‘We have a mama’: Pope Francis’ special connection to the Basilica of St Mary Major

When Pope Francis made his final wishes known, he chose not the grandeur of St Peter’s Basilica but the ancient and beloved Basilica of St Mary Major as his resting place, a decision rooted in a lifetime of Marian devotion.

As we continue to remember Pope Francis throughout this month of Mary—and as thousands of Jubilee pilgrims in Rome make their way through the ancient basilica’s Holy Door this year—we explore the story of St Mary Major, which stands as a testament not only to the enduring maternal presence of Mary in the life of the Church but also now to Pope Francis’ deep devotion to the Mother of God.

The legend and history of St Mary Major

The Basilica of St Mary Major, or Santa Maria Maggiore, is one of Rome’s five great ancient basilicas and the largest of the city’s 26 churches dedicated to the Blessed Mother.

Its origins are entwined with a fourth-century legend. Around AD 350, the legend goes, a wealthy, childless couple prayed for guidance on how to honour the Virgin Mary with their inheritance. Mary appeared to the husband in a dream, instructing that a church be built where snow would fall in midsummer. On 5 August, at the height of the Roman summer, snow miraculously blanketed Esquiline Hill, marking the site of what became known as the Liberian Basilica after Pope Liberius, who had received a similar vision.

While archaeological evidence suggests this story emerged centuries later, the basilica’s significance is undisputed. After the Council of Ephesus in 431 affirmed Mary’s title as Mother of God (Theotokos, or literally ‘God-bearer’), Pope Sixtus III rebuilt and dedicated the basilica to her, forever linking it to the doctrine of Mary’s divine motherhood.

Over the centuries, the basilica was expanded and adorned, becoming a significant site for popes and pilgrims alike. St Mary Major also became known for its relic of the Holy Crib, believed to be the manger of Jesus, brought to Rome by Christian refugees fleeing the Holy Land in the seventh century. The basilica’s annual Christmas procession of the Holy Crib continues to draw the faithful. Its elegant 18th-century facade and interior house ancient marble columns and fifth-century mosaics, and it boasts the tallest medieval bell tower in Rome.

The basilica’s history is inseparable from the Church’s veneration of Mary. The Council of Ephesus was convened to address the Nestorian heresy, which denied that Mary was the Mother of God. St Cyril of Alexandria led the opposition to the heresy, clarifying that Jesus is one person with two natures—fully human and fully divine—such that Mary, as his mother, is rightly called Mother of God. With the council’s decision being celebrated throughout Christendom, the basilica’s dedication to Mary became a symbol of this triumph.

We Christians are not orphans, we have a mama, we have a mother ... The Church is mother, Mary is mother.

Later, in response to the Protestant Reformation, Pope St Pius V introduced the feast of the Dedication of the Church of Our Lady of the Snow, further emphasising Mary’s role in salvation history. Today, the feast is celebrated each year on 5 August, with white rose petals being dropped from the dome during the festal Mass dto commemorate the legendary snowfall.

A life and papacy shaped by Mary

Pope Francis’ Marian devotion was not merely ceremonial but deeply personal, rooted in his childhood in Argentina. He often spoke of his grandmother Rosa, who taught him to look to Our Lady under the cross as a model for enduring suffering. He also developed a lifelong devotion to Our Lady of Luján, patroness of Argentina, and later promoted the veneration of Mary, Undoer of Knots.

As pope, Francis continually emphasised Mary’s maternal role. ‘A Christian without the Madonna is an orphan,’ he told young people in Rome in 2014, and reminded the faithful that ‘We Christians are not orphans, we have a mama, we have a mother, and this is great! We are not orphans! The Church is mother, Mary is mother.’

Central to Pope Francis’ devotion was the icon Salus Populi Romani.

Francis’ devotion was also expressed through action. He established the Obligatory Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, for the Monday after Pentecost, and added new Marian titles to the Litany of Loreto: Mother of Mercy, Mother of Hope and Solace of Migrants. He was a strong advocate of Marian consecration, notably entrusting the world, especially Russia and Ukraine, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 2022.

Central to Pope Francis’ devotion was the icon Salus Populi Romani (‘Health of the Roman People’), housed in St Mary Major. Popularly attributed to St Luke, though likely dating from the 13th century, the icon is credited with miraculous interventions, including saving Rome from plague.

Francis’ connection to the icon was profound. St Mary Major was the first place he visited the morning after his election as pope, and before and after every papal trip, and at significant moments—including his release from hospital in 2021—he prayed before the icon.

A resting place near the Queen of Peace

In his autobiography, Hope, Francis wrote, ‘The Vatican is the home of my last service, not my eternal home. I will go in the room where they now keep the candelabra, close to the Regina della Pace (Queen of Peace) from whom I have always sought help, and whose embrace I have felt more than a hundred times during the course of my papacy.’

In his final testament, Pope Francis confirmed this desire to be laid to rest at St Mary Major, writing, ‘I wish my last earthly journey to end at this very ancient Marian shrine where I would go to pray at the beginning and end of each apostolic journey to confidently entrust my intentions to the Immaculate Mother and to thank her for the docile and maternal care.’

In keeping with the style of his papacy, he requested a simple tomb, ‘in the earth; simple, without special decoration and with the only inscription: Franciscus,’ between the Pauline Chapel and the Sforza Chapel, near the Salus Populi Romani.

Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, Archpriest of the basilica, has recalled that Francis once said, ‘The Virgin Mary told me, “Prepare the tomb,”’ underscoring the Pope’s sense of being called by Mary to this final act of humility.

Fittingly, as one of the four major Roman basilicas, St Mary Major is a key pilgrimage site for the 2025 Jubilee of Hope. Pilgrims will walk the same marble floors, gaze upon the same icon, and pray in the presence of the Pope who saw himself as a child of Mary and servant of her Son.