Devotion to Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Snows dates back to 352 A.D.

According to legend, on the hot, sultry night of August 4, in that year, Our Lady appeared to a childless, wealthy Roman couple in a dream. She expressed a wish that a church be built in her honor in Rome. She told them that the site for the church would be covered with a blanket of snow.

On this same night, she also appeared to Pope Liberius in a dream telling him of her desire. On the morning of August 5, the citizens of Rome awoke to an astonishing sight. The Esquiline Hill was covered with snow, even though the weather was extremely warm. All Rome proclaimed the summer snow a miracle, and the couple accepted this as a sign that they were to use their wealth to help build the church.

Read more at www.snows.org