St. Therese Little Flower

About St. Therese Little Flower

St. Therese Little Flower, also known as St. Therese of Vineland, is a small Catholic mission parish on the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation in Vineland, Minnesota, in the Diocese of St. Cloud. It is the only parish on an American Indian reservation within the diocese, and the smallest: just 49 baptized Catholics across 17 households by the most recent diocesan count. Sunday Mass is celebrated at 11:00 a.m. The mailing address is PO Box 26, Onamia, MN 56359, and the parish shares its Catholic life with three neighboring parishes in the WOHVn in Faith Area Catholic Community.

History of the Parish

The Little Flower Mission was established in 1941 by the Benedictine Sisters of St. Joseph, Minnesota, with Sr. Laura Hesch, O.S.B., as the driving missionary figure. She corresponded from 1938 onward with Ojibwe families, federal agencies, and the Bishop of St. Cloud about acquiring land for the mission and raised support through a Spiritual Mothers' Union; excerpts of her circular letters from 1942–1966 were later published as her memoirs. The present church, designed to honor Ojibwe culture in its architecture and decorations, includes a tabernacle of birch bark and deer skin made by Sr. Mary George Ortmann, O.S.B.

• 1941 — Mission chapel established at Vineland, with St. Therese as patron
• 1938–1967 — Sr. Laura Hesch's correspondence and circular letters preserved at Marquette University
• 1960s–1970s — Sr. Laura and Sr. Mary George Ortmann continue the mission; chronicles kept through 1970
• 2004 — Parishes of southern Mille Lacs form the South Mille Lacs Catholic Community cluster
• 2019 — Cluster reorganized as the WOHVn in Faith Area Catholic Community
• 2024 — Rev. Marvin Enneking appointed pastor of the cluster's four parishes

Ojibwe Mission & Cultural Identity

From its founding, St. Therese Little Flower has served the Mille Lacs Ojibwe community and built its Catholic worship around that heritage. The Diocese of St. Cloud notes that 'the present church reflects the Ojibwe culture in its design and interior decorations' and that 'it is a simple building in a rustic surrounding for all to worship God.' Photographs and records preserved at Marquette University, alongside the parish's surviving devotional art (most notably the birch-bark and deer-skin tabernacle), document a Catholic identity that is simultaneously Roman and Anishinaabe.

• Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) cultural design reflected in architecture and interior
• Little Therese Tabernacle made from birch bark and deer skin by Sr. Mary George Ortmann, O.S.B.
• Only American Indian mission parish in the Diocese of St. Cloud

Clergy & Pastoral Leadership

Since June 26, 2024, St. Therese has been served as part of a four-parish cluster led by pastor Rev. Marvin Enneking, with Rev. Jerome (Jerry) Schik, O.S.C., of the Crosier Fathers and Brothers serving as parochial vicar. Fr. Jerry has long been associated with the parish's outreach to the Mille Lacs community, including its Social Concerns Food Ministry. The Crosier presence in the area goes back to 1910, when the Crosier Fathers and Brothers — founded in 1210 by Theodore de Celles — arrived in Onamia and built a priory and school in 1922.

• Pastor (2024–present): Rev. Marvin Enneking
• Parochial Vicar (2024–present): Rev. Jerome (Jerry) Schik, O.S.C. (Crosier Fathers)
• ACC Pastoral Council representative: Margaret Willis

Ministries & Outreach

Despite its tiny size, St. Therese maintains an active Social Concerns Food Ministry for families on and around the Mille Lacs Reservation. An emergency food pantry located adjacent to Fr. Jerry's office is open seven days a week and is reported to be 'heavily used on weekends' when area schools are closed and children do not have access to school lunches. The parish also participates in the broader WOHVn in Faith ACC ministries and continues the Spiritual Mothers' Union / mission-friendship tradition that Sr. Laura Hesch developed in the 1940s.

• Social Concerns Food Ministry — seven-day-a-week emergency pantry
• Partnership with Holy Cross Onamia, St. Rita Hillman, Sacred Heart Wahkon through the WOHVn ACC
• Spiritual Mothers' Union / mission-friend legacy from the founding Benedictine era

WOHVn in Faith Area Catholic Community

St. Therese belongs to the WOHVn in Faith Area Catholic Community, formed in 2019 from the earlier South Mille Lacs Catholic Community cluster (2004). The ACC takes its name from the first letter of each member town: Wahkon, Onamia, Hillman, and Vineland. Members are Holy Cross (Onamia), St. Rita (Hillman), Sacred Heart (Wahkon), and St. Therese Little Flower (Vineland). The cluster is served by the Crosier Fathers and Brothers of the Onamia priory, who have worked in the area since 1910.

• W – Wahkon (Sacred Heart)
• O – Onamia (Holy Cross)
• H – Hillman (St. Rita)
• Vn – Vineland (St. Therese Little Flower)

Visit, Directions & Accessibility

The church sits on U.S. Highway 169, about 10 miles north of Onamia and across the highway from the Indian Trading Post. Visitor directions note that the driveway is 'several hundred feet just south of the stop-light in front of the Grand Casino' — visitors should be in the southbound lane. Many tourists stop at the simple, rustic chapel during the Mille Lacs lake season. The mailing address for parish business is PO Box 26, Onamia, MN 56359, and the parish phone is (320) 532-3601.

• Address: 43600 Hwy. 169, Vineland, MN 56359
• Mailing: PO Box 26, Onamia, MN 56359
• Phone: (320) 532-3601 (parish); (320) 532-3614 (rectory)
• Popular stopping point for tourists visiting the Mille Lacs area