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St. Michael's Church (Mumbai)
Encyclopedia
St. Michael's Church is one of the oldest Catholic
churches as well as one of oldest existing Portuguese buildings in Mumbai
. The church is situated in Mahim
, located at the intersection of L.J. Road
and Mahim Causeway
. Due to its location, it is also informally known as Mahim Church. The church is famous for its Novena
s on Wednesdays, which is visited by thousands.
The church, originally built in 1534, is rebuilt a number of times, the present structure dating to 1973. The church also served a refuge to popular icon of the Virgin Mary from Our Lady of the Mount chapel, Bandra from 1739 to 1761. In 1853, the Church witnessed a showdown between vicars Apostolic
and the Portuguese padroado
order for the control of the Church. In recent history, on 27 June, 2008, thousands of devotees visited the Church to see a reported "bleeding" Jesus Christ's portrait, which was termed as a "miracle" by devotees. Though on further investigation, the red spots on the picture showed no traces of blood.
Not only Christians, but also adherents of other faiths congregate to pay their respects to the Virgin Mary and attend mass every Wednesday. Devotees believe that visiting the Church on nine consecutive Wednesdays (Novena) will grant their wishes. They offer floral garlands according to the Hindu
customs and repeat prayers before the image. Some of them offer wax figures of what they desire, for example, a wax house. According to Father Hugh Fonseca, around 40-50,000 devotees visit the church every week.
The weekly Novena services were started in 1948, when a priest Fr. Edward Placidus Fernandes from Mumbai noticed a similar ritual celebrating Our Lady of Perpetual Succour at Belfast, Northern Ireland, during his visit to Europe. Fr. Fernandes brought with him a picture touched to the original Our Lady of Perpetual Succour
picture at Rome. On the 8th of September, 1948 - the Birthday of Mary, concurrent with a Wednesday that year, Fr. Fernandes as the vicar
held the first Novena services. Initially, only two services were held every Wednesday, but today from 8:30 am to 10:30 pm, the thirteen services are held in various languages: English, Konkani
, Marathi
, Tamil
and Hindi
.
The original St. Michael's Church is believed to have been built in 1534 by António do Porto, a church builder of the Franciscan Order. Back then, the Church also served as Franciscan convent and was based on the bank of river Mandave. It is described to be a "large and beautiful church ... with large veranda before the portal ..." Since then, St. Michael's was frequently rebuilt, retaining nothing but just original plan.
When the Maratha
s conquered Salsette in 1739, Our Lady of the Mount
chapel in Bandra was destroyed by the Portuguese at the instance of the British so that its location remained secret to the Marathas. In this time, St. Michael's Church was the refuge place for the image of the Blessed Virgin from the chapel. The image remained in St. Michael's till 1761, when it was moved to its present structure in Bandra.
In 1853, St. Michael's Church witnessed a struggle between Bishop Anastasius Hartmann and the padroado order. St. Michael's was in control of the vicars apostolic
for nearly 60 years. In 1853, a discontented group decided that the control be handed over to the padroado party. To prevent this, Hartmann as the vicars's leader, went to the church and declared that "he would rather die a martyr than surrender the church to the schismatics". Hartmann and his followers stayed in the church with enough food and water for 15 days. Hartmann's opponents had laid "siege" to the church in this period, blocking all entrances. On the 15th day, civil authorities intervened and insisted that the church be reopened. Following this, Hartmann lost control of the church, passing it to padroado order.
In his 1917 book, Sheppard remarks that St. Michael's was situated on the Portuguese Church Street and is one of the four "only known Portuguese buildings; and of these no distinguishing original feature survives, as they were much rebuilt". The present structure of St. Michaels was rebuilt in 1973.
called "the Divine Mercy". The picture showed some red spots which were believed to be blood near the heart of Jesus. The spots were noticed on the day at 8.30 pm on the occasion of the feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and were termed as a "miracle" by devotees. Not only Chiristians, but also Hindus and Muslims from Maharashtra and the neighbouring states of Goa, Karnataka and Gujarat, visited the Church to catch a glimpse of the picture. The queue to St. Michael's extended more than a kilometre.
Parish Priest Father Raphael and Father Doneth D'Souza from the St. Michael's church as well as Archbishop
cardinal Oswald Gracias
declined the miracle claim. Fr. D'Souza explained "It's not a blood stain and it's also not a miracle. Every image of Divine Mercy has a red halo around the heart and in this case, the red colour has run because of the moisture in the air. It will look like a blood stain, but it's not."
The image was removed and sent to a scientific analysis on the orders of Oswald Gracias. The result of that study was released in the September archdiocesan weekly and it said that the tests “established that there are no traces of blood in the red rays emanating from the Heart of Jesus in this image of Divine Mercy". Monsoon humidity and changes in the air quality were the suspected causes, Oswald Gracias did not explain the exact reasons.
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
churches as well as one of oldest existing Portuguese buildings in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. The church is situated in Mahim
Mahim
Mahim is a neighbourhood in Mumbai. It is also the name of a railway station in Mahim area, on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Western Railway railway line. In ancient times, the area was known as Maijim, Mejambu, Mahikawati....
, located at the intersection of L.J. Road
Lady Jamshetjee Road, Mumbai
Lady Jamshedjee Road, better known as "L.J. Road", is a major road that runs through Mahim in Mumbai . It is named in honour of Lady Jamshetjee Jeejeebhoy, a philanthropic Parsi lady who funded the construction of Mahim causeway....
and Mahim Causeway
Mahim Causeway
The Mahim Causeway is a vital link road connecting the city of Mumbai with its northern suburbs. The causeway links the neighbourhoods of Mahim to the south with Bandra to the north....
