Of a Pure Mind and Simple Intention (3)

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Of a Pure Mind and Simple Intention (3)

As iron cast into fire loses its rust and becomes glowing white, so he who
turns completely to God is stripped of his sluggishness and changed into a new
man. When a man begins to grow lax, he fears a little toil and welcomes external
comfort, but when he begins perfectly to conquer himself and to walk bravely in
the ways of God, then he thinks these things less difficult which he thought so
hard before.
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 2, Chapter 4

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August 5th - Our Lady of the Snow

The feast day of Our Lady of the Snow is also the day of the
dedication of the Basilica of Santa Maria of the Snows, or Santa Maria
Maggiore [Saint Mary Major] in Rome.

Since the 7th century it was known also as Maria ad Præsepe because
the Basilica has some pieces of wood from the Manger in which Our Lord
was born. The ceiling of the Basilica is gilded with the first gold
that came from the Americas.

This was the first church in Rome to be dedicated to Our Lady. In the
4th century Pope Liberius added a lateral hall to a large existing
hall of a Roman patrician palace and dedicated it to the cult; for
this reason it was called the Basilica Liberii [Liberian Basilica].
Pope Sixtus III (432-440) restored it almost a century later and
dedicated it to the Virgin, who the Council of Ephesus had defined as
Theotokos, that is, the Mother of God. It was then that the Basilica
received the name of Santa Maria Maggiore, Santa Maria Mayor.

A beautiful legend tells us that Our Lady appeared in dreams
simultaneously to Pope Liberius and to the Roman patrician who owned
the property where the church would be erected. She commanded the Pope
to build a basilica on Esquiline Hill on the site that would be
covered with snow the next day. Indeed, during that night of August
4-5, 352, in the very heat of the summer, a miraculous snow fell on
the summit of the Hill, indicating the place for the church to be
built. This is why this basilica is also called Our Lady of the Snow.

The patrician had a similar dream indicating that he should donate the
palace and land for the church to be built. Our Lady also told him
that she would send the snow as a sign.

To commemorate the Miracle of the Snow, every August 5th a cascade of
white petals descends from the coffered ceiling onto the altar place
during the religious festivities.

It was in this church that one Christmas night Our Lady placed the
Divine Infant into the arms of St. Cajetan of Thiene. It was here on
another Christmas night that St. Ignatius of Loyola celebrated his
first Mass. In this church, St. Pius V prayed the Rosary that obtained
for the Catholic warriors the victory of Lepanto. There is a chapel in
the Basilica that has a picture of Our Lady that, according to
tradition, was painted by St. Luke. St. Charles Borromeo used to pray
often in front of this Madonna, and in testimony of his gratitude to
her, he wrote the Rule of the Canons of Santa Maria Maggiore.


Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)

Here you can see the beautiful role of legends. Synarchic (1) or
technocratic minds do not like legends because they lack definite
proof of truth. They do not understand that the legend exists to prove
something superior to the concrete fact. In this story, for example,
we find many things that tell us about Our Lady.

It can be disputed whether or not the snow actually fell on that day
in August, but the legend reminds us that Our Lady has the power to
transcend the laws of nature. There is an enormous distance between
Heaven and earth. She can make nothing of this distance and appear to
a Pope. Naturally speaking, it is marvelous for it to snow in the hot
summer - July and August are terribly hot months in Rome - but she has
the power to make this happen if she so desires.

Morally speaking, we experience this truth whenever she sends us
consolations in the most heated hours of our battles, trials and
sufferings. At such moments, she lets fall on us an immaculate, white
and refreshing snow that gives us a pre-taste of Heaven. Therefore,
even though someone can dispute the veracity of the legend of the snow
that fell, he cannot dispute that Our Lady is able to make this
miracle if she desires, and that in fact she does so frequently in a
moral sense. This is the superior truth the legend contains.

Surrounding this basilica is an atmosphere permeated with History. You
can find many magnificent things there: wood from the Manger where Our
Lord was born in Bethlehem, the famous icon of the Virgin Mary said to
be painted by St. Luke known as Salus Populi Romani [the salvation of
the Roman people], and the basilica's ceiling gilded with gold from
the mines of America and presented by the Sovereigns of Spain,
Ferdinand and Isabella, to the Pope. It is a very beautiful gesture to
take the first gold from America and, instead of putting it in a bank
vault, offer it to the Church so it can be “uselessly” placed on the
ceiling of a church dedicated to Our Lady. To send the first riches,
the first fruits of America, and use it to honor Our Lady is an
implicit recognition that she is the Mediatrix of all Graces.

Also, the excerpt duly recalls that incident when St. Pius V was in
Santa Maria Maggiore meeting with some cardinals and he stopped to
pray the Rosary. During it he had a revelation that the Catholics had
won the Battle of Lepanto. I don’t know why the selection doesn’t
mention that the body of this holy Pope is buried there. Whoever
visits the Basilica can venerate the body of that General Inquisitor
and great enemy of Protestants and Muslims, as I had the grace to do.

The impressive parade of Saints and many important relics present
there are testimony to the Catholic tradition that lives in Santa
Maria Maggiore. In that monument one finds many traces of great
historical events - one of them the Incarnation of the Divine Word
itself. All this reveals the splendor of tradition in Catholic
Civilization.

This feast day tells us of the importance of both tradition and the legend.

Let us pray to Our Lady that under this very poetic invocation of Our
Lady of the Snow, she will help us to love and fight for the sacred
traditions of the Church and open our souls to the most astonishing
miracles during the days of the chastisement predicted at Fatima.


Saint Quote:
To prefer man to God: A strange and unhappy slavery is that of a man
who seeks to please other men. I vow never to do anything nor to leave
anything undone because of what people think. This will set up in me a
great interior peace.
--St. Claude de la Colombiere

Bible Quote:
Blessed is the man whom God correcteth: refuse not, therefore, the
chastising of the Lord. or he woundeth, and cureth: he striketh, and
his hands shall heal. (Job 5:17-18) DRB


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QUESTIONING HEART

Mary is crying!
I care...do you?
Jesus is bleeding anew,
And I care...do you?
Do you ever say “I love You?”
He cares for you—
Will you love Him till the end time?
There's Heaven then for you!