Pope Francis held a special place in his heart for the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major, one of five ancient basilicas in Rome and where he chose to be entombed. In his final testament, issued after his April 21 death, Pope Francis wrote, “I wish my last earthly journey to end at this very ancient Marian shrine where I would go to pray at the beginning and end of each apostolic journey to confidently entrust my intentions to the Immaculate Mother and to thank her for the docile and maternal care.” Why were Francis and seven other popes who are also buried there so attached to this church?
Around 350 A.D., a childless Roman couple wanted their wealth to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary after their deaths. According to legend, Mary appeared to the husband in a dream, requesting that a church be built on a site where snow would fall in midsummer. When the couple told Pope Liberius, he claimed to have had a similar dream. On Aug. 5, as Rome was engulfed in a heat wave, snow miraculously fell on the Esquiline Hill. On that spot a church was built and called the Liberian Basilica. While there is no historical evidence to support the legend – no mention of the story can be found until several hundred years after the church’s completion – the Miracle of the Snows is remembered each year in a liturgy that features white flower petals falling from the ceiling.