Bob and Penny were renowned Catholic Authors and hosts on EWTN Global Catholic Television.
They tried to build the Holy House in several states, California, Kentucky, Lousiana, Illinois and Texas just to name a few.
Years later after many trials and discouragements a couple from Arkansas donated 80 acres of land bordering Interstate 40 at Morrilton. Arkansas. That couple was William and Marie Freyaldenhoven of Morrilton. And so began the building of the Holy House Replica in Arkansas.
Furthermore, the custodian of the Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto, Padre Santarelli OFM give Journeys of Faith a set of prints detailing the dimensions and layout plus sketches of the individual stone placements. Construction began in 2001 and was completed in 2002 The work was done by local craftsmen. Be sure to watch the video below in this page.
Our Lady of Loreto
The Holy House of Loreto
St. Francis of Assisi went to the Holy Land, in 1220, to convert
the Saracens or die trying. During his time there, he went to
Nazareth and spent time at the Holy House, where the Annunciation
took place, where the Holy Family lived from the time they returned
from Egypt until Jesus began His public Ministry. Francis spent
much time, praying there. We believe the Holy Family spoke to him
in the little House; because when he came back to Italy, he went out
on the road, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom.
One of the first places he went to was a little town of no accord,
north of Assisi, off the Adriatic Sea, about thirty miles inland from
Ancona. The town was called Loreto. Francis told his brothers to
begin preaching there. They looked around and protested, saying
the town was too small and the area too remote. Francis prophesied
“Someday this place will be known as the holiest place on earth.”
Seventy four years later, the Holy House of Nazareth arrived in
Loreto. Had Mother Mary spoken to St. Francis about this move
when he was in Nazareth, before the Crusaders had lost the battle,
and had been expelled from the Holy Land? He knew something!
Watch our special documentary on the building of the
Holy House of Nazareth in the United States. See video below.
Walk with Bob and Penny Lord from Loreto, Italy, to the Holy Family Mission in Morrilton, Arkansas in the Heart of the United States.
See how they fulfilled a promise made to St. Joseph in 1996, when he answered a special prayer request, that they would build a replica of the Holy House of Nazareth somewhere in the United States.
This documentary traces that promise and how through the years it finally came to be a reality here at Holy Family Mission. See the step by step process of building
the Holy House and then on September 22, 2002, the Grand Dedication of the Holy House.
Fr. J. Bennett Voorhies and Fr. Pablo Straub join Bob and Penny on this blessed occasion.
Share this video with your family and friends and spread the story about the Prayer and Promise. You have been given a mandate to evangelize.