The trip to Loreto was the first of a Pope outside the Vatican since the time of Pius IX. Desired trip to pray to Our Lady for the upcoming Council. Giovanni XXIII arrived in Loreto with a special train, crossing Umbria, Lazio and Marche greeted by the cheering crowd. In Loreto he was welcomed by the President of the Republic Segni and by the Fanfani government camp. He stopped in prayer at the Holy House. He placed two crowns on the head of Mary and the child Jesus and after reciting the angelus on the square he spoke off the cuff saying "Here the Holy House of Loreto recalls the same vocation that delights the humble Pope's heart, when, turning his gaze into the St. Peter's Square, the representatives of the whole world gathered there, on which the same blessing spreads. Today this is the House of Mary, this is St. Peter's Square: the whole world in front of us, the whole world. Mary, our Mother! We are here at the time of the Angelus Domini, the great memory that has moved the world for centuries and will move it to its consummation "
