St. Michael’s Church (built 1534)
One of the seven islands of Bombay, Mahim was the most important village during the Portuguese period (1508-1665). The Franciscans Fathers built two churches on this island, St. Michael’s at Upper Mahim and Our lady of Salvation at Lower Mahim today called Dadar. The Church of St. Michael’s was built in 1534 on the north western extremity of the island a the very edge of the Mahim creek that separates Bombay from Salsette Island.
A visitor by the name of Burnell describes the island and the Church in this way quoted by (meersman 1957:62) “ on the northwest point os the island is Mahim seated, being a pretty large town hath an indifferent Buzar, the buildings being brick and covered with pantile. By the river fronting the Mandov (Custom House) stands a large and beautiful Church, being a convent of the Franciscans with a large verandah before the portal and at a small distance on the road, a large wooden cross set in brick work pedestal”.
The Church of St. Michael has now become a shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a centre that has spread greatly the devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour where huge crowds of all faiths are seen at the novenas every Wednesday. To cater to these huge crowds the church remodeled to a new and modern spacious one in 1973 where it celebrated the Silver Jubilee of the Perpetual Succour Novenas.
Courtesy: East Indian Calendar 2006