Erasmus and the Lady of Loreto The Virgin, the Bride, and the Progress of the Church

One could argue that a mass dedicated to the Virgin of Loreto is an unusual choice for Erasmus. His Liturgy of the Virgin Mother Venerated at Loreto (Virginis Matris apud Lauretum cultae liturgia, 1523, 1525, 1529) would prove such an argument wrong, as this overlooked text reveals much of Erasmus’ theory of accommodatio, his approach to liturgy and the cult of Mary, and his vision of the church and his spiritual exegesis, even in the midst of the Reformation’s turmoil. This article proposes a close reading of the 1525 edition, which will contextualize Erasmus’ portrait of Mary in her moral values and in the de-eroticization and purification of the medieval, Catholic model, which he re-affirms in the same years in which his controversy with Luther unfolded. Moreover, the sermon presents a rarefied and intellectual variant of the feminine imagery of the bride, which I will analyze as being systematically integrated into Erasmus’ theology of progress and ecclesiology.