Uhlrich i will have to wake up to the fact that i must earn a living. So far, i have acted like a fancier with no worries of the future. I was blinded by the fun of doing something beautiful. I dropped into oblivion, and that can be done in a few weeks and, i fear, nullify a lifetime of upbuilding. My little economies are going fast, and i will have to get another job. I trust to providence and to your good will and sense of fairness. Narrator father baker responds and states that everything is looking so beautiful. He also mentions. Father baker i am enclosing a few dollars, as you may need it. Narrator in the months ahead, baker continues to send uhlrich payments for his services. As the year 1924 ends, the exterior facade is complete. The interior work, including the stained glass, paintings, and statuary, are well underway. Father baker writes the lawyer for the tonetti brothers, stating hes awaiting some major pieces for the altars and pleads that the company be careful when boxing items, as some of the marble columns are broken in two when they arrive in america. In a few months, monsignor baker announces that Bishop Turner has agreed to celebrate the dedication of the shrine on october 7th, the feast of our lady of victory. This date is later changed due to marble from abroad not arriving on time. By december of 1925, the official dedication date is not yet announced, but enough of the shrine is completed to allow father baker to celebrate the first mass there on christmas day. Writing about this Opening Event in the annals, father baker notes, the spirit of our lady permeates the entire edifice. Oh, our lady of victory is the gem. Its the culmination of decades of building and designing and planning. Its at the top. And i think that would be at the top of father bakers list, as well, and i cant think of an architect that wouldnt be proud that they had built that structure. I think thats definitely the culmination of their work. Narrator there are still some details that must be completed before the shrine can be officially dedicated. Main altar pieces and columns which were shipped are still in new york city, and father baker learns that they are being held there until tonetti is paid in full. Baker insists tonetti adheres to the contract as written, despite the changing value of the lira. Father baker i am very much ashamed and more or less indignant that you are treating us like so many children in acting perfectly regardless of our signed contracts. Narrator father baker is anxious to pay all debts, and he asks uhlrich, who is now in havana with his wife, to try to settle all accounts. Emile writes to baker that he will take up the matter of the missing pieces of the shrine with the lawyer for the tonetti brothers. One unexpected favor occurs at this time. President Calvin Coolidge and the United StatesCongress Grant father baker the right to have the marble for the shrine coming from abroad to be admitted duty free to the United States. The near completion of the shrine allows monsignor baker to again set the date of the official dedication. It is to be held on march 19, 1926, the 50th anniversary of father bakers ordination to the priesthood. Unfortunately, father baker takes ill, and the official dedication is again postponed. [ pipe organ playing ] the dedication of the our lady of victory shrine commences on may 25, 1926. The consecration ceremony begins at 6 00 a. M. , with Bishop William turner, sixth bishop of buffalo, officiating. Father baker serves as celebrant of the dedication mass held at 10 30 a. M. 400 hundred bishops and priests from all over the country attend the event. Over 30,000 people try to squeeze into the shrine that can hold 5,000. The crowd gasps as they delight in the realized beauty of father bakers dream. Cardinal Patrick Hayes of new york states in his sermon that day. Cardinal hayes i know of no church like this, so beautiful, so uplifting, so glorious. I know of no other church like this, consecrated to the charities of christ our lord. It is a monument to the buffalo diocese, the city of lackawanna, to our great lady of victory, and to a modern apostle of charity, father baker. Narrator father baker himself is very pleased with how well the shrine turned out. Father baker its brilliant white marble exterior gstening in the sunlight, while the tall, stately, crosscrowned spires pierce high into the clouds, and its magnificent dome a scene unequaled in splendor, seldom if ever witnessed. The classical impulse, which uhlrich exemplifies, this kind of roman sensibility, is very clear on the outside with the tuscan columns, the smaller columns, the overall composition from the exterior these amazing arms, these curvilinear arms that come out and embrace you, and how theres a crescendo up to the towers and then back to the dome. So it really is an amazing body you know, like a head and arms and legs. Its all been put together. The artistic style is very baroque. If you look at the curved frontage that is different from st. Peters. Its baroque because its curved, and it is, like, pulling you in to the front of the building. I think that the style is incredible. Stroik whats interesting is the french, like they always do they learn from rome. They learn from the italians, and then they bring their own abilities to it. And often, they make it more pure, maybe even more elegant. And so, hes looking at rome through the french lens and creating something spectacular. Narrator above the ends of the exterior colonnades are two very beautiful marble sculptures. On the left, 30 young girls surround a sister of st. Joseph above her an immense angel with the torch of faith in one hand and in the other a wreath of honor. On the right, 30 young boys surrounding father baker with another large angel hovering overhead. The sculpture was made in secret. The humble father baker was surprised and quite upset to discover it and demanded to have it removed. After much convincing, he agrees to let it stay. At the main entrance stands a statue of our lady of victory with her divine child, standing 12 feet high and weighing 16,000 pounds, carved from White Carrara marble. Passing through the massive bronze doors, many are astonished by