Church of the Little Flower — Attraction in Coral Gables

The Church of the Little Flower was established in 1926 by a small group of Catholics in the newly established town of Coral Gables. The new parish was named in honor of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, known as "The Little Flower" and a temporary church was built in 1928. A boarding school was established by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1925. They had plans to expand it but the crash of the Florida land boom spurned on by two hurricanes and the Great Depression cancelled their plans. The sisters signed the deed to the the school over to the church. The school was renamed the St. Theresa School and it became a parochial school for the parish.

Father Thomas Comber, a missionary priest from Ireland, was charged with building the church. He envisioned something grand for the new church building but the lack of funds necessitated something more simple. The first church building was a parish center and auditorium that seated 800 and which was dedicated in 1928. It wasn't until 1951 that the present church got the ornate exterior that Father Comber desired. With the prosperity after WWII, Father Comber asked the Barry and Jay Company of Architects to build the church as he first envisioned it. The original 1920 plans were consulted and the church was built with stained glass windows designed by William Haley with the building in the ornate Spanish Renaissance style, to blend with the Mediterranean Revival architecture used by George Merrick when designing Coral Gables. The church was dedicated by Archbishop Joseph P. Hurley of Saint Augustine, Florida on December 8, 1952. It is still in use today. The church was renovated in 1987 and Comber Hall was renamed in honor of Rev. Msgr. Thomas P. Comber, Little Flower's first pastor. Also in 1987, a new rectory was built across the street.

Today the Church of the Little Flower is a landmark in Coral Gables. In June 2019, Fr. Manny Alvarez was named the 9th Pastor of Church of the Little Flower and Saint Theresa School. The church has been associated with two presidential candidates, Marco Rubio...

My wife and I have a child at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and thought it a good idea to come here for mass (8.18.2024 - 10.30AM English). Unpleasant and weird are the best words to describe the experience. The church architecture itself is not bad given the wave of modernism overtaking the direction of the Church. The stations of the cross are paltry and the altar is underwhelming but not the worst I have seen. That said, the service was a joke to put it bluntly. The pastor of the church was presiding over the service and His homily left a lot to be desired. The main problem being him talking like a machine gun so it was difficult to grasp anything that was said. Whatever I did manage to understand were his lame attempts at relating to the congregation by incorporating modern day sports and such. Perhaps the sports analogies made sense but difficult to decipher given the aforementioned and some other underlying issues. He also had these weird spurts of pompous rhetoric akin to what one would experience at the looney mega churches. Furthermore, I am not a fan of when priests rather than utilize the pulpit are walking around at the foot of the altar. It certainly did not help that it was constantly noisy in the church because of the non stop chatter and movement from the congregation. The congregation itself also reeked of entitlement. Unfortunately, this experience was not mine or my...

I remember approximately 19years ago I lved in Muami on the streets ,today I live out west in Colorado and have rea estate and other prooerty I manage, I had no one while living in Miami ,it felt like me against the world , I realize I should not have been sleeping around the church but U was a frightened young man, who wished for death every night I felt asleep, the reason I am writing this review is ,this particular church left a extremely butter taste in my mouth ,while every church that saw me in the state I was in parishners and clergy both aided me and showed me Gids live, the only thing I got from this church is disgust,better then, apathy , eeird stares ,maybe because U was a young black American male, shame on you all, ig you people are all if God's glory , God have mercy ang grace for us all, like Mahatma Ghandi once said "I have no oroblems with Christ, its his followes that call themselves Christians I have issues with, remember you mught have a little bit more coins then some, nuce car ,,beautiful house but my mom once said to me as a kid " Gave you ever seen a u-haul in back of a hearst", can not take it with you all your precious belongings,and last but not least , remember God giveth and Gid can...