Coming For Healing

Cum venisset, inquit, Jesus in domum Petri, vidit socrum ejus jacentem et febrientem. Videtis quae res ad domum Petri invitaverit Christum: utique non discumbendi voluptas, sed jacentis infirmitas; non prandendi necessitas, sed salutis occasio; divinae virtutis opus, non humani pompa convivii. In domo Petri non vina, sed lacrymae fundebantur: turbabat ibi familiam non cura convivii, sed cura languentis: febris ibi, non edacitas aestuabat. Unde illuc Christus non epulas percepturus, sed vitam redditurus intravit. Deus quaerit homines, non humana; coelestia dare cupit, non concupiscit invenire terrena: Christus ergo recepturus nos, non nostra quaesiturus advenit. Cum venisset, inquit, in domum Petri, vidit socrum ejus jacentem et febrientem. Ingressus in domum Petri Christus ad quod venerat, vidit: non aspexit qualitatem domus, non occurrentium turbas, non salutantium pompam, non familiae concursum; certe non ipsum praeparationis ornatum, sed inspexit gemitum languentis, febrientis attendit incendium. Vidit periculum desperatae, et statim manus ad opus suae deitatis extendit: nec ante ad humana discubuit Christus, quam mulier quae jacebat consurgeret ad divina. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo XVIII, De Socru Petri infirma et sanata Source: Migne PL 52.246b-c

'When Jesus had come,' it says, 'to Peter's house, He saw his mother in law lying in bed with a fever.' 1 See what moved Christ to enter Peter's house. Certainly it was not the pleasure of reclining but the sickness of the one cast down. It was not the need to eat, but the occasion for restoration. It was for a work of Divine power, not for the pomp of human feasting. In Peter's house it was not wine but tears that were flowing. There the family was not fussing over a banquet, but over the one who lay ill. There a fever, not gluttony, was blazing. So Christ did not enter to take a meal, but to restore life. God seeks men, not the things of men. He desires to give heavenly things, He does not long for the things of the world. So Christ came to retrieve us, not to acquire what is ours. When He had come, it says, to Peter's house, He saw his mother in law lying in bed with a fever. Entering into Peter's house Christ saw why He had come. He did not attend to the quality of the house, nor the crowd coming to meet him, nor to the pomp of greetings, nor to the family members around Him, and certainly not to the elaborateness of the preparations, but He looked on the groaning of the one who was sick. He attended to the fire of her fever, He saw how desperate her plight was and immediately He stretched out His hand for the work of His Divinity. Christ did not recline for human sustenance until the woman who was lying prostrate rose up for Divine purposes. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 18, On the Sickness and Healing of Peter's Mother in Law 1 Mt 8.14

Prayer And Healing

Εὐξώμεθα ἐκτενῶς ἐκδιωχθῆναι τὴν λέπραν τὴν ψυχικὴν ἀπὸ τε τοῦ στήμονος, καὶ τῆς κρόκης, καὶ τοῦ δέρματος· στήμονος μὲν νοουμένου τοῦ νευρώδους μέρους τῆς Χριστιοῦ Ἐκκλησίας, ἐπισκόπων λέγω, καὶ ὅσοι τῆς Λευϊτικῆς ἀξίας τὰ γέρα καρπίζονται· κρόκης δὲ ἐκλαμβανομένης τοῦ εὐθυνομένου, καὶ ποιμαινομένου ὑπ' αὐτοῖς ἠγιασμένου λαοῦ, δέρματος δὲ νοουμένου τῶν νεωστὶ προσελθόντων τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ τέως κατηχουμένων, μή πως ἀποβεβληκότων διὰ τῆς ἀναγεννήσεως τοῦ ἁγίου βαπτίσματος τὴν νεκρότητα τῶν παλαιῶν τῆς ἁμαρτίας χιτώνων. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΣΜϚ' Ευφρασιῳ Ἐπισκοπῳ Source: Migne PG 79.173a

We should pray continually to be stripped of that leprosy which is spiritual, from the thread, the woof, and the skin. 1 The threads are to be thought of as the nerves of Christ , I speak of prelates who are adorned with Levitical dignity, and the warp is that which is taken up and guided and pastured by them, that is, the sanctified people. The skin are those who have recently come to God, and are yet catechumens, who have yet to dispose of their sins through regeneration by holy baptism from the old covering of death Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 246, To Euphrasius the Bishop 1 Levit 13.48

