Little Flower New Church Groundbreaking - El Paso, TX, 1990

St. Therese of the Little Flower Catholic Church began as a mission of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Ysleta. At first, Little Flower was located at the end of George Orr Road about a mile north of the Rio Grande River. During the Depression, a group of farmers and laborers decided they needed a schoolhouse for their children and a place for worship. The school was turned into a chapel and named San Isidro, the patron saint of farmers. Then in 1939, Father Aloysius A. Ochoa, S.J. was notified that the church must move since the land was owned by the Martinez Company. Father Ochoa collected donations to purchase a new location and Bishop Schuler petitioned the Catholic Church Catholic Extension which provided $1,000. The new church was located on Alameda Street and named after St. Therese of Child Jesus, also known as Little Flower, a French Carmelite nun. Little Flower was built with stones from the Franklin Mountains. The confessional was built by Francisco Santini and his daughter, Trinidad Diaz, and the first pews and Way of the Cross were donated by the Sisters of St. Margaret Orphanage. Mr. and Mrs. George Orr donated the statue of St. Therese. Bishop Schuler dedicated Little Flower Church in October 1939. The Alameda Street location served the parishioners well as a place to worship and as a community to celebrate the important events in their lives. The church was small with a capacity for only 100 worshippers and as the number of parishioners grew, so did the need for a bigger church. In 1990, Father Serafin Pineda, O.A.R. and the parishioners built the new church on Polo Inn Road that seats 350 worshippers. On March 18, 1990, Bishop Peña elevated Little Flower to parish status. http://www.elpasodiocese.org/little-flower.html