Venerable Nelson Baker - Another Step toward his Canonization
When I was four years old in 1935, I remember that my mother and father sometimes took my sister and me to Our Lady of Victory Basilica for Sunday Mass. It was located in Lackawanna, New York just a few miles from our home in South Buffalo. I recall one Sunday very clearly when the bell for Mass was rung and an elderly priest came out on the altar with his altar boys. Since we were sitting in the second row of seats, I had a clear picture of the priest. I remember vividly that his shoelace was untied and he looked slightly unkempt. That was Father Nelson Baker, who may be a canonized saint one day.
My next recollection was in the summer of 1936. Again, we went to Our Lady of Victory Basilica but this was on the occasion of the death of Father Baker. I remember standing in a very long line outside the Basilica waiting to go in to pay our respects to the honored priest. Then, a few years later, the church had Father Baker's bed and his few belongings transferred to a museum in the lower church. We were able to view a replica of his bedroom at this site.
The organist at our neighboring parish, Joe Donohue, sometimes fills in at Mass in our church. In 2000, Joseph Donohue III was sixteen years old and was taken to Children's Hospital with a serious infection which shut down his respiratory system and spread into his blood. He was placed on life support and a medically induced coma was begun. The situation worsened as his limbs turned black and Joe was given the last rites.
His family was encouraged to pray exclusively to Father Baker. A set of rosary beads belonging to Father Baker was placed on Joe's chest. A swatch of fabric from a vestment worn by the priest was also placed on his chest. Dirt taken from the grave of Father Baker was sprinkled in his hair. People in western New York prayed day and night, saying a decade of the Rosary for each of Joe's organs. His condition improved; he gradually stabilized and he gained consciousness.
The doctor who treated Joe would not commit as to whether he considered the teenager's recovery a miracle. Bishop Henry Mansell, the bishop of Buffalo at that time, believes that a miracle occurred. "I've heard that the doctors said there is no medical, scientific or natural explanation for his recovery. To me, that appears to be a miracle," said Mansell. Yet, this so-called miracle was not accepted by the Vatican since medical intervention had taken place also.
Prior to Joe Donohue's experience, Father Baker's remains were removed in 1999 from Holy Cross Cemetery to Our Lady of Victory Basilica to allow visitors to pray to him in that holy place. It was discovered that three vials of Father Baker's blood and body fluids that were buried with him in 1936 had remained liquid. Diocesan officials believe that this could only be attributed to supernatural causes.
The mother of a friend of mine had always done Father Baker's laundry in his lifetime and when he passed away, she still had some of his clothing, mainly his underwear. Over the years, she would distribute small pieces of his underwear to friends who were ill and wanted Father Baker to intercede for them in heaven. I asked her if I might obtain a small piece of his underwear, but everything had been given away.
Those are my main memories of the priest we know as Father Baker.
Nelson Henry Baker was born in Lackawanna, New York on February 16, 1842. He is what is known as a late vocation as he entered the priesthood in 1869 when he was twenty-seven years old. Since he had owned his own feed and grain business, his superiors recognized his unusual business acumen and he was soon asked to administer the parish and orphanage in his home town, Lackawanna. Under the patronage of Our Lady of Victory, he built the Basilica of that name, oversaw an infant home, a home for unwed mothers, a boys' orphanage, a hospital, a nurses' home, and a grade and high school. Some of "Father Baker's boys" are still alive today; they are the orphans who remember him with great devotion and are working for his cause for canonization.
In 1987, Father Baker was named by the Pope as "Servant of God," the first step in the long procedure towards canonization. Then, on January 14, 2011, Father Baker was given the designation Venerable by Pope Benedict XVI due to his life of heroic virtue. A confirmed miracle through the intercession of Father Baker will now insure his Beatification. A second confirmed miracle will lead to his Canonization. The citizens of Lackawanna and Buffalo are certain that this wondrous event will surely take place within the next decade.
Sources:
Catholicism.org
http://www.catholictradition.org/Priests/baker.htm
Personal experience
My next recollection was in the summer of 1936. Again, we went to Our Lady of Victory Basilica but this was on the occasion of the death of Father Baker. I remember standing in a very long line outside the Basilica waiting to go in to pay our respects to the honored priest. Then, a few years later, the church had Father Baker's bed and his few belongings transferred to a museum in the lower church. We were able to view a replica of his bedroom at this site.
The organist at our neighboring parish, Joe Donohue, sometimes fills in at Mass in our church. In 2000, Joseph Donohue III was sixteen years old and was taken to Children's Hospital with a serious infection which shut down his respiratory system and spread into his blood. He was placed on life support and a medically induced coma was begun. The situation worsened as his limbs turned black and Joe was given the last rites.
His family was encouraged to pray exclusively to Father Baker. A set of rosary beads belonging to Father Baker was placed on Joe's chest. A swatch of fabric from a vestment worn by the priest was also placed on his chest. Dirt taken from the grave of Father Baker was sprinkled in his hair. People in western New York prayed day and night, saying a decade of the Rosary for each of Joe's organs. His condition improved; he gradually stabilized and he gained consciousness.
The doctor who treated Joe would not commit as to whether he considered the teenager's recovery a miracle. Bishop Henry Mansell, the bishop of Buffalo at that time, believes that a miracle occurred. "I've heard that the doctors said there is no medical, scientific or natural explanation for his recovery. To me, that appears to be a miracle," said Mansell. Yet, this so-called miracle was not accepted by the Vatican since medical intervention had taken place also.
Prior to Joe Donohue's experience, Father Baker's remains were removed in 1999 from Holy Cross Cemetery to Our Lady of Victory Basilica to allow visitors to pray to him in that holy place. It was discovered that three vials of Father Baker's blood and body fluids that were buried with him in 1936 had remained liquid. Diocesan officials believe that this could only be attributed to supernatural causes.
The mother of a friend of mine had always done Father Baker's laundry in his lifetime and when he passed away, she still had some of his clothing, mainly his underwear. Over the years, she would distribute small pieces of his underwear to friends who were ill and wanted Father Baker to intercede for them in heaven. I asked her if I might obtain a small piece of his underwear, but everything had been given away.
Those are my main memories of the priest we know as Father Baker.
Nelson Henry Baker was born in Lackawanna, New York on February 16, 1842. He is what is known as a late vocation as he entered the priesthood in 1869 when he was twenty-seven years old. Since he had owned his own feed and grain business, his superiors recognized his unusual business acumen and he was soon asked to administer the parish and orphanage in his home town, Lackawanna. Under the patronage of Our Lady of Victory, he built the Basilica of that name, oversaw an infant home, a home for unwed mothers, a boys' orphanage, a hospital, a nurses' home, and a grade and high school. Some of "Father Baker's boys" are still alive today; they are the orphans who remember him with great devotion and are working for his cause for canonization.
In 1987, Father Baker was named by the Pope as "Servant of God," the first step in the long procedure towards canonization. Then, on January 14, 2011, Father Baker was given the designation Venerable by Pope Benedict XVI due to his life of heroic virtue. A confirmed miracle through the intercession of Father Baker will now insure his Beatification. A second confirmed miracle will lead to his Canonization. The citizens of Lackawanna and Buffalo are certain that this wondrous event will surely take place within the next decade.
Sources:
Catholicism.org
http://www.catholictradition.org/Priests/baker.htm
Personal experience
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