Dedication of Saint Mary Major

On August 5 the Church remembers the dedication of the Roman basilica of Saint Mary Major, built by Pope Sixtus III in the 430s after the Council of Ephesus had defined Mary as Mother of God. Tradition tells of a miraculous summer snowfall on the Esquiline hill marking the spot where it was to be built — a feast still kept there with white petals raining down each year.

The basilica is one of the four great papal basilicas of Rome and the largest church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin in the city. It houses the venerated icon Salus Populi Romani, before which popes from Gregory the Great to Francis have prayed in times of crisis. Its fifth-century mosaics depicting scenes from the Old Testament and the infancy of Christ are among the finest surviving examples of early Christian art.