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Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Boston
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| Location: | 1545 Tremont Street; Boston, MA 02120 |
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| Built: | 1878, towers added 1910 |
| Architect: | Schickel and Ditmars, towers by Franz Joseph Untersee |
| Architectural style: | Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival |
| Governing body: | Private (located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston) |
| NRHP Reference#: | 89001747 [1] |
| Added to NRHP: | November 6, 1989 |
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 (66 m); the other spire is two feet shorter. The length of the church is also 215 feet (66 m), 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 (1.9 km2)[2] 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.