The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica Catholic Church is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

Royal Oak The Royal Oak is the English oak tree within which the future King Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The tree was in Boscobel Wood, which was part of the park of Boscobel House. C ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. A designated national shrine, the church building is well-known for its execution in the lavish zig-zag

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style. The structure was completed in two stages between 1931 and 1936. The sanctuary, at 2100 West Twelve Mile Road at the northeast corner of

Woodward Avenue A woodward is a Game warden, warden of a wood. Woodward may also refer to: Places ;United States * Woodward, Iowa * Woodward, Oklahoma * Woodward, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place * Woodward Avenue, a street in Tallahassee, Florida, which b ...

, is a parish of the

Archdiocese of Detroit The Archdiocese of Detroit ( la, Archidiœcesis Detroitensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church covering the Michigan counties of Lapeer, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne. It is ...

. Its construction was funded by the proceeds of the radio ministry of the controversial Father

Charles Coughlin Charles Edward Coughlin ( ; October 25, 1891 – October 27, 1979), commonly known as Father Coughlin, was a Canadian-American Catholic priest based in the United States near Detroit. He was the founding priest of the National Shrine of the ...

, who broadcast from its tower in the 1930s.

History

Named in honor of Saint

Thérèse of Lisieux Thérèse of Lisieux (french: Thérèse de Lisieux ), born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin (2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897), also known as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (), was a French Catholic Discalced Carmelite ...

(who was known as "the Little Flower"), the church was first built in 1926 in a largely Protestant area. It was founded in 1925, a year before construction started. Within days of the church opening, the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

burned a cross in front of the church. The original wood structure was destroyed by a fire on March 17, 1936. 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 Hamlin and McGill.

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

designated the Shrine a

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

on January 31, 2015.

Pastors

*Fr.

(1925–1966) *Fr. James L. Hayes (1966–1974) *Fr. Edward A. Belczak (1975–1980) *Fr. Edward J. Prus (1975–1987) *Fr. Edward Haggerty (1987–1990) *

Msgr. Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

John Gordon (1990–1991) *Msgr. Alexander Joseph Brunett (1991–1994), appointed

Bishop of Helena The Diocese of Helena ( la, Dioecesis Helenensis) is the Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in western Montana with its cathedral located in Helena. The diocese was created from the year-old Apostolic Vicariat ...

, later Archbishop of Seattle *Msgr.

John Nienstedt John Clayton Nienstedt (born March 18, 1947) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the eighth archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota from 2008 to 2015. He previously served as bishop o ...

(1994–1996) *Msgr. William Easton (1996–2013) *Fr.

Robert Joseph Fisher Robert Joseph Fisher (born September 24, 1959) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit since 2016. Biography Early life Robert Fisher was born in Detroit ...

(2014–2016) *Msgr. Robert J. McClory (2016–2020), appointed Bishop of Gary, Indiana *Fr. Joseph Horn (2020–Present)

Architecture

A dramatic limestone

tower called the Charity Crucifixion Tower, completed in 1931, features integrated figural sculptures by

Rene Paul Chambellan Rene Paul Chambellan (September 15, 1893 – November 29, 1955) was an American sculptor who specialized in architectural sculpture. He was also one of the foremost practitioners of what was then called the "French Modern Style" and has subseque ...

, including a large figure of Christ on the cross, high on the Woodward Avenue façade. The sculpture, using Chambellan's design, was completed by Italian stone carver, Enrico (Harry) Liva, chief carver of the Ingalls Stone Company of

Bedford, Indiana Bedford is a city in Shawswick Township, Lawrence County, Indiana, Shawswick Township and the county seat of Lawrence County, Indiana, Lawrence County, Indiana, United States. In the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 13,7 ...

.Downs, Winfield Scott (1967). ''Encyclopedia of American Biography: New Series''. Volume 36. American Historical Society. p. 314. It was built as a response to the

as a "cross they could not burn". The sides and rear feature windows inside the crucifix which can be lit from within. At the upper corners of the tower are symbols of the Four Evangelists. Carved below the feet of the figure of Christ are the

Seven Last Words from the Cross The sayings of Jesus on the cross (sometimes called the Seven Last Words from the Cross) are seven expressions biblically attributed to Jesus during his crucifixion. Traditionally, the brief sayings have been called "words". The seven sayings ar ...

. Just below them is a doorway with "Charity" and "Christ Crucified" carved above it. On the sides of the doorframe are depictions of items associated with the Passion. The doorway leads to a small balcony which can serve as a pulpit. On the front are carved depictions the

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

Jophiel The angel Jophiel ( Heb. ''Yōp̄īʾēl'', "God is my beauty"), also called ''Iophiel'', ''Iofiel'', ''Jofiel'', ''Yofiel'', ''Youfiel'', Zophiel ( ''Ṣōp̄īʾēl'', "God is my watchman") and Zuriel ( ''Ṣūrīʾēl'', "God is my rock"), is ...

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

and

Uriel Uriel or Auriel ( he, אוּרִיאֵל ''ʾŪrīʾēl'', " El/God is my flame"; el, Οὐριήλ ''Oúriēl''; cop, ⲟⲩⲣⲓⲏⲗ ''Ouriēl''; it, Uriele; Geʽez and Amharic: or ) is the name of one of the archangels who is mentio ...

. The pulpit is flanked by depictions of

John the Apostle John the Apostle ( grc, Ἰωάννης; la, Ioannes ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ;) or Saint John the Beloved was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he was the son of Zebedee a ...

and

the Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

to the left and a Roman

Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

holding a spear and

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...

on the right. Across the terrace facing the crucifix a depiction of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux is carved into the surrounding wall. This sculpture is also by Chambellan. Behind the tower are doors leading to a large chapel that connect the tower with the main sanctuary. The

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

of the chapel is within the base of the tower. The octagonal

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

seats three-thousand on two levels, with the altar in the center. The main building is granite and limestone, with exterior and elaborate interior sculptural work by

Corrado Parducci Corrado Giuseppe Parducci (March 10, 1900 – November 22, 1981) was an Italian-American architectural sculptor who was a celebrated artist for his numerous early-20th century works. Early life and education Parducci was born in Buti, Italy, a ...

, including a lectern and

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

, and hand-painted murals by Beatrice Wilczynski. Set into the exterior walls are stones carved with the names and official flowers of each of the states. The octagon-shaped granite baptismal font was designed by 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

External links

*Map:
Basilica Website

Father Charles Coughlin (1973, then retired), oral history of the shrine
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Shrine Of The Little Flower Tourist attractions in Metro Detroit Churches in Oakland County, Michigan Buildings with sculpture by Corrado Parducci Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit Roman Catholic national shrines in the United States Outdoor sculptures in Michigan History of Catholicism in the United States Tourist attractions in Oakland County, Michigan Roman Catholic churches completed in 1936 1936 sculptures Basilica churches in Michigan 1936 establishments in Michigan 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States

History

Pastors

Architecture

See also

References

External links