We have just entered the Anno Santo (“Holy Year”), which is a year of grace and indulgence that the Catholic Church grants by opening its “holy doors” in Rome.
One of these, is in the Basilica of St. Mary Major on the Esquiline, one of the seven hills on which the city was founded, called Major because it is the oldest Marian basilica in the world, as well as the largest of all Marian churches in the city.
https://www.basilicasantamariamaggiore.va/en.html
It is also a Marian shrine, of those that came into being by the direct request of Mary ̶ given in apparition to the Roman nobleman Giovanni and at the same time also to Pope Liborius. Immediately confirmed by a miraculous sign: the snow that fell abundantly on the hill during the night between August 4 and 5 in the summer of 358 AD.
For this reason, Mary was also given the title of Nostra Signora della neve (“Our Lady of the Snow”) by popular piety, celebrated liturgically on August 5, which is also the date of the formal dedication of the basilica. On the annual anniversary, the Diocese of Rome commemorates the miracle of the snow by means of a shower of white petals descending from the ceiling of the basilica during the celebration of Mass in the morning and Vespers in the evening.
Another extraordinary fact is linked to the basilica: a woman pilgrim who was lost at night in the Roman countryside trying to arrive in town, found her way thanks to the sound of the great bell placed in the tower of the church, which is the highest point in the center of Rome, since 1298. Following the episode, the bell, since then called la sperduta (“the lost”), rings every evening at 9 pm, announcing the Holy Rosary which is recited in the churchyard during the months of May and October.
Finally, the grandiose basilica contains the most famous icon of the Salus Populi Romani (“Salvation of the Roman people”), painted by St. Luke the Evangelist ̶ an image of the Mother of God loved and venerated by many popes, three of whom have given her the Golden Rose: Julius III in 1551; Paul V in 1613; and again Pope Francis on December 8, 2023.
The Roman people turned to the image on June 4, 1944, when a clash between the Allied and Nazi armies for control of the city was feared, which miraculously did not happen. In commemoration of the grace received, a nine-meter-high statue of the Mother of God spreading her arms over Rome, the so-called Madonnina, was placed on top of Monte Mario, the highest elevation of the city. The Diocese celebrates the liturgical memorial of the Salus Populi Romani on June 4 of each year.
And in this very sacred place, the Pauline Chapel of the Basilica, at the foot of the blessed icon, World Rosary Day took place, led by H.E. Card. Rolandas Makrickas, who is the Rector of the basilica and who opened its Holy Door precisely on January 1 of this year. The celebration, with the Lauretan Litanies beautifully sung by the basilica’s polyphonic choir, was also attended by students from the Dominican Theological University Angelicum, led by the Order’s “Promoter General of the Holy Rosary,” Br. Lawrence Lew OP.
Yours faithfully
Umberto Angeloni (WRD Team)
WATCH THE VIDEO
The entire celebration, filmed by Vatican TV, can be followed on YOUTUBE
THE MIRACLE OF THE SNOW Matteo Rosselli
The Madonnina on Monte Mario
