The Church    
Exterior

^Ground was broken on October 3, 1949,

and construction was underway by mid June of 1950 of the current church building of the Shrine of the Little Flower located on Belair Road, between Brendan Avenue and Kentucky Avenues in Baltimore, Maryland.  Father George Larkin had been the Pastor of the parish since May 29, 1942.  The building was dedicated on January 20, 1952, having been designed by Murphy and Locratt of Washington, in the shape of a cross, one side entrance flanking Brendan Avenue and the other side entrance flanking Kentucky Avenue, with the main entrance facing Belair Road.  John McShain, Inc. was the general contractor.

The exterior walls consist of Maryland field stone in a warm range of colors.  The facade and trim consists of Indiana buff limestone.  The roof consists of a green Vermont slate.  Building dimensions are:  fifty-six feet from the ground to the gable; seventy-seven feet from the cross on the front to the basement floor; length is one-hundred-seventy-two feet and width, one-hundred-sixty feet.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is depicted over the left set of the main-entrance doors, with the inscription, "Mary Our Hope".

The tympanum of carved limestone over the center set of the main-entrance doors shows the Lord extending his arms to embrace two children, a boy and a girl.
                               
Inscribed are the words spoken by the Lord, "Unless you become as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven."

St. Joseph is depicted over the right set of the main-entrance doors with the words "Go to Joseph".

High above is a carving with the words "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.  Amen."      

Positioned at the peak of the front gable is a stone-carved Calvary Group: Jesus on the Cross, the Blessed Mother and St. John.

A carved herald angel is on each side of the gable.

Archways of the transepts, or side sections, of the cross-shaped church, have a tympanum carving each.  One tympanum depicts the Infant Jesus in his swaddling clothes with the title "St. Theresa of the Infant Jesus".  The other shows the Veil of Veronica and the words "St. Theresa of the Holy Face".  Hans Schuler and his son of Baltimore made the models for the carvings.  The Heltonville Limestone Company of Bedford, Indiana did the carving.

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