August 5 2026 - St. Mary Major - Our Lady of the Snows

 

In the year 352, during the pontificate of Pope Liberius, a Roman couple, known for their deep faith and generosity to the poor, suffered the sorrow of having no children. With no descendants to inherit their considerable estate, they decided to place their goods in the hands of the Virgin Mary and asked her to show them how to use them for the greater glory of God.

During the night of August 4–5, both the couple and Pope Liberius are said to have received the same message: the Virgin desired a church to be built for her in the place she herself would indicate.

That morning, in the middle of the Roman summer, the Esquiline Hill appeared covered with snow. The Pope went in solemn procession with the couple and following the outline the snow traced on the ground marked the perimeter for the church to be built there in honor of Our Lady. For this reason, the basilica built there was called Our Lady of the Snows. To this day, the legend is commemorated with a shower of white rose petals which are showered from the basilica’s ceiling.

Following the Council of Ephesus, at which Our Lady was honored with the title Theotokos—the Gos bearer—Mother of God— the Basilica was rededicated under the title Santa Maria Maggiore, Saint Mary Major.

No pilgrimage to Rome is complete without a visit to Our Lady’s Basilica. It is breathtakingly beautiful, containing some of the oldest Christian mosaics, relics of the crib of Bethlehem, the relics of St. Jerome who gave us the latin translation of the scriptures which have been used for over 1500 years. It contains one of the most venerated Marian icons of Christendom: the Salus Populi Romani, the Protectress of the Roman People.

Generations of the faithful and practically all the popes of the modern era have prayed before this image. Benedict XIV went every Saturday to sing the Marian litanies, while Saint Paul V asked to be taken before the Virgin only hours before he died. Pope Francis would visit the image before and after his apostolic visits to the various nations of the world, and is now buried in the basilica near the image.

"Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed." He replied, "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it." Well, Our Lady did all these things, didn’t she. She carried the Word made Flesh in her womb, she nursed Him, and also heard and observed that Word.

The miracle of snows reminds us of Our Lady’s powerful intercession, and to entrust our needs and our treasures to her. The dedication of the basilica reminds us to honor her with beauty and devotion, to make pilgrimage to her shrines, to seek to be near to her in life and in death, to be nurtured and reared by her who nurtured and reared the Word made flesh, and with her to hear the Word of God and observe it, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

- - - - - 

For the Church, our Holy Mother: That she may continue to nurture and guide the faithful through her teachings and sacraments, bearing Christ to the world in word and deed. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those who feel distant from the Church: That they may experience anew the maternal love of Mary and the Church, finding their way back to the family of faith. Let us pray to the Lord.

For vocations to the priesthood and religious life: That many may respond generously to God's call to serve as instruments of His love and mercy within Mother Church. Let us pray to the Lord.

That all government leaders may be awakened to the supreme dignity of every human life, and that all people of our nation may work together for an end to the culture of death.

That members of the Church may be attentive to the needs of those who suffer, and that sick and the poor may be open to the merciful grace of God.

For the deceased members of our families and parishes, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, and for N., for whom this Mass is offered.

We pray, O Lord our God, that the Virgin Mary, who merited to bear God and man in her chaste womb, may commend the prayers of your faithful in your sight. Through Christ our Lord.

 

June 27 2023 - St. Cyril of Alexandria, bishop and doctor - Champion of Truth

 In the Gospels, the blessed Lord warns his disciples against false prophets and spiritual con men. And these agents of error have plagued the Church since the beginning, just as Our Lord foretold. 

The saint we honor today, Saint Cyril of Alexandria, defended and taught the Catholic Faith in the face of a heresy which was creating great division in the Church.  Division is often one of the great fruits of false prophets.

The heresy is now called Nestorianism, named after the bishop who promoted it, named Nestorius.  Nestorius was Archbishop of Constantinople in the early 5th century.  Nestorius taught the heresy that Mary could not be given the title Theotokos, that is God-bearer, and thereby Nestorius taught that Jesus really wasn’t Truly God—a truth clear from Scripture and the Church Fathers and Church Councils like the Council of Nicea.

St. Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria wrote to Nestorius, reminding him of the duty of bishops to preserve sound doctrine, but Nestorius continued to teach error creating division in the Church. And the division became so great that a Church Council was needed to clarify the issue.

So in 431, the First Council of Ephesus was called to deal with this false teaching. Ephesus being the very place where Our Lady—the God Bearer—lived with St. John the Apostle before her Glorious Assumption.  St. Cyril was tasked by the Pope to preside over the Council as Papal representative. Now, many of the bishops gathered at Ephesus, some say the majority of bishops, sided with the heretic bishop Nestorius. But the Papal Representative Archbishop Cyril defended the Truth that Christ is truly God and Truly man and thereby Our Lady can rightly be called Theotokos—God-Bearer—Mother of God.

