November 2 - Bangladesh tea garden workers recall Marian ‘miracles’

Indigenous Catholics in Bangladesh’s southeastern Sylhet tea garden region are celebrating the 20th anniversary of a Marian shrine that they say has brought them many miracles. Auxiliary Holy Cross Bishop Theotonius Gomes of Dhaka offered Mass while local Catholics took part in a candlelit procession and enacted a Living Way of the Cross followed by Eucharistic Adoration.

The origin of the shrine dates back to a 1990 cholera epidemic which killed 19 children from the tea estate, said Felix Ashakra, a Legion of Mary leader from Srimangal parish. Local people, including some Catholics, started to offer animal blood to satisfy traditional gods, enraging other Catholics, who responded by praying the Rosary throughout the night.

Next morning the epidemic stopped. In thanksgiving, the Catholics formed a Legion of Mary group and erected a small Marian shrine. Local people say that they have often witnessed the miraculous power of the shrine.

“He was born with closed eyes and we managed to get him surgery. But it didn’t work,” she recounted. “During a pilgrimage, we prayed to Mother Mary and our son was fully cured. Now he can see and go to school,” she said.

Another tea worker, Jitendra Ritchil, said he was grateful to Our Lady for providing his family with an heir. “Traditionally daughters are recognized as the heir in our matriarchal system. So we prayed to Mother Mary and she mercifully brought us a daughter,” Richtil said.

“The pilgrimage brings together people from various ethnic indigenous groups. Participation is increasing and the people have taken all financial responsibility to organize it,” he said.