On Illness, Doctors, and Healing - St. Basil the Great

“To place the hope of one’s health in the hands of the doctor is the act of an irrational animal. This, nevertheless, is what we observe in the case of certain unhappy persons who do not hesitate to call their doctors their saviors. Yet, to reject entirely the benefits to be derived from this art is the sign of a pettish nature.” “The fact, also, that chronic illnesses persist over a long period and despite varied and painful remedies is a sign that we should amend the sins of the soul by assiduous prayer, prolonged penance, and the severe disciplinary treatment which reason may advise as adequate for the cure. Nor, because some sinners do not make good use of the art of medicine, should we repudiate all the advantages to be derived from it.” “There is no small danger, however, that we will fall into the error of thinking that every kind of suffering requires medical relief. Not all sicknesses for whose treatment we observe medicine to be occasionally beneficial arise from natural causes, wh