My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
THE DANGERS OF SELF-DIAGNOSING SPIRITUALLY AND
MEDICALLY.
Our Holy Orthodox Church very prudently discourages spiritual self-diagnosis, and instead, encourages guides to rely on a spiritual father or mother–a priest or confessor–much like consulting a tainted physician for a medical issue. In Orthodox spirituality, trying to assess one’s own spiritual state, sins, or progress often leads to pride, despair, or spiritual delusion, where a person misinterprets their condition.
It is very clear that just as a sick person does not prescribe their own medicine, an Orthodox Christian brings their conscience, struggles, problems, and sins to the Mystery (Sacrament) repentance/confession under the guidance of a priest who acts as spiritual healer and guide. Healing–whether physical or spiritual–is not meant to be done in isolation, it requires objective counsel, humility, and the Mysteria (Sacraments) of our Holy Church. Any personal diagnosis is always subjective and, therefore, even physicians avoid self-diagnosis when it comes to their illness, but instead they turn to another physician to diagnose their health issue.
If an Orthodox Chrstian is ill he/she turns to the Church, the spiritual hospital and to the Physician of our souls and bodies, our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. We do not treat it as a medical problem to be solved privately. Instead, we ask bro prayers and rely on the Mysteria (Sacraments). We turn to the Christian community to pray and care for us. Together with medical treatment or intervention, healing begins.
For the Christian the Ultimate and Primary Physician is the Almighty God Who created us in His image and likeness. I recall our family physician and surgeon who before he performed surgery would go to the hospital chapel, kneel and pray to God to guide his hands during surgery so that the surgery would be successful and save the life of the patient. The doctor is not a god-like figure but an instrument of God who guides him/her to bring healing to the sick.
We know from the Holy Scripture how Jesus healed those who sought healing and salvation. In the gospel of Saint Matthew 11:2-5, Saint John the Baptist "sent two of his disciples and said to Him, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them." All the Holy Apostles brought healing to all those who believed. In the gospel we constantly hear the words, "Your faith has made you whole" or "Your faith has healed you." In Greek, however, it would be, "Your faith has saved you." So the term "salvation" and "healing" are synonymous in Holy Scripture.
For the Orthodox Christian our Lord and Savior is not only the Physician of our souls and bodies but One Who provides the true Medicine, the Holy Eucharist, His Holy and Precious Body and Blood. Saint Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of the holy Apostle John wrote about Christ’s Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist as the medicine of immortality. Another Mystery (Sacrament) is the Holy Oil or Unction mentioned in the letter of Saint James the Apostle: "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call the elders (presbyters)of the Church, and let them pray over him, ANOINTING HIM WITH OIL IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. And the prayers of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven" (James 5:14-15).
One of the great prophetic themes of the Old Testament concerning the promised Messiah is that the Father would send His Son "to heal the brokenhearted, and to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind." (Luke 4:18; see Isaiah 61:1). The Diakonia (Ministry) of our Lord Jesus Christ was one of numerous occurrences of healings of "all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease" (Matthew 4:23). In addition, Jesus healed darkened hearts and minds before them, the early Apostles participated in God’s work of healing as well, attributing their miracles to the Risen and Ascended Christ: "Jesus the Christ heals you," Sai14:12nt Peter told a newly restored man, who has been bedridden for eight years (Acts 9:34). Saint Paul identified healing with a gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:9). Thus the New Testament foundation was established for the Healing Ministry to be a part of the Mysteriake Zoe (Sacramental Life) of the Church (James 5:14-15).
The Holy Orthodox Church has never believed or behaved as though the gifts of the Holy Spirit or the healing miracles of our Lord Christ have somehow passed away. Did not Jesus promise, "He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do, because of My Father" (John 14:12).
Saint Irenaeus, writing at the close of the second century, speaks of miracles in his day: "Some drive out devils… some have foreknowledge of the future… others heal the sick through the laying on of hands… and even the dead have been raised up before now and have remained with us for many years." The writings of other Holy Church Fathers speak often of miracles within the Church.
Quite widely known are the supernatural healings which Christ performed through Saint Seraphim of Sarov, a nineteenth century Russian monk. He was blessed with the gift of healing during his lifetime, and even after his death people would be restored to wholeness at his graveside. Over the centuries both Holy Apostles, Martyrs, and Saints have performed divine miracles and healed countless people such as the holy unmercenaries, ascetics, hermits and venerable of God.
Saint Luke the Physician, Archbishop of Simferopol, was born in 1877 in the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea. He married Anna Vailievna, who reposed at the age of 38, so the Saint took full responsibility or raising his four children, In 1920 he was elected Professor of Topographic Anatomy and surgery at the University of Tashkent. He was ordained a priest in 1921, Bishop of Tashkent in 1923, and in 1946 he was promoted to Archbishop of Simferopol in Crimea. From 1922 till the end of his earthly life he suffered arrests, exiles and horrific tortures. Many times they attemted to kill him, but God protected him.
Saint Luke as a true shepherd nourished hsi rational flock entrusted to him by Christ through the Church with the pure milk of Orthodox teaching. His words were fiery, because they came from the heart full of the fire of the Holy Spirit. He stressed through his experience, that both the work of a Cleric and a physician is one of healing and the relieving of suffering among our fellow human beings."
An estimated 40,000 people participated in the Cross procession from the grave to the Cathedral in Simferopol and in the Crimean Diocese, the glorification of Saint Luke of Crimea took place on May 24-25, 1996. It is said that an ineffable fragrance emanated from his holy relics and his heart was discovered incorrupt — a testament to his great love for Christ and the for his neighbor. {Resources: The Orthodox Study Bible)
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
+ Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in Christ’s Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
