August 5: Our Lady of Snows Excerpts reprinted from James Fitzhenry, roman-catholic-saints.com, Marian Calendar

Improbable as it is for snow to fall during August, history tells of a snowfall that seemed more impossible, namely in Rome, Italy. On August 5, 352, snow fell during the night in Rome.

There lived in Rome a nobleman, John and his childless wife, who had been blessed with much of this world’s goods. They chose the Mother of God as the heir to their fortune, and at the suggestion of Pope Liberius, prayed that she might make known to them how to do this by a particular sign. In answer, the Virgin Mother, during the night of August 5, appeared to John and his wife and also to the Holy Father, Pope Liberius, directing them to build a church in her honor on the crown of the Esquiline Hill. And what would be the sign that John and his wife had requested? “Snow will cover the crest of the hill.”

Snow rarely falls in Rome, but the flakes fell silently during that night, forming a rectangle shape blanketing the peak of the historic hill. In the morning the news quickly spread, and crowds gathered to throng up the hill and behold the white splendor. The snow had fallen in a particular pattern, showing the outline of the future church. When it became known that the snow was a sign from Mary, the people spontaneously added another to her long list of titles, Our Lady of the Snows.

The church built there, is now known as Saint Mary Major. It is the focal point of Marian devotion and one of the most popular churches in the world. There, Mary has been pleased to secure various and many blessings as numerous and varied, as the flakes of snow that fell that August night. The church built by John and his wife in honor of Our Lady of the Snows, restored and enlarged at various times has been known by various names over the years: The Basilica of Liberius because of Pope Liberius’ involvement, Saint Mary of the Crib because it enshrines relics of Christ’s Crib and lastly, Saint Mary Major, to distinguish it from the many other Roman churches dedicated to the Mother of God; Major, means Greater. There is an image revered as Our Lady of the Snows, which is believed to have been produced by St. Luke the Apostle. When Gregory I was Pope [590-604] Rome was ravaged by a plague. Gregory carried the image of the Holy Mother in procession from the chapel as far as Hadrian's Mausoleum. When the procession arrived, they heard an invisible heavenly choir singing Regina Caeli. When the Pope asked the Virgin to pray for the city, he saw an apparition of St. Michael replacing the sword of vengeance in its scabbard. The plague abated. Saint Mary Major is one of the four basilicas in which the pilgrims to Rome must pray in order to gain the indulgences of the Holy Year. Most fitting do we call Mary, Our Lady of the Snows. The white blanket of that August night symbolizes Mary, pure as the driven snow; her blessings and graces, numerous and varied as the falling snowflakes. On August 5, the anniversary of the miraculous snow fall, the Feast of Our Lady of Snows is celebrated at the basilica of her name, by dropping white rose petals from the ceiling the church in front of the altar. (See video below about this celebration at St. Mary Major’s Basilica.)