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“Lift up your gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in.”
This proclamation from a young bishop, words from Psalm 24:7, opened the doors of St. Mary of the Angels Church during the solemn Rite of Consecration almost 100 years ago. Just one day before, the peace treaty ending the Great War had been signed in Versailles. Barely was the ink dry on that treaty when Bishop Turner arrived in Olean. Yes. This Consecration day, planned months earlier, happened to fall on the official first full day of peace the world had known for many years. Is there a more fitting day to consecrate a church building to the glory of God? And in the midst of the fleeing mayhem of war, two great martyrs, pillars of the faith, were lifted up for honor that day, for it was also the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. The confluence of these events on June 29, 1919 is no coincidence and speaks something to us about what our pastor recognizes as "the holiness of this place."
It is hard to not get a growing sense of this holiness while ministering and celebrating the sacred mysteries in this breathtaking house of God for 20 years. Even though Fr. Greg is the one overseeing the repairing, remodeling, refurbishing and embellishing of every corner of this grand edifice, he has come to see it as much more than the splendid work of art which it undeniably is. Who cannot sit in a transept pew and take in the depth and breadth of art from the grand Crucifixion window to the glorious scenes of the life of Jesus and Mary in colored glass to the crushingly sorrowful Stations of the Cross to the hearty oak doors of the confessionals to the magnificent sanctuary lined in Carrera marble caressing a golden tabernacle and not sense: Truly, the King of Glory has come in. From the days of its blessing and consecration, St. Mary of the Angels Church IS holy.
It is the holiness sensed so profoundly in his parish church in recent years that got Fr. Greg to thinking about how this can be recognized and lifted up as an attraction to souls searching for the King of Glory, searching for everlasting peace. He wanted to share this precious gift with a wider audience.
Artisans from various disciplines working on the building (a never-ending task) had suggested the undeniable "pedigree of a basilica" that uniquely marked this church. Suggestions such as this got him to kicking the word "basilica" around in his heart and amidst his prayers for quite some time. Basilica, or "noble house," is a place where the King of Glory resides, where peace resides. Well into the renovation for the building's centennial celebrations of 2015, he wrote a letter asking Bishop Malone if he would consider approving our application to the Vatican for the title of Minor Basilica. Of his list of 22 reasons, he emphasized the faith of the community in this corner of the diocese throughout its long history— faith illustrated most dramatically in the magnificence of the house of worship they built. With the bishop's hearty approval--in as much secrecy as possible, as directed by the bishop--Fr. Greg led a year-and-a-half long effort at the parish to build a case for the honorary title, not to aggrandize the building. She does not need that. But to affirm the King of Glory has come in and he wants to come into our hearts as well.
And so this chapter in the 165-year history of the parish church of St. Mary of the Angels began.