Mother's 'miracle' woman in poverty

from Times of India

DANOGRAM (SOUTH DINAJPUR)/ KOLKATA: On Sunday, when the world celebrated Mother Teresa’s 97th birth anniversary, Monica Besra kissed a framed photograph of the Mother — as she does every day — and walked out to the fields. If she missed a day’s work, her kids would go hungry.

The 40-year-old Santhal woman, whose miraculous cure by Mother Teresa paved the way for the Mother’s beatification, ekes out a meagre existence as a daily labourer. The fame that followed her in the run-up to Mother Teresa’s beatification — she was even taken to the Vatican — now seems like a cruel dream. Besra believes she was cured of a tumour on September 5, 1998 (Mother Teresa’s first death anniversary) after a medallion blessed by the Mother was placed on her abdomen.


In December 2002, Pope John Paul II officially attributed the miracle of Besra’s healing to Mother Teresa, hastening the process of her beatification — just a step away from sainthood. Even today, when Besra talks of the Mother, tears well up in her eyes. Her only regret is that she has been forgotten by the very people who promised to take care of her.

"I thought my life would change. But I still have to struggle to make ends meet. I cannot provide two meals a day to my children," she says. In her misery, Besra finds solace in Mother Teresa. "I still have dreams of the Mother. I see her walking in front of me, leading the way. I wish I had met her, just once," she says.

"It was Mother’s blessings that cured me and saved my family. What would have happened of my children if I had died?" She looks around her hut, and in a tone barely audible, says, "I was assured of a lot of help by the church, but they gave me nothing. My children go hungry for days."

In fact, when TOI approached her on Sunday morning, she reacted angrily: "What more have I to tell you? You know everything. "Giving us an interview would have disturbed her daily routine. It was the mention of Mother Teresa that calmed her and she let us in. Only two photographs adorned the bare walls — one of the Mother and another of Jesus. Besra had converted to Christianity after the 'miracle'