Feast of the Dedication of a Church

First raised at the order of Pope Liberius in the mid-fourth century, the Liberian basilica was rebuilt by Pope Sixtus III shortly after the Council of Ephesus affirmed Mary’s title as Mother of God in 431. Rededicated at that time to the Mother of God, St. Mary Major is the largest church in the world honouring God through Mary. 

St. Mary Major is one of the four Roman basilicas known as patriarchal cathedrals in memory of the first centres of the Church. St. John Lateran represents Rome, the See of Peter; St. Paul Outside the Walls, the See of Alexandria, allegedly the see presided over by Mark; St. Peter’s, the See of Constantinople; and St. Mary’s, the See of Antioch, where Mary is supposed to have spent most of her later life.

One legend, unreported before the year 1000, gives another name to this feast: Our Lady of the Snows. According to that story, a wealthy Roman couple pledged their fortune to the Mother of God. In affirmation, she produced a miraculous summer snowfall and told them to build a church on the site. The legend was long celebrated by releasing a shower of white rose petals from the basilica’s dome every August 5.

In the first reading from the book of Revelation (21:1-5) we hear of John’s vision of the new heaven and the new earth and the holy city where “God lives among men.  He will make his home among them; they shall be his people, and he will be their God, his name is God-with-them.  He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness.”

In the Gospel from Luke (11:27-28) Jesus reminds us that happiness is for “those who hear the word of God and keep it.’”