Listen to his words, from this morning’s Office of Readings from the writings of St. Cyril, “That anyone could doubt the right of the holy Virgin to be called the mother of God fills me with astonishment. Surely she must be the Mother of God if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, and she gave birth to him! Our Lord’s disciples may not have used those exact words, but they delivered to us the belief those words enshrine, and this has also been taught us by the holy fathers” (especially St. Athanasius) 

St. Cyril sets the standard for theological questions in the Church. We must look to Scripture and Apostolic Tradition and apply clear logic. Scripture is clear that Jesus is God—the Word Made Flesh, and that he took that flesh from the Virgin Mary. As St. Paul writes “he fashioned a body for himself from a woman and shared our flesh and blood”. Cyril also looked to the Church Fathers, like St. Athanasius, who taught nothing contrary to the Scriptures. And St. Athanasius several times calls Mary, Theotokos, in his writings.

What’s the practical lesson from this? All Christians need to be discerning, using our gifts of reason and wisdom in living out the Christian faith.  Jesus warns us that there ARE false prophets.  There ARE teachings which lead us away from the true faith, that lead us away from the union of our minds and hearts with God. False teachings, especially in recent centuries, have caused terrible division in the Church. And that division has born nothing but rotten fruit: so-called Christians who promote abortion, euthanasia, sexual perversion, and adultery. There are many sects of Christians who deny the sacraments of Holy Orders, Confession, and Eucharist, and even baptism. So-called Christians who even deny the need for baptism, so clearly taught by Our Lord.

The doctors of the Church, St. Athanasius, St. Cyril, equip us with doing our part to heal the divisions in the Church, to lead souls to the truth. At least one member of our RCIA last year was raised protestant but came to the Faith by reading the Fathers. 

And the doctors help us to be on guard against those false prophets about whom the Lord Himself warned us. 

May St. Cyril help us to revere Our Lady, to champion and live the truth, and to labor always for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

- - - - - 

That our bishops and clergy may be zealous in preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel.

That this fortnight of prayer for religious freedom may help people of faith remain vigilant in defending their religious liberty and united in making their voice heard on behalf of the rights of the Church.

For all those who reject the faith, for those who show contempt for the holy word of God and the Catholic Church, for their openness to the Truth, and that all Christians may be committed to spreading the faith boldly, patiently, and clearly.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

June 27, 2017 - St. Cyril of Alexandria - Champions of the Truth

Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop, Doctor, and Father of the Church. He is most famous for presiding over the Council of Ephesus in 431 as Archbishop of that city and the Pope’s representative. He was the principle defender of Our Lady’s title “Mother of God”—“God bearer”—Theotokos, in the Greek.

Listen to his words, from this morning’s Office of Readings, “That anyone could doubt the right of the holy Virgin to be called the mother of God fills me with astonishment. Surely she must be the Mother of God if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, and she gave birth to him! Our Lord’s disciples may not have used those exact words, but they delivered to us the belief those words enshrine, and this has also been taught us by the holy fathers.”

A couple things going on here. First, St. Cyril teaches us, whenever there is a theological question, to look to the scriptural and apostolic tradition. Scripture is clear that Jesus is the Word Made Flesh, and that he took that flesh from the Virgin Mary, “he fashioned a body for himself from a woman and shared our flesh and blood”. Cyril also looked to the Church Fathers, like St. Athanasius, who taught nothing contrary to the Scriptures. St. Athanasius several times calls Mary, Theotokos, in his writings.

St. Cyril shows that Mariology, the study of Mary, enshrining Mary with beautiful titles that extolling her virtues and her role in salvation history is part of our earliest Tradition.

St. Cyril also shows that good theology is an application of right reason and common sense. Jesus is God, Mary is his mother, therefore she can be called Mother of God.

Isn’t it interesting that we have as our Gospel today, on this feast of this logical, learned, holy doctor and defender of the faith, this short little passage from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus telling his disciples not to “throw pearls to swine”. I’ve always connected this passage with our work of evangelization.

There comes a point, when we are spreading the faith, that we come across people who show contempt for the faith, who have no interest in it, no desire for repentance or intellectual conversion. If people show open disdain for the holy word of God, then it is prudent to withdraw and take the good news elsewhere. It is unwise to waste time preaching to those who only balk at the message, and especially to lose your temper over it.

I think of St. Cyril: showing clear reasoning, pointing to scripture, apostolic tradition, the church fathers. And still, there were heretics who clung to their errors. There is a point when the discussion is over: you accept the true faith, or you don’t, and there will be eternal consequences for that. As Our Lord told his Apostles, “those who reject you, reject me”

Like St. Cyril we are called to be learned in the words of Scripture and the teachings of the church fathers, so that we can explain and spread the faith clearly and patiently, to be champions of the Truth for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - 

That our bishops and clergy may be zealous in preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel, and that our future bishop of the diocese of Cleveland may be a man of true faith and the Holy Spirit.

That this fortnight of prayer for religious freedom may help people of faith remain vigilant in defending their religious liberty and united in making their voice heard on behalf of the rights of the Church.

For all those who reject the faith, for those who show contempt for the holy word of God and the Catholic Church, for their openness to the Truth, and that all Christians may be committed to spreading the faith boldly, patiently, and clearly.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.