A miraculous snowfall on the Esquiline hill

According to tradition, the Virgin asked for the construction of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, in the 4^th century, by appearing simultaneously in a dream to the patrician John and to Pope Liberius (d. 366). She then indicated the location by a miracle.

In the morning of August 5th, the height of summer, snow fell on the Esquiline Hill. The Pope traced the outline of the new church and John provided its financing. Pope Sixtus III celebrated its dedication in 435, soon after the Council of Ephesus (431) in which Mary was recognized as Theotokos, "Mother of God."

The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is the first Marian basilica in the West, the largest Marian church in Rome, and also the only one of the four papal basilicas of Rome that resembles a second-century imperial basilica. The miraculous icon "Salus Populi Romani," relics of Bethlehem crib, and the "Miracle of the Snow" are commemorated every year on August 5th with a solemn Mass during which white flower petals are showered from the ceiling on the assembly.

The Marie de Nazareth team