National Shrine of the Little Flower
Encyclopedia
Royal Oak, Michigan
Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a suburb of Detroit. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 57,236. It should not be confused with Royal Oak Charter Township, a separate community located nearby....
is a well known Catholic Church and National Shrine
National shrine
A National Shrine is a Catholic church or other sacred place which has met certain requirements and is given this honor by the nation's Conference of Catholic Bishops to recognize the church's special historical, cultural and religious significance.- Process:...
executed in the lavish zig-zag Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
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
Charles Coughlin
Father Charles Edward Coughlin was a controversial Roman Catholic priest at Royal Oak, Michigan's National Shrine of the Little Flower church. He was one of the first political leaders to use radio to reach a mass audience, as more than thirty million tuned to his weekly broadcasts during the...
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
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church covering the Michigan counties of Lapeer, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne...
. It is the third largest building in Royal Oak
Royal Oak, Michigan
Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a suburb of Detroit. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 57,236. It should not be confused with Royal Oak Charter Township, a separate community located nearby....
.
History
Named in honor of Saint Thérèse de LisieuxThérèse de Lisieux
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux , or Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, born Marie-Françoise-Thérèse Martin, was a French Carmelite nun...
(who was also known as the Little Flower), the church was first built in 1926 in a largely Protestant area. Two weeks after it opened, the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
burned a cross in front of the church. The original wood structure was destroyed by a fire 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 McGill and Hamlin.
Architecture
A dramatic limestone Art DecoArt Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
tower called the Charity Crucifixion Tower, which was completed in 1931, features integrated figural sculpture by Rene Paul Chambellan
Rene Paul Chambellan
Rene Paul Chambellan was an American sculptor, born in West Hoboken, New Jersey.Chambellan studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Julian in Paris and with Solon Borglum in New York City. Chambellan specialized in architectural sculpture...
, 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
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
as a "cross they could not burn". On the surrounding wall is a carved portrait of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. A large chapel connects the tower to the innovative octagonal nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
, which seats three thousand, with the altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
in the center. The main building is granite and limestone, with elaborate interior sculptural work by Corrado Parducci
Corrado Parducci
Corrado Giuseppe Parducci was an Italian-American architectural sculptor who was a celebrated artist for his numerous early 20th Century works.-Early life and education:...
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
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops and United States Catholic Conference, it is composed of all active and retired members of the Catholic...
declared the site a National Shrine, one of only five in the country according to the church's web site.