Pontifical Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of the Snow

On Wednesday, August 5th, His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke will offer a Pontifical High Mass (Usus Antiquior) for the Feast of Our Lady of the Snow.

The Solemnity of Our Lady of the Snow commemorates the miraculous dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome. In the year 358, Our Lady appeared in a dream to Pope Liberius, instructing him to build a basilica on the Esquiline Hill. Miraculously, snow fell on this site in midsummer, outlining the precise location for this sacred edifice. Today, the Basilica of Saint Mary Major stands as one of Rome’s four major basilicas and is honored worldwide on this significant date.

Affiliation with the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

One of the greatest blessings given to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse is its affiliation with two great Marian pilgrimage sites: the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, or St. Mary Major, in Rome.

In other words, by a special privilege granted by the Vatican, pilgrims visiting Our Lady’s Shrine in La Crosse can obtain the same graces that they would on a pilgrimage to either of the other sites.

Spiritual Benefits

With this affiliation comes the opportunity for pilgrims visiting the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe to gain plenary indulgences, under the usual conditions. A plenary indulgence is the entire remission of temporal punishment due to sin, the guilt of which has been forgiven. The Patronal Feast Day of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, August 5th, is a special occasion for obtaining a plenary indulgence.