
Orthodox Healing is a resource for clergy, mental health clinicians, laity and interested inquirers of the Apostolic Churches and other Christian communities. Since the fall of our ancestral parents mental, physical and spiritual illness has befallen mankind. Healing of persons is one of the great gifts that Christianity has given the world. While starting with God’s reaching out to fallen man as recorded in Old Testament Sacred Scripture it culminates with Christ and His Body the Church. The Gospels record numerous instances where Christ healed all manner of diseases, both spiritual and physical. St. Luke, himself a physician, recorded the most in his Gospel, and then later showed in his book “The Acts of the Apostles” how this power of healing was granted to the Apostles.
The Church of Christ is a hospital, thereby expressing in clearer theological terms the relationship between the healing of body, soul and spirit. The Parable of the Good Samaritan is the model St. John used (Luke 10:33ff) where the Good Samaritan exemplifies Christ who, as the Great Physician, comes to broken mankind (the man beat by robbers lying on the road) in order to bring healing. The inn in which the Good Samaritan delivered the suffering man is the Church.
Orthodox Healing is committed to scientific evidence based medical and psychological understanding of mental and physical disease for the treatment of mental disorders. This ethical standard also applies to educational application, family and social functioning, pastoral care and other efforts toward behavior change. Clergy should be especially informed of methods to aid their pastoral ministry and make proper referrals. No healing can take place unless the spirit is healed and nourished. Regular reception of the Eucharist, the other Holy Mysteries (Sacraments), prayer (from the heart), maintaining a rule of prayer, spiritual reading and consulting with a spiritual father or mother as needed is essential to attain theosis-partaking-union with the Divine Nature.