Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica, affectionately known as “the Mission Church,” is located on a hilltop in the Roxbury section of Boston. The Redemptorist Fathers have had a presence here on Mission Hill since 1869. The church was dedicated in 1878, and its twin 215-foot spires were added in 1910. The church was raised to the status of a basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1954, and the Boston Landmarks Commission designated the entire church property a Boston Landmark in 2004.
A replica icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was installed over the main altar of the original church in 1871. Not long after, cures were reported—and continue to be reported—attributed to the intercession of Our Lady. When the new church was built, the picture was relocated to the new Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on the west side of the church. Nearly every Catholic newspaper in the eastern United States, at one time or another, has carried accounts of miracles authenticated at this famous Shrine.
The Hutchings organ was installed in 1897. It was one of the first organs in the country to successfully use electric action, which Hutchings invented and patented. The organ has 62 stops and close to 3,200 pipes.
On October 3, 2022, we recorded the following hymns at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help:
1. Jerusalem, My Happy Home
2. Sing Praise To The Lord
3. Of All The Queens In The Month Of May
4. Thy Will Be Done
5. Our Father
6. O Mother of Perpetual Help (Novena Hymn)
7. Just For Today
8. The Road To Calvary
9. Saviour, Take This Heart of Mine
10. Lo, ‘Tis The Hour
11. O Happy Flowers
12. Hail Mary
13. Salve Mater Misericordiae
14. Mother of Mercy
The singers:
Frankie Campofelice
Barbara Hill
Dan Meyers
Teri Kowiak, director
Peter Krasinski, organ
Corey Sherman, sound engineer
(photo credit: by Bill Damon, CC-BY-2.0)