Luceat!

We love to talk about the weather! I remember growing up and wanting to be a weatherman. That was a dream around my house. My dad and I would talk about the weather for hours on end. Many people are like this, in fact its one of the most basic conversations a person could have with another….”So, nice day were having, huh?” or, “Man, it is going to be a hot one today!” or “How about that storm last night?”

God, being the Creator of nature, likes to get us talking about the weather. on August 5, during the papacy of Pope Liberius (352-366ad) there was a man who had vision that snow would fall on a place in room where the Lord wanted the Pope to erect a church in honor of our Lady. The Roman patrician’s name was John. His wife and him, had no error to their family and vowed to make the Blessed Virgin Mary their heiress. Pope Liberius and the patrician John had similar dreams on the same night and then woke to find an outline of snow on Esquiline Hill in Rome.

I don’t know if you check the weather in Rome often, but today’s forcast for Rome is 88 degrees Fahrenheit with 100% humidity. A miracle happen in Rome some 1700 years ago! Snow in August! Pope Liberius accepted the sign from God and erected a basilica on the spot which would one day become known as The Basilica of Mary Majors. The legendary events have become known as the story of Our Lady of Snow.