Our Lady of the Snows
In the dead of winter, the legend of Our Lady of the Snows is presented. According to the legend, on the night of Aug. 4, 352, Mary appeared to a senator named John and his wife, telling them to build a church in her honor on the Esquiline Hill.
That same night she also appeared to Pope Liberius with the same instructions. The following morning the pope, John and his wife met on Esquiline Hill. They found snow on the hill and outlined in the snow was the plan of the basilica they were to build. The church they constructed was St. Mary Major Basilica. To commemorate the miracle, every year on Aug. 5 in the basilica, white rose petals are dropped from the ceiling onto the congregation during Mass.
Father Frank Salmani
St. William Church, Warwick
