At a Sunday Mass in May 1942--during the course of
World War II, the
pastor, Angelo R. Cioffi, urged his congregation to build a shrine dedicated to
Mary, under her title of
Queen of Peace, for the safe return of the men of the parish and country from the battlefields of the war and for a just and lasting peace. The parishioners accepted the challenge and vowed to erect the church. Ground was broken for the construction of the church on October 3, 1948, with the
cornerstone being blessed on October 29 of the following year by
Raymond Kearney,
auxiliary bishop of the diocese. Originally one of the few air-conditioned churches in America, the church was completed in 1950, built in the style of the Italianate
Renaissance Revival architecture, and an image of Mary was enthroned over the main
altar. It was built entirely in marble from various parts of Italy, with two pulpits, after the manner of Italian cathedrals. The 52 foot high ceiling mural shows the Coronation of Our Lady Regina Pacis in Heaven. It is a huge creation, 60 by 27 feet, painted by the distinguished Italian artist Ignacio LaRussa over the course of three years in Rome and New York. In the lower part we see the image of Pope Pius XII, the reigning Pope at the time the Church was built, symbolically blessing the Shrine of Peace in the presence of Prelates and a large congregation that looks up ecstatically at the Coronation of the Blessed Mother. Further up, resting on the clouds and in a semi-circular formation, we see the various saints who particularly distinguished themselves for their devotion to Mary. Above these saints, a choir of Angels with St. Michael the Archangel. Then, still further up, the glorious image of Our Lady Regina Pacis in the act of being crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth by the Eternal Father and Her Divine Son while the Holy Spirit is streaming down beams of light and graces upon her. LaRussa also completed two flanking oval paintings portraying the Assumption of Mary into Heaven and the Resurrection of Jesus. A large painting of the church's
patron saint done by the noted artist Ilario Panzironi was installed over the main altar. The shrine was
dedicated on August 15, 1951, by the
Bishop of Brooklyn,
Archbishop Thomas E. Molloy. The people of the parish have always held this to have been a miracle. ==Current status==