LACKAWANNA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Our Lady of Victory National Shrine and Basilica in Lackawanna will be concluding its centennial celebration this weekend with some special events, marking 100 years since its construction.
Frank Rossi, a long-time parishioner who attends mass daily at OLV, said the church's grandeur still moves him.
"It's a beautiful place. I came from Italy, and this church is built like St. Peter in Rome," Rossi said. "And all this marble, Father Baker brought the workers and this marble from Italy. Near where I came from, there's a town, and there's a mountain. It's called the Carra Mountain – the whole mountain is marble, and this marble that you're standing on here – all came from that place."
WATCH: 'A beautiful place': OLV concluding centennial celebration
Father Baker laid the cornerstone for OLV in 1921. It was completed and consecrated in 1925. His inspiration for the project dates back more than a century before that milestone.
Monsignor David LiPuma, the sixth pastor of OLV since Father Baker, explained how the vision took root.
"In 1874, he went to Paris, and he was directed to the church of Notre Dame de Victoire. And it was that moment in time when he just said, 'I'm going to go back, and I'm going to spread patronage to you all over wherever I go,'" LiPuma said.
LiPuma said he feels a continued connection to Father Baker's presence at the shrine.
"I feel his presence. I really do feel that he's guided this whole process, because I prayed with him every day," LiPuma said.
The centennial celebration will conclude this weekend with a gala at the Statler in downtown Buffalo, a mass Sunday at OLV and a celebration.
The milestone comes after a major restoration of the National Shrine that began in 2021, both inside and outside the building. LiPuma said the work revealed details of the church that even he had never noticed before.
Simon Honan, 15, attended mass with his aunt and said the experience left an impression on him.
"It's amazing," Honan replied.
Honan said Father Baker's legacy resonates beyond the walls of the basilica.
"He was amazing," Honan said. "Like our whole community can look to as an example of how you should treat the people around you."
As LiPuma looks to the next century, he said the next major step is continuing to make a case to the Vatican that Father Baker should be elevated to sainthood. Rossi shares that hope.
"If Father Baker's not a saint, I don't know who is," Rossi responded.
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