The National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Michigan is now a Basilica! Pope Francis officially granted the title of Minor Basilica to the Little Flower Shrine in 2014. (To print the Little Flower coloring page click HERE for the PDF. )
I have been very blessed to visit this Little Flower Shrine on several occasions. 
With each visit, I take lots of photos, light many candles for my friends and family
and pray before The Blessed Sacrament in the Adoration chapel. I never tire of the beauty of the Shrine which has an art deco style. The church building is circular with the altar in the center and the shrine chapel off to one side. Inside the shrine chapel is another room with a little museum of artifacts. It was here that I was able to snap a photo from a picture of the Saint Therese and her sister Celine.
From this photo, I was able to create a likeness of the Little Flower.
I used this drawing to make the above coloring page.
I would like to tell you how I came to know the Little Flower. I never could seem to warm up to the Little Flower. What I heard of her and watched in movies, seemed very syrupy and overly sentimental. Sometimes we don’t see ourselves as we really are. I didn’t like the very traits in Saint Therese that I had in myself! And yet I didn’t see these traits in myself. One day a friend pointed out that I was “just like Saint Therese.” I didn’t know what she meant. So I said, “What on earth do you mean?” She said, “You are overly sensitive just like The Little Flower.” I felt both offended that my friend saw my sensitivity in a negative light and happy that I had something, anything, in common with this great Doctor of the Church. So I did two things. (1) I spoke to my confessor about being “overly” sensitive and (2) I soon found a vintage copy of the two part book, Storm of Glory and The Autobiography of St. Therese by the Catholic Family Book Club. I felt relieved after talking to my confessor about being overly sensitive. He told me to rejoice that God has gifted me with the ability to be sensitive to the needs of others and also that being sensitive is what makes me an artist. He said that this is how God has made me and it is a good thing. Over time, I have started to develop a thicker skin. This has come with the realization that no matter what I do someone will find fault in me. One of my favorite illustrators is Brian Wildsmith. I recently found a copy of his book, The Miller, The Boy and The Donkey. This old and out-of-print book was a goldmine for me! It’s a story about how no matter what you do, someone will always criticize what you do, so in unimportant matters, you should just do what you feel is feel is the right thing and be on your way. In the book, the Miller is criticized for letting the little boy walk on the journey, letting the little boy ride on the donkey, riding the donkey himself and so on. Everyone that he met up with had an opinion of how he should proceed on his journey. They all meant well, but they caused him a lot of grief and worry.
After finding the two part book about the Little Flower, I was able to discover just how much I was like Saint Therese in the area of having a sensitive nature and being a bit sentimental, too. After that I started to really like her! It is comforting to find out that there were saints who were sensitive and sentimental. There is hope for me!
You can read more about the National Shrine of the Little Flower HERE
