312
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io* s. i. APRIL ie, 190*.
had so greatly spread that that Pontiff was
induced to transfer the feast of St. Dominic
from the 5th to the 4th of August. The office
of the feast was enjoined on the entire world
by Pope St. Pius V, (cf. Dom Geranger,
' L'Annee Liturgique '). The feast was kept
by the Carthusians, Benedictines, Dominicans,
Franciscans, Carmelites, and others, as also
in the Mozarabic and Ambrosian Liturgies
and in the Sarum Rite. In the 'Martiloge
after the Use of the Chirche of Salisbury'
we read for
" The v. day of August. Addicyons. In englonde
at douer the feest of S. Thomas a monk At rome
ye feast of our lady, called y e feast of say't Mary at the snowe, bycause the fyrst chirche of our lady in rome was buylded by a reuelacyon, & a miracle of snowe y* fell there in grete quantite the v. day of August."
In the Aberdeen Breviary (ed. 1509-10) we have the whole story given at even greater length than in the Roman Breviary, though the accounts are substantially the same ; but the former Breviary is founded on that of Salisbury. Finally, when Bene- dict XIV. collected evidence on the subject, the earliest authority he could find for the legend was that of Pope Nicholas IV. in 1287, who reported the tradition in his time. Hence the phrase dates back at least to the thirteenth century.
Many no doubt are the shrines in various countries known under this title. I may instance the Snow Kirk (S. Maria ad Nives), which was founded by Bishop Elphinstone in 1497, and became the parish church of Old Aberdeen. It was a beautiful little church of pure Scottish Gothic, but it was destroyed under Principal Guild, of King's College, in 1643. It occupied the site of what is now called the Snow Kirkyard, the R.C. burying- ground. The little rustic chapel of " Maria zum Schnee," which stands at an altitude of 8,411 ft., amidst the snows and glaciers of Switzerland, by the side of the famous bchwarzsee, or il Black Lake," and at the foot of the great snow-white Matterhorn, is also of interest. This shrine too has its legend, but it will suffice here merely to recall its n ame. The Tablet of 24 August, 1895, gives the details. Many an adventurous Alpine climber has passed it by, or entered in to pray, before attempting to scale the dangerous peak above. j^ w.
See Butler's 'Lives of the Saints,' sub 5 August, "The dedication of St. Mary ad Nives."
^ The Canadian legend of Our Lady of the snows is most interesting, and is beautifully told in Canadian Ballads,' by the Hon. T. D.
McGee. Shortly the story runs as follows.
" In the old times, when France held sway,"
a noble Breton cavalier, whose home was
beside the " Rivers Three," had always made
it his pious custom to repair to the " Ville
Marie (Montreal) for his Christmas duties.
On the particular occasion which the ballad
chronicles the snow fell thick and fast, and
eventually the cavalier's horse succumbed to
cold and fatigue, fell " stiff as a steed of stone,"
and became the prey of the howling wolves.
The ballad proceeds :
Sad was the heart and sore the plight Of the benumbed, bewildered knight, Now scrambling through the storm ; At every step he sank apace. The death-dew freezing on his face. In vain each loud alarm. Down on his knees himself he cast, Deeming that hour to be his last, Yet mindful of his faith. He prayed St. Catherine and St. John, And o\ir dear Lady called upon For grace of happy death. When lo ! a light beneath the trees, Which clank their brilliants in the breeze, And lo ! a phantom fair ! As God is in heaven ! by that blest light Our Lady's self rose to his sight, In robes that spirits wear ! .......
All trembling, as she onward smiled, Followed that knight our Mother mild, Vowing a grateful vow ; Until, far down the mountain gorge, She led him to an antique forge, Where her own shrine stands now.
"Fronting on Sherbrooke-street [Montreal] a wall of defence and two towers are still erect, to show you where once stood Our Lady of the Snows.
The present chapel of the name is in the village
of Cote des Neiges, behind the mountain."- ' De- votion to the B.V.M. in N. America,' by the Rev. X. D. Macleod (New York), pp. 139-43.
HELLIER R. H. GOSSELIN-GRIMSHAWE.
Bengeo Hall, Hertford.
I may remind OXONIENSIS that the Basilica of S. Maria Maggiore at Rome was founded on a spot which the Blessed Virgin pointed out by means of a miraculous fall of snow on the 5th of August, 352. "This legend," wrote Augustus J. C. Hare,
" is commemorated every year on the 5th of August, the festa of La Madonna della Neve, when, during a solemn high mass in the Borghese chapel, showers of white rose-leaves are thrown down constantly through two holes in the ceiling ' like a leafy mist between the priests and worshippers.' " -' Walks in Rome,' vol. ii. p. 83.
If the weather should continue its arctic practices of the last few years, genuine snow may again fall on the Esquiline in August.
At Toledo there is a church, Santa Maria la Blanca, connected with a legend resembling
