The Papal Basilica of Saint Mary the Great (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsanta maˈriːa madˈdʒoːre]), also informally known as the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, is a Roman Catholic Papal Basilica and one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome. The largest Marian church in Rome, it is regarded as the first Marian sanctuary and the mother of all Marian shrines. The shrine is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Snow.
The Papal basilica is located in Piazza dell'Esquilino at the 15th administrative Rione district. Pursuant to the Lateran Treaty of 1929 between the Holy See and Italy, the basilica is in Italy and not Vatican City. However, as a property of the Holy See, Italy is obliged to protect its ownership and to concede to it "the immunity granted by international law to the headquarters of the diplomatic agents of foreign states". The shrine is designated a basilica by the privilege of immemorial status.
The basilica enshrines several notable Christian relics, most notably the holy crib of the Child Jesus and the venerated image of Salus Populi Romani, depicting the Madonna and Child as both the patroness and protectress of the Roman peoples. Pope Gregory XVI granted the image a Pontifical decree of canonical coronation via the Papal bull Cælestis Regina Maxima in 15 August 1838.
Historicity
The Basilica is sometimes referred to as Our Lady of the Snows, a name given to it in the Roman Missal from 1568 to 1969 in connection with the liturgical feast of the anniversary of its dedication on 5 August, a feast that was then denominated Dedicatio Sanctae Mariae ad Nives ('Dedication of Saint Mary of the Snows'). This name for the basilica had become popular in the 14th century in connection with a legend that c. 352, during "the pontificate of Liberius, a Roman patrician John and his wife, who were without heirs, made a vow to donate their possessions to the Virgin Mary." The couple prayed that she might make known to them how they were to dispose of their property in her honor. On 5 August, at the height of the Roman summer, snow fell during the night on the summit of the Esquiline Hill. In obedience to a vision of the Virgin Mary which they had the same night, the couple built a basilica in honor of Mary on the very spot which was covered with snow.
The legend is first reported only after AD 1000. It may be implied in what the Liber Pontificalis of the early 13th century says of Pope Liberius: "He built the basilica of his own name near the Macellum of Livia". It is shown in the early 15th-century painting of the Miracle of the Snow by Masolino da Panicale.
The feast was originally called Dedicatio Sanctae Mariae ('Dedication of Saint Mary's'), and was celebrated only in Rome until it was inserted into the General Roman Calendar, with ad Nives added to its name, in 1568. A congregation appointed by Pope Benedict XIV in 1741 proposed that the reading of the legend be struck from the Office and that the feast be given its original name. No action was taken on the proposal until 1969, when the reading of the legend was removed and the feast was called In dedicatione Basilicae S. Mariae ('Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary'). The legend is still commemorated by dropping white rose petals from the dome during the celebration of the Mass and during the Second Vespers on the feast day.
The earliest building on the site was the Liberian Basilica or Santa Maria Liberiana, after Pope Liberius (352–366). This name may have originated from the same legend, which recounts that, like John and his wife, Pope Liberius was told in a dream of the forthcoming summer snowfall, went in procession to where it occurred and there marked out the area on which the church was to be built. Liberiana is still included in some versions of the basilica's name, and "Liberian Basilica" may be used as a contemporary as well as historical name.
On the other hand, the name "Liberian Basilica" may be independent of the legend, since, according to Pius Parsch, Pope Liberius transformed a palace of the Sicinini family into a church, which was for that reason called the "Sicinini Basilica". This building was then replaced under Pope Sixtus III (432–440) by the present structure dedicated to Mary. However, some sources say that the adaptation as a church of a pre-existing building on the site of the present basilica was done in the 420s under Pope Celestine I, the immediate predecessor of Sixtus III.
Long before the earliest traces of the story of the miraculous snow, the church now known as Santa Maria Maggiore was called "Saint Mary of the Crib" (Sancta Maria ad Praesepe), a name it was given because of its relic of the crib or manger of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, four boards of sycamore wood believed to have been brought to the church, together with a fifth, in the time of Pope Theodore I (640–649). This name appears in the Tridentine editions of the Roman Missal as the place for the pope's Mass (the station Mass) on Christmas Night, while the name "Mary Major" appears for the church of the station Mass on Christmas Day.
As a Papal basilica
A Catholic church can only be honored with the title of basilica by apostolic grant or from immemorial custom. Santa Maria Maggiore is one of four that hold the title of "major basilica". The other three are the basilicas of St. John in the Lateran, St. Peter, and St. Paul outside the Walls. The title of major basilica was once used more widely, being attached, for instance, to the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Assisi.
Along with the other major basilicas, Santa Maria Maggiore is also styled a "papal basilica". Before 2006, the four papal major basilicas, together with the Basilica of St. Lawrence outside the Walls were referred to as the "patriarchal basilicas" of Rome. When Pope Benedict XVI abandoned the title "Patriarch of the West", the title of Santa Maria Maggiore changed from patriarchal to papal basilica, as found on its website, and each was associated with one of the five ancient patriarchates. Santa Maria Maggiore was associated with the Patriarchate of Antioch. In 2024, Pope Francis reinstated the title, reversing Pope Benedict XVI's renunciation of it but, so far, the church designation has remained unaltered.
The five papal basilicas along with the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem and San Sebastiano fuori le mura were the traditional Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome, which were visited by pilgrims during their pilgrimage to Rome following a 20-kilometer (12 mi) itinerary established by Philip Neri on 25 February 1552.
