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{{short description|Church in Mumbai, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox church
| icon =
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| name =
| fullname = St. Michael's Church
| other name = Mahim Church
| native_name =
| native_name_lang = mr
|image= St. Michael's Church, Mahim 4.jpg
|caption= Picture of the St. Michael's Church in Mumbai
| pushpin map = Mumbai
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| pushpin mapsize = 270
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| coordinates ={{coord|19.0425|72.8405|display=inline,title}}
| location =[[Mahim]], Bombay (Mumbai)
| country = India
| denomination = [[Roman Catholic]]
| previous denomination =
| tradition = [[Novena]]
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| website = {{URL| www.stmichaelsmahim.com}}
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| founded date = {{start date and age|1534}}
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| functional status = Active
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| deanery =[[List of parishes of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay#North Mumbai Deanery|North Mumbai Deanery]]
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| archdiocese = [[Archdiocese of Bombay]]
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| archbishop = [[Oswald Gracias]]
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| priestincharge = Richard Crasto
| priest = Conrad Pereira
<ref>{{cite web|title=Home - St. Michael's Church|url=http://www.stmichaelsmahim.com|website=www.stmichaelsmahim.com|access-date=10 December 2017|language=en-gb}}</ref>
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'''St. Michael's Church''' is one of the oldest [[Indian Catholics|Catholic]] churches in the [[Mahim]] suburb of Mumbai (Bombay), India.

Because the church is at the junction of Lady Jamshetjee Road and [[Mahim Causeway]] it is sometimes referred to as '''Mahim Church'''.<ref name="Marynews">{{cite web | work=Mary Page News | publisher=[[University of Dayton]] | date=26 January 2001 |url=http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/news01/20010126.html | title=Mary in the Secular Press}}</ref>

As of 2023 the Parish priest was Bernard Lancy Pinto.<ref>[https://www.stmichaelsmahim.com/clergy St Michael’s official website]</ref>

== History ==
{{Cleanup MOS|date=June 2022}}
[[File:St. Michael's Church, Mahim.JPG|thumb|Interior of St. Michael's Church, Mahim (Mumbai, India)]]
Initially known as ''São Miguel'', the original structure at St Michael's is said to have been built as a convent in 1534 by António do Porto, a church builder of the [[Franciscan Order]].<ref name="mahagov">{{cite web | first= T. V. | last=Parvate | work=Maharashtra State Gazetteer | title=Greater Bombay District |url=http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/greater_bombay/people.html | access-date=24 December 2008}}</ref><ref name="Mumbai.org website">[https://www.mumbai.org.uk/religious-places/st-michaels-church.html Mumbai.org website]</ref><ref name="TRB">{{Citation |title=The Rise of Bombay: A Retrospect |last=Edwardes |first=Stephen Meredyth |authorlink=Stephen Edwardes |publisher=Times of India Press |year=1902 |page = 75}}</ref><ref>[https://www.https://www.deccanherald.com/national/west/vandalised-st-michaels-church-has-been-part-of-mumbai-s-long-standing-heritage-1178966.html Deccan Herald website]</ref> With the [[Mahratta Invasion of Bassein]] in 1739, [[Mount Mary Church, Bandra|Our Lady of Mount Bandra]]'s chapel was destroyed by the Portuguese at the instigation of the British. A picture of the [[Blessed Virgin]] was rescued from the church and was taken to St Michael's.<ref name="Mumbai.org website"/> From 1739 to 1761, St Michael's served as a refuge to the popular [[icon]] of the [[Virgin Mary]] which is now placed at the present-day [[Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount|Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount of]] [[Bandra]].

