The Curé of Ars and Our Lady of the Snow...

Yesterday, we celebrated the feast of St. John Mary Vianney, or the Curé of Ars. The following snippet of the breviary reading from one of his catechetical instructions is worth reflecting on:

…how often do we come to church without thinking what we are
going to do or for what we are going to ask.
And yet, when we go to call upon someone, we have
no difficulty in remembering why it was we came.
Some appear as if they were about to say to God: ‘I am just going to say a couple of words, so I can get away quickly.’

Today we celebrate the Dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Majors.
It’s the custom in the church itself to sprinkle blossoms from the ceiling
during the Gloria to celebrate the legendary fall of snow which is said to have
indicated to Pope St. Liberius the divinely appointed site of the first Western
church dedicated to the Madonna.