On August 5, the Catholic Church annually celebrates the Optional Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint 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. An annual feast commemorates a miracle of the snowfall that occurred 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, 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 of August 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, the traditional shower of flower petals descends from the ceiling of the basilica to commemorate the miraculous snowfall. Pope Francis’ mortal remains are buried in St. Mary Major. He was laid to rest near the icon of Mary Salus Populi Romani, translated to "Health or Salvation or Protectress of the Roman People." The image is a deeply revered ancient tableau purported to have been painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist. Saint Jerome (347–420) is buried at the Basilica, following his death in Bethlehem on September 30, 420 AD. Jerome was s Christian priest and Doctor of the Church best known for translating most of the Bible into Latin, a seminal work known as the Vulgate. He is also the patron saint of translators, librarians, archivists, and biblical scholars.

Books about Saint Mary Major Basilica at https://amzn.to/3Twn0eB
Saint Mary Major Basilica souvenirs https://amzn.to/4pTtvnE
Saint Jerome books available at https://amzn.to/4w9zwhF

ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you).

Mark Vinet's TIMELINE video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVinet
Mark's History of North America podcast: www.parthenonpodcast.com/history-of-north-america
Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9
X (twitter): https://twitter.com/HistoricalJesu
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels
Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM

Audio credits: Saint Of The Day podcast with Mike Roberts by Covenant Network (ourcatholicradio.org) Dedication Of Saint Mary Major Basilica (05aug2025); August 5: The Dedication of St. Mary Major Basilica by Catholic Saints & Feasts 04aug2025; Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major by Catholic Kids Media. Audio excerpts reproduced under the Fair Use (Fair Dealings) Legal Doctrine for purposes such as criticism, comment, teaching, education, scholarship, research and news reporting.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.