The feast of August 5 is of particular importance in Medjugorje since the Virgin told the seers that it was the date of her birth. (The date of September 8 is retained to this day by the Church).

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Often, on this occasion, the apparitions of visionaries Ivan Dragicevic or Marija Pavlovic are made public. Pilgrims can also be invited to the Apparition Hill (Podbro) or Krizevac (Mountain of the Cross) the night before for an extraordinary apparition with one of the seers who still receives daily apparitions. (Ivan, Marija, Vicka).

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August 5 is also the date of the feast of Our Lady of the Snows and the dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome around 435.

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This basilica is the first dedicated to Mary, shortly after the Council of Ephesus. Why was the date of August 5 chosen?

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Under the pontificate of Pope Liberus, there was in Rome a man named John, married to a lady of high birth. As they had no children and already old, they wanted to bequeath all their goods to the Blessed Virgin. How could this be done? They prayed for a sign and they got it! On August 5, 366, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to them in a dream separately to reveal to them this: the will of Her Son and of hers was that their goods be used for the construction of a church on Mount Esquiline and that they would find it covered in snow that very morning. They exchanged on their dream and could see that it was accomplished. They went to find Pope Liberus who had had a similar dream. The church was well and truly built at the expense of both spouses. It was given the name of Ste Mary of he Snows , because of the miracle. It was then named Basilica of Liberia and then Saint Mary of the Crib because pieces of wood from the crib which had served as the cradle of the Savior of the world were brought there from Bethlehem. They are still kept, under a reliquary, in this place.

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Today the church bears the name of Saint Mary Major because it is the first of the churches dedicated to Mary in Rome.