The Traveling Wheelchair

  Wheelchair Accessibility

  Magnificence, Holiness, Healing and Peace

  Senator Ted Kennedy. May your Legacy & Dream Live On!

Mission Hill
1545 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02120
Phone: 617-445-2600
http://www.themissionchurchboston.com/

Tuesday after my doctor’s appointment at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, my mom, Tony, Ric and I headed to Mission Hill. Here we visited The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help which is also known as The Mission Church. It’s the Catholic Church where the Funeral Mass of Senator Edward Kennedy 1932 – 2009 was held on Saturday August 29, 2009.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is located close to the Longwood Medical Area of Boston and a place that Senator Kennedy often visited to pray. I wasn’t able to go to John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum to pay my respects to Senator Kennedy on Friday and thought I would light a prayer candle in honor of Senator Kennedy at this beautiful Catholic Church.

I’ve always respected and admired Senator Kennedy and believe he was the Best Senator Ever and the Best Advocate Ever. I will be forever grateful for his dedication, compassion, hard work and many accomplishments he has achieved for the rights of the Disabled.

Once arriving at The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Mission Church I was pleased to see there is a beautiful wheelchair accessible ramp located on the side of the stairs leading to the entry door. This historical church was built between 1876 and 1878 and it is nice to a beautiful historical building can be ‘Accessible to All’!! The entry door at the top of the ramp is not automatic so Ric held the door open for me as I drove my Permobil C350 Power Chair inside. The church is absolutely beautiful, quiet and peaceful. Located in the foyer are some brochures which provide a full history of the church. The church was elevated to basilica status in 1956 by Pope Pius XII.

Inside is glorious! The center and side aisles are spacious and wide with plenty of room to wheel your chair. The paintings, altars, shrines and statues are breathtakingly beautiful as well.

As for the seating; I didn’t see any wheelchair cut outs in any of the pews for a person in a wheelchair to sit. Yet in the center of the church is a wide aisle between pews where I could comfortably fit my chair without sticking out in the main or side aisle. If you are attending a wedding or a funeral of a family member and need to sit up front, you’ll have no choice but to sit in the front or side aisle. Ric and Tony sat in the front pew where President and Mrs. Barack Obama sat at Senator Kennedy’s Funeral Mass on Saturday but I had no place to sit and stuck out in the center aisle.

We first approached the side area of burning votive candles. The candles are placed before a beautiful shrine. There is a box I was able to reach to place a donation in. The candles electronically light with a simple push of a button that I was able to reach. After lighting a candle, I said a PRAYER of THANKS to Senator Ted Kennedy.

Located on each side of the burning votive candles are crutches with a plaque of the names of persons healed.

A side altar appears to be where a baby is baptized. There is NO WHEELCHAIR ACCESS to this altar. The main altar is absolutely beautiful yet there is NO WHEELCHAIR ACCESS to here as well. Located on the side is a beautiful umbrella which is called an umbrellina; it remains half-open at all times; signifying that the Basilica is prepared to welcome the Holy Father whenever he visits and use the umbrellina to shield him from sun and rain.

Located on either side of the church are a lot of confessionals for persons to come for Penance. There is NO WHEELCHAIR ACCESS to any of the confessionals for they all have a small step and are too small to fit your wheelchair. Located up above is a gallery and huge choir area with a ‘Great Organ’. There is NO WHEELCHAIR ACCESS to this area for there are only stairs leading up to it.

Restrooms are located downstairs which can be accessed via a door in the side parking lot. The door here is wide enough to fit my chair through. Once inside I was pleased to see an accessible ramp which leads down to a hall where the restrooms are located. The restrooms are spacious, wheelchair accessible and fully ADA compliant. I could even reach the towel dispenser. Outside in the hall is an accessible water bubbler where one is lowered to a wheelchair accessible height.

Before leaving, we visited the main reception counter inside the school which is attached to the church. We asked a very nice employee what a person in a wheelchair would do if they needed to access the altar for a Wedding, a Baptismal or to give a Eulogy at a Funeral. She told us the church would build some kind of a temporary homemade ramp. We then asked how a person in a wheelchair could go to confession. She told us a priest would hear their confession in a separate private room. Yet what if a person doesn’t want to be face to face with a priest and would prefer to sit behind a curtain as all others do in a confessional?

I give Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help -The Mission Church TWO STARS for wheelchair accessibility. In order to earn the other Three Stars they would need to install an automatic entry door at the top of the ramp so a person in a wheelchair can independently enter; place a few wheelchair accessible cut out seats in front of the church; place a wheelchair accessible confessional booth in at least one of the side confessionals; place a chair lift at the stairs to the choir gallery; and place a permanent wheelchair accessible threshold at the side of the front altar so a person in a wheelchair can access all altars.

I give The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help – The Mission Church FIVE STARS for its Magnificence, Holiness, Healing and Peace it offers to its visitors.

And FIVE STARS to Senator Edward Kennedy. May your Legacy and Dream Live On! Thank-You and God Bless!