National Shrine of the Little Flower

See also the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower in San Antonio, Texas

Shrine of the Little Flower

National Shrine of the Little Flower Catholic Church in Royal Oak, Michigan is a well known Catholic Church and National Shrine executed in the lavish zig-zag Art Deco style. It was completed in two stages, from 1931 to 1936, and funded by the proceeds of the radio ministry of the controversial Father Charles Coughlin who performed radio broadcasts from the tower. It stands at 1200 West Twelve Mile Road at the northeast corner of Woodward Avenue and is a parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. It is the third largest building in Royal Oak.

History

Named in honor of Saint Thérèse de Lisieux (who was also known as the Little Flower), the church was first built in 1926^[1] in a largely Protestant area. Two weeks after it opened, the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross in front of the church.^[2] The original wood structure was destroyed by a fire March 17, 1936.^[3][4] Construction of the new building started in 1931 and ended in 1936. Its completion was spurred by the destruction of the old structure and it employed large amounts of copper and stone to execute the designs of architect Henry J. McGill, of the New York firm of McGill and Hamlin.

Architecture

A dramatic limestone Art Deco tower called the Charity Crucifixion Tower, which was completed in 1931, features integrated figural sculpture by Rene Paul Chambellan, including a large figure of Christ on the cross, 28 ft (8.5 m) high. It was built as a response to the Ku Klux Klan as a "cross they could not burn".^[5][6] On the surrounding wall is a carved portrait of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. A large chapel connects the tower to the innovative octagonal nave, which seats three thousand, with the altar in the center. The main building is granite and limestone, with elaborate interior sculptural work by Corrado Parducci and hand-painted murals by Beatrice Wilczynski. The stunning octagon-shaped granite baptismal font was designed by renowned liturgical artists Robert Rambusch and Mario Agustin Locsin y Montenegro.

In 1998, the United States Bishops' Conference declared the site a National Shrine, one of only five in the country according to the church's web site.

References

1. ^ Sheldon Marcus, Father Coughlin: The tumultuous Life of the Priest of the Little Flower (Little, Brown, and Company, 1973) pp. 22-23. Charles J. Tull, Father Coughlin and the New Deal (Syracuse University Press, 1965) pp. 2-3.
2. ^ Shannon, William V. (1989) [1963]. The American Irish: a political and social portrait. p. 298. ISBN 9780870236891. OCLC 19670135. http://books.google.com/books?id=3gBrb-SzlCkC&pg=PA298&dq=%22Ku+Klux+Klan%22+%22shrine+of+the+little+flower%22&cd=4#. 
3. ^ Hutting, Albert M. (1998) [1936]. Shrine of the Little Flower. Royal Oak, MI: Radio League of the Little Flower. OCLC 32783964. 
4. ^ Associated Press (18 March 1936). "Old Coughlin Church is Destroyed by Fire". New York Times (NYTimes.com). http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20D10FA395B1B7B93CAA81788D85F428385F9&scp=52&sq=royal+oak+shrine&st=p. Retrieved 2011-05-26. 
5. ^ Levin, Doron P. (25 May 1992). "Royal Oak Journal; Bitter Memories of Anti-Semitism Live On in Michigan Parish". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/25/us/royal-oak-journal-bitter-memories-of-anti-semitism-live-on-in-michigan-parish.html. Retrieved 2011-05-24. 
6. ^ Forbes. The Architect. 14. 

External links

	Metro Detroit portal
	Catholicism portal

• National Shrine of the Little Flower is at coordinates 42°30′15″N 83°10′16″W / 42.504096°N 83.171171°W / 42.504096; -83.171171 (National Shrine of the Little Flower)Coordinates: 42°30′15″N 83°10′16″W / 42.504096°N 83.171171°W / 42.504096; -83.171171 (National Shrine of the Little Flower)
• Web site of the church
• historic images of the church