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Friends of the Rosary,

Today, August 5, the Catholic Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the four most illustrious churches of Rome, along with St. John Lateran, St. Peter, and St. Paul Outside the Walls, and Christendom’s first Marian shrine for pilgrims.

This feast commemorates a miracle of the snowfall that occurred during the night on this day in the year 358 on the site where the Basilica of St. Mary Major now stands.

The Virgin Mary had 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 between August 4th and 5th.

That’s why another name for the basilica is Our Lady of the Snow, Saint Mary of the Snow, and the feast of today is Our Lady of Snows, la Virgen Blanca, in Spanish.

Nowadays, in Rome, during the pontifical Mass and the second vespers, the traditional shower of flower petals descends from the ceiling of the basilica to commemorate the August snowfall in 358.

Pope Francis’ mortal remains are buried in St. Mary Major. He was laid to rest near the icon of Mary Salus Populi Romani.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!
To Jesus through Mary!

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Please give us the grace to respond with joy!

+ Mikel Amigot w/ María Blanca | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

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Leo XIV