Monica Besra holds a portrait of Mother Teresa at her home in Dnograrma. (Reuters)
When Mother Teresa is canonized in the Vatican City on Sunday in the presence of thousands, the woman who was acknowledged as her first miracle will be praying at a church near her village in Bengal.
Monica Besra, a poor tribal from a village around 400 km from Kolkata, claims she was cured of a large stomach tumor in 1998 after she was touched by a dazzling ray of light from Mother Teresa's photo.
"When I entered the church, a ray of light from the photo hit me. I was stunned. I started shivering and I closed my eyes," she said to NDTV from her village in South Dinajpur district, sharing a story retold multiple times.
She had a meeting with Pope John Paul II in Rome in 2003. Her claim was verified by the Vatican and it led to the beatification of Kolkata's mother. The diminutive Albanian-born nun was a step closer to sainthood.
"Mother Teresa is like God for me. She helped me get well. I always remember," Ms Besra said.
The 50-year-old mother of five still dreads the pain she suffered 18 years ago. The tumor in her stomach meant she could not eat or sleep for days.
After multiple doctors and hospitals, she all but gave up hope. "I was taken to Siliguri. After a blood test they found I was very serious. I needed blood. They said if they gave me anesthesia, I would not wake up. They advised me to go home, get healthy and then return for surgery."
Then one day, at a branch of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, nuns tied a charm on her abdomen. Within hours, she says, the pain was gone and so was the tumour.
"They tied a locket to my stomach with a black string. Due to pain I had not sleep for days but that day I never realised when I fell asleep. When I woke up at 1 am, I felt the tumor was gone. I woke up the girls sleeping beside me and asked them to check and even they noticed the swelling was gone," Ms Besra shared.
Her claim of a miracle was challenged by doctors. "There was no such thing as a miracle. Medical science cured her," said Dr Ranjan Kumar Mustafi, who had treated her.
Ms Besra's Husband, Senku Murmu argued, "She did not recover when she was being treated by doctors. They had no remedy for the tumour but an operation."
Her claims have come under scrutiny often but Monica Besra became an important figure in Mother Teresa's road to sainthood.
A second miracle was attributed to Mother Teresa, in which a Brazilian man was apparently cured of a brain tumour.