5 August 2011: Memorial -- Dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Major

[After declaration of the dogma of divine Maternity of the Blessed Virgin in the Council of Ephesus (AD 431), Pope Sixtus dedicated this Basilica in Rome in honor of the Mother of God. Later on called ‘St Mary Major’. Oldest church in the West dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Fr James Socias, ‘et al’ (Eds), “Daily Roman Missal”, 1989, p1595]
From time immemorial, the faithful in Rome have honored our Mother in this basilica under the invocation, ‘Health of the Roman People’. They come, as to a place where their petitions are always heard, to ask favors and graces. Pope John Paul II ‘paid a visit’ to Our Lady here just after his election to the Pontificate.
On that visit, he said: “Mary is called to lead all people to the Redeemer, and to bear witness to him without words, through love alone, in a way that shows ‘her motherly disposition’. She is called to draw even those who offer stubborn resistance, the ones for whom it is more difficult to believe in Christ’s love. Her vocation is to bring each person closer to her son.”
At her feet, the Pope offered the Mother of God his whole life and deepest desires, a dedication we, too can make, imitating him as good children imitate their parents: “Totus tuus ego sum ... I am all yours, and everything I have is yours. May you be my guide in everything.” (John Paul II, “Address”, 8 December 1978) ‘Totus tuus’ is his personal motto.
St Bernard affirms: Mary is “the conduit” through whom we daily receive the grace we require. We can always turn to her, “since it is the Will of the Lord, who wants us to obtain everything at his Mother’s hands, particularly when we find ourselves in the midst of special difficulties or temptations.” (“Homily on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary”, 7)
“As the feasts of Our Lady come around each year, may we not be sparing in the details of affection that we show her. We raise our hearts to her more often and ask her for what we need. We give thanks for her constant motherly care and entrust those we love to her. Naturally though, if we really want to act as good children, every day is a good occasion on which to express affection, for those who really love one another.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Friends of God”, 290-91)
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 7:65-70

Our Lady of the Snows
Today’s feast is also known as ‘Our Lady of Snows’ due to an ancient legend about a Roman Patrician who asked the Blessed Virgin’s guidance on how best to use his fortune. In the early hours of August 5th, Our Lady told him in a dream to build a church in her honour where snow was to appear on the Esquiline Hill. That same morning snow appeared miraculously on the site where the Basilica of Saint Mary Major now stands. (cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 7:65-70 )

Parable of the mustard seed
“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard-seed a man took and sowed in his field; the least indeed of all seeds, but when it is grown up, is the greatest of all shrubs, and becomes a tree, so that birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” (Mt 13:31-2)
Our Lord foretold the marvelous increase of the Church. How little was she during the mortal life of Jesus Christ. How little on the day of Pentecost! It was an imperceptible seed; but made fruitful by the dew of grace, heated by the words of the Apostles; ‘watered’ by the blood of martyrs and the sweat of missionaries. It has become a majestic tree, which overshadows the whole earth.
In its shade the kings of the earth and the princes of knowledge who were prefigured by the birds of the air, come to seek that peace of heart and happiness which the world cannot give them.
Is not this mustard-seed a figure also of the group to which we belong, and in which our days pass away peacefully and full of merit for eternity? Recall how feeble it was in the beginning, and how it has extended and taken root, thanks to the holy lives and labors of those who laid its foundations.
United in the same intention, we must strengthen and adorn the work of our predecessors. Each one can, and ought to do his part; and by an exact observance of the norms, prayer and good example.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp495-6

A Silent and Gradual Divine Growth
The main point of comparison with the kingdom of God is in how the seed, once it has been sown, grows to maturity without further intervention from the sower. While the sower goes about his daily round, the seed, through its own hidden energies, develops in the soil until it is fit for harvesting.
The Lord made use of this parable to make his listeners understand that just like the seed developing gradually until it has formed the full-grown ear ripe for harvesting, the kingdom of God established on earth by Christ will develop gradually and surely, until it reaches final consummation -- the day of the harvest, or the Last Judgment.
We, too, may see ourselves like the tiny mustard seed, as we consider the magnitude of the apostolic task that God wants us to carry out. When we become more aware of our limitations as we face apparently insurmountable obstacles, we must rely on the Lord, with faith and trust.
Ref: Cf Fr M Guzman, “Encounters with Christ”, 1990, pp55-7

‘The earliest devotion to Mary ...’
“... was practised by Jesus. He called her mother, obeyed her and loved her. The second devotion to Mary, and the oldest in the Church, was that practised by the Apostles. The title ‘Queen of Apostles’ is the first of all the titles after that of the Divine Maternity. ... Everything that was given to Mary was to make her an apostle. Her very maternity involved the giving of Jesus; it was her apostolate: give Jesus to the world ...” -- Rev James J Alberione
Ref: In Rev Joseph A Viano, SSP, “Two Months with Mary”, 1984, p21

• Dedication of Our Lady of the Snows, called St Mary Major, and formerly of the Crib at Rome, because Our Saviour’s crib is kept there. It was built by John, a patrician, and his wife, on the very place, which they found covered with snow, on the 5th of August, in the year 367, and rebuilt by Sixtus II, about the year 432. — (Baronius; notes at the year 367.)
• St. Mary Major / Our Lady of the Snows Rome, Italy (352), where Our Saviour’s crib is kept. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady of the Snow. Commemorates the dedication of the Church of St. Mary Major. Rome. 352. Repository of Jesus' crib. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of the Snow - Dedication of the Basilica St. “Maria Maggiore” (universally celebrated; instituted by Pope Sixtus III) Rome. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of the Snows (Italy, 352). (http://mariedenazareth.com); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Dedication of the Church of Our Lady of the Angels, at Rome, by Pope Pius IV, in the year 1561. This church, which anciently formed part of the thermae, or baths of Diocletian, was erected as a titular church of a cardinal, favored with many indulgences, and given by the same pope to the Carthusians. — Balingham on the Calendar. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Protection, in the church of the Feuillants, in the Rue St Honore, at Paris. It was so named by Queen Ann of Austria, in the year 1561, in thanksgiving for the favors which she had received from the Queen of heaven. — Du Breuil, Antiquites, lib. iii. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Protection (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of Copacobana – Queen of Bolivia. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html); (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Mary gives Blessed Alberic the white habit, 1109. The habit became the clothing for Cistercian monks, and they commemorate the day with the title "Descent of The Blessed Virgin Mary at Citeaux, and the Miraculous Change of the Black Habits for White Ones, while Alberic was Abbot." (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)