[Rank]
S. Mariae Virginis ad Nives;;Duplex majus;;4;;ex C11

[RankNewcal]
S. Mariae Virginis ad Nives;;Duplex optional;;2;;vide C11

[Rule]
ex C11;
9 lectiones
Ipsa Virgo Virginum

[Oratio]
Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord God, unto all thy servants, that they may remain~
continually in the enjoyment of soundness both of mind and body, and by the~
glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary, always a Virgin, may be delivered~
from present sadness, and enter into the joy of thine eternal gladness.
$Per Dominum

[Lectio4]
In the time of Pope Liberius, there lived at Rome a certain nobleman named John~
and a noble lady his wife, who had no children to whom to leave their substance.~
Then they vowed that they would make the most holy Virgin Mother of God their~
heiress, and earnestly besought her in some way to make known to them upon what~
godly work she would that the money should be spent. The blessed Virgin Mary~
graciously listened to their prayers and heart-felt earnestness, and by a~
miracle assured them of her will.

[Lectio5]
On the th day of August, which is that time when the heat of summer waxeth~
greatest in Rome, a part of the Esquiline Hill was covered by night with snow.~
And on this same night the Mother of God appeared in a dream to John and his~
wife separately, and told them that on that spot, which in the morning they~
should see clad with snow, they should build a Church, to be dedicated in the~
name of the Virgin Mary, for that this was the way in which she chose that they~
should make her their heiress. John went and told it to Pope Liberius, who~
declared that he also had been visited by a like dream.

[Lectio6]
Therefore he came in a solemn procession of Priests and people to the snow-clad~
hill, and traced upon that spot the plan of a Church which was built with the~
money of John and his wife. It was afterwards rebuilt by Sixtus III. At the~
beginning it was called by divers names, sometimes the Liberian Basilica,~
sometimes the Church of St Mary-at-the-Manger. Howbeit, since there are in~
Rome many Churches called after the Holy Virgin Mary, and this Church doth excel~
them all, both in honour, and because of the strange sign wherewith it was~
dedicated, it hath come to be called the Church of St Mary, the Greater. The~
memory of the dedication thereof is kept every year by a Feast-day that taketh~
name from the wonderful fall of snow which on this day took place.

[Lectio94]
When Liberius was Pope, a Roman patrician named John, and his wife, also of noble birth, having no children to inherit their goods, vowed their inheritance to the most holy Virgin Mother of God. The blessed Virgin heard their prayers and approved their vow by a miracle. On the 5th of August, which is that time when the heat of summer waxeth greatest in the City, a part of the Esquiline Hill was covered by night with snow. And on that same night, the Mother of God told John and his wife separately in dreams that they should build a church on that place. When John told this to Pope Liberius, he said that he had had the same dream. The Pope therefore went to the snow-covered hill and there marked out a site. The church was built with the money given by John and his wife, and was later restored by Sixtus III. It hath been given various names ; but, so that its title may indicate its excellence, it is called the Church of St. Mary Major.
&teDeum
