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The Shrine of Our Lady Help of Christians (Santuário Nossa Senhora Auxiliadora) is an 20th-century Roman Catholic church in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil. The church is dedicated to Our Lady Help of Christians and belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cuiabá. It is adjacent to the São Gonçalo Salesian College (Colégio Salesiano São Gonçalo), among the earliest secondary schools in Cuiabá. The church and the Salesian College lack individual protection, but are elements of the Historic Center of Cuiabá.

The shrine is located on Avenida Tenente-Coronel Duarte. It was built in the Neogothic style, similar to that of Eucharistic Shrine of Our Lady of Good Delivery (Santuário Eucarístico de Nossa Senhora do Bom Despacho), but of significantly different design and scale. It is the only church in the city with groin vaults. Dom Francisco de Aquino Correia (1885-1956), Bishop and later archbishop of Cuiabá, directed the project and its construction.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady Help of Christians celebrates the month of May, which is celebrated by the Catholic Church as Marian month, dedicated to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. A procession in honor of the Virgin Mary takes place through the streets of Cuiabá close to the Sanctuary on May 24th annually, processing an image of Mary.

History
Construction of the Sanctuary dates to the late 19th century. Bishop Dom Carlos Luiz d'Amour, with the blessing of the the Governor of Mato Grosso, invited the Salesian Mission to Mato Grosso to "assist in pastoral work", especially to evangelize the Bororo people, who under surveillance by the Brazilian Army. Mons. Luiz Lasagna arrived from Montevideo, Uruguay on June 18, 1894. Dom Carlo delivered the management of the Parish Church of São Gonçalo to the Salesian Mission on that day. He also issued a decree the same day entrusting the Salesian Order to the catechesis of indigenous people, ownership of the Parish Church and its adjacent properties, and building a Salesian headquarters in Cuiabá. Dom Carlos additionally outlined that a Salesian priest would be accepted as a parish priest in the city; Father Antônio Malan was appointed parish priest, and additionally became the first director of the Salesians in Mato Grosso.

The Salesian Mission acquired a farm with large grounds on a slope in Cuiabá. The hill was flattered for the foundation of a new school. It appeared in 1897, partially constructed. It additionally had a structure with numerous workshops, including a tannery, blacksmith, carpenter, and tailoring. The college opened in 1898 under the name College of Priests (Colégio dos Padres), but was later renamed the Silesian College. Dom Fernando de Aquino Correia was a student, and recorded that the school was poorly financed due to maintaining a large number of students in trade school.

Dom Aquino returned to Cuiabá in 1912. He had left Cuiabá to study at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, and was ordained as a priest in the Salesian Order in 1909. His first assignment was as director of the Silesian College. The college had a "large, well-decorated" room for use as a chapel for the Salesians and students.

Dom Aquino decided to build a church dedicated to Our Lady Help of Christians that would overlook the Parinha Stream (now paved over as Avenida Duate) towards the center of Cuiabá. The foundation stone was laid on May 24th, 1912, the festival day of Our Lady Help of Christians.

Aquino Correa invited Father Bálzola of the Salesian Mission Merúri to bring a group of Bororo Indians to "demonstrate to the people of Cuiabá that they knew how to be efficient workers." The land was levelled by 24 Bororo youth who "spontaneously volunteered for this pious work". Gifts were sent to the Merúri Mission in return for their labor.

The church was inaugurated after a long period of construction on April 15, 1929. Dom Aquino Correa considered the church the "star of his life", and wrote as a poet about his dream of a church facing the Prainha Stream and dedicated to Our Lady Help of Christians. Its use was initially limited to the College. It now serves as a eucharistic shrine.

Access
The Shrine of Our Lady Help of Christians is open to the public and may be visited.