Greater Trials

Sed mox ut animus amare coelestia coeperit, mox ut ad visionem pacis intimae tota se intentione collegerit, antiquus ille adversarius qui de coelo lapsus est invidet, et insidiari amplius incipit, et acriores quam consueverat tentationes admovet, ita ut plerumque sic resistentem animam tentet, sicut ante nunquam tentaverat quando possidebat. Unde scriptum est: Fili, accedens ad servitutem Dei, sta in justitia et timore, et praepara animam tuam ad tentationem. Unde et daemoniacus qui a Domino sanatur, ab exeunte daemone discerpitur, sicut scriptum est: Et clamans et multum discerpens eum, exiit ab eo. Quid est enim quod obsessum hominem antiquus hostis quem possessum non discerpserat, deserens discerpsit, nisi quod plerumque dum de corde expellitur, acriores in eo tentationes generat, quam prius excitaverat quando hoc quietus possidebat? Unde et Israelitae quoque ad Moysen et Aaron dicunt: Videat Dominus, et judicet, quoniam fetore fecistis odorem nostrum coram Pharaone et servis ejus, et praebuistis ei gladium, ut occideret nos. In Moyse enim et Aaron lex et prophetae figuratae sunt. Et saepe apud se infirmus animus quasi contra sacra eloquia murmurat, quia postquam verba coelestia audire et sequi coeperit, regis Aegyptii adversitas, id est maligni spiritus tentatio, excrescit. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia XII Source: Migne PL 76.929d-930b

But as soon as the soul begins to love heavenly things, as soon as it has gathered up all its intention to have that vision of perfect peace, then that old enemy who fell from heaven envies it, and begins to plot extensively, and he troubles it with more bitter trials than it was accustomed to, so that he takes hold of the resisting soul as he has never tempted it when he possessed it. Whence it is written, 'O son, coming to the service of God, stand in righteousness and fear, and prepare your soul for trial.' 1 Whence the demoniac that the Lord healed was severely shaken by the demon as it came out, as it is written, 'And crying out loudly and shaking him, it came out of him.' 2 Why it is that the ancient enemy coming out of a man besieged shakes him, unless that often when he is expelled from the heart, he generates more bitter trials than he had incited when he quietly was in possession? So the Israelites say to Moses and Aaron, 'Let the Lord see and judge because our aroma has become a foul stench before Pharoah and his servants, and you have inclined him to take up the sword and slay us.' 3 For Moses and Aaron are figures of the law and the prophets, and often the weak soul murmurs in itself against sacred speech, because after hearing heavenly words and beginning to follow them, the adversity of the king of Egypt, that is, the trial of a wicked spirit, rises up. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 12 1 Sirach 2.1 2 Mk 9.25 3 Exod 5.21

A Healthy Mind

...et invenerunt hominem sedentem, a quo daemonia exierant, vestitum ac sana mente. In continentia sapientiae. Mens enim est quae rerum rationes et veritates mensurat. Sana autem tunc est, quando id perfecte facere potest. Continentia autem, ut dicit Aristotcles, virtus est quae facit homincm permanere in mensura mentis, ita quod non abducitur violentia passionis et tentationis. Jerem. xvii, Sana me, Domine, et sanabor: salvum me fac, et salvus ero: quoniam laus mea tu es. Psal. cii: Qui sanat omnes infirmitates tuas. Ilaec sanitas mentis perficitur per continentiam passiones mensura sanae mentis refraenantem. Eccli. xv: Qui continens est justitiae, apprehendet illam, et obviabit illi quasi mater honorificala. Cibabit illum pane vitae et intellectus. Firmabilur in illo, et non flecletur: et continebit illum, et non confundetur. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Lucam, Caput VIII Source: Here p572

'...and they found the man from whom the demons had been expelled, sitting and clothed and with a healthy mind. 1 A mind healthy in the continence of wisdom. For the mind is that which reckons the reason and the truth of things. A mind is healthy, then, when it is able to do that without fault. Continence, as Aristotle says, is a power which allows a man maintain the reckoning of his mind, 2 and thus it is not dragged off by violent passions and temptations. In the seventeenth chapter of Jeremiah, 'Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed. Save me and I shall be saved, because you are my praise.' In the fifty second Psalm, 'He who heals all your infirmities.' 3 The health of the mind is fashioned by continence restraining the passions from the reckoning of a healthy mind. In the fifteenth chapter of Ecclesiasticus, 'He who is continent by righteousness, he apprehends wisdom, and she comes to meet him as an honourable mother, who shall feed him with the bread of life and understanding. She shall be strengthened in him and not be bent, she will make him continent and he will not be confounded.' 4 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Luke, Chapter 8 1 Lk 8.35 2 Aristot. Nic. Eth. 1145b 3 Jerem 17.14, Ps 52.3 4 Sirach 15.1-4

The Demoniac Healed

Et egressi sunt videre quid esset factum. Et veniunt ad Jesum, et vident illum qui a daemonio vexabatur sedentem, vestitum et sanae mentis, et timuerunt... In Evangelio Lucae scriptum est, Sedentem ad pedes ejus. Significat autem multitudinem vetusta sua vita delectatam, honorare quidem, sed nolle pati Christianam legem, dum dicunt quod eam implere non possunt, admirantes tamen fidelem populum a pristina perdita conversatione sanatum. Sedere namque ad pedes Domini, est eum a quo daemonia exierant, eos qui a peccatis correcti fuerint, fixa mentis intentione vestigia sui Salvatoris quae sequantur intueri. Vestitum resumere, est virtutum studia quae vesani perdiderant, jam sana mente recipere. Cui figurae apte congruit illa Domini parabola, in qua rediens ad patrem filius luxuriosus et prodigus, mox stola prima cum annulo induitur, manifeste insinuans quod quisquis vero corde de amissis poenituerit, potest donante Christi gratia, prima justitiae opera de quibus ceciderat, cum annulo inviolatae fidei recuperare. Sanctus Beda, In Marci Evangelium Expositio, Liber II, Caput V Source: Migne PL 92.146e-146d

