St. Mary Major is one of the four Roman basilicas known as patriarchal cathedrals in memory of the first centers of the Church:
    1- St. John Lateran represents Rome, the See of Peter;
    2- St. Paul Outside the Walls, the See of Alexandria, allegedly the see presided over by Mark;
    3- St. Peter’s, the See of Constantinople;
    4- and St. Mary’s, the See of Antioch, where Mary is supposed to have spent most of her life.

    A now discredited legend, unreported before the year 1000, gives another name to this feast: Our Lady of the Snows. According to that story, a wealthy Roman couple pledged their fortune to the Mother of God. In affirmation, she produced a miraculous summer snowfall and told them to build a church on the site. The legend was long celebrated by releasing a shower of white rose petals from the basilica’s dome every August 5.

Comment:

Theological debate over Christ’s nature as God and man reached fever pitch in Constantinople in the early fifth century. Bishop Nestorius began preaching against the title Theotokos, “Mother of God,” insisting that the Virgin was mother only of the human Jesus, decreeing that Mary would henceforth be named “Mother of Christ” in his see. The people of Constantinople virtually revolted against their bishop’s refutation of a cherished belief. When the Council of Ephesus refuted Nestorius, believers took to the streets, enthusiastically chanting, “Theotokos! Theotokos!”

“From the earliest times the Blessed Virgin is honored under the title of Mother of God, in whose protection the faithful take refuge together in prayer in all their perils and needs. Accordingly, following the Council of Ephesus, there was a remarkable growth in the cult of the People of God towards Mary, in veneration and love, in invocation and imitation...” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 66).