Today there are thousands of churches and shrines around the world dedicated to the Virgin Mary, but at one time, there didn’t exist any.
Once Christianity was no longer persecuted by the Roman Empire, Christians were able to build churches, often dedicating them to a specific saint or title of our Lord.
In the West, there were no churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary until St. Mary Major was established, which was itself a miracle.
Oldest in the West
Many are familiar with the story of how a couple prayed for a miracle and eventually had a vision directing them to build a church on the location marked with snow -- in August.
Pope Liberius had the same dream, rose immediately in the morning and came to the spot, finding the couple kneeling in prayer in the snow.
Once the site of the church was staked out, the snow melted as miraculously as it had appeared. A church was built soon after and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
It is believed that this occurred on August 5, 358.
In 2018, Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko affirmed that St. Mary Major is “the oldest Marian shrine not only in Rome, but in the whole West.”
This does not include any Marian shrines that were built in and around Jerusalem or anywhere else in the East, which likely predate St. Mary Major’s dedication.
Furthermore, St. Mary Major contains a number of relics that link it to the Holy Family, such as a piece of Jesus’ crib. It also contains the icon of Salus Populi Romani (Our Lady Help of the Roman People), which was reportedly painted by St. Luke the Evangelist.
It is a remarkable basilica, one that captured the attention and heart of Pope Francis. It came as no surprise that he wanted to be buried inside St. Mary Major, a place where he would spend time in prayer before and after an apostolic journey.
In many ways it is the “mother” of all Marian shrines in the West and continues to draw a number of pilgrims each year.
