Church of the Little Flower, Catholic church in Coral Gables, United States.
The Church of the Little Flower is a Catholic church in Coral Gables, Florida, founded in 1926. Its domed 1951 building was constructed in Spanish Renaissance style, in keeping with the Spanish Colonial Revival for which Coral Gables is noted. The stained glass windows were designed by William Haley, and the sanctuary seats 900.
Established in 1926 at the request of Coral Gables Catholics, the parish was named for Saint Thérèse of Lisieux by Bishop Patrick J. Barry. Masses were held at St. Joseph's Academy until a parish center and auditorium seating 800 was dedicated in January 1928 and served as the church. The present domed church, built in Spanish Renaissance style, was dedicated in 1951 by Archbishop Joseph P. Hurley.
The parish was long predominantly Irish-American and Democratic; by 2000 more than half of parishioners and schoolchildren were Cuban-American, and it became known as a centre of Republican politics. Historian Darryl V. Caterine credits the 1991 arrival of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles with reviving both Cuban identity and Catholic commitment. In 1999 over 40,000 people came to venerate the relics of Saint Thérèse.
The 1951 sanctuary seats 900, so weekend Masses fill the pews; arriving early helps. The church office has been in the former Sisters of St. Joseph convent across the street since 1987, a useful stop for Mass times and parish information. The parish school, St. Theresa, is next to the church.
In 1999 more than 40,000 people came to the church to venerate the relics of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, part of a world tour of the relics meant to inspire spirituality at the millennium. The parish had been entrusted to her patronage since 1926, when Bishop Patrick J. Barry of St. Augustine named it in her honour.
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