the sheer beauty of the interior. If you stand here and face the back door when people come in or youre with them when they come in, the very first thing youll see is their jaw drop as they walk down the aisle. You can almost see them saying, oh, my gosh, this is really just unbelievable. Its hard to even take it all in. Ive seen that expression on peoples faces over and over again. Narrator one can almost imagine father baker himself proudly leading tours through his shrine. Father baker walking down the center aisle to the main altar, you notice the beautifully carved stations of the cross on either side of the shrine, each of these carved from their own block of pure White Carrara marble. Looking up, you will take in the eight painted panels representing the laurentian litany of the blessed virgin mary. At the top of the nave, the inspiring stainedglass windows depicting the seven joyful episodes in the life of our blessed lady and the seven sorrowful episodes in the life of our blessed lady. There are 134 windows in the shrine, the two largest being 13 feet in diameter. The two large rose windows in the transepts are marvels of beauty. Another beautiful feature of the shrine is the lady of lourdes grotto. This chapel depicts the visitation of mary to st. Bernadette in lourdes, france, and is hewn out of black lava rock from Mount Vesuvius in italy. The Catholic Church is a church of sacramentality, okay . It means that we see in created reality and material reality the divine shining through. Beauty always does that. Father baker was so concerned about making sure he had the most beautiful, the best materials, the best artists. He knew that what they could do with their crafts and with their arts would speak to people for generations. Narrator one of the most stunning creations in the shrine is the painting of the main dome. The artist, professor raggi, describes it here. Raggi glancing upwards at the dome, a veritable sea of celestial beauty greets the eye in a painting representing a vision of heaven and the assumption of the blessed mother of god, carried in the arms of an angelic host of heavenly beings prostrating themselves before the holy trinity, the father, the son, and the holy spirit, who are placing the crown of celestial magnificence upon the brow of the immaculate mother of christ. Monsignor burkard many people come here and theyll tell you that they come here because its a place that they find the most peace in their life that they dont find elsewhere. Foitalbert youre drawn into, i think, the inner spirit. I used to call it the void, which was the space for has potential for all good things to happen, the architecture of the void. Well, the churches arent probably constructed to be the void, but they are that. And they do bring in that sense of repose and serenity. Narrator the main focus of the our lady of victory shrine is the powerful expression of the main altar. Father baker wandering down the center aisle, we come to the extreme end to drink in the beauty of the main altar. The four beautifully twisted columns on the main altar are of rare red pyrenees marble, which holds the magnificent dome with angelic figures hovering over it, all surrounding our lady of victory, which stands 9 feet in height. 14 beautiful angelic figures add to the magnificence of the altar. Over the tabernacle stand two other Angels Holding a marble pillow, upon which is to rest the ostensorium containing the most blessed sacrament, which is surrounded by a large and elegant golden crown. When you walk in the main entrance, its magnetic. There is a kind of visual artistic pull to the center, which is our lady. Stroik i think the main altar is very gutsy, and its like a crescendo. And you see it as you enter, but as you get closer to it, you realize how wonderful it is. And the further you get in, the mystery kind of unfolds. The other thing that i really love are the two chapels off the transept. I think those are knockouts that are their own little space, and theyre kind of domical. Theyre like little mini churches, like the main sanctuary. Father baker the side altars are most magnificent in painting, color, and sculptures. On the east side, the altar dedicated to the sacred heart of our lord and savior, jesus christ. The statue is much larger than life, standing on an altar of varicolored marble. On the west side is the altar of saint joseph, where a largerthanlife statue of joseph holds the christ child in his right hand and a beautifully carved lily in his left. Narrator professor raggi describes the murals. Raggi over Saint Josephs altar are the paintings depicting the slaughter of the innocents, showing how determined king herod was to destroy the life of the divine child, issuing an order for the destruction of all the male children under 2 years of age. The flight into egypt depicts the event of an angel of god to notify saint joseph to take the child and the mother and flee into egypt. Over the altar of the sacred heart of jesus is the nativity of our blessed lord, showing the manger scene at the birth of our lord and the coming of the wise men to adore the newborn savior. Narrator behind the main altar, a curved walkway displays five more altars honoring various saints. So, what that allows you to do, in the back of the altar, in the rotundatype area, is to go around and continue your journey. What it does is it graciously rounds off your experience, and see whats behind as well as whats in front of it. Father baker the first of the back altars recalls the patron saint of the Original Church which once stood here. Saint patricks altar bestows the figure of ireland with a white robe and blue mantle, sitting on the venerable stone of destiny, the ancient symbol of National Independence and governmental authority. It is by a green, white, and orange flag of the reawakened nation, and above that the celtic cross to symbolize the catholicism of the nation. Following along, we visit the the altar of saint aloysius. The altar of the immaculate mother. The altar of saint anne. And the last altar is that of Saint Vincent de paul, which depicts this great patron of charity holding a newborn babe and with his other arm about the neck of a homeless boy. Narrator