Little Flower Parish, located in the village of Middlebranch, originated from a community of Italian immigrants who found work in the area in the early 20th century. For many years, they travelled into Canton to attend Mass, and Cleveland Archbishop Joseph Schrembs established them as a mission of St. Paul Parish. The community chose Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower, as their patron saint, and the old Middlebranch public school was donated and renovated to serve as a chapel. Archbishop Schrembs celebrated the first Mass in the chapel at its dedication on December 15, 1929.
Little Flower became a parish in 1937, when it received its first resident pastor. Thanks to a growing population, the church received significant remodeling and expansions throughout the 1940s, with the addition of a vestibule, a brick veneer and a parish house. At around this time, the parish formed a Men’s Club, which provided social and service-oriented opportunities and helped to support the parish’s finances.
In the 1960s, it became clear that the parish would require further expansion. The community enacted a three-phase program to enhance the life of the parish; a 32-acre plot of land was purchased, and construction of a parish hall, rectory, eight classrooms, and a large temporary church began. These initial stages were completed by 1970. Once they were paid off in 1976, the parish was able to embark on the final phase: the construction of a large new permanent church. The first Mass in the new church was celebrated in May of the following year.The parish received additional upgrades in the 90s, including the renovation and renaming of the parish social hall to Varble Hall in honor of the community’s longest serving pastor, and the addition of outdoor Stations of the Cross and the Grotto of the Resurrection on the parish grounds.
Again, in the mid 2010s, a new program was launched to upgrade the parish facilities. In 2014, a new organ was purchased, among other upgrades, and on November 27, 2022, a new addition was completed and blessed. At around the same time, the parish also instituted a Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program for parish children in Pre-K to fourth grade. The parish name reflects the theology of Saint Thérèse’s “Little Way,” a practice of devoting small, daily acts of service to God.
Description from The March of the Eucharist, 2nd edition (2025) published by The Catholic Echo
