DAY 14 of 31 · Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore · Rome, Italy

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:01]Day 14.

[00:00:05]May the 14th.

[00:00:08]Yesterday we stood in Mary's home in Nazareth.

[00:00:11]Today >> [music] >> we travel to Rome, to the eternal city, to the oldest Marian Basilica in the Western world, [music] Santa Maria Maggiore, Saint Mary Major.

[00:00:24]This Basilica has stood on the Esquiline Hill of Rome since the 5th century.

[00:00:29]But the story of why it was built here begins on a summer night in the year 352.

[00:00:35]A wealthy Roman nobleman named John [music] had no children.

[00:00:39]He and his wife prayed to Our Lady, asking her to show them how to use their wealth for her honor.

[00:00:46]That night, in the heat of a Roman August, Our Lady appeared to them both, and to Pope Liberius.

[00:00:54]All three on the same night.

[00:00:57]She told them to build a church on the Esquiline Hill, in the place where they would find snow, in August, in Rome.

[00:01:06]The next morning they found snow on the Esquiline Hill.

[00:01:11]Only there.

[00:01:13]Only that patch.

[00:01:15]The church was built exactly where the snow had fallen.

[00:01:19]Every year on August the 5th, >> [music] >> white rose petals are released from the ceiling of the Basilica to commemorate the miracle of the snow.

[00:01:28]Inside this Basilica today hangs Salus Populi Romani, health of the Roman people, an ancient icon of Our Lady, believed by tradition to have been painted by Saint Luke himself.

[00:01:43]Every Pope visits her.

[00:01:45]Pope Francis went there before every major journey.

[00:01:49]And when he returned, she has protected Rome through plague, war, and pestilence for over 16 centuries, today let us pray one decade of the Rosary for Rome and for the church throughout the world.

[00:02:06]Salus Populi Romani Pray for us.

[00:02:10]Drop a heart in the comments if you prayed with me today.

[00:02:14]Tomorrow we travel to Lebanon to a colossal white statue overlooking the sea.

[00:02:21]I will see you on day 15.