. Due to its location, it is also informally known as Mahim Church. The church is famous for its Novena
Novena
In the Catholic Church, a novena is a devotion consisting of a prayer repeated on nine successive days, asking to obtain special graces. The prayers may come from prayer books, or consist of the recitation of the Rosary , or of short prayers through the day...
s on Wednesdays, which is visited by thousands.
The church, originally built in 1534, is rebuilt a number of times, the present structure dating to 1973. The church also served a refuge to popular icon of the Virgin Mary from Our Lady of the Mount chapel, Bandra from 1739 to 1761. In 1853, the Church witnessed a showdown between vicars Apostolic
Apostolic vicariate
An apostolic vicariate is a form of territorial jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church established in missionary regions and countries that do not have a diocese. It is essentially provisional, though it may last for a century or more...
and the Portuguese padroado
Padroado
The Padroado , was an arrangement between the Holy See and the kingdom of Portugal, affirmed by a series of treaties, by which the Vatican delegated to the kings of Spain and Portugal the administration of the local Churches...
order for the control of the Church. In recent history, on 27 June, 2008, thousands of devotees visited the Church to see a reported "bleeding" Jesus Christ's portrait, which was termed as a "miracle" by devotees. Though on further investigation, the red spots on the picture showed no traces of blood.
Novena
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
customs and repeat prayers before the image. Some of them offer wax figures of what they desire, for example, a wax house. According to Father Hugh Fonseca, around 40-50,000 devotees visit the church every week.
The weekly Novena services were started in 1948, when a priest Fr. Edward Placidus Fernandes from Mumbai noticed a similar ritual celebrating Our Lady of Perpetual Succour at Belfast, Northern Ireland, during his visit to Europe. Fr. Fernandes brought with him a picture touched to the original Our Lady of Perpetual Succour
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Catholic Primary School is a Roman Catholic primary school located in West Pymble, a leafy residential area on the North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.- School history :...
picture at Rome. On the 8th of September, 1948 - the Birthday of Mary, concurrent with a Wednesday that year, Fr. Fernandes as the vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
held the first Novena services. Initially, only two services were held every Wednesday, but today from 8:30 am to 10:30 pm, the thirteen services are held in various languages: English, Konkani
Konkani language
KonkaniKonkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north...
, Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
, Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
and Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
.
History
When the Maratha
Maratha
The Maratha are an Indian caste, predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. The term Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people;...
s conquered Salsette in 1739, Our Lady of the Mount
Mount Mary Church, Bandra
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount, more commonly known as Mount Mary Church, is a Roman Catholic church located in Bandra, Mumbai. The church is one of the most visited churches in the city. Every September, the feast of St. Mary is celebrated on the first Sunday after 8 September, the birthday...
chapel in Bandra was destroyed by the Portuguese at the instance of the British so that its location remained secret to the Marathas. In this time, St. Michael's Church was the refuge place for the image of the Blessed Virgin from the chapel. The image remained in St. Michael's till 1761, when it was moved to its present structure in Bandra.
In 1853, St. Michael's Church witnessed a struggle between Bishop Anastasius Hartmann and the padroado order. St. Michael's was in control of the vicars apostolic
Apostolic vicariate
An apostolic vicariate is a form of territorial jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church established in missionary regions and countries that do not have a diocese. It is essentially provisional, though it may last for a century or more...
for nearly 60 years. In 1853, a discontented group decided that the control be handed over to the padroado party. To prevent this, Hartmann as the vicars's leader, went to the church and declared that "he would rather die a martyr than surrender the church to the schismatics". Hartmann and his followers stayed in the church with enough food and water for 15 days. Hartmann's opponents had laid "siege" to the church in this period, blocking all entrances. On the 15th day, civil authorities intervened and insisted that the church be reopened. Following this, Hartmann lost control of the church, passing it to padroado order.
In his 1917 book, Sheppard remarks that St. Michael's was situated on the Portuguese Church Street and is one of the four "only known Portuguese buildings; and of these no distinguishing original feature survives, as they were much rebuilt". The present structure of St. Michaels was rebuilt in 1973.
Reported "Bleeding" Christ picture
On 27 June, 2008, thousands of devotees visited St. Michael's to see the picture of JesusJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
called "the Divine Mercy". The picture showed some red spots which were believed to be blood near the heart of Jesus. The spots were noticed on the day at 8.30 pm on the occasion of the feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and were termed as a "miracle" by devotees. Not only Chiristians, but also Hindus and Muslims from Maharashtra and the neighbouring states of Goa, Karnataka and Gujarat, visited the Church to catch a glimpse of the picture. The queue to St. Michael's extended more than a kilometre.
Parish Priest Father Raphael and Father Doneth D'Souza from the St. Michael's church as well as Archbishop
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay is a particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in India. The archdiocese has been a metropolitan see since the time it was elevated by Pope Leo XIII on September 1, 1886. The ecclesiastical province of Bombay includes the suffragan dioceses of Nashik,...
cardinal Oswald Gracias
Oswald Gracias
Oswald Gracias is a Goan Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He serves as Archbishop of Bombay, having been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on 14 October 2006, and was raised to the cardinalate in 2007...
declined the miracle claim. Fr. D'Souza explained "It's not a blood stain and it's also not a miracle. Every image of Divine Mercy has a red halo around the heart and in this case, the red colour has run because of the moisture in the air. It will look like a blood stain, but it's not."
The image was removed and sent to a scientific analysis on the orders of Oswald Gracias. The result of that study was released in the September archdiocesan weekly and it said that the tests “established that there are no traces of blood in the red rays emanating from the Heart of Jesus in this image of Divine Mercy". Monsoon humidity and changes in the air quality were the suspected causes, Oswald Gracias did not explain the exact reasons.