About Shrine of the Little Flower of Jesus · Buffalo, New York
The Shrine of the Little Flower of Jesus in Buffalo, New York was a National Shrine attached to the Discalced Carmelite Monastery of the Little Flower of Jesus, located at 75 Carmel Road in North Buffalo. Founded in 1920 by Mother Mary Elias of the Blessed Sacrament, OCD, the monastery chapel was the first church in the world to take Saint Thérèse of Lisieux as its titular saint, dedicated on the very day of her canonization, May 17, 1925. The community of Discalced Carmelite nuns lived a contemplative, cloistered life there for 103 years, offering the daily Latin Mass (in the extraordinary form) to the faithful and welcoming pilgrims drawn to the 'Little Way' of Saint Thérèse. In January 2024, the 14 remaining nuns departed Buffalo for Jacksonville, Florida, and the monastery building in North Buffalo is no longer in use as a place of public worship.
- Established
- 1920
- Patron
- St. Thérèse of Lisieux (the Little Flower of Jesus)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Buffalo
Why belong here
For more than a century this was one of the most distinctive places of prayer in Western New York — a National Shrine dedicated to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, the first church in the world to take her as its titular patron, where Discalced Carmelite nuns offered the daily Latin Mass in choir and welcomed the public behind the grille. Visitors came to sit in the chapel that so many described as filled with a 'profound sense of peace,' to honor Saint Thérèse's 'Little Way,' and to draw near to a strictly cloistered contemplative community that lived the full Carmelite rule and habit.
The Shrine of the Little Flower of Jesus
For more than a century this North Buffalo monastery chapel was a National Shrine dedicated to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, the 'Little Flower of Jesus.' It was the first church in the world to take Saint Thérèse as its titular patron, with its chapel formally dedicated on May 17, 1925 — the day of her canonization in Rome. GCatholic also classifies it among the churches designated for the Jubilee of Mercy in 2016 and the 'Churches in the Path of Totality.' After 103 years of continuous Carmelite contemplative life, the community relocated to Florida in January 2024, and the Carmel Road property is no longer in use as a place of worship.
- Founded 1920 on Cottage Street, then moved to 75 Carmel Road, North Buffalo.
- National Shrine of the Little Flower of Jesus (Diocese of Buffalo).
- First church in the world dedicated to St. Thérèse as titular.
- Community departed Buffalo on January 14, 2024 during a blizzard.
History of the Buffalo Carmel
The community's origin story is inseparable from that of its foundress, Mother Mary Elias of the Blessed Sacrament, OCD (1879–1943). Originally a Discalced Carmelite in revolutionary Mexico, she was arrested in December 1914 and brought before a firing squad for refusing to renounce her vocation. As she knelt she prayed: 'Little Thérèse, if you are a saint… deliver us, and I promise to found a Monastery in your honor.' The guns fired, the nuns collapsed, and when they regained consciousness they were unharmed — though their habits were bloodied. Mother kept her word and, six years later, founded the Buffalo Carmel in 1920.
Founder — Mother Mary Elias of the Blessed Sacrament, OCD
Mother Mary Elias directed the new foundation in Buffalo from its beginnings in 1920 and oversaw the chapel's consecration to Saint Thérèse in 1925. In 1923 she left Buffalo with other sisters to establish the Carmel of Schenectady, handing leadership of the Buffalo community to her co-foundress.
Co-Foundress — Mother Mary of Saint John of the Cross, OCD
Born Alice Buxbaum in England on August 27, 1876 — the feast of the Transverberation of St. Teresa of Avila — the future Mother Mary of Saint John of the Cross was raised in a household where God's name could not be spoken. Two Catholic schoolteachers in Mexico planted the seed of faith in her, she converted, and after entering the Carmel of Grand Rapids she was chosen by Mother Elias for the 1920 Buffalo foundation. As Prioress she combined firm, steady discipline with great tenderness, celebrated feast days with Gregorian chant, painted life-size crucifixes still treasured by the community, and provided for her daughters' material and spiritual needs.
Carmelite Contemplative Life at Buffalo
The community lived according to the authentic charism of St. Teresa of Avila: 'trustful simplicity and joyful penance, willing obedience and liberating poverty, fruitful chastity and total surrender to the Divine Spouse.' The nuns wore the full Carmelite habit, observed strict papal enclosure, and cherished traditional monastic customs including Latin Mass and Gregorian chant. The community was a member of the St. Joseph Association of Discalced Carmelites and followed Spanish-Mexican devotional customs inherited from the founding nuns.
- Strict Papal enclosure (cloistered life).
- Divine Office in Latin with Gregorian chant.
- Daily Mass in the extraordinary form (Latin / usus antiquior).
- Member community of the St. Joseph Federation/Association of Discalced Carmelites.
- Spanish and Mexican devotional customs preserved.
Liturgy and Devotions
Public Mass with the nuns attending from behind the grille was the most accessible feature of the monastery. The Mass was celebrated in Latin according to the extraordinary form by Carmelite chaplains, and the nuns prayed the Divine Office in Latin with Gregorian chant from choir. Visitors were warmly invited to share in Saint Thérèse's 'Little Way' of spiritual childhood.
- Daily Latin Mass (extraordinary form / usus antiquior).
- Public devotions centered on the Little Flower of Jesus.
- Mothers praying the Divine Office behind the grille.
The Move to Florida (January 2024)
In October 2023 the community announced that the surrounding North Buffalo neighborhood — quiet a century ago — no longer offered the silence their cloistered life required, and that friends had offered them a spacious property in the Diocese of St. Augustine. Bishop Michael W. Fisher of Buffalo acknowledged the departure 'with a heavy heart'; Bishop Erik T. Pohlmeier of St. Augustine warmly welcomed the 14 nuns to Jacksonville. After an arduous departure on January 14, 2024 through a Buffalo blizzard, the community arrived in Florida the next day and was soon blessed to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche.
- Farewell letter issued October 2023.
- Departed Buffalo 14 January 2024; arrived Jacksonville 15 January 2024.
- 14 nuns relocated to the Diocese of St. Augustine.
- Carmel Road chapel and monastery no longer in use.
Visiting the Carmel Road Property
Until the community's departure, the monastery chapel and gift shop were open to the public Monday through Friday, 11:30 AM–3:00 PM, with weekends closed to preserve the nuns' enclosure. Following the relocation to Florida the Carmel Road chapel is no longer accessible to the public, and visitors seeking the sisters are directed to the community's current site in the Diocese of St. Augustine.
- Public hours (historical): Mon–Fri 11:30 AM–3:00 PM; Sat–Sun closed.
- Address: 75 Carmel Road, Buffalo, NY 14214.
- Community contact now via carmellittleflower.org.
Patron and Devotion to Saint Thérèse
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, the Discalced Carmelite of Lisieux whose autobiography 'Story of a Soul' made her the most beloved modern Catholic saint, has been the spiritual patroness of the Buffalo monastery since its very beginning. She answered Mother Elias's prayer of 1914, and the Buffalo Carmel has cherished her 'Little Way' of spiritual childhood — trust in God, humility, and acts of charity done for love rather than show.