Deconstructing a Miracle

Abstract

Since the miraculous flying house first surfaced, people have applied historical methods to better understand it. But these attempts have fallen short at explaining three hallmarks of the Loreto devotion: its movement (journeys), its grafting onto new venerated objects (pairings), and its lasting appeal (due in part to people's continued real, lived experiences). This chapter presents a basic background and descriptions of key features of Loreto's devotion. It focuses on questions such as: What are the possible avenues that have been explored by those keen to crack past mysteries like Loreto's flying house? How do particular choices of focus constrain understanding? How do the ways that people describe an event contribute to that event's staying power? These questions are broached and answered in the surveys of both deconstructive methods and reconstructive counterapproaches.