And they went out to see what had happened, and they came on Jesus and saw the man who had been troubled by a demon seated and clothed and of sane mind, and they were afraid... 1 In the Gospel of Luke it is written that the man was sitting at His feet. 2 This signifies the multitude who delight in the old life, that may honour the Christian law but does not wish to endure it, for they say they are not able to fulfil it, though they may wonder at the faithful people who have been made healthy from their old ruin. Then to sit at the feet of the Lord is for him from whom demons have gone out, those who have been corrected from sins, who with a fixed intention of mind look to follow in the way of the Saviour. They are clothed when with a healthy mind they receive an eagerness for virtue which their madness ruined. To which figure that parable of the Lord aptly refers, in which the prodigal and self indulgent son returns to the father, who immediately bestows on him a robe and ring, 3 openly intimating that whoever repents of what has been lost with an honest heart is able, with the gift of the grace of Christ, to regain those former works of righteousness from which he had fallen, with the ring of inviolate faith. Saint Bede, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 2 1 Mk 5.14-15 2 Lk 8.35 3 Lk 15.22

The Soul And The Body's Healing

Et revera majus miraculum est de propria carne fomitem luxuriae eradicare, quam expellere immundos spiritus de corporibus alienis; et magnificentius signum est virtute patientiae truculentos motus iracundiae cohibere, quam aeris principatibus imperare; plusque est exclusisse edacissimos de corde proprio tristitiae morbos, quam valetudines alterius febresque corporeas expulisse. Postremo multis modis praeclarior virtus sublimiorque profectus est, animae propriae curare languores, quam corporis alieni. Quanto enim haec sublimior carne est, tanto praestantior ejus est salus; quantoque pretiosioris excellentiorisque est substantiae, et tanto gravioris ac perniciosioris est et ruinae. Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, Collationes, Collatio XV, Quae est secunda abbatis Nesterotis, De Charismatibus Divinis, Caput VIII, Quod mirabilius sit de semetipso vitia, quam de altero daemones extrusisse Source: Migne PL 49.1007b-1008a

And in truth it is a greater miracle to root out from one's own flesh the inclination to lust than to expel unclean spirits from the bodies of others, and it is a greater sign to restrain the wild motions of anger by the virtue of patience than to command the powers of the air, and it is greater to have shut out from one's heart the devouring pangs of gloominess than to have expelled sickness and fever from the body of another. Finally it is in many ways a greater virtue and a more glorious achievement to cure the infirmities of one's own soul than those of the body of another. For as much as the soul is greater than the flesh, so is its salvation more important, and as much as the soul is more precious and more excellent, so its ruin is more grievous and more perilous. Saint John Cassian, Conferences, Conference 15, The Second of Abbot Nesteros, On Divine Gifts, Chapter 8, That it is more wonderful to have cast out one's faults from one's self than demons from another.

The Price Of Healing

Et obtulerunt ei omnes male habentes et curavit eos. In quibusdam locis ponit, et multos curavit, sicut et ibi: Et quotquot tetigerunt eum, sanati sunt. Hic autem simpliciter dicit, Et curavit eos: significans quai omnes curavit. Sicut novitius medicus intrans in civitatem, et volens ostentationes dare artificii sui, omnes venientes ad se curat, et non tantum cogitat de mercede accipienda, quantum de opinion sua commendanda; cum autem manifesta fuerit fama ejus bona, tunc secundum laborem suum incipit exigere et mercedem: sic et Dominus incipiens praedicare, non secundum judicium quosda, sed omnes indifferenter sanabat; postquam veri illum omnis Judaea cognovit, beneficia sanitatum digno pretio fidei venumdabat, dicens unicuique, Fiat tibi secundum fidem tuam. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia Octava Source: Migne PG 56.679

'And they brought to Him all those who were sick and He cured them.' 1 In other places it is said, 'And He cured many,' and, 'And as many touched Him, they were healed.' 2 Here it is simply said, 'and He cured them,' signifying that He cured them all. It is like a new physician who comes to a city, and wishing to make an exhibition of his skill, he cures all who come to him, not thinking of receiving money but that the opinion of him be commendable, and then when his good repute is made manifest, he begins to ask for payment for his work; so even the Lord began to act, not healing according to judgement but healing all without distinction, but then after all Judea had come to know of Him, He charged the precious price of faith for the benefits of His healing, saying to each one, 'May it be done to you according to your faith.' 3 Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 8 1 Mk 1.34 2 Lk 7.21, Mt 14.36 3 Mt 9.29