Tag Archives: Virgin Mary

St. Mary Major and the Miracle of the Snow

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The mosaics found in Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major) are among the oldest representations of the Virgin Mary. One scholar writes that “… the iconographic depiction of the Virgin Mary was chosen at least in part to celebrate the affirmation of Mary as Theotokos (bearer of God) by the third ecumenical Council of Ephesus in AD 431.”
Under the high altar of the basilica is the Crypt of the Nativity or Bethlehem Crypt, with a crystal reliquary said to contain wood from the Holy Crib (manger) of the nativity of Jesus in Bethlehem. In the crypt is also the burial place of St. Jerome who translated the Bible into Latin in the 4th century.

Who doesn’t need a miracle right about now? Although the miracle of St. Mary Major and the snow occurred in Rome during early August, I don’t think we need to wait until August to appreciate it.

According to the story, a rich Roman and his wife wanted to leave their estate to the Church in order to build a new church but they were uncertain where it should be built. They were promised in a dream that a miracle would show them the place to have the church built. A few days later, on August 5 in the mid-late 4th century, a miraculous snowfall occurred atop one of the hills of Rome. The couple understood this to be the miracle they had been told to expect. (Other versions of the story say that the Pope had chosen the site for a new church but his decision met with resistance; he marked the area to be excavated for the church foundations and had the dream promising a miracle to vindicate his choice of location. The next day the snow fell exactly–and only!–within the area he had marked for excavation.)

The legend is still commemorated by dropping white rose petals from the dome of the church during the celebration of the Mass on August 5th, similar to the red roses that are dropped from the dome of the Pantheon at Pentecost.

The mosaics in the church are among the most stunning examples of early Christian art and iconography. They illustrate events in the life of the Mother of God and of Christ and events from the Old Testament that are understood to be allusions or anticipations (types) of the events in the life of Christ and His mother.

The church is known as St. Mary Major because it is the most important of all the churches in Rome dedicated to the Mother of God; it is also sometimes called Saint Mary of the Crib (Sancta Maria ad Praesepe), a name it was given because of the relic of the crib or manger of the Nativity of Christ: four boards of sycamore wood believed to have been brought to the church, in AD 640–649. The Pope traditionally celebrates the Mass three times on Christmas Day; one of these celebrations is held at St. Mary Major because of the relic there.

“Go, Tell My Brethren”

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“The myrrhbearing women, at the break of dawn, drew near to the tomb of the Life-giver. There they found an angel sitting upon the stone. He greeted them with these words: ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? Why do you mourn the incorrupt amid corruption? Go, proclaim the GOSPEL to his disciples.” (Paschal Matins) (Detail from a larger 18th cent. Resurrection icon; photo by S. Morris)

“How filled with bliss were these women who, taught by the angel’s account, were found worthy to announce the triumph of the resurrection to the world and to proclaim that the sovereignty of death, to which Eve became subject when she was seduced by the serpent’s speech, had been utterly destroyed! How much more blissful will be the souls of both men and women equally, when, aided by heavenly grace, they have merited to triumph over death and enter into the joy of a blessed resurrection, while the condemned have been struck with trepidation and well-deserved punishment on the day of judgment!” (excerpt from Homily II.7, St. Bede, Homilies on the Gospels, vol. 2, translated by Martin and Hurst)

The knowledge of the gospel, the “good news,” depends on the preaching of the women who came to the tomb and discovered that Christ had risen. The angel at the tomb sent them back to preach the good news to the male apostles who were still hiding after the Crucifixion, frightened and alone. If the women had said nothing, no one would have ever heard that Christ had destroyed Death. Their participation in the divine plan of salvation was critical. All subsequent Christian experience depends on them having gone to the tomb and then telling everyone what had happened there.

We see a contrast between Eve and the Virgin Mary, the second Eve–just as Christ is the Second Adam–insofar that Eve was confronted by a (fallen) angel and chose to defy God, bringing Death into the world while the Virgin Mary was confronted by an angel (Gabriel) and chose to cooperate with God to bring true Life into the world. (Read more about this in St. Irenaeus of Lyons.) We can also see a contrast between the Myrrhbearing Women and Eve insofar that Eve hid from God in a garden and was given an apron of fig leaves to hide her nakedness while the Myrrhbearing Women stepped forward to meet the Risen Christ in a garden and were able to “put on Christ” (Galations 3:27) to remove their sinfulness.

St. Bede says something similar in another homily, where he contrasts the several Myrrhbearing Women to the one woman (Eve): “You see that several [women], instructed by the angels, proclaim that the death which one woman, seduced by the devil, had brought upon the world was now destroyed. One woman, coming [out of the garden] opened a path [that led away] from heavenly joys; many, coming back from their present exile, gave the information that the gate had now been unbarred for regaining the heavenly fatherland.” (Homily II/10, p. 94)

The stars of Orion’s belt in the night sky are sometimes called “the Three Marys” or “the Myrrhbearing Women;” these same stars are sometimes called “the Magi,” and identified with the Wise Men who came to visit the Christ Child. This association demonstrates the similar roles of the Myrrhbearing Women and the Magi in the Easter/Christmas stories as they were Outsiders (women and pagan philosophers) who were responsible for proclaiming the good news, the gospel, of Christ to the world.

“Happy New Year 2019?!” Annunciation Day

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A Coptic icon of the Annunciation, showing the angel Gabriel presenting a lily as he announces the Incarnation to the Mother of God.

A Coptic icon of the Annunciation, showing the angel Gabriel presenting a lily as he announces the Incarnation to the Mother of God.

Lilies are often associated with the celebration of Annunciation. When Eve was driven from Paradise, lilies bloomed wherever her tears fell onto the earth and Gabriel presented lilies to the Virgin Mary when he announced that her Son would re-open Paradise to mankind. Other legends say that lilies blossomed from drops of milk from Hera’s breasts that fell upon the earth and that the lily was therefore the only flower with a soul. Lilies are traditionally considered to drive away ghosts and evil (esp. the Evil Eye) and can break love spells. The first lily of the season strengthens whoever finds it.

Roses are also associated with Annunciation and are used to cast love spells or in healing magic. If you plant roses in your garden, they are said to grow best if you have stolen the seeds from someone else and will then attract the faerie folk.

The Annunciation is celebrated on March 25 (the traditional date of the springtime equinox). Not only was Annunciation — and the equinox — vital to keeping track of time for secular purposes, many ancient and medieval authors claimed that the Annunciation/equinox date were vital at many points of salvation history: the birthday of Adam and the Crucifixion were said to have occurred on March 25 as well. Some also said that March 25 marked the fall of Lucifer, the parting of the Red Sea, as well as the day on which God said, “Let there be light!”

Sometimes called “Lady Day,” the Annunciation was kept as New Year’s Day in many places; the last to give up Annunciation as the New Year’s Day was England and its American colonies in 1752. The correct synchronization of the equinox with the Annunciation is a critical element in the calculation of the date of Easter and the medieval and Renaissance disconnect between the Annunciation and the equinox prompted Pope Gregory XIII to reform the calendar in 1582.