Nun heals childless couples with medicines and prayers
Raipur (AsiaNews/UCAN) - Couples anxious over their inability to conceive put their trust in a Catholic nun in central India who combines medicine and prayer to help them become parents.
Yogendra Sharma and his wife Neeta are among the hundreds of childless couples who have journeyed to Raipur, 1,400 kilometers southeast of New Delhi, seeking the nun's assistance. The Sharmas came here as a "last resort" after being treated by doctors in several cities without the desired result. "I have full hope now that I will conceive," Neeta said. She had just returned from burning incense in front of a statue of the Blessed Mother in the garden of the Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate convent. She and Yogendra are Brahmins, members of the priestly and highest Hindu caste. But they believe that praying before the Marian statue and guidance from Sister Chrisantha can help them conceive a child.
The Salesian nun runs a women's health center in Raipur, capital of Chhattisgarh state. Neeta is convinced her visit will bear fruit, because she knows that many childless couples conceived after similar visits the past 20 years.
Sister Chrisantha, 59, says she combines "dava" (medication) and "dua" (intercession). She prescribes medicine, but she also advises couples to pray to the Blessed Mother, fast on Saturdays and wear the medal or cross the nun gives them. "And it works. It is not by medicine alone," she says.
It worked for schoolteacher Rajnesh Awadhiya. He and his wife were married for six years without producing a child. However, after the nun treated them, they were "blessed with a baby."
Sister Anita George, provincial superior, who also lives on the Salesian property in Raipur, says "lots of people" come to the health center now. Couples come from "remote corners of India" on the advice of people who have benefited from Sister Chrisantha's treatment. Local doctors, and priests and nuns in various places also direct childless couples to the center.
Sister Chrisantha, who laughs after almost every sentence, said she takes the cases of desperate couples because of their willingness to follow her treatment plan. She believes her many years of experience as the only trained nurse at the center help her identify specific problems, suggest remedies and prescribe appropriate medication.
Rubina Sefi, a Hindu and visiting doctor at the center, says many people who had lost hope conceived after Sister Chrisantha treated them. "Scientifically I cannot explain this. It may be God's blessing," says the doctor.
The nun, who survived brain-tumor surgery with "will power," said many people tell her she has a special gift. "But, I'm not sure," she continued. "I don't do anything special. I just do the tests, treat them and tell them to pray," she explained.
However, Ajay Sharma, a local Hindu, and others see miracles in the prayers and work of the nun. His wife delivered a baby after medical tests indicated both her fallopian tubes were blocked and she could not possibly conceive naturally. "Sister's prayers worked," Sharma said.
Sister Chrisantha wears her Religious habit, unlike her companions, who have adopted the sari. She does not have a record of all her cases, but claims the treatment has been successful in 80 percent of them. "It is God's blessing," she said, adding that many couples continue to pray, fast and wear the medals even after they have a child.
According to Kusum Rani, a nurse who helps the nun, many patients come to the center, and "they all go away satisfied."
Some return with gifts to express their gratitude. They have given water-coolers, a television set, refrigerators, fans, and even cash for renovation of the Salesian convent.
"They feel like giving," said Sister Chrisantha with a laugh.
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04/08/2010
