The National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

to the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

Belleville, Illinois Belleville is a city and the county seat of St. Clair County, Illinois, coterminous with the now defunct Belleville Township. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. The p ...

, nine miles southeast of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. The Shrine's director is the Reverend Father David Uribe, OMI. The shrine is in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville The Diocese of Belleville ( la, Diœcesis Bellevillensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the southern Illinois region of the United States. It comprises the southern counties of the state of Ill ...

, but it is operated by the United States Province of the

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...

. The Shrine name refers to the

Basilica of Saint Mary Major The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the large ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where legend says snow fell in the summertime.

History

Devotion to Our Lady of the Snows was first introduced to the Midwest in 1941 by missioner by Father Paul Schulte, OMI. A small corner shrine was set up in a chapel at St. Henry's seminary in Belleville. In 1943 the Oblates began to hold a novena in honor of Our Lady of the Snows. The shrine was designed by sculptor William C. Severson and architect Richard Cummings. Work on the shrine began in 1958 after Schulte had been developing the idea for years. By 1963, the shrine's reflecting pool had already been completed. The pool is lined with bells that were originally cast in Germany from a demolished Chicago church.

Facililties

The shrine includes a restaurant, a hotel, an apartment complex for retired persons, a residence for the Oblates, a visitors and conference center, and a large gift shop. During

Advent Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''. In ...

and

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

, the Shrine hosts the "Way of Lights", an outdoor light display that features over 1.1 million white lights and attracts over 350,000 visitors annually. Visitors can travel the mile-and-a-half-long "Way of Lights" by car, in a heated trolley or in a horse-drawn carriage. During the Summer months, people from all over the World gather to worship and pray during the Our Lady of the Snows Healing and Hope

Novena A novena (from Latin: ''novem'', "nine") is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pe ...

. The Shrine also includes a church, a natural outdoor amphitheater,

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

, a Resurrection Garden, a depiction of the

Lourdes Grotto The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes () is a Catholic Marian shrine and pilgrimage site dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes in the town of Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrénées, France. The sanctuary includes several religious buildings and monuments around ...

, an Annunciation Garden and a devotional site for

Our Lady of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe ( es, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe ( es, Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus associated with a series of five Marian apparitions, which are believed t ...

. In January 2021, the Shrine Guesthouse went under renovation and had its interior painted. Facilities are available to rent for weddings, conferences, conventions, and events. The Oblates make possible a number of spiritual and family programs for the enrichment of the local community, for the Midwest region, and for North America. The Shrine's Youth Ministry, Adult Spirituality, Hispanic Ministry, Liturgy, and Events Departments host a variety of programs year-round, tailored to meet the needs of the Shrine's many pilgrims. The Shrine Restaurant & Banquet Center closed in 2020 as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

following a $70,000 renovation effort in early 2020.

References

External links

National Shrine of Our Lady of the SnowsMissionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Shrine Of Our Lady Of The Snows Shrines to the Virgin Mary Churches in St. Clair County, Illinois Buildings and structures in Belleville, Illinois Roman Catholic national shrines in the United States Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville Tourist attractions in St. Clair County, Illinois