History
It is now agreed that the present church was built on the Cispian spur of Rome's Esquiline Hill under Pope Celestine I (422–432) not under Pope Sixtus III (432–440), who consecrated the basilica on 5 August 434 to the Virgin Mary.
The dedicatory inscription on the triumphal arch, Latin: Sixtus Episcopus plebi Dei (Sixtus the bishop to the people of God), is an indication of that Pope's role in the construction. As well as this church on the summit of the Esquiline Hill, Pope Sixtus III is said to have commissioned extensive building projects throughout the city, which were continued by his successor Pope Leo I, the Great.
The church retains the core of its original structure, despite several additional construction projects and damage by the earthquake of 1348.
Church building in Rome in this period, as exemplified in Santa Maria Maggiore, was inspired by the idea of Rome being not just the center of the world of the Roman Empire, as it was seen in the classical period, but the center of the Christian world.
Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the first churches built to celebrate the Virgin Mary, was erected immediately after the Council of Ephesus of 431, which proclaimed Mary as "Mother of God" (Theotokos). Pope Sixtus III built it to commemorate this decision. Certainly, the atmosphere that generated the council gave rise also to the mosaics that adorn the interior of the dedication: "whatever the precise connection was between council and church it is clear that the planners of the decoration belong to a period of concentrated debates on nature and status of the Virgin and incarnate Christ." The magnificent mosaics of the nave and triumphal arch, seen as "milestones in the depiction" of the Virgin, depict scenes of her life and that of Christ, and scenes from the Old Testament: Moses striking the Red Sea, and Egyptians drowning in the Red Sea.
Richard Krautheimer attributes the magnificence of the work also to the abundant revenue accruing to the papacy at the time from land holdings acquired by the Catholic Church during the 4th and 5th centuries on the Italian peninsula: "Some of these holdings were locally controlled; the majority as early as the end of the 5th century were administered directly from Rome with great efficiency: a central accounting system was involved in the papal chancery; and a budget was apparently prepared, one part of the income going to the papal administration, another to the needs of the clergy, a third to the maintenance of church buildings, a fourth to charity. These fines enabled the papacy to carry out through the 5th century an ambitious building program, including Santa Maria Maggiore."
Miri Rubin believes that the building of the basilica was influenced also by seeing Mary as one who could represent the imperial ideals of classical Rome, bringing together the old Rome and the new Christian Rome: "In Rome, the city of martyrs, if no longer of emperors, Mary was a figure that could credibly carry imperial memories and representations."
Gregory the Great may have been inspired by Byzantine devotions to the Theotokos (Mother of God) when after becoming Pope during a plague in 590 that had taken the life of his predecessor, he ordered for seven processions to march through the city of Rome chanting Psalms and Kyrie Eleison, in order to appease the wrath of God. The processions began in different parts of the city, but rather than finally converging on St Peter's, who was always the traditional protector of Rome, he instead ordered the processions to converge on Santa Maria Maggiore instead.
When the popes returned to Rome after the period of the Avignon papacy, the buildings of the basilica became a temporary Palace of the Popes due to the deteriorated state of the Lateran Palace. The papal residence was later moved to the Palace of the Vatican in what is now Vatican City.
The basilica was restored, redecorated and extended by various popes, including Eugene III (1145–1153), Nicholas IV (1288–1292), Clement X (1670–1676), and Benedict XIV (1740–1758), who in the 1740s commissioned Ferdinando Fuga to build the present façade and to modify the interior. The interior of the Santa Maria Maggiore underwent a broad renovation encompassing all of its altars between the years 1575 and 1630.
In 1966, archaeologists excavating under the basilica found the remains of a Roman building including an imperial calendar with fasti and agricultural annotations and illustrations. On the basis of the calendar, the ruins have been dated to c. 200 by Salzman and to the 4th century by Magi.
In 2025, Pope Francis was buried at the basilica in the side nave between the Sforza Chapel and the Pauline Chapel.
Architecture
The original architecture of Santa Maria Maggiore was classical and traditionally Roman, perhaps to convey the idea that Santa Maria Maggiore represented old imperial Rome as well as its Christian future. As one scholar puts it, "Santa Maria Maggiore so closely resembles a second-century imperial basilica that it has sometimes been thought to have been adapted from a basilica for use as a Christian church. Its plan was based on Hellenistic principles stated by Vitruvius at the time of Augustus."
Even though Santa Maria Maggiore is immense in its area, it was built to plan. The design of the basilica was a typical one during this time in Rome: "a tall and wide nave; an aisle on either side; and a semicircular apse at the end of the nave." The key aspect that made Santa Maria Maggiore such a significant cornerstone in church building during the early 5th century were the beautiful mosaics found on the triumphal arch and nave.
The Athenian marble columns supporting the nave are even older, and either come from the first basilica, or from another antique Roman building. Thirty-six are marble and four granite, pared down, or shortened to make them identical by Ferdinando Fuga, who provided them with identical gilt-bronze capitals.
The 14th-century campanile, or bell tower, is the highest in Rome, at 246 feet, (about 75 m.). The basilica's 16th-century coffered ceiling, to a design by Giuliano da Sangallo, is said to be gilded with gold, initially brought by Christopher Columbus, presented by Ferdinand and Isabella to the Spanish pope, Alexander VI. The apse mosaic, the Coronation of the Virgin, is from 1295, signed by the Franciscan friar, Jacopo Torriti. The Basilica also contains frescoes by Giovanni Baglione, in the Cappella Borghese.