Pope Francis looks ahead to the Jubilee: “Many pilgrims will come to Santa Maria Maggiore to ask for a Mother’s blessing”

Pope Francis spoke of Our Lady in the homily he gave on August 5 in the Basilica of St Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore) in Rome. “The faithful come to ask the Holy Mother of God for a blessing, for she is the mediatrix of the grace that always and only flows through Jesus Christ, by the action of the Holy Spirit. In a special way, during the forthcoming Holy Year of the Jubilee, many pilgrims will come to this Basilica to ask our Blessed Lady for a blessing.”  The sermon was delivered during Second Vespers for the Solemn feast day marking the Dedication of the oldest Marian sanctuary in the West. This year, as every year, those present witnessed the re-enactment of the miraculous August 5 “snowfall” that occurred in the fourth century.

The Pope added: “Today, we are gathered here as a kind of vanguard, invoking her intercession for the city of Rome, our city, and for the whole world, particularly for peace, that peace which is true and lasting only when it flows from repentant and forgiven hearts; forgiveness brings about peace because to forgive is the noble approach of the Lord; that peace which comes from the Cross of Christ, and from his Blood that he took from Mary and shed for the remission of sins.”

Santa Maria Maggiore is one of the four papal basilicas of Rome, and for the Jubilee Year, the Pope will open its Holy Door on January 1, 2025, on the Solemnity of Mary the Most Holy Mother of God.