Today it is the "Madonna of the snow". Prayer to ask for a particular grace

O Maria, woman of the most sublime heights,
teach us to climb the holy mountain which is Christ.
Lead us on the way of God,
marked by the footsteps of your maternal steps.
Teach us the way of love,
to be able to love always.
Teach us the way to joy,
in order to make others happy.
Teach us the way of patience,
in order to welcome everyone generously.
Teach us the way of goodness,
to serve the brothers who are in need.
Teach us the path of simplicity,
to enjoy the beauties of creation.
Teach us the path of mildness,
to bring peace to the world.
Teach us the way of loyalty,
to never tire of doing good.
Teach us to look up,
not to lose sight of the final goal of our life:
eternal communion with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen!
Santa Maria della neve pray for your children.
Amen

Madonna della Neve is one of the appellations with which the Catholic Church venerates Mary according to the so-called cult of hyperdulia.

"Madonna of the snow" is the traditional and popular name for Mary Mother of God (Theotokos), as sanctioned by the Council of Ephesus.

His liturgical memory is August 5th and in memory of the miraculous Marian apparition the church erected the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (in Rome)

RToday the memory of the Dedication of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is considered, considered the oldest Marian sanctuary in the West.

Monuments of Marian piety, in Rome, are those wonderful churches, erected largely on the same place where some pagan temple once stood. A few names, among the hundred titles dedicated to the Virgin, are enough to have the dimensions of this mystical homage to the Mother of God: S. Maria Antiqua, obtained from the Atrium Minervae in the Roman Forum; S. Maria dell'Aracoeli, on the highest peak of the Capitol; S. Maria dei Martiri, the Pantheon; S. Maria degli Angeli, obtained by Michelangelo from the "tepidarium" of the Baths of Diocletian; S. Maria sopra Minerva, built over the foundations of the temple of Minerva Chalkidiki. The largest of all, as the name itself says: S. Maria Maggiore: the fourth of the patriarchal basilicas of Rome, initially called Liberiana, because identified with an ancient pagan temple, on the top of the Esquiline, that Pope Liberius (352-366 ) adapted to a Christian basilica. A late legend tells that the Madonna, appearing on the same night of August 5, 352 to Pp Liberius and a Roman patrician, would have invited them to build a church where they would find snow in the morning. On the morning of August 6, a prodigious snowfall, covering the exact area of ​​the building, would have confirmed the vision, inducing the pope and the wealthy patrician to put their hand in the construction of the first great Marian sanctuary, which took the name of S. Maria " ad nives "(of the snow). Just under a century later, Pope Sixtus III, to commemorate the celebration of the council of Ephesus (431), in which the divine motherhood of Mary was proclaimed, rebuilt the church in its current dimensions.

The Patriarchal Basilica of S. Maria Maggiore is an authentic jewel full of priceless beauties. The city of Rome has dominated for about sixteen centuries: the Marian temple par excellence and the cradle of artistic civilization, it represents a point of reference for the "cives mundi" who come from all over the globe to the Eternal City to taste what the Basilica offers through the its monumental grandeur.

Alone, among the major basilicas of Rome, to preserve the original structures of its time, albeit enriched with subsequent additions, it has some special features that make it unique:
the mosaics of the central nave and of the triumphal arch, dating back to the fifth century AD, made during the pontificate of S. Sixtus III (432-440) and those of the apse whose execution was entrusted to the Franciscan friar Jacopo Torriti by order of Pp Niccolò IV (Girolamo Masci, 1288-1292);
the "cosmatesque" floor donated by the knights Scotus Paparone and son in 1288;
the gilded wooden coffered ceiling designed by Giuliano San Gallo (1450);
the crib of the thirteenth century by Arnolfo da Cambio; the numerous chapels (from the Borghese one to the Sistine one, from the Sforza chapel to the Cesi chapel, from that of the Crucifix to the almost disappeared one of San Michele);
the high altar by Ferdinando Fuga and subsequently enriched by the genius of Valadier; finally, the Relic of the Sacred Cradle and the Baptistery.
Every column, every painting, every sculpture, every single piece of this Basilica summarize historicity and religious sentiments.It is not uncommon, in fact, to attract visitors in an attitude of admiration towards the engaging beauty of his works as well as visible on the other hand the devotion of all those people who, in front of the image of Mary, venerated here with the sweet title of "Salus Populi Romani", seek solace and relief.

On August 5 of each year the "Miracle of the Snowfall" is commemorated through a solemn celebration: in front of the moving eyes of the participants, a cascade of white petals descends from the ceiling, cloaking the hypogeum and almost creating an ideal union between the assembly and the Mother of God.

St. John Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyła, 1978-2005), from the beginning of his pontificate, wanted a lamp to burn day and night under the icon of the Salus, testifying to his great devotion to the Madonna. The Pope himself, on December 8, 2001, inaugurated another precious pearl of the Basilica: the Museum, a place where the modernity of the structures and the antiquity of the exhibited masterpieces offer the visitor a unique "panorama".

The numerous treasures contained in it make S. Maria Maggiore a place where art and spirituality come together in a perfect union offering visitors those unique emotions typical of the great works of man inspired by God.

The liturgical celebration of the dedication of the basilica entered the Roman calendar only in the year 1568.