History

In 1957, the Most Reverend Emmit M. Walsh, Bishop of Youngstown, Ohio gave the friars from Transylvania permission to settle in this area.  When the time came to begin building, the friars wished to dedicate the Shrine to their beloved Madonna of Csiksomlyo (Chick-shom-lyo).

The bishop approved the new shrine under the title, Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted, on September 6, 1963 with the solemn blessing of the cornerstone on October 8, 1963.  By the end of the year construction progressed to the point where the shrine chapel was opened to the public and the friary was occupied by Franciscans.

The beautiful sanctuary, with the radiant and new copy of the statue of the Madonna of Csiksomlyo, was enshrined one year later.  The solemn dedication was performed by Bishop Walsh on October 4, 1964, the Feast of Our Seraphic Father Francis, and the Shrine was opened to the public.  To date, the Shrine has remained a place of worship for the community and a place of prayer, pilgrimage, and retreat.