A Note From the Pastor: August 3, 2025

This Tuesday, August 5th, we celebrate the Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major. As a convert to Catholicism, I'll admit, there was a time when I found it odd to that the Church celebrates feast days associated with buildings, even if they are regarded as sacred. With time, I came to understand it as a celebration of more than just an architectural structure, but instead what it represents. That's the sacramental nature of so much that we believe. The buildings and the creative energies that were necessary to construct them, remind us of the particular places and ways that God acts in our midst.

As you may know, a basilica is a Catholic church, given a special designation by the pope. Usually, this is due to its historical or spiritual significance. There are (minor) basilicas throughout the world. Although there are 93 in the United States, the closest basilicas to us, distance-wise, is the Basilica of Saint Joseph in Alameda, California and the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in San Francisco. Nothing closer? It’s another indicator that the Pacific Northwest is lacking in spiritual rootedness! In Rome there are four major basilicas: Saint John Lateran Basilica, Saint Peter’s Basilica, The Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, and as mentioned, Saint Mary Major.

Santa Maria Maggiore was built just after the Council of Ephesus in 431, as a way of affirming Mary’s distinct role in salvation, and thus her title as Theotokos (Godbearer). It is the largest church in Western Christianity, built in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The story of how the basilica came to be goes back to wealthy landowners, who pledged their money in honor of the Mother of God, and were instructed to seek a sign of how specifically to use the money. They prayed for a sign. On August 5, 352, miraculously, snow fell from the night sky on the summit of the Esquiline hill of Rome.

It’s said that the pope (Pope Liberius, †366) was instructed in a dream to build a basilica. He went out into the unfathomable August snow on that hill and traced out the footprint of where the building was to be built. This event is commemorated, every August 5th, by the pouring of white rose petals from the inside of the basilica’s dome. Roughly 80 years later, Saint Mary Major was built. Although the basilica has undergone several reconstructions and repairs, the original structure of the building remains, having weathered centuries of time and natural disasters. Within, are mosaics, from the 5th century.

The basilica is sometimes called “Saint Mary of the Crib’, referring to a portion of the baby Jesus’ crib that is displayed in a shrine beneath the main altar.