Amazing Things About St. Mary of the Snows

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore by Giovanni Paolo Pannini, at the Quirinal Palace, Rome

Today August 5 is the feast of the dedication of Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Snows (St. Mary Major) in Rome. Santa Maria Maggiore is amazingly rich in historical and spiritual significance. Here are some of the fascinating things about this great church: 


+ The column in front in Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore was one of the first Marian columns and is still one of the most impressive. The column had supported the vault of the Basilica of Constantine, destroyed by an earthquake in the 9th century. The column was transported to Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore and crowned with a bronze statue of the Virgin and Child. 

+ St. Maria Maggiore is called S. Maria ad Nives and is also called Basilica Liberiana because of the traditional account of its foundation, which is described in the Matins for the feast.

Reading 3 

When Liberius was Pope, a Roman patrician named John, and his wife, also of noble birth, having no children to inherit their goods, vowed their inheritance to the most holy Virgin Mother of God. The blessed Virgin heard their prayers and approved their vow by a miracle. On the 5th of August, which is that time when the heat of summer waxeth greatest in the City, a part of the Esquiline Hill was covered by night with snow. And on that same night, the Mother of God told John and his wife separately in dreams that they should build a church on that place. When John told this to Pope Liberius, he said that he had had the same dream. The Pope therefore went to the snow-covered hill and there marked out a site. The church was built with the money given by John and his wife, and was later restored by Sixtus III. It hath been given various names; but, so that its title may indicate its excellence, it is called the Church of St. Mary Major.

Every year the snow is recalled by a shower of white flower petals. According to Joan's Rome article, "THE AUGUST SNOWFALL IN ROME," "in late afternoon during a liturgy, usually vespers, thousands of white flower petals, symbolizing the miraculous snowfall, are released through one of the square panels of the basilica’s glorious gilt ceiling. In the evening, about 9 pm, outside the basilica, white flower petals are showered down on the faithful who have gathered to commemorate that event."  You can see one such shower here (not sure if a Facebook account is required). Other views are on Youtube by googling "St. Mary of the Snows rose petals."

"The Blessed Virgin Mary overlooking Pope Liberius as the Pontiff scrapes the foundation of the basilica into the snow" by Masolino da Panicale, at the Museo di Capodimonte, in Naples, Italy

"The Miracle of the Snow," Jacopo Zucchi (Pinacoteca vaticana)

+ The painting of Salus Populi Romanum (Salvation of the People of Rome) that is honored at the basilica is said to be painted by St. Luke and is said to have saved Rome during a time of plague. 

Salus Populi Romani with crowns and jewels no longer used

Salus Populi Romani after 2018 restoration

This image is said to have been carried by Pope St. Gregory the Great in a procession when Rome was suffering with a plague, when the Regina Coeli was first sung by angels. St. Michael sheathed his sword, and the plague came to an end. 

The Golden Legend, which was compiled around 1260, relates the story this way. "The people of Rome were walking in procession and chanting the litanies to ask heaven to remove a plague that was killing ninety men an hour, while Pope St. Gregory walked with them holding a perfect likeliness of Our Lady that had been painted by St. Luke. 'And lo, the poisonous uncleanness of the air yielded to the image as if fleeing from it . . .' Angels were heard around the image singing the first three lines of the Regina Caeli, “Regina caeli, laetare, alleluia: Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia, Resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia.” Pope Gregory added a fourth line that is slightly different from the version we sing today: ‘Ora pro nobis. Deum rogamus. alleluia’. When the pope then saw St. Michael standing on the top of the castle/mausoleum of the Emperor Hadrian sheathing his sword, he knew that the plague had ceased." 

At the head of the procession, St. Gregory the Great sees St. Michael atop the castle putting his sword into its scabbard

Read more about the Salve Regina and the image of Salus Populi Romani at "Queen of Heaven Rejoice, Alleluia!"

For more about Santa Maria Maggiore (Santa Maria ad Nives) see S. Maria Maggiore at A Rome Lover's Art Page.