Mary’s title “Our Lady of the Snows” does not originate, as one might suppose, from some Alpine Mountain shrine but rather with a miraculous occurrence in the city of Rome. 

According to tradition, on the night of August 4, 352, a childless aristocratic Roman couple dreamed that the Holy Virgin instructed them to go to the Esquiline Hill in the morning where they would find a plot of land covered with snow. Mary told them that a church consecrated to her should be built on the snow-covered plot of land. The next morning the couple went to Pope Liberius to tell him about their dream. The pope informed them that he, too, had had the same dream. The pope then led a procession to the spot indicated in the dream and discovered that snow had indeed fallen on the Esquiline Hill. On that site, the pope built a shrine to the Holy Virgin. The people of Rome added “Our Lady of the Snows” to the list of titles honoring the Madonna. Freshly fallen snow in a Roman summer wonderfully symbolizes the sinless, Immaculate, and perpetually Virgin Mary.

Originally the church was called Santa Maria ad Nives (St. Mary of the Snows). Later known as Santa Maria Liberiana and then as Santa Maria ad Praesepe, because relics of the manger of Bethlehem had been brought to the church, the basilica eventually became known as Santa Maria Maggiore St. Mary Major because it is the largest of all the churches in Rome dedicated to the Blessed Mother. 
Construction on the current church structure began in the 5th century. Pope Sixtus III wished to build a church to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary after the Council of Ephesus (AD 431) had solemnly declared her to be the Theotokos, the Mother of God.

The basilica contains the Salus Populi Romani (Protectress of the Roman People) an ancient miraculous image of the Madonna and Infant Jesus composed in the Byzantine style. The image is also known as the Madonna Santa Maria ad Nives.

The Protectress of the Roman People has saved Rome from numerous afflictions and dangers thoughout the city’s history. Many popes and saints have been profoundly devoted to Salus Populi Romani—Madonna Santa Maria ad Nives—Our Lady of the Snows. Far from Rome, in Belleville, Illinois, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate built a shrine to Our Lady of the Snows. The Oblates have missions in Alaska and Canada. 

Today, when even some Catholics attack the doctrines of Mary's perpetual virginity and her Immaculate Conception, there is a need for a revival of devotion to Our Lady of the Snows.

John O’Connell is the Editor of The Catholic Faith magazine.