A jubilee pilgrimage of hope through the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica

Historic church's draw goes beyond artistic significance, inviting pilgrims to draw closer to Jesus during 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope

At the start of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron designated 12 local pilgrimage sites for Catholics to visit during the holy year. Each month during 2025, Detroit Catholic will highlight one of these sites to encourage Catholics to take advantage of the extraordinary graces offered during the jubilee.

ROYAL OAK — The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica is no stranger to weary pilgrims traveling down Woodward Avenue — the majestic stone church, built in the early 20th century, ushers thousands of people through its doors each year, drawn to the basilica for its spiritual, cultural and historical significance.

Even so, it was a surprise — albeit a pleasant one — to rector Fr. John Bettin when the thriving Royal Oak church was designated by Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron as one of the 12 pilgrimage sites in the Archdiocese of Detroit for the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.

On Dec. 24, 2024, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, inviting pilgrims from around the world to experience God’s mercy and ushering in the Holy Year 2025 — a quarter-century celebration of grace, forgiveness and renewal — centered on the theme, “Pilgrims of Hope.”

“It is a very exciting opportunity to walk spiritually with our brothers and sisters in Rome as we join them in the pilgrimage there and that we give the people this wonderful opportunity to enter more deeply in the spirituality of hope itself,” Fr. Bettin told Detroit Catholic.

People throughout the world are living in despair and losing hope, Fr. Bettin said, adding the holy year is an opportunity for a renewal of hope.

“I always tell people in my homilies that no Christian should ever live in despair,” Fr. Bettin said. “We keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, and the graces of the Holy Spirit and Jesus himself should give us hope to look forward to that eternal light, that eternal kingdom.”

In the mid-1920s, Bishop Michael J. Gallagher, then the bishop of the Diocese of Detroit, asked Jesuit priest Fr. Charles Coughlin to build a church in Royal Oak. In 1926, the parish’s first Mass was celebrated in what was the original wood church structure. When that structure burned down on St. Patrick’s Day in 1936, construction was already under way to build the large stone church that overlooks Woodward Avenue along 12 Mile Road today.

Nearly a hundred years after the parish was first founded, the church stands as a pristine example of Art Deco architecture and design. Every detail of the church, from the guardrails to the number of people who can fit in a section of pews, was designed to have biblical or theological symbolism, lifelong parishioner and tour docent Van Rohr told Detroit Catholic.

When plans were being made for the new church, most architectural firms sent drawings for European-style churches, but one, Hamlin and McGill, submitted a plan for a rounded style, centered around Jesus in the Holy Eucharist as the focal point, Rohr said.

Rohr added that the “round” church is truly an octagon, and the eight sides are also scripturally based.

“The eight sides represent the eight days (of creation),” Rohr said. “We know what happened the first six days, and we know on the seventh day God rested. The eighth day is the day of salvation; it is the day when we realize the promise of what Christ promises to us.”

Visitors will be able to see the biblical symmetry of eights throughout the basilica, Rohr added, from the eight blue Bohemian glass windows directly above the altar to the painted rays of light.

“There are signs everywhere of the eighth day — it’s God’s promise to those who love Him to be able to join the Father and the Son in eternal life,” Rohr said.

Four porticos surround the altar, each with shrines to individual saints. Directly across from the cove containing the tabernacle is an entrance to the St. Therese Chapel, dedicated to St. Therese of Lisieux, the basilica's patron saint.

Rohr likes to draw visitors’ attention to a small square stone on the ground near the tabernacle. The stone was a gift from Bethlehem from Pope St. John Paul II. Rohr likes to step on the stone and then walk all the way to the other side, into the St. Therese Chapel, where he puts his hand on another stone from Calvary, given to the church by the Vatican in the 1940s.

“When you walk from one to the other, you have done a kind of El Camino, or a walk with Christ's life here on earth from Bethlehem to Calvary, from birth to where he was crucified and made his ascension,” Rohr said.

The parish's status was raised in 1998, when the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops designated the church as a national shrine — one of just five in the country at the time — dedicated to St. Therese of Lisieux, a 19th century Carmelite nun known for her simple life and spiritual habits.

On Jan. 31, 2015, Pope Francis elevated the historic church's status to that of a minor basilica — the first in the history of the Archdiocese of Detroit — in recognition of its vibrant parish life, history and architectural significance. Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron celebrated this recognition during a special Mass on April 22, 2015.

As a basilica, the National Shrine of the Little Flower shares a special connection to the pope and the Church of Rome. Among the privileges of a basilica are the permission to use the papal "crossed keys" on banners and furnishings, and the display of special elements in its sanctuary, including the ombrellino and tintinnabulum. The ombrellino resembles a half-closed umbrella, and the tintinnabulum is a special ceremonial bell, both symbolic of the basilica's readiness to welcome a visit from the Holy Father.

In addition to the graces offered during the jubilee year, the faithful can receive a plenary indulgence any year on special feast days, including the feast of the Chair of St. Peter (Feb. 22), the Solemnity of SS. Peter and Paul (June 29), and the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux (Oct. 1).

Signs of the basilica's devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux are also evident everywhere, including an exterior garden and a special room dedicated to St. Therese's family near the baptistry. A depiction of the "Little Flower" is carved into the wall opposite the basilica's iconic Crucifixion Tower, which overlooks Woodward Avenue and serves as a visually stunning reminder of Jesus' passion, with Christ's Seven Last Words carved beneath the crucifix.

Fr. Bettin added there is so much to see in the parish that tours take more than an hour, and while it is all steeped in spiritual meaning, the heart of the parish is Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, made clear not only by the unique layout of the church, but also by the parish’s commitment to offering 24/7 Eucharistic adoration.

When visiting the tabernacle inside the church, Fr. Bettin encourages pilgrims to look up to the ceiling, where a large window opens up to the sky directly above the Blessed Sacrament.

“You can look above (the tabernacle) and you are looking into the heavenly kingdom reminding of us eternal life,” Fr. Bettin said.

That is what it means to be a pilgrim of hope, he added — hope is the desire to look forward to the heavenly kingdom.

“Oftentimes in the world, people confuse 'hope' with 'wish,' and they use those two terms analogously. Really in the secular, worldly sense, wish is something you want as an end goal — ‘I want to win the lottery,’ or ‘I want a brand new car,’” Fr. Bettin said. “But hope is looking forward with a desire for a particular thing guided by the grace of the Holy Spirit. It is more about your sight being focused on the eternal kingdom, and it is a deep desire for that."

During the Jubilee of Hope, Fr. Bettin invites pilgrims from across southeast Michigan and beyond to experiences the special graces associated with a pilgrimage to the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, including a plenary indulgence for those who fervently pray at one of the 12 pilgrimage sites.

“As pilgrims, we journey with confidence toward that home in heaven,” Fr. Bettin added. “It is connected intricately with trust — trusting in God and His desire that all of us reach the heavenly kingdom.”