Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore

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Saturday, 5 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the feast of the Dedication of one of the four greatest churches in the whole Christendom, namely one of the four Papal Major Basilicas in Rome. This Basilica that we are celebrating today is the greatest of all the churches and edifices dedicated to the Blessed Mother of God, Mary most Holy. Hence, we celebrate today the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, also known as Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore. In that great Basilica was displayed the very popular Icon of the Blessed Mother of God, known as ‘Salus Populi Romani’, or the Protectress of the Roman People, which is a very old and ancient Byzantine icon dating to the early days of the Church, which became an important and integral part of the devotions in this great Basilica.

The story of how the Basilica of St. Mary Major was founded cannot be separated from the miraculous occasion of Our Lady of Snows, which was a miracle that happened when snow fell in Rome, at the exact site of the Basilica of St. Mary Major at Rome’s Esquiline Hill, during the Pontificate of Pope St. Celestine I, about a hundred years or so after the ending of official persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire by the Edict of Milan. At that time, it was told by Church traditions that an elderly and devout Christian couple prayed to the Lord and through His Mother, to show them how they ought to best give their whole assets and properties for the good of the Church and the faithful, and thereafter, as mentioned, miraculously snow appeared and fell upon the Esquiline Hill in Rome at the height of summer, on this date, the fifth day of the month of August, which was also the date when the Basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Snows, named such after the miracle, was dedicated to God and to His blessed Mother, as gifts from the aforementioned devout couple, who dedicated their wealth for the good of the Church and the faithful.

Ever since, this great Basilica had seen endless streams of the faithful, many pilgrims and others who sought for the help and intercession of the Blessed Mary, Mother of God. Countless Popes have also entrusted themselves, the Roman people and all Christians to the protection of the Blessed Mother of God, whose love for the Lord, her Son, our Saviour, is an inspiration for all of us, and is also the means by which all of us can love the Lord with ever greater commitment and devotion. Pope Francis, our current Pope and Vicar of Christ for example, has always visited this Basilica of St. Mary Major, to the blessed and miraculous Icon of Salus Populi Romani at every occasions before and after his Apostolic Journeys outside of Italy, entrusting to the Lord through Mary, His blessed Mother, the missions and works that would be carried out and accomplished in all those trips and journeys.

On this blessed day, when we mark the anniversary of the dedication of this great Basilica dedicated to the Mother of our Lord and God, we remind ourselves once again that as Christians, all of us should be exemplary in our way of life and in our faith in God, because we are all ourselves the Temples of the Lord’s Holy Presence, where the Lord Himself dwells, in our hearts and minds, in our whole bodies and in our whole beings. Just as the Basilica of St. Mary Major and other consecrated and dedicated churches and chapels are great Houses, consecrated and dedicated for the divine worship of God and God alone, thus, all of us who are the ‘Living Stones’ and the ‘Living Church’, the public manifestation of the Lord’s kingdom in His visible Church, all of us are the Holy Temples of the Lord’s Holy Presence, through His own Precious Body and Blood which He has given to us, and which we have partaken in, and also through the Holy Spirit that God has given to us and dwelled within us.

That is why, just as the great Basilica of St. Mary Major and other holy edifices and Houses of God had been set aside, purified and made worthy of the Lord, thus, it is very important that all of us realise just how much more precious it is for us all, as the Living Houses of God’s Holy Presence, to be truly worthy of Him and to consecrate ourselves to the Lord, to dedicate and commit ourselves to His cause and path. Each and every one of us are called to holiness and greatness, set aside and taken from the darkness of this world. The light and love of God, His truth and glory have been given to us, the seeds of faith and love, hope and truth have all been sown in us, awaiting for us to provide them the best and most appropriate conditions such that they may truly bear fruits of faith and love in us, and that our faith in God may be truly genuine and living, not just merely a formality or empty faith.

