This week, numerous churches will host Midnight Mass, as they do every year. But for Our Lady of Victory Basilica and National Shrine, this year’s Christmas Midnight Mass also marks its centennial.
Just a few days before Christmas, handfuls of faithful Catholics could be seen inside the basilica praying and touring the grounds. The organist was getting in some practice.
Maintenance staff were cleaning, while tucked away in one corner of the building were disassembled components showing that the massive landmark continues to undergo renovations and restorations.
On this occasion, Monsignor David LiPuma, the pastor and rector of OLV Basilica, was present and looking forward to Christmas Masses. This year, it’s extra special. It was on Christmas 1925 when Father Nelson Baker, the famed priest who oversaw construction of the basilica, celebrated its first Mass.
“All I keep thinking about, what was that experience like? How did he feel?” LiPuma wondered. “He must have been just overjoyed that something that he dreamed about came to fruition, and what that first congregation felt? Because any person that comes in here, any time of day, any time of the year, feels the magnificence of this place, but to be here for that first time had to be pretty powerful.”
By the time work began on the basilica in 1921, Father Baker had already established a local legacy of charity and human service. He was assigned to oversee the protectory that was home to wayward and orphaned boys. He removed the bars from the facilities’ windows, famously declaring “there are no bad boys.”
He also raised the money to pay off its significant debt by mailing requests to individuals, asking them to consider annual memberships for 25 cents per year, in exchange for remembrance in novenas and other prayers.
Father Baker later opened a home for unwed mothers and their babies, then a maternity hospital which later expanded into a general hospital.
In 1916, fire severely damaged St. Patrick Church. He repaired some, but not all the structure. Instead, it was time for him to reveal his dream of building a greater church in honor of his patroness, Our Lady of Victory.
Once again, he simply asked the public to help fund the project. The responses ranged from modest donations to larger gifts. To this day, LiPuma says, people continue to deliver offerings great and small so that OLV may continue its ministry.
“Somebody out there said, you know what, I want to do something, but this is all I can do. And they're anonymous, but that's what happened under Father Baker, and it's amazing that it continues to this very day,” he said. “I do believe, in the midst of everything, it's a beacon of hope, of light, and that's what Christmas is all about.”
Some of Father Baker’s legacy outside the basilica is celebrated within its walls, but you have to look up and look carefully to notice.
During construction, Professor Gonippo Raggi was invited to design the interior dome. He created a detailed image of the Blessed Mother Mary being assumed into Heaven, surrounded by saints and angels.
His inspiration for the angels came from some familiar, little faces.
“When he went over to the infant home and he saw the faces of the babies that were actually born here, he came back to Father Baker and said, ‘Can I use those babies’ faces as the images in that dome?’ When you look up and you see those angels up there, the faces of those angels are babies that were actually born here under Father Baker's care,” LiPuma said.
Baker died in 1936. In 1987, the Vatican named him a “Servant of God,” thus beginning the cause for his canonization as a saint. For an individual to become a saint, the Vatican must confirm two miracles attributed directly to the intercession of that person. Those who advocate for Baker’s canonization have been through a long wait, but LiPuma hopes that as OLV Basilica enters its second century of service, Baker’s luck may change.
“I have great hopes with our new Holy Father, Pope Leo, the American Pope. We have a new Cardinal for New York State. We're welcoming him with open arms,” he said, referencing Archbishop Ronald Hicks, who this month has replaced retiring Cardinal Timothy Dolan. “I believe that it's all lining up, that when people hear the story together, we're going to make it possible. And before we know it, the whole world will know that Father Baker is truly a saint.”
In the meantime, Christmas celebrations will be extra special given the centennial. LiPuma suggests if you wish to attend Midnight Mass, get there early.
“I do believe that this year there's a momentum. A heightened momentum, of people saying ‘I want to be there. I want to celebrate Christmas in that place that 100 years ago, Father Baker celebrated that first Mass.’ It's very exciting,” he said.
