Every year, the December 10, celebrates the celebration of the celebration of the Madonna (black) of Loreto, patron saint of aviators.
He has always sought patronage for the most diverse activities, and the choice on this patron is due to Pope Benedict XV, who on 24 March 1920, appointed the Blessed Virgin of Loreto "Patron of all aviation".
The choice was due to a legend dating back to the 4th century. According to tradition, in the 1291, when the crusaders were definitively expelled from Palestine, the Madonna's masonry house was carried "by angelic ministry" first in Illiria and then in the night between 9 and 10 December of 1294 at Loreto. So from that date, the sanctuary of Loreto preserves, according to an ancient tradition, the Nazaretan House of Our Lady.
In solemn ceremonies concerning the Air Force, if there is a liturgical period, the well-known "Aviator's Prayer" by Vittorio Malpassuti is mentioned (which you can see here in a drawing by Aldo Brovarone, the well-known draftsman of the Pinifarina to whom we owe all the most beautiful Ferraris in history), but there are no references to their patron saint.
Actually, even if the memory is lost, there are also other prayers of the aviators, always of those times, specifically addressed to the Madonna of Loreto. At the end of the article you can find the testimony of their existence.
It would seem that in the intentions of Pope Benedict XV there was an intention to reserve exclusively this patron of the Military Air Force, in fact, I am spontaneous to make a couple of considerations.
The first is that in the 1920, that is, in a period when aviation had breached the history of human progress, the gap between military and civilian use of the air was not well distinguished, and in particular the ethical approach to flight it was not addressed with significant differences.
The second consideration is that certainly in the 1920 the Air Force was not born yet, so the Madonna di Loreto is the patron saint of anyone who works to fly an aircraft.
But this is not a problem at all. Rather! This means that certain traditions and symbolisms, which do so much good to the spirit of belonging to a serious and professional organization such as an armed force, should still live in a civilized environment, just as the Armed Forces do.
In the specific field of Civil Aviation, with regard to the celebration of the tradition of Our Lady of Loreto and more in the years' 60 tried Com.te Cerrina, which in Orbassano, near Turin, constituted a real Civil Aeronautical Academy (called " Renowned free flying school "). Truly a beautiful initiative, unique and as if they have never seen more, not even in the structures headed by what has even been our flag carrier.
Well structured, with a go-kart track, an office building, control tower, guesthouse and even a cave (who knows that it was not an originally bunker, given its shape) dedicated to the Madonna of Loreto.
In fact, according to what the ecclesiastical tradition reports, the earthly dwelling of Mary in Nazareth was made up of two parts, one of which consists of a cave dug into the rock.
If we really want to be honest, all these noble attentions of Commander Cerrina were not repaid by divine blessing.
Of this marvelous structure remains the go-kart track, which is still in use. Everything else is in despicable abandonment, but it is a private land and its owner has every right to do what he believes.
The statue of the Madonna of Loreto and its crypt tells of a decidedly disquieting end, due to certain practices that are said to be one of the peculiarities of Turin. Detraction? Who knows.
In the end, the worst of the dismissals: Commander Sergio Cerrina died at the DC-9 / 30 Alitalia in the incident of Punta Raisi, and for a long time was wrongly attributed responsibility as well as the remains of such a tragedy were placed at we can advertise a local auto demolition.
Having said this, I do not want this writing of mine to be misunderstood in having blasphemous intentions (similarly attributable to my being in Turin) or to ridicule a tradition.
The purpose of this article is to push forward the idea of Commander Cerrina to give civil aviation an ethical approach right from the flying schools, of military inspiration, with symbols, traditions and patron.
Today I see, with disgust probably soon followed by formal complaints to the police authorities, people barely endowed with a sports flying certificate that they act (not to say that they pass) for Line Commanders, only because they are in certain simulators ( non-professional, even if advertised as such) in the areas of Bergamo and Milan, well-equipped game rooms that rise to fertile ground to be able to go around showing uniforms and symbols (civil and military) that do not belong to him, as well as even training. Not to mention aeromodelism races passed off for airshow or museums that serve as a political showcase if not worse.
So I pray to the Blessed Virgin of Loreto, through the intercession of the late Comandante Cerrina, that soon someone will reorganize and moralize with seriousness, the Italian civil aviation starting from the activities of pleasure flight, more fertile ground for any worst legitimacy of certain forms of illegality.
(photo: Aeronautica Militare / web)
