This chapel stands right on the border - a bloody border more than a hundred years ago. A few hundred meters away, you can still see the old positions.
Until 1918 the Italian-Austrian border ran in Pontebba / Pontafel.
In the pictures you can see the boundary stone, embedded in the rock, dated 1920. That was two years after the end of the First World War.
A brief explanation of the patronage of 'MARY OF THE SNOW', which churchgoers don't encounter very often: This takes us far back in church history to the fourth/fifth century, and geographically speaking, from Austria to Rome. On August 5, 363, the so-called "Miracle of the Snow" occurred at the site where the church of Santa Maria Maggiore stands today. That is, on that day, in the middle of summer, there was snow there in the morning because the Mother of God wanted a church dedicated to her to be built on that spot. She communicated this wish in a vision to a wealthy couple – who then initiated and financed the construction – and to the Bishop of Rome, who at that time was Pope Liberius. The Roman church has the rank of a patriarchal basilica (papal basilica); it is the origin of all churches and chapels with this patronage. In the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church, August 5th, the day of the church's consecration (in the year 432 by Pope Sixtus III), is a "non-obligatory memorial." A few months ago, Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome was the focus of international attention because Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday of this year, had designated this church as his final resting place.
Translated by Google •
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