Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica
aka Mission Church
aka Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
1545 Tremont Street; Boston, MA 02120
One of the most prominent structures in the Mission Hill Neighborhood is
the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Built in 1870, this Catholic church
was named for the preachers who preached their missions, hence the Mission
Church.
The Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a Roman Catholic
Basilica in Boston, Massachusetts, sometimes known as Mission Church.
The Redemptorist Fathers built a modest wooden mission church on the
location in 1870. The current church structure was first built in 1878, of
Roxbury puddingstone; its spires were added in 1910. Due to the church's sloping
foundation, the west cross tops its tower at 215 feet; the other spire is
two feet shorter. The length of the church is also 215 feet, presenting a
perfect proportion. The church was elevated to basilica status in 1956 by Pope
Pius XII.
It is located on Tremont Street, almost at the center Mission Hill, a 0.75
square miles Boston neighborhood of approximately 18,000 people.
The church is considered the symbol of the neighborhood, to which it gives its
name.
Senator Edward Kennedy's funeral took place there on August 29, 2009. He
had often prayed at the church due to its proximity to the hospitals in the
Longwood Medical Area of Boston, where he had visited sick and injured members
of his family.