That is why, as we rejoice together in the memory of the dedication of this great House of God dedicated to His blessed Mother, all of us should remind ourselves to renew our own dedication to God, and to commit ourselves anew to the path that the Lord has shown us. And there is no better way to do this than to look upon the very examples and good model that Mary herself has shown us with her exemplary and most wonderful life. Mary, in her total commitment to the Lord, and in her wholehearted dedication to her Son, to all that she has been entrusted with, we may be inspired to follow her good examples and be strengthened with the same love and devotion to the Lord, in all the things that we say and do, in our every actions and works, in our every deeds and interactions at every moments, in our lives, in every opportunities and time provided to us.

Let us all be the shining and great examples of faith and dedication to all those around us, by our commitment to a life of virtue and faith, righteousness and justice so that in all the things we say, act and do, we will always ever be truly devoted to the Lord. Let us all distance ourselves from the darkness and wickedness of sins and evils all around us, and let us all turn towards the Lord with renewed conviction and desire to love the Lord our God with ever more zeal and faith, and to be the missionary and evangelising disciples that can be the means through which more and more people all around us may come to know of the Lord and His salvation and grace. Let us all be the great inspiration and examples to others, and help one another in the conduct of our faith so that hopefully in all and everything that we say and do, we will always be filled with heartfelt dedication to God.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Master, be with us always, and may His blessed Mother Mary, our patroness and protectress, our blessed mother and gentle guide, continue to help us and intercede for us sinners. May the Lord be with us all His Church and faithful ones, and may He bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 5 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Matthew 14 : 1-12

At that time, the reports about Jesus reached king Herod. And he said to his servants, “This Man is John the Baptist. John has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in John.”

Herod had, in fact, ordered that John be arrested, bound in chains and put in prison, because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had said to Herod, “It is not right for you to have her as your wife.” Herod wanted to kill him but he did not dare, because he feared the people, who regarded John as a prophet.

On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced among the guests; she so delighted Herod that he promised under oath to give her anything she asked for. The girl, following the advice of her mother, said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist, here, on a dish.”

The king was very displeased, but because he had made his promise under oath, in the presence of his guests, he ordered it to be given to her. So he had John beheaded in prison, and his head brought on a dish and given to the girl. The girl then took it to her mother.

Then John’s disciple came, took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Luke 11 : 27-28

At that time, as Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to Him, “Blessed is the one who gave You birth and nursed You!”

Jesus replied, “Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well.”

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Saturday, 5 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Psalm 66 : 2-3, 5, 7-8

May God be gracious and bless us; may He let His face shine upon us; that Your way be known on earth and Your salvation, among the nations.

May the countries be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples with justice; and guide the nations of the world.

The land has given its harvest; God, our God, has blessed us. May God bless us and be revered, to the very ends of the earth.

Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Judith 13 : 18bcde, 19

My daughter, may the Most High God bless you more than all women on earth. And blessed be the Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth, Who has led you to behead the leader of our enemies.

Never will people forget the confidence you have shown; they will always remember the power of God.

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Saturday, 5 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Leviticus 25 : 1, 8-17

YHVH spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai : “When seven Sabbaths of years have passed, that is, seven times seven years, there shall be the time of the seven weeks of years, that is forty-nine years. Then on the tenth day of the seventh month sound the trumpet loudly. On this Day of Atonement sound the trumpet all through the land.”

“Keep holy the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom for all the inhabitants of the land. It shall be a jubilation year for you when each one shall recover his property and go back to his family. In this fiftieth year, your year of Jubilee, you shall neither sow nor reap the aftergrowth, nor gather the grapes from the uncultivated vines. This Jubilee year shall be holy for you, and you shall eat what the field yields of itself without cultivation.”

“In this year of Jubilee each of you shall recover his own property. When you sell something to your neighbour or buy something from him, do not wrong one another. According to the number of years after the Jubilee, you shall buy it from your neighbour and according to the number of years left for harvesting crops he shall sell to you.”

“When the years are many the price shall be greater and when the years are few the price shall be less, for it is the number of crops that he is selling to you. So you shall not wrong one another but you shall fear your God, for I am YHVH, your God.”

Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Revelations 21 : 1-5a

Then, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and no longer was there any sea. I saw the new Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God, out of heaven, adorned as a bride prepared for her husband.

A loud voice came from the throne, “Here is the dwelling of God among mortals : He will pitch His tent among them, and they will be His people; He will be God-with-them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the world that was, has passed away.”

The One seated on the throne said, “See, I make all things new.”

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Saturday, 5 August 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the memorial day and feast of the dedication of one of the Papal Major Basilicas in Rome, namely the Basilica of St. Mary Major, or known also as Santa Maria Maggiore. This is one of the four most important churches in Christendom, and the only one named in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary among the four.

The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore was built on a site which was donated to the Church in the early days of the emancipation and liberation of Christian worship and faith among the faithful, at the time following the toleration of Christianity by the Roman Emperor Constantine. It was told that the site where the Basilica now stands was indicated to the nobleman who owned the land, who vowed to donate his possessions, as he was without a child and heir, to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

And miraculously, at the height of summer in Rome, told be this very date, the fifth day of August, snows fell on the site atop a hill on which the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore or St. Mary Major now stands. Thereafter, the land was dedicated to the Church, and a great church and Basilica was built there. The Church was named as such because it was the largest of all the churches and parishes in Rome that was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Now, why is it that we place so much honour and glory upon Mary? There are indeed many of those who would slander the Church and attack our beliefs just because they thought that we are idolising Mary and making her as if she is a goddess and a deity equivalent to God. But all of these in fact came about because of a gross misunderstanding of what it is that all of us Christian believe about Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and thus the Mother of God.

We honour Mary because she is the mother of our God, since we believe that Jesus, her Son, is the Word of God and Son of God, Divine Incarnate Who assumed the flesh of Man through His mother Mary who gave Him His humanity as He was conceived in her womb and grew in her for the nine months of His presence before He was born into the world.

Mary is therefore the Ark of the New Covenant, for she carried within her the New Covenant which God established with us all His people, through Christ, Whose death on the cross and the shedding of His Blood, as the Lamb of Sacrifice, offered to God a perfect offering for the absolution of our sins, and seal the Covenant which He established anew with all of us, one that will last for eternity.

Just as the original Ark of the Covenant contained within it the sacred Commandments and Laws of God, the sign of His Covenant with Israel, Mary as the New Ark is far more precious, for unlike the original Ark made from wood, gold and other precious materials, made by the hands of men, Mary was created by God Himself, and as our Christian faith explained, she was was created and conceived without any taints of original sin.

But that is not just the only reason why we honour Mary above any other human beings, as the greatest among the ones whom God had created, above all saints and other holy men and women. We do not honour Mary just because she was made special and conceived immaculate without sin, but because throughout her life, she has also continued to keep her life pure and worthy of God, devoting herself completely to the Lord.

Mary is our role model in life, because she has been faithful and true all her life, true to her devotion and commitment to her Son, that she followed Him through, from the moment He was conceived in her womb, to His birth, and then through His growing years and childhood, showing as great love and care as a mother can possibly give to her child. She followed through, even through difficult moments, and walked with her Son to the cross at Calvary.

The faith and dedication which Mary had is truly exemplary for all of us, and we should all follow in her footsteps. As the Lord Jesus Himself mentioned in the Gospel today, that all those who have kept the word of God and practiced the word of God in their lives will truly be blessed, therefore, Mary who showed us all the way to the Lord, had been obedient and committed to the Lord all her life.

She placed her full and complete trust in God, and obeyed all of His words and commandments, placing herself in His hands, entrusting all that He had planned to do for all mankind through her. How many of us are able to achieve this total surrender of oneself as Mary, the mother of our Lord has done? How many of us are able to answer the Lord as firmly and faithfully as Mary had answered the revelation of the Archangel Gabriel? To have the Lord's will be done upon us?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, as we all rejoice together in the memory of the dedication of the great Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major, Santa Maria Maggiore, let us all renew our commitment to the Lord, by looking at the examples shown through the faith of Mary, the mother of God. Let us all walk in her footsteps and learn to persevere in our faith, just as she had persevered to walk through the agonising journey of accompanying her Son in His great Passion and suffering.

