March 19, 2018  Basilica of St. Mary Major  (The last church in Rome, I promise!)


We had to see the Basilica of St. Mary Major because it completed the list of the four basilicas in Rome; St. Peter's Basilica, John Lateran, and St. Paul Outside the Wall, all of which we already visited.  It received the title "Major" because of it's grandeur and size.  It was built from 432-440 after the Council of Ephesus in 431, which proclaimed Mary the Mother of God.  The church was glorious and golden; full of color.  Bernini's tomb is there.  I could have spent an entire week exploring it.  There was so much beautiful art. 

Front of Mary Major

The ceiling looking toward the sanctuary.

A golden dome.

A beautiful mosaic in the apse.  The mosaics are one of the oldest representations of the Virgin Mary in Christian Late Antiquity. 

The ceiling looking toward the back of church.

Numerous pilgrims returning to Rome from the Holy Land, brought back precious fragments of the crib Christ lay in as an infant.  They are kept in this glass reliquary. 

Looking under the ciborim that covers the altar.

The Bernini tomb.

Glorious!

A spot on the ceiling.


Mother Mary, pray for us!