India’s Only Saint Mother Teresa Church at Virar Near Mumbai

“Virar, a far north suburban location of Mumbai at Thane / Palghar District has the only ‘Blessed Mother Teresa Church’ in complete Maharashtra state or say India. The idea inside the land donor’s mind (Mrs Sunita Philip Tuscanoy) from Nandakhal Medodi village (Near Virar) of away of giving back respect to Mother came back in 2007. The foundation stone was laid on 25th January 2008 at selected location adjacent to Virar railway station in West, Which finally got inaugurated on 1st February 2015. 4th September 2016, St. Mother Teresa which is known for her noble services and devotion towards people world wide was declared Saint (St.) by Pope Frances at Rome and thus the St. Blessed Mother Teresa Church is now a holy attraction of Virar and soon thousands of tourist will come to see from far..”

Courtesy : Very grateful and thankful to Fr.Philip Vaz who spent few minutes and helped me allow inside blessed church to take lovely pictures and videos for this page. He also helped with some real good information as detailed below and also inside the video. The story of big hearted faithful who donated everything that one sees inside the church, What a noble cause. Also thankful to Mr. Santan John Sequeira for few other details.

Updates October 2016 : Mother Teresa’s India’s Only Church is becoming a Shrine and required to collect enough fund (Amounting Rs.2 Crores) and have issued a letter to the community.

Those who want to support the cause can donate at below given Band details or call upon the given contact numbers of the trust.

In The Name of : Blessed Mother Teresa Church
Bank : Bassein Catholic Co-Op Bank
Branch : Virar West, 401303.
Account : 034100100000089.
MICR Code : 400238034
IFSC Code : BAC80000034
PAN NO. : AACTB1107F

History Of St. Mother Teresa Church

Mother Teresa was a Robin Hood woman by herself who went to Europe to get money from riches and used for poor here in our country. Below is what the Historic sketch board inside says.

• Formation : In the year 2007, Blessed Mother Teresa Parish was formed in Virar West and dedicated to our patron.
• Land Donation : Mrs Sunita Philip Tuscano donated 7 gunthas of land towards this church.
• Foundation Stone : Was laid by Bishop Thomas Dabre on 26th January 2008 an was blessed and inaugurated on 1st February 2015 by his grace, Archbishop Felix Machado during his tenure of his excellency, Dr.Pranab Mukherjee as President and Mr.Narendra Modiji as prime minister of India.
• Construction Technique : The first slab of the church was constructed using a modern technique called ‘post tension’ having a span of 45 to 50 Sq.ft without a pillar or a beam. A post tensioned slab is a slab of concrete which has been re-stressed using a specific method to increase the strength of the concrete.
• Architectural Design : The Church’s architectural design is based on the theme of bread and wine which is depected on the stained glass ventilators, the marble lectern. the altar and the tabernacle.
• Main Theme : The main theme of the church is ‘I Thirst’ Thus, the centre piece which is the crucifix, depicts the last moments of Jesus’s death, where he is asking his mother, who is standing at the foot of the cross for a drink of water. We also see, the eyes of Jesus on the cross are wide open, his head is held upright and his side is not pierced.
• The Statue of Mother Teresa : This is the first ever statue to be carved out of one single piece of Makrana marble from Jaipur (India). The weight of this statue is 1080 Kgs.
• Relic : The relic of blood of St. Mother Teresa is also available for veneration.
• The Stained Glass Ventilators : Depicts 12 apostles, symbols of 4 gospel writers and some significant symbols of church.
• The Stations of the Cross : Depicts the passion of Jesus Christ as he walked the way to Calvary.
• Seating : Church has fifty benches which accommodates 300 faithful. All the furniture in the church is of teak wood Bilimora.
• Layout : Church has no windows, but ten doors. When the doors are opened, One can see the altar from any angle.
• Contribution : Each family in the parish has contributed according to their means towards the construction of the Church, This is the only church which has no Donors inscriptions in the church premises and walls.
• Appreciation : The parishioners of the Blessed Mother Teresa Church remain every grateful to their parish priest, Rev. Fr. Michael Rosario for his sacrifice, dedication and determination to complete the herculean task of constructing the long awaited church with limited finance. He worked in the parish from May 2010 to May 2016.

Story Behind This Church Of Virar

Every church has its valuable historic information and a story behind. I hope, Like the famous yearly church fair at Mount Mary Bandra, soon this church will be crowded from people around world.

The intense feel and idea of a way to give back the respect to the internationally famous and blessed mother came inside mind of Mrs Sunita Philip Tuscano to build up a church and thus donated 7 Guntha land at prime location. It was somewhere around 2007 when St. Mother gave her personal presence at Vasai Virar location. She visited Vasai and then Virar locations and gave her gracious presence and blessings at cardinal gracious memorial hospital at Bangli Naka, Bassein Road, Sandor, Vasai West and then at Holy Spirit Church at Nandakhal, a village inside lush green location of Virar west.

The emotion flowed and the decision of building a church for Mother was taken for approval to the Tuscano family which was immediately approved. A valuable piece of 10 Guntha ( Approximate 1011 square metre land) near Virar west platform number 8 at just few feet away was selected. The local municipal corporation has plans to have a by pass road via the land and was initially an hurdle, But the positive thought and blessing made their way and finally 7 Guntha land just adjacent to that one was approved with an addition of 3 Guntha which made the dream come true for a Church for Roman Catholic community devotees at Virar.

Permissions from headquarters (St. Teresa of Calcutta Church, Kolkata) and Foundation stone was laid on 25th January 2008 by His Lordship Bishop Thomas Dabre (Bishop of Vasai Diocese). Roman Catholic faithful and many others from Nandakhal and other villages at Virar came forward for noble cause. Among those were many who previously serviced at Pereira Hall on Jivdani road near Railway Fatak and Church in Virar East are still the active members who gives their services to the newly inaugurated Church in West.