Let us all seek to be closer to God, through Mary, for it is indeed through Mary, that we will be able to find the surest and the best way to reach out to the Lord, His salvation and the eternal glory He has promised all those who believed in Him. May Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, pray for us and intercede for us always at the presence of her Son in heaven. Pray for us, o Holy Mother of God. Amen.

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Saturday, 5 August 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Matthew 14 : 1-12

At that time, the reports about Jesus reached king Herod. And he said to his servants, "This Man is John the Baptist. John has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in John."

Herod had, in fact, ordered that John be arrested, bound in chains and put in prison, because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had said to Herod, "It is not right for you to have her as your wife." Herod wanted to kill him but he did not dare, because he feared the people, who regarded John as a prophet.

On Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias danced among the guests; she so delighted Herod that he promised under oath to give her anything she asked for. The girl, following the advice of her mother, said, "Give me the head of John the Baptist, here, on a dish."

The king was very displeased, but because he had made his promise under oath, in the presence of his guests, he ordered it to be given to her. So he had John beheaded in prison, and his head brought on a dish and given to the girl. The girl then took it to her mother.

Then John's disciple came, took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

Alternative reading (Mass for the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Luke 11 : 27-28

At that time, as Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to Him, "Blessed is the one who gave You birth and nursed You!"

Jesus replied, "Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well."

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Saturday, 5 August 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Psalm 66 : 2-3, 5, 7-8

May God be gracious and bless us; may He let His face shine upon us; that Your way be known on earth and Your salvation, among the nations.

May the countries be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples with justice; and guide the nations of the world.

The land has given its harvest; God, our God, has blessed us. May God bless us and be revered, to the very ends of the earth.

Alternative reading (Mass for the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Judith 13 : 18bcde, 19

My daughter, may the Most High God bless you more than all women on earth. And blessed be the Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth, Who has led you to behead the leader of our enemies.

Never will people forget the confidence you have shown; they will always remember the power of God.

by

Saturday, 5 August 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Leviticus 25 : 1, 8-17

YHVH spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai : "When seven Sabbaths of years have passed, that is, seven times seven years, there shall be the time of the seven weeks of years, that is forty-nine years. Then on the tenth day of the seventh month sound the trumpet loudly. On this Day of Atonement sound the trumpet all through the land."

"Keep holy the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom for all the inhabitants of the land. It shall be a jubilation year for you when each one shall recover his property and go back to his family. In this fiftieth year, your year of Jubilee, you shall neither sow nor reap the aftergrowth, nor gather the grapes from the uncultivated vines. This Jubilee year shall be holy for you, and you shall eat what the field yields of itself without cultivation."

"In this year of Jubilee each of you shall recover his own property. When you sell something to your neighbour or buy something from him, do not wrong one another. According to the number of years after the Jubilee, you shall buy it from your neighbour and according to the number of years left for harvesting crops he shall sell to you."

"When the years are many the price shall be greater and when the years are few the price shall be less, for it is the number of crops that he is selling to you. So you shall not wrong one another but you shall fear your God, for I am YHVH, your God."

Alternative reading (Mass for the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Revelations 21 : 1-5a

Then, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and no longer was there any sea. I saw the new Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God, out of heaven, adorned as a bride prepared for her husband.

A loud voice came from the throne, "Here is the dwelling of God among mortals : He will pitch His tent among them, and they will be His people; He will be God-with-them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the world that was, has passed away."

The One seated on the throne said, "See, I make all things new."

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Tuesday, 5 August 2014 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate a great feast in the Church of Rome, commemorating the dedication of one of the four great Basilicas of Rome, or also known as the Papal Basilicas. And this Basilica is the Basilica of St. Mary Major, also known in its Italian name of Santa Maria Maggiore. This is an important patron saint of the city of Rome, the mother of our Lord also known as the protector of the city of Rome and its people.

