Our Lady of Health Cavel

he 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. 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

The Church will undergo major repairs and we would require your help in getting this done.We request all well wishers, Ex parishioners to kindly send in your contributions to raise funds for the renovation of this beautiful church