Church of Our Lady of Health, Cavel

Church of Our Lady of Health, Cavel
18°56′57″N 72°50′26″E / 18.949126°N 72.840557°E / 18.949126; 72.840557Coordinates: 18°56′57″N 72°50′26″E / 18.949126°N 72.840557°E / 18.949126; 72.840557
Location Cavel, Mumbai
Country India
Denomination Roman Catholic
History
Founded 1794
Architecture
Status Parish Church
Functional status Active
Administration
Archdiocese Archdiosese of Bombay
Clergy
Archbishop Oswald Cardinal Gracias

The Church of Our Lady of Health, Cavel is a Roman Catholic church under the Archdiocese of Bombay. It was built by the Portuguese in 1794,[1] [2] when it was a chapel under the Padroado jurisdiction.


History

When the old chapel began to decay, a new Church was built in 1812 and was remodelled in 1971. There is a beautiful grotto with the statue of the Our Lady of Immaculate Conception, in front of the church.[3] The beautiful Main Altar, is a historical monument, elaborately carved in rosewood and delicately encrusted in gold, presumably of Portuguese origin. It had once graced the Domenican Convent at Goa from where, it was bodily transferred by country craft in the year 1857. In the altar's niche, a beautiful statue of Mother Mary with the Infant Jesus in her arms, occupies pride of place. The altar also embodies the Tabernacle in which the Holy Eucharist (Blessed Sacrament) is present 24 hours of the day and has been so for nearly 200 years.

The Church is home to the first Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul when it came to Mumbai in 1862. The Conference of Our Lady of Hope, Bhuleshwar, was established by Fr. Leo Meurin, S.J. (later Bishop Meurin of Bombay) in the Cathedral there. With the closure of the Cathedral in 1942, the Conference was transferred to the Church of Our Lady of Health, Cavel.[4]

References

  1. ↑ The Origin of Bombay. Joseph Gerson Da Cunha. Asian Educational Services. 1900. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  2. ↑ "Will old churches get new tenants?". Daily News & Analysis. 7 September 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  3. ↑ "Places - Churches". Maharashtra State Gazetteers, Greater Bombay District. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  4. ↑ "S.V.P. completes 150 years in India". Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
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