…or Dedication of St. Mary Major. Or S. Maria Maggiore. (Vatican website for the Basilica) Such a marvelous place, although it is silly to single out any one church in Rome as "marvelous." You must assume that they all are, each in their own way. S. Maria Maggoria definitely needs a return visit on my part since it was last seen at the end of a rather lengthy, albeit wonderful tour/walk led by Zadok. But with the baby on our backs, and him,  when it was my turn, yanking gleefully and hard on my hair every time he could…it didn’t get the attention it deserved. Michael did slip into Vespers, finding a seat very near Cardinal Law, but that didn’t last long, since it was his turn, and his passenger started squawking in short order.

So…why snow? Well, here’s the legend…

This feast commemorates the miracle of the snowfall that occurred during the night of August 4-5 in the year 358 on the site where the basilica now stands. According to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared in a dream to two faithful Roman Christians, the patrician John and his wife, as well as to Pope Liberius (352-366), asking that a church be built in her honor on the site where snow would fall on the night of August 4-5. Pope Liberius traced the outlines of the church in the snow and the first basilica was built on that site. It was completed about a century later by Pope Sixtus III (432-440), after the Council of Ephesus in 431 during which Mary was declared to be the Mother of God.

In Rome the Basilica of St. Mary Major will hold its traditional triduum from August 1 to 3 and two days of celebration on August 4 and 5. During the pontifical Mass and the second vespers, the traditional shower of flower petals will descend from the ceiling of the basilica to commemorate the August snowfall in 358.

Mike Aquilina recounts his tales of woe, being thwarted in visiting the basilica in every one of his several trips to Rome.