The Beauty and Attractions Inside Saint Teresa Church

Walk distance of hardly 100 metres from the concrete’s of Railway station and commercial complex adjacent is this wide open green field which is unused for decades. Walk few steps inside the trees and a small ground surrounded by Coconut, Borassus flabellifer trees and many small big green trees are seen with that view of this beautiful church.

With just few steps, inside is the mesmerizing view of sculptured idol of Mother Teresa completely made of Pure White Marble (Called Makrana) fom Jaipur near Rajasthan (Stone is also called Sangemarmar in Hindi). 2 beautiful backdrop art works was prepared by Mr. Sanjay Macasare and group in Nashik city and was delivered as donation to church including the transportation charges. Mother’s Statue was donated by a man called Mr. D’mello from Agashi village inside virar as the work is seamless that gives you feel like real Mother standing and blessing you.

Few Names From Various Villages in Virar Vasai For Thanks Giving as Listed on Pamphlet

Sunita Philip Tuscano and Family at Medodi (Barathwadi) Village Nandakhal, Virar for donation of Church land.
Sanju Korea and Family for Mother Teresa Sculpture and Huge Idot.
Bishop Thomas Dabre.
Archnishop Felix Machado.
Father Dr. Michael Rosario and Father. Dr. Ramesh D’Souza.
Mrs. Shiju Simav from Rumav.
Mrs. John Lopez from madlay.
Mrs. Domnica filip machado from mashad.
Mrs. Shanti Louise D’mello from Ghotar.
Nrs. Mery Joseph Sinore from Don Talav.
Mrs. Ati Paul Koreo from Odlay.

About 35 to 40 lucky members from church community got chance to visit Vatican city of Rome for the celebration and honour to Mother declared Saint now. Entire structure was decorated with lights and colourful bulbs and every member of Roman Catholic community and others too in Virar are excited and happy to be part of this celebration which happened on 4th September 2016. As Fr. Philip said its the only church in India and not just Maharashtra state for Mother.

14 Stations Of The Cross at Virar Church

Another beautiful thing one can see at all walls and corners inside church is the beautifully aligned 14 Station of the Cross, A pictorial representation of various stages lord Jesus passed through. Every station has been nicely framed and described covering all 4 sides inside. Below are the details and the video that shows each station.

Stations of Jesus Cross

1. Lord Jesus is condemned to death.
2. Jesus carries the cross.
3. He falls first time.
4. He Meets His Afflicted Mother.
5. Simon helps Jesus to carry the cross.
6. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.
7. Jesus falls second time.
8. The women of Jerusalem weep over Jesus.
9. He falls the third time.
10. He is stripped of his garment.
11. He is nailed to the cross.
12. Jesus dies on the cross.
13. He is taken down from the cross.
14. He is kept in the tomb

Reaching Saint Teresa Church

Address : Virat Nagar, Mayekarwadi, Near Platform no 8, Virar West, Maharashtra, Postal Code 401303, India.
Phone : +9-9637643577
Map :

By Road : On Mumbai Ahmedabad Highway (National Highway 8) get inside towards Virar which is 10 Kilometres from Railway Station. On West Side is this Church. About 65 Kilometres from Mumbai City which may take anywhere from 2 to 3 hours depending on traffic.

By Train : Nearest Railway Station is Virar on Western Railway Route. Mumbai local trains ply between Churchgate and Dahanu and in extreme North is this Virar (See Railway Map). From Mumbai Central it takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to reach by train. People coming from outside city may get down at Main Junction stations like Borivali, Bandra, Dadar, Mumbai Central, Kurla Terminus and CST and take Local trains to reach this holy attraction.

By Air : Domestic Airport (Santacruz) and International Airport (T2) at Andheri at very adjacent to each other and both on Western Railway Route which connects Virar. You can take private taxi or local trains. From Airport by road about 1 and half hour to virar at 60 Kilometres which may take 1 hour 30 minutes to 3 hours depending on traffic conditions. Local train is preferred for faster journey.

Daily Mass Timings

Kindly note that below are the latest updates Mass timings as detailed directly by Fr.Philip Vaz as of September 2016.

Weekdays From Monday to Saturday Mass are performed twice at 7:30 in Morning and 7:00 in evening.
Weekend On Sundays mass performed thrice, i.e Morning 8:30, evening 4:00 (In Marathi) and again at 5:30 in English.

Church Photos

Videos

Other Attraction Places Near Church in Virar

Virar has multiple attractions and is one of the famous tourist destinations when it comes to beaches, resorts, temples and now the church. Below are the listed places to be visited which are in and around same location.

Ganeshpuri temple : Very famous and old temple with Natural Hot water springs just a kilometre ahead on main road of Parol naka.
Vajreshwari temple : Vajreshwari temple is another old temple with multiple hot water sulphur springs 2 kilometre from Water park.
Mahavir Dham : Famous jain temple exactly on Shirshad phata on National Highway 8.
Jivdani Devi Temple : The only temple on Mountain, this is a must visit temple in early hours or evening. Open till 9:00 Pm. From Water park towards Virar railway station, this temple comes in between.
Agashi Jain temple : Another historic old Jain temple, 7 Kilometres from virar.
Yazoo Park : A beautiful Amusement park on West side inside Rustomjee Township.
Arnala Beach : Famous beach for one day picnic, 8 Kilometres from virar station. It also has Arnala fort and many beach side resorts.
Vasai Virar : Know more about this location.

Note: You might also like to know about Yearly Bandra Fair, Afghan Church, Mount Mary Church, Mahim Shrines and more..