November 18: Dedication of the Basilica of SS Peter and Paul, Class III

This day actually commemorates the dedication of two famous Roman Churches - St Peter's on Vatican Hill, and St Paul without the Walls.  The picture below depicts the cloister of the Benedictine monastery attached to St Paul's.

Dedication of St John Lateran, Class II

St John Lateran, aka the Archbasilica of Our Saviour, was built by the Emperor Constantine, and consecrated by Pope Sylvester on November 9, 324.  It is Rome's (and hence the Pope's) official Cathedral, and ranks as one of the four papal basilicas.

It has a particular significance for Benedictines, as monks fleeing the destruction of Monte Cassino after St Benedict's death established a monastery there, their stories of the founder persuading the future Pope Gregeoy I to become a monk, and to record the life of the saint.

Unfortunately the records of the Church (and subsequent monasteries) are sparse, not least because the basilica was destroyed first by the vandals in 460, and again by an earthquake in 896.  And it burnt down in 1307 and again in 1361...  The current Church largely dates from the seventeenth century, with some extensive remodelling completed in 1735.

The dedication to St John reflects the monastery established there which served the Cathedral, dedicated to St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist.

August 5: Dedication of the Church of St Mary of the Snows, Memorial



Masolino, 1383-1440

The Church of Our Lady of the Snows is better known as St Mary Major in Rome, and is one of the four papal basilicas. It was built on the site of temple to Cybele in 360, traditionally on the site of a Marian apparition, and the name refers to a miraculous fall of snow there.

The legend, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, goes thus:

"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. They prayed that she might make known to them how they were to dispose of their property in her honour. On 5 August, at the height of the Roman summer, snow fell during the night on the summit of the Esquiline Hill. In obedience to a vision of the Virgin Mary which they had the same night, the couple built a basilica in honour of Mary on the very spot which was covered with snow."

The name of the feast was changed in the 1969 calendar in response to doubts about the historicity of the legend...