The Little Rose Chapel Shrine
Tucked away in Taylor, Michigan, is a small shrine where visitors have reported extraordinary occurrences: statues that appear to smile, weep, or bleed, and images of Jesus and the Blessed Mother seemingly appearing in trees and clouds.
Pilgrims have traveled from California, Mexico, Spain, and France, while priests have journeyed from China, Medjugorje, and the Philippines to pray and receive blessings. Yet remarkably few Detroiters know this spiritual treasure exists in their own backyard.
The chapel is devoted to prayer, healing, and reparation, carrying forward Little Rose’s spiritual legacy. Many of her relics and devotional items are preserved at the shrine, including bones, garments, rosaries, and other items associated with her life.
After years of illness, Marie Anctil became so weak that she could barely walk, pushing a chair across the floor and leaning on it for support. She rarely left her home.
A friend told Marie Anctil about Little Rose and she prayed to her. She immediately experienced what she described as a brilliant healing. She was able to stand and walk again.
In gratitude, she fulfilled her promise to God and Little Rose by creating this sacred place of prayer and devotion.
Mrs. Anctil first created a small shrine in the corner of her garage. She later dedicated the garage as a chapel. As the shrine grew, a larger shrine and new garage were built where the original house had stood, using money Mrs. Anctil earned babysitting.
The chapel holds approximately 50 people and contains thousands of prayer petitions, countless rosaries, and many devotional objects. Petitions have been blessed by visiting priests and entrusted to the intercession of Little Rose. The walls display photographs, canes, crutches, and other objects left by people who believe their prayers were answered or that they experienced healing.
One of the chapel’s most distinctive objects is a large Sacred Heart statue encased in glass. Marie would bring petitions to priests and a bishop, asking that Masses be offered for those seeking prayer and healing.
Visitors have reported that the statue sometimes appears to smile, with what seem to be teeth visible beneath its closed lips. Photographs have also been described as showing unusual light around its eyes or face.
Visitors have reported other extraordinary experiences at the shrine, including powerful fragrances resembling roses, oil, or blood, and images of Jesus or the Blessed Mother appearing in trees and clouds.
In June 1995, after Wilfred’s death, Mrs. Anctil fulfilled another vow to dedicate her life to God and became a nun, taking the name Mother Marie. She became a beacon in the community,. growing a garden, feeding the hungry, opening a religious store, and praying with anyone who came to the chapel.
Mother Marie died in 2009, passing her legacy to her daughter, Diane Dyer. For the next 17 years, Diane faithfully kept the chapel and continued her mother’s work, preserving the shrine and its memory.
In 2026, Diane unfortunately left this earth and passed that torch to her sons, John and Brian to continue their family’s legacy: honoring their grandmother Mother Marie, preserving the Little Rose Chapel for all who seeking prayer, hope, healing, and peace.
