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 The Dedication of

the Patriarchal

Basilica of Saint

Mary Major in

Rome

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 There are in Rome four patriarchal churches in which,on different feast days, the Pope officiates.

 The Basilica of Saint Peter The Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

 The Basilica of Saint John Lateran The Basilica of Saint Mary Major

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 The most important

church in the city of

Rome dedicated to Our

Lady is the Basilica of

Saint Mary Major,founded during the reign

of Pope Liberius.

(352-366)

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 The church is named as

“Major” because it is

believed to be the

largest churchdedicated to the

Blessed Virgin Mary in

the Western world.

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 This feast

commemorates the

miracle of the snowfall

that occurred during

the night of August 4-5in the year 358 on the

site where the basilica

now stands.

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 According to tradition,

the Virgin Mary

appeared in a dream totwo faithful Roman

Christians, the patrician

 John and his wife, as

 well as to Pope

Liberius, asking that a

church be built in her

honor on the site wheresnow would fall on the

night of August 4-5.

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 As Our Lady promised, a miraculous fall of snow in the

summer indicated the exact measurements of the church. Within two years, construction was finished and Pope

Liberius consecrated it, thus, the Church earned another

name:

the Basilica Liberiana - “The Liberian Basilica” 

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 When the Council of Ephesus defined Mary asTheotokos , the God-bearer, in 432 A.D., Pope Sixtus III

(432-440) rebuilt and embellished the basilica.

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From the seventh century

onward, it was referred toas St. Mary the Great orMajor.

 The Basilica has also beencalled Our Lady of the

Snows in commemorationof the miraculous snowfall.

 The imposing facade wasbuilt by Pope Eugene III

(1145-1153 ) 

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 The Basilica of Saint Mary Major

It stands as a venerable

monument to the

Council of Ephesus 

(431), at which thedogma of Mary's divine

Motherhood was

solemnly defined; the

definition of the Counciloccasioned a most

notable increase in the

 veneration paid to Mary.

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 The Basilica of Saint Mary Major

 The basilica is Rome's

"church of the crib," a

kind of Bethlehem

 within the Vatican. SaintHelena brought the relics

of the manger in which

Christ was laid after birth

from Jerusalem and wassubsequently enshrined

in this church.

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 The Basilica of Saint Mary Major

St. Mary Major isChristendom's first Marianshrine for pilgrims. It setthe precedent for the

countless shrines wherepilgrims gather to honor ourBlessed Mother throughoutthe world. Here wasintroduced an authentic

expression of popular pietythat has been the source ofuntold blessings and gracesfor Christianity in the past asin the present.

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 Among its great treasuresis a painting of the

Madonna and Child known

as the Salus PopuliRomani , the Protectress ofthe People of Rome, which

is attributed to St. Luke.

 This image had beenbrought back from the

Holy Land by St. Helena,the mother of the Emperor

Constantine, who alsolocated the True Cross andother Relics of the Passion

in Jerusalem.