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Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians, Shillong (Meghalaya)

 

The Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians is one of the most beautiful churches and is perched on a hill. It is located in the Laitumkhrah locality in Shillong. It has high arches and stained glass windows which add to its grandeur. Directly below, carved out of the hill is the Grotto Church.

This Cathedral is named after Mary the mother of Jesus Christ. Besides being the pride of the Catholics of the region, the church has also become a great tourist attraction. In 1980, the centenary year of the Catholic Church in North East India, the then Archbishop, the late Rt. Rev. Hubert D’Rosario, declared the Cathedral Church a shrine, duly approved to be a pilgrimage centre. Since then special church services are held here every Wednesday the year round. Besides, Novena devotions lasting nine days to obtain special requests are also held regularly from the 16th to the 24th of every month. Over the decades the Cathedral Church has also become a house where people of other faiths also come to pray, seeking blessings and Divine favours through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.Its high location and alluring design has also made the church a prominent landmark of Shillong. It is said, on a clear day from this vantage point where the Church stands, the mighty Brahmaputra and the snow-crowned peaks of the Himalayas can be seen. 

Shillong has, within its fold, a number of churches and cathedrals as if to justify the desire of the British to make the city of Shillong a little England. Some of these churches are so spacious and large that they can easily accommodate a few thousand worshippers. 

Among such large churches of Shillong, mention can be made of the Shillong Cathedral, the Mawkhar Presbyterian Church, the Laitumkhrah Presbyterian Church and the All Saints’ Cathedral as prominent landmarks of the City.