She was also known by the appellation of our Lady of the Snows, because of an apparition and miracle which happened right at the site more than a thousand years ago, showing that Rome, the centre and heart of Christendom is under the protection of the Blessed Virgin. This happened when a devout Roman couple prayed to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, for a way that they may bestow their property to her honour as they were without child and heir.

The prayers was heard, and on this very day, on the fifth day of the month of August in the middle of the fourth century, at the height of summer, snow fell on the top of the Esquiline hill, the very site where the Basilica of St. Mary Major would then be built. The Pope at the time, Pope Liberius also received a vision and dream, leading him to the site where the snow fell during the height of summer. Consequently, a great basilica was built there.

This basilica was built in the honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary recently after the completion of the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431AD, which is the Council that definitively settled the issues on, and honoured the Blessed Virgin with the title of the Mother of God or Theotokos, which had been accorded since the Council of Nicaea a century earlier, but opposed by many schismatics and heretics after that.

An icon representing the Mother of our Lord was then crafted and enshrined in that Basilica, which remained standing until this very day. That holy icon is revered as the image of St. Mary Major, the patron saint of the city of Rome, the See of St. Peter and St. Paul and the heart of Christendom. It would in time grow to become one of the most important shrines of Christendom, reflected in its status today as one of the four Papal Basilicas to exist.

This celebration today ultimately comes together to point out one thing, and only one thing most important over all else, that is God loves us, and He will give us everything that He has, if only that we also love Him the same way that He had loved us. And in order to love Him, we have to listen to Him and follow His will. As Jesus mentioned in the Gospel today, those who followed the will of God and walked in His ways are the ones truly blessed.

This means that our interior disposition and our spiritual development must be foremost in all things. We cannot ignore our own hearts and souls, that these must be clean and pure, and all must be in accordance with the will of God. God loves us, and He wants us back into His presence, but it is only we who have the decision whether to do as God wants us, or whether we should walk our own paths to doom.

In the Gospel Jesus also pointed out the futility of those who sought the purity of the externals, and the purity of appearances without care and attention to the purity of the heart and soul. This is what happened to the Pharisees, the elders of the people and the teachers of the Law who followed the Laws of God in the Mosaic laws so strictly that they forgot the true meaning of those laws, and what they were intended for.

They kept themselves outwardly pure and they could boast to the people and showed them how pure and holy they were, but the truth is that on the inside, they were thoroughly dirty and unclean. Their hearts were not filled with God’s love, but with their own pride, ego and human desires. They did not love God and His people, but instead they love themselves and all of their worldly desires.

This is why keeping strict religious dietary laws and habits, as well as any proscriptions or prohibitions against certain kind of food or things that we fear may ‘defile’ us is foolish and stupid. It is pointless to do so as Jesus Himself had said, that nothing dirty from outside can dirty and affect us permanently, if it is not accompanied with the internal corruption of the soul and the heart.

What is important is therefore, that we have to ensure that our actions, deeds and words, namely everything that come out from us, from our mouth, from our heart, mind and soul be clean, pure and free from evil and deceit. It is indeed what comes out from within us and not what enters into us, be it food or whatever that causes us to be defiled.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all devote ourselves to God anew, and strengthen our faith ever stronger in Him. And let us all ask for the intercession of the Blessed Mother of our Lord, that she who is the protector of the city of Rome, may also come to our aid, protecting us and guiding us, that our faith may grow stronger and stronger. May Almighty God bless us and keep us in His love always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 5 August 2014 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica)

Matthew 15 : 1-2, 10-14

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. And they said to Him, “Why do Your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders? In fact, they do not wash their hands before eating.”

Jesus then called the people near Him, and said to them, “Listen and understand : What enters into the mouth does not make a person unclean. What defiles a person is what comes out of his mouth.”

After a while the disciples gathered around Jesus and said, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended by what You said?” Jesus answered, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted. Pay no attention to them! They are blind leading the blind. When a blind person leads another, the two will fall into a pit.”

Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Luke 11 : 27-28

As Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to Him, “Blessed is the one who gave You birth and nursed You!”

Jesus replied, “Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well.”