it is believed that there are over 2,000 angels in the shrine, either in sculpture or painting. Stroik we believe that angels surround us and especially surround us in the liturgy. So, its very appropriate that we try to show them in our buildings or on our buildings, in the case of our lady of victory. But 2,000 is amazing. The open spaces where you would anticipate a column is a pendent form, and in between these arches are angels with long wings. And he loves angels. You will find angels in all of his churches. And father baker, again, is another fan of the angels. Narrator two months after the shrine is dedicated, on july 28, 1926, the vatican designated our lady of victory shrine as a minor basilica by papal decree. It is the second minor basilica in the United States. The title of basilica bestows a church with certain privileges that are conferred on it by the pope. Our lady of victory basilica contains a papal throne and umbrella that will be opened only in the event that the pope should visit. The vatican decree notes. Man it is not its beauty, size, or magnificence that gives the sanctuary of our lady of victory of lackawanna its greatest importance. Its greatest value is that it is in the center of a very large work of piety and charity. Narrator this last statement, giving credit to the institutions that father baker served during his priesthood. Into the 1930s, during the great depression, father baker and his institutions continued to help those in need. On april 30, 1936, father baker is admitted to our lady of victory hospital, suffering from pneumonia. He recovers from this ordeal but was never again in good health and is readmitted in july. Nelson baker died the morning of july 29, 1936, at age 95, with no money in the bank, indebted to no one, and no one indebted to me as stated in his last will and testament. Stroik one of the greatest outpourings of all time was father bakers funeral. Thousands and thousands of people lined ridge road. Really a beloved man by people across the country, across the state, and those of other faiths recognized that this was a Great American who had done great works for us. Narrator on august 3rd, a reported half million mourners processed down ridge road for father bakers funeral. As they walk, the panoramic view of this mans many achievements, through his faith in god and his neverfailing trust in our lady of victory, is displayed. The many institutions he served, the boys home he managed, the hospital he cared for, the school he led, and the shrine he built would certainly all nod in agreement to give honor to this saintly man of charity a man who gave the credit for his achievements to our lady of victory. To this day, father bakers institutions continue to help the less fortunate. He was able to set into place, whether he knew it or not, a program to care for the poor that was going to last 100 years after him or 200 years after him, maybe 300 or 400 years, you know . Narrator the our lady of victory basilica, however, has undergone some physical changes over the years. When father baker asked uhlrich to give him a sketch of what the church would be like, the basilica would be like, uhlrich gave him a chalk drawing. And if you took that drawing and you held it up to the outside of the facade of the basilica today, its almost identical, the difference being that the towers on the outside of the church were about 30 feet taller than they are at the present time. In the 40s, they were destabilized by an electrical storm, and the towers had to be taken down to a certain level. And they capped them off with a copper cap that matched the dome. This is a church to be seen from afar, from even miles away. And if you could bring back those towers, 164 feet, it would be incredible and would fulfill baker and uhlrichs vision, which is what they intended. Narrator the maintenance of our lady of victory basilica requires constant attention. Much renovation was done in the 1980s and again in 2012, as all the windows were taken out above the main altar, releaded, and carefully reinstalled. Some painting and plastering had to be done, as well. The basilica cost nearly 4 million to build in 1926. Today, there is doubt that such a structure could be built. Monsignor burkard ive asked that question of architects, how difficult would it be to rebuild this building . And they kind of scratch their head and roll their eyes and walk away. Yeah, 4 million in 1926, and its funny because i have clients who want me to build buildings for them for 4 million. Probably theyre not father baker, though. The cost of it would be prohibitive finding the craftsmen to do it the way it was done here, with the quality of work almost an impossibility these days. And, of course, financing it,. Stroik i think its a couple hundred million. I think its 200 million. And a lot of that money is, frankly its in the handwork. Monsignor burkard this is not the kind of a church that you build in a parish. Its a onceinalifetime, onceinalocation kind of a building. Barrett these older buildings, these Historic Buildings that we have, they embody the history of their time. And the materials can never be recreated. Theres a term for it. Embedded worth i believe is what it is . Our modern churches dont have anything close to this. It takes people to do it. Takes a lot of time, costs a lot of money, but its what we love about it. Its very human. Its very connected to our bodies and to our sight. Foitalbert theres a lot of human energy that you can almost feel when you enter the basilica. And you should be able to feel it. Its a lot. But more so than that, after you experience that, thats when the serenity begins. Narrator the basilica has some 30,000 visitors each year. People come to enjoy its beauty and to pray at the tomb of father baker. In 1999, father bakers remains were exhumed from the nearby Holy Cross Cemetery and entombed inside the basilica in the grotto of our lady of lourdes. People pray for healings, miracles, and favors, but also pray for father bakers canonization to sainthood. The cause for father bakers canonization goes back to 1988, when bishop head proposed to rome the possibility of father bakers canonization. Rome accepted the