Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major

[5] The feast commemorates the dedication by Pope Sixtus III of the rebuilt Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore just after the First Council of Ephesus.

Until 1969 the feast was known as Dedicatio Sanctae Mariae ad Nives (Dedication of the Church of Our Lady of the Snows), a name that had become popular for the Basilica in the 14th century[6] in connection with a legend about its origin that the Catholic Encyclopedia summarizes: (in the middle of the 4th century) "During the pontificate of Liberius, the Roman patrician John and his wife, who were without heirs, made a vow to donate their possessions to the Virgin Mary.

From the fact that no mention whatever is made of this alleged miracle until a few hundred years later, not even by Sixtus III in his eight-line dedicatory inscription ... it would seem that the legend has no historical basis.

[10] A more critical attitude began to prevail in the 18th century, as evidenced by the proposal that a congregation set up by Pope Benedict XIV presented to him in 1741 that the reading of the legend be removed from the Roman Breviary and that the original name, "Dedicatio Sanctae Mariae", be restored.

On 5 August each year, during the celebration of the liturgical feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, a custom that commemorates the story of the miraculous snowfall is still maintained: at the conclusion of Solemn Mass, a shower of white rose petals is dropped from the ceiling.

There is also Nuestra Señora de las Nieves in the Yucatán area of Mexico near the towns of Tulum & Playa Del Carmen.