It was a great week at Our Lady of the Snows, wrapping it up on the Assumption. I had more than one pilgrimage walk around the grounds. We often think of the Mother of Jesus by her qualities (Sorrowful Mother, Mother of Mercy) or her apparitions (Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Guadalupe).  Devotion to Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Snows is one of the oldest devotions to Mary.  It has direct ties to the legend about a marvelous snowfall in Rome in 352 A.D.  Mary had indicated in a dream to a wealthy, childless Roman couple that she wanted a church built in her honor and the site for this church would be covered with snow.  On a hot, sultry morning on August 5, Esquiline Hill was covered with snow.  All Rome proclaimed the summer snows a miracle, and a church to honor Mary was built on the hill in 358 A.D.  Restored and refurbished many times, this church, now the magnificent Basilica of St. Mary Major, still stands today as the seat of devotion to Our Lady of the Snows in the Catholic Church.

And so, we pray…  

Gentle Mother, full of Grace, we are about the work of building the church, responding with a "yes" and you first did in discipleship to Jesus Christ.  It’s August and we are worn from the heat of summer. It’s August and we are overwhelmed by the seemingly insurmountable hills of September and autumn that surround our calendars.  Holy Mary, Mother of God, send us some snow.  Let us know that, with the Spirit, we are building in the right place. Let us know that, in your honor, we are building in our young people something that lasts. We look to the skies.  We look to you, Blessed Virgin.  We look for the miracle of August snow. AMEN.