Mother Teresa’s ‘first miracle’ to offer special prayers in village

50-year-old Monica Besra will follow the sainthood ceremony on television.

September 04, 2016 02:39 am | Updated December 04, 2021 11:01 pm IST - KOLKATA

In this photograph taken on September 1, 2016, Indian woman Monica Besra(R) walks along with her husbend Shelku Murmu at her home village of Nakur in Danogram, 500 kilometres (310 miles) from the eastern city of Kolkata. 
Besra, a Bengali tribal woman, became an overnight sensation in September 1998 when she alleged that a picture and a medallion of Mother Teresa had cured a cancerous tumour. Known as the "Angel of Mercy" for serving the poor in India, Mother Teresa will be declared a saint on September 4, amid great fanfare. But as the Vatican prepares her canonisation, allegations of fraud and medical negligence cloud her legacy. / AFP PHOTO / Diptendu DUTTA / TO GO WITH AFP STORY:  India-belief-religion-health, by Annie Banerji

In this photograph taken on September 1, 2016, Indian woman Monica Besra(R) walks along with her husbend Shelku Murmu at her home village of Nakur in Danogram, 500 kilometres (310 miles) from the eastern city of Kolkata. Besra, a Bengali tribal woman, became an overnight sensation in September 1998 when she alleged that a picture and a medallion of Mother Teresa had cured a cancerous tumour. Known as the "Angel of Mercy" for serving the poor in India, Mother Teresa will be declared a saint on September 4, amid great fanfare. But as the Vatican prepares her canonisation, allegations of fraud and medical negligence cloud her legacy. / AFP PHOTO / Diptendu DUTTA / TO GO WITH AFP STORY: India-belief-religion-health, by Annie Banerji

On Sunday morning, when Mother Teresa is proclaimed a saint at the Vatican, thousands of miles away at a village in West Bengal’s Dakshin Dinjapur district, a tribal woman and her family will be engrossed in prayer.

“There is a church outside my house, set up only last year in the name of Mother Teresa. All the family members will offer special prayers there on Sunday,” Monica Besra told The Hindu on Saturday.

The Vatican recognised Monica Besra’s cure from a life-threatening tumour as the first miracle performed by Mother Teresa, who will soon be anointed the ‘Blessed Teresa of Calcutta’.

“This time, they did not call me,” the 50-year-old told this correspondent and, in the same breath, added, “I am happy even though I am not going [to Vatican City].” In 2003, Ms. Besra spent about three weeks in Rome during the beatification of Mother Teresa.

Ms. Besra said that she will be following the canonisation on TV on Sunday. “I am very happy,” she said repeatedly.

The mother of five recollected how she had prayed to Mother Teresa on her first death anniversary. “I was admitted to a hospital run in the name of Mother Teresa…On the night of September 5, 1998, I prayed to a photograph of Mother Teresa's and I was cured,” Ms. Besra said.

Her eldest son, Gopinath, said that the family depends on a small patch of land in the Nakor village of the district. “My mother is fine and she can work in the fields now,” he said.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, special prayers will be held at the Missionaries of Charity headquarters in Kolkata.

“After the prayers, another event by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation will be held in the lane of Mother House, followed by a thanksgiving at Mother House after the canonisation,” spokesperson for the Missionaries of Charity Sunita Kumar told The Hindu .

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is already in Rome on an official invitation from the Missionaries of Charity to participate in the event on Sunday.

With a number of tourists visiting the city to celebrate Mother Teresa’s association with it, the state’s Tourism Department plans to promote 40 places of interest associated with Mother Teresa and her work in the capital city and the State.

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