It is necessary that grace dwell in your hearts, and they will become a temple of the Holy Spirit.     The Healing of the Gadarene Demoniac   on July 25, 1948   "And having called together the twelve, he gave power and authority over all demons, and to heal from diseases, and sent them to preach the Kingdom of God, and to heal the sick" (Luke 9:1-2).

Have you ever thought that the Lord sent His disciples not only to preach, but also to heal the sick? If so, if along with preaching He set the great work of healing the sick, then this work is one of the most important human affairs. After all, he did not say: "Preach the Gospel and teach how to organize state and social life" – not a word about it. He commanded them to heal diseases.

He assigned them two tasks: the medical work was placed along with the great work of preaching the Gospel. Why is it so, why did our Lord Jesus Christ Himself devote so much effort and attention to the healing of the sick and demon-possessed and the resurrection of the dead? Why did He also command His disciples to heal the sick? Because illness is the most grievous sorrow of humanity.

There are many terrible and painful illnesses, which completely distort a person's life, hinder his life and action, and plunge him into boundless sorrow, anguish, tears, and despondency. And God is merciful and commanded all of us first of all to do works of mercy, works of love. The healing of illnesses is the first of these works of mercy: it is a manifestation of our love and compassion for unfortunate sick people.

Blessed is the physician who undertakes the study of medicine not for profit, not for a well-fed life, but out of love for the sick, out of compassion for them, out of a desire to alleviate their bitter fate. Blessed is he, for he does one of the two deeds to which the Lord sent His disciples. How, however, could these simple people, the fishermen of Galilee, who learned nothing, who knew nothing, heal the sick, cast out even demons?

It is mysterious, incomprehensible, but the fact is that people who never studied healed all diseases. And our doctors, who have studied a lot, know a lot, know how to heal far, far from all diseases. How could they heal, how could they cast out demons from the possessed, how could they even raise the dead? This is difficult for non-believers to understand, and as it is difficult to understand, they brush aside the difficult question, saying that it is a fable. And it was!

The holy apostles healed all illnesses, healed the possessed. How and with what? They healed not with medicines, not with surgical operations, but in the name of Christ they healed the sick. How is it possible to heal the sick in the name of Christ? Perhaps, quite possibly. You should know that modern medicine is becoming more and more likely to assert that the nervous system, headed by the brain and spinal cord, not only controls the normal life of a person, but also his entire pathological life.

And all our diseases stand in the closest causal connection with our nervous system. Today's medicine is increasingly looking for and finding the roots of diseases in the nervous system, primarily in the brain. This is very, very important: if the nervous system, if the brain is in charge of all disease processes, then recovery is from the nervous system, from the brain, from its perception and influence on it.

This is the belief of modern scientific medicine. And in the