Church of the Little Flower has $13.13 million pledged toward its $13 million centennial campaign. Its new 3,035-pipe organ was dedicated with a concert Saturday.
Church of the Little Flower has passed the $13 million goal of its centennial campaign. The Catholic parish had $13,127,787 pledged as of Oct. 21, according to its centennial campaign page. That is just under 101% of the target. It has collected $9,905,072 of that so far, about 76%.
The money paid for a renovated church and a new pipe organ, the centerpiece of the parish’s 100th anniversary. The organ was dedicated Saturday with a concert by Grammy-winning organist Nathan Laube.
A month of centennial events
The parish and its school, St. Theresa Catholic School, marked the anniversary through October:
- Saturday, Oct. 3: Archbishop Thomas Wenski of the Archdiocese of Miami celebrated the Centennial Mass. It included the blessing of the new organ and the first performance of “A Hymn of St. Theresa” by Craig Phillips, written for the centennial.
- Saturday, Oct. 17: a sold-out Centennial Gala at the Loews Coral Gables Hotel. Items went into a time capsule to be opened at the parish’s bicentennial in 2126. The parish said the gala “helped to officially fill the $13 Million Campaign Thermometer.”
- Saturday, Oct. 24: the Organ Dedication Concert with Laube.
The organ
The instrument is Opus 166 from C.B. Fisk, an organ builder in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The parish calls it South Florida’s first mechanical action pipe organ, which means the keys connect to the pipes through a physical linkage, not electric switches. It has 3,035 pipes, which the Fisk team voiced and tuned in the church from June to September, the parish’s timeline says.
The project had a setback this year. A fire in the Netherlands destroyed the organ’s facade pipes, the polished tin pipes on the front of its cases. Taylor and Boody, an organ builder in Virginia, made replacements, and the parish said they arrived in Coral Gables on Sept. 23 and were installed that week.
The organ played at Sunday Masses for the first time on May 10. The church renovation passed its final building inspection on May 27, according to the parish.
How the parish got here
The parish was founded in 1926, when it had 220 Catholic members, according to its own history. Its first church was Comber Hall, built in 1927 for $75,000 and the main place of worship for 25 years. The current church was built in 1951.
St. Theresa Catholic School began as St. Joseph Academy, which opened Sept. 15, 1925. The school marked its 100th birthday in September 2025.
The centennial plan also includes a multipurpose center for the school. The parish’s plans show classrooms, a performing arts stage, an indoor basketball court, athletic fields and a running track. The parish’s timeline lists approvals from the city’s Board of Architects, Historic Preservation Board and Planning and Zoning Board, and from the Board of County Commissioners in February 2025. It gives no construction start date.
What it means for you
- The church is open again for all Masses. The parish returned to it on Nov. 1, 2025, after the City of Coral Gables issued a temporary certificate of occupancy.
- Anyone can still dedicate one of the organ’s pipes. The parish lists interior pipes at $300 each and facade pipes at $1,000 on its Opus 166 Legacy Pipes page.
- For Mass times and parish events, call the parish office at 2711 Indian Mound Trail, 305-446-9950.
More on the city’s history is in our history and landmarks guide, and weekend events are on things to do.
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