Description:
In July of 1914, three Spanish priests of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, Fathers Cirilio Corbat, Luis Benages and Bernardo Broton arrived in Oklahoma seeking to establish a mission. They had only months before escaped the wrath of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa when he allowed them to leave their mission in Torreon, Mexico despite his attack on the Church and the government. Through a serious of conicidences, the trio arrived at the Benedictine Abbey in Sacred Heart where Bishop Theophile Meerschaert presided over the Diocese of Oklahoma. The Bishop ordered the priests to Pittsburgh County where they were to serve the large numbers of Catholics working in that coal-mining region most of whom did not speak English (they were Polish, Mexican, Italian and other nationalities).
Later, as Oklahoma City’s Mexican population began to grow (from about 2500 in 1910 to over 7500 in 1930) the Bishop realized a need for a Spanish-speaking clergy to minister to this largely poor and uneducated population. The Mexican community had largely concentrated in the Riverside area of south Oklahoma City due to its proximity to the main employers of the group: the meat packing industry and the railroads. The area was also very susceptible to flooding by the then untamed North Canadian River which made housing affordable, though not always desirable. In 1921 the Bishop placed all Mexican Catholics in the state under the care of the Carmelites and in 1922 Father Eduardo Soler arrived to establish a permanent mission. Our Lady of Mount Carmel Chapel was built and began to serve the surrounding community. The church quickly became the focal point for the Mexican community as a school, community center and print shop were established and local doctors and dentists operated a free clinic on the site.
By 1926 the mission had grown to such an extent that the small chapel would no longer suffice. Plans were drawn up for the Shrine of our Lady of Carmel and Ste. Therese to be built adjacent to the smaller chapel. Architects Vernon & Reid designed the building and Reinhart & Donovan constructed it. The original design was to be a grand $500,000 shrine to Ste. Therese (the Little Flower) of Lisieux, but after threats from the local Ku Klux Klan, Bishop Francis Kelly ruled a more modest $100,000 design would have to do. On March 24, 1927 the beautiful building was dedicated. The photo above is from that dedication and shows the Knights of Columbus assisting the priests in dedicating the Shrine. The men on the far left await the emergence of the bishop from the old chapel while the procession is lead by Brother Luis Duran, followed by Jerome Castellet, Ramon Gomez, Anselm Valero, Grand Knight John Wilkinson and other Knights singing a processional hymn.
Little Flower, or Florecita, as it is called by its adoring Hispanic parishoners continues to serve the community today as it has for 80 years.
Thanks to Father John Michael of the Oklahoma Carmelite Archives for his assistance
FURTHER READING
Monahan, David, One Family: One Century: A Pictographic History of the Catholic Church in Oklahoma 1875-1975. Oklahoma City: Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, 1977.
Smith, Michael M. The Mexicans in Oklahoma. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980.