Dedication of Our Lady of the Snows
In Dedicatione S. Mariae ad Nives
This feast commemorates the dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, the great church of our Lady, whose foundation an ancient and beloved tradition links to a fall of snow in the heat of summer.
On the fifth of August the Church keeps the dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the oldest and most venerable of the churches of Rome dedicated to the Mother of God. From the title under which the day has long been kept — Saint Mary of the Snows, Sancta Maria ad Nives — comes the familiar name of this feast.
The tradition of the snow
A pious tradition, cherished in Rome for many centuries, accounts for the building of the basilica and for its name. In the days of Pope Liberius, in the fourth century, a noble and childless couple of the city desired to devote their wealth to the honour of the Blessed Virgin, and prayed that she would make known to them how this should be done. According to the tradition, our Lady answered by a marvel: on the morning of the fifth of August, in the height of the Roman summer, snow was found lying upon the summit of the Esquiline Hill, marking out the ground-plan of a church. There, upon the place so wondrously shown, the basilica was built and dedicated to the Mother of God.
The Church relates this account as a devout tradition rather than as a matter of certain history; the particulars of the miracle of the snow cannot be confirmed by the records, and the day is more properly the commemoration of the dedication of the basilica itself. The great church now standing was raised, or richly rebuilt, by Pope Sixtus III in the fifth century, shortly after the Council of Ephesus had solemnly proclaimed the Blessed Virgin to be truly the Mother of God; and it stands to this day as the chief church of Rome in her honour.
Honour of the Mother of God
Whatever be said of the tradition of the snow, the feast turns the heart of the faithful to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the honour rightly paid to her in the Church. The Basilica of Saint Mary Major remains one of the great churches of Rome, hallowed by the prayer of ages and treasured for its dedication to the Mother of our Lord.
The collect of the day is that of our Lady, asking that we thy servants may rejoice in continual health of mind and body, and by the glorious intercession of blessed Mary ever Virgin be delivered from present sorrow and enjoy eternal gladness. The feast is kept on the fifth of August.
The Collect
Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord God, unto us thy servants, that we may rejoice in continual health of mind and body; and, by the glorious intercession of blessed Mary ever Virgin, be delivered from present sorrow, and enjoy eternal gladness.
Concéde nos fámulos tuos, quæsumus, Dómine Deus, perpétua mentis et córporis sanitáte gaudére: et, gloriósa beátæ Maríæ semper Vírginis intercessióne, a præsénti liberári tristítia, et ætérna pérfrui lætítia.
Patronage
The feast honours the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Saint Mary of the Snows and commemorates the dedication of her oldest basilica in Rome.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar this day is observed as the optional memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, kept on the same day, 5 August.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Our Lady of the Snows?
It is kept on 5 August in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast. In the modern calendar the same day is observed as the optional memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
Why is it called ‘Our Lady of the Snows’?
The name comes from an ancient Roman tradition that the site of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major was marked out by a miraculous fall of snow on the Esquiline Hill in the heat of August. The Church relates this as a devout tradition; the feast itself commemorates the dedication of the basilica.
What church does this feast commemorate?
It commemorates the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, the oldest and most venerable of the churches of the city dedicated to the Mother of God, richly rebuilt by Pope Sixtus III in the fifth century after the Council of Ephesus proclaimed the Blessed Virgin to be truly the Mother of God.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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