Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major

Saint Mary Major, on the Esquiline Hill in Rome, is the oldest and largest church in the West dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was built by Pope Sixtus III shortly after the Council of Ephesus of 431, which proclaimed Mary the Mother of God, and its fifth-century mosaics still celebrate that truth. It is one of the four major papal basilicas of Rome.

A medieval legend tells that in the time of Pope Liberius a Roman couple asked Mary how to use their fortune, and on a summer night snow fell on the Esquiline to mark the place for her church. For this reason the feast is also known as Our Lady of the Snows. The basilica keeps the ancient icon Salus Populi Romani, Protectress of the Roman People, and relics venerated as wood from the Bethlehem manger. Many popes have prayed there before and after their journeys, and Pope Francis chose to be buried there in 2025.

On August 5, white petals are released from the ceiling of the basilica during the solemn Mass to recall the miraculous snow.

As Nuestra Señora de las Nieves, she is honored as patroness of the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands and of many towns in Spain and Latin America, with processions and fiestas.