Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.
The Dedication of The Church of Our Lady of The Snow.
Feast Day 5 August.
Greater-Double.
White Vestments.
The Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major
(The Basilica of Our Lady of The Snow)
Photo: March 2006.
Source: Own work.
Author: Sixtus.
(Wikimedia Commons)
This Church was built at Rome, on Mount Esquiline, in the 4th-Century A.D., during the Pontificate of Pope Liberius. In The Middle Ages, a graceful and popular Tradition ascribed its Foundation to a noble Patrician, who, having been favoured with a vision of Our Lady, caused the Church to be built on a spot covered by a miraculous fall of snow.
This Sanctuary was rebuilt in the following Century and Dedicated, by Pope Sixtus III, in 432 A.D., to Mary, whom The Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.), had just proclaimed The Mother of God. The mosaics of The Triumphal Arch glorify this Divine Maternity, and the representations of the two Cities, of Bethlehem and Jerusalem, recall The Birth of Christ in The City of David, and that of The Church in The Cenacle of The Last Supper. These mosaics were restored in 1931-1934. The Basilica is also called Saint Mary of The Crib, because portions of The Crib are preserved here.
Saint Mary's, called "Major" because it is the largest and most important of the Churches Dedicated to The Blessed Virgin, is a Patriarchal Basilica. The great Nave is formed by two rows of forty-four Columns of White Marble and the Ceiling is covered with the first Gold brought from America.
In this Church, whose Dedication is Solemnised on this day, takes place many Celebrations, including: The inauguration of The Liturgical Year on The First Sunday in Advent; the Stations at Christmas; the Feast of Saint John; at Easter; on Rogation Monday; and on all Wednesdays in Ember Weeks.
Mass: Salve Sancta Parens.
The Creed is said.
Preface of The Blessed Virgin: Et te in Festivitáte.
"The Miracle of The Snow",
by Masolino da Panicale.
Christ and The Blessed Virgin Mary observe Pope Liberius,
who marks in the legendary snowfall the outline of the Basilica.
Artist: Masolino da Panicale (1383-1440).
Date: 15th-Century.
Current location: Galleria Nazionale d9i Capodimonte, Naples, Italy.
Source: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002.
ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, previously known as Dedicatio Sanctae Mariae ad Nives (Dedication of The Church of Our Lady of The Snow) is a Liturgical Feast Celebrated on
5 August in The Latin Form of The Catholic Church.
In The Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints, it has the Rank of Optional Memorial, and, in The General Roman Calendar of 1962, it is a Third-Class Feast. It Commemorates the Dedication of the restored Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, by Pope Sixtus III, just after The First Council of Ephesus.
This Major Basilica, located on the summit of The Esquiline Hill, in Rome, Italy, is called the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Latin: Sancta Mariae Majoris) because it is the largest Church in Rome that is Dedicated to The Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Church was built during the Pontificate of Pope Liberius and is sometimes known as the "Basilica Liberii" or "Liberian Basilica".
Pope Pius V inserted this Feast into The General Roman Calendar in 1568, when, in response to the request of The Council of Trent, he reformed The Roman Breviary. Before that, it had been Celebrated at first only in the Church, itself, and, beginning in the 14th-Century, in all the Churches of the City of Rome.
Thus, it appears in The Tridentine Calendar for Celebration as a Double. In Pope Clement VIII's Missal of 1604, it was given the newly-invented Rank of Greater-Double. In Pope Saint John XXIII's Classification, it became a Third-Class Feast. This 1960 Calendar, included in the 1962 Edition of The Roman Missal, is the Calendar whose private and continued use, under certain conditions publicly, is authorised by the Motu Proprio "Summorum Pontificum". Nine years later, The Celebration became an Optional Memorial.
Interior of Saint Mary Major,
Rome, Italy.
Photo: 15 February 2013.
Source: Own work.
Author: Ben Skála, Benfoto.
(Wikimedia Commons)
They Prayed that she might make known to them how they were to dispose of their property in her honour. On 5 August, at the height of the Roman Summer, snow fell during the night on the summit of The Esquiline Hill.
In obedience to a vision of The Virgin Mary, which they had the same night, the couple built a Basilica in honour of Mary, on the very spot which was covered by snow.
English: Interior of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, Rome, Italy.
Deutsch: Rom. Basilika Santa Mario Maggiore, Innenansicht.
Photo: 13 May 2003.
Source: Own work.
Author: Dnalor 01.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The other three Basilicas are Saint John Lateran, Saint Peter's and Saint Paul-outside-the-Walls. All other Catholic Churches that, either by Grant of the Pope or by Immemorial Custom, hold the Title of Basilica, are Minor Basilicas.
Interior of Saint Mary Major,
Rome, Italy.
Photo: 15 February 2013.
Source: Own work.
Author: Ben Skala, Benfoto.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The former five Patriarchal Basilicas, with the Basilica of The Holy Cross in Jerusalem and San Sebastian-outside-the-Walls, formed the Traditional Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome, which are visited by Pilgrims to Rome and who are following the twenty kilometres (twelve miles) itinerary, established by Saint Philip Blacks on 25 February 1552, especially when seeking The Plenary Indulgence in Holy Years. For The Great Jubilee of 2000, Pope Saint John Paul II replaced Saint Sebastian's Church with The Shrine of Our Lady of Divine Love.
