The Eternal City is preparing to celebrate one of its main feasts: the remembrance of the “miracle of snow” on the Solemnity of Our Lady of the Snows, on August 5

Newsroom (03/08/2022 8:000 AM, Gaudium Press) Next Friday, August 5th, the city of Rome celebrates the dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary the Greater and the Solemnity of Our Lady of the Snows.

The miracle of the snow

The day commemorates the miracle of the “snow”, when snow fell in the middle of the Italian summer and covered the Esquiline hill, where the papal basilica stands today.

It was the year 358. Pope Liberius had had a revelation from Our Lady in a dream. The Virgin Mary had asked the Pontiff and Giovanni, a Roman patrician, to build a church for her on the indicated site.

In mid-August, the Pope and the patrician saw Mount Esquilino, one of the hills surrounding the city of Rome, covered with snow. Since then, on August 5, a Mass and a feast day celebrate the miracle of snow in the Eternal City.

Schedule for 2022

This year, the commemorative feast includes the Triduum in the Basilica of Santa Maria Major, from August 2 to 4.

The preaching of Monsignor Luigi Veturi, canon of the Basilica, and a musical concert directed by Ildebrando Mura, chapel master, will fill the afternoons and evenings of the triduum.

The musical concert entitled “The Snow Does Not Touch” will feature pieces by composers such as Pier Luigi de Palestrina, Domenico Bartolucci, Léon Boëllmann, and Valentino Miserachs, among others.

On the morning of the 5th, Cardinal Stanilslaw Rilko, archpriest of the basilica, will celebrate a Solemn Mass. In the afternoon of the same day, the Vicar of the Archpriest, Monsignor Piero Marini, will preside at the Vespers liturgy.

A Show of Snow

The spectacle that recalls the miracle of snow will begin at 9 pm local time. The event, which has been held every year since 1983, will be coordinated this year by architect Cesare Esposito.

Projections of lights, musical performances by fanfares and singers will enliven the spectacle. At midnight a “rain” of artificial snowflakes will cover the square in front of the church.

Commemorative Ice Cream

The participants of the ceremonies will be able to taste, in the inner courtyard of the basilica, an ice cream specially made for the occasion.

Nicknamed “snow”, the ice cream is a creation of the ice cream makers of the Old Ice Cream Parlor of Via del Corso. It is a lemon ice cream with orange, ginger and meringue topping. (FM)

Compiled by Camille Mittermeier