In 1853, St Michael's Church witnessed a struggle of ownership between Bishop Anastasius Hartmann and the [[Portuguese padroado]] order. St Michael's was in control of the [[Apostolic vicariate|vicars apostolic]] for nearly 60 years. In 1853, a discontented group decided that the control be handed back to the ''Padroado'' system. To prevent this, Hartmann - as the vicars' 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. His opponents laid "siege" to the church during 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 the ''padroado'' order.<ref>{{cite book | title=A History of Christianity in India | first=Stephen | last=Neill | pages=290–1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xi-tvrYbYxMC&q=St.+Michael%27s+Bombay&pg=PA290 | year=2002 | publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] | isbn=0-521-89332-1}}</ref>

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".<ref>{{cite book | title=Bombay Place-Names and Street-Names: An Excursion into the by-ways of the history of Bombay City |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924024157954 | first=Samuel T. | last=Sheppard | location=Bombay | publisher=The Times Press | year=1917}}</ref> The present structure of St. Michaels was rebuilt in 1973.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bombay-mumbai-hotels.com/places-of-worship/st-michaels-church.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510093709/http://www.bombay-mumbai-hotels.com/places-of-worship/st-michaels-church.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=10 May 2007 | work=Hotels in Mumbai | title=St Michael's Church Mumbai | access-date=24 December 2008}}</ref>

== Novena ==
[[File:Nossa Senhora do Perpetuo Socorro HD.jpg|thumb|The restored ''[[Our Lady of Perpetual Succour]]'' picture from Rome]]
On Wednesdays novena prayers to [[Our Lady of Perpetual Succour]] are held. Some of them offer wax figures of what they desire; for example, a wax house. A priest, Hugh Fonseca, said around 40–50,000 devotees visit the church every week.<ref name="TOI">{{cite web | url=http://www.mumbaipluses.com/downtownplus/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=2&contentid=2008011720080115155153453e38c6c3d&sectxslt=&comments=true&pageno=1 | work=DownTown Plus | publisher=[[The Times of India]] | date=17 January 2008 | access-date=24 December 2007 | title=Say a little prayer | last=Guha | first=Tresha | archive-date=2 July 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702190052/http://www.mumbaipluses.com/downtownplus/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=2&contentid=2008011720080115155153453e38c6c3d&sectxslt=&comments=true&pageno=1 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Reported "Bleeding" Christ picture ==
{{History of Mumbai}}
On 27 June 2008, thousands of devotees visited St. Michael's to see the picture of [[Jesus]] 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 08:30PM, on the occasion of the feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and were termed a "miracle" by devotees. Not only Christians, but also Hindus and Muslims from Maharashtra and the neighboring states of Goa, Karnataka, and Gujarat, visited the Church to catch a glimpse of the picture. The queue to entering St. Michael's extended more than a kilometer.<ref name ="IBN" /><ref name="mid day" />

Parish Priest Father Raphael and Father Doneth D'Souza from the St. Michael's church as well as [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay|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."<ref name ="IBN">{{cite web | title=Devotees flock to Mahim church to see 'bleeding' Jesus | work=[[CNN-IBN]] |url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/devotess-flock-to-mahim-church-to-see-bleeding-jesus/67921-3.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302085819/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/devotess-flock-to-mahim-church-to-see-bleeding-jesus/67921-3.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 March 2010 | date=28 June 2008 | access-date=24 December 2008}}</ref><ref name="mid day">{{cite web |url=http://www.mid-day.com/news/2008/jun/300608news2.htm | title=Bleeding Jesus is not a miracle: church | date=30 June 2008 | access-date=24 December 2008 | work=[[MiD DAY]] | last=Singh | first=Varun}}</ref>

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.<ref>''No blood in bleeding Jesus’ picture: Study'' September 3, 2008 Indian Catholic</ref>

==Activities==
St Michael's is a ‘go-green’ environmentally friendly parish.<ref>[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/mumbai-cross-country-cycling-for-the-faithful-this-lent-from-st-michaels-church-in-mahim/articleshow/98245398.cms?from=mdr Times of India website, Retrieved 2023-05-18]</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Saint Michael: Roman Catholic traditions and views]]
*[[Weeping Crucifix in Bombay]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://stmichaelsmahim.com Home | St Michael Church, Mahim]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AMiEqUIzVg YouTube: Mass at St. Michael's]

{{Commons category|St. Michael's Church, Mumbai}}
{{Tourist attractions in Mumbai}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Michaels Church, Mumbai}}
[[Category:Roman Catholic church buildings in Mumbai]]
[[Category:1534 establishments in the Portuguese Empire]]

St. Michael's Church, Mumbai - Revision history

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