The miracle of a summer snowfall was recreated again this year during Mass in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome on Aug. 5.
The celebration dates back to the year 358, when, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary asked that a church be built at a location she would indicate with snow in the middle of summer.
The shower of white flower petals commemorating the miracle drew pilgrims, tourists and even art historians, from places like Spain, Nigeria, Ecuador and different parts of Italy.
The celebration of “La Madonna della Neve, “Our Lady of the Snow,” in Rome usually concludes in the evening with another flurry of flower petals outside the Basilica. Last year it was suspended because of the pandemic.