Mount Mary Church – Bandra, Mumbai

Описание: The Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount, more commonly known as Mount Mary Church, is a Roman Catholic Basilica located in Bandra, Mumbai. The feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated here on the first Sunday after 8 September, the birthday of the Virgin Mary. The feast is followed by a week-long celebration known locally as the Bandra Fair and is visited by thousands of people.
The shrine attracts people from all faiths who pray to the Virgin Mary for expressing their gratitude or requesting favours.

The main doors of Colaba’s Holy Name Church and Bandra’s Mount Mary Church have been declared ‘Holy Doors of Mercy’. These doors will now become pilgrimage sites for Catholics to walk though, asking for grace, purification and forgiveness from sins. Both doors will remain open to the public until November 13 2016. This follows Pope Francis’s declaration of this being a ‘year of mercy’ and his historic order to open such doors in designated churches in every diocese for community members who cannot journey to Rome. Until now, there had been only one Holy Door of Mercy at the Vatican, a side door that had been specially designated for this purpose.
Although the current church edifice is just 100 years old, the history behind the current statue of Our Lady goes back to the 16th century when Jesuit priests from Portugal brought the statue to the current location and constructed a chapel. In 1700 Arab pirates interested in the gilt-lined object held in the hand disfigured the statue by cutting off the right hand.{{fact}}

In 1760, the church was rebuilt and the statue was substituted with a statue of Our Lady of Navigators in St. Andrew's church nearby. This statue has an interesting legend. It goes that a Koli fisherman dreamt that he would find a statue in the sea. The statue was found floating in the sea between 1700 and 1760. A Jesuit Annual Letter dated to 1669 and published in the book St. Andrew's Church, Bandra (1616–1966) supports this claim. The Koli Fishermen call the statue as Mot Mauli, literally meaning The Pearl Mother (Mot= Moti= pearl and Mauli= Mother). However the previous statue is now restored and now enjoys the place of honour in the basilica. Both Hindu and Christian Kolis visit this shrine often giving it a kind of syncretic nature.

Address:
Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount
Bandra(West),Mumbai 400 050.

Feast Day – Celebrated on the 8th September

Mass timings

Weekdays –
6:00 am (English)
7:15 am (English)
6:00 pm (Holy Hour – ONLY on First Friday)
8:00 am – 1:00 pm (Devotees allowed to visit and pray at the Basilica)
2:00 pm – 8:30 pm (Devotees allowed to visit and pray at the Basilica)

Saturdays –
6:00 am (English)
7:15 am (English)
8:00 am – 1:00 pm (Devotees allowed to visit and pray at the Basilica)
2:00 pm – 8:30 pm (Devotees allowed to visit and pray at the Basilica)

Sundays –
6:30 am (English)
7:30 am (English)
8:30 am (English)
9:30 am (English)
10:30 am – 8:30 pm (Devotees allowed to visit and pray at the Basilica)
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm (Prayers for those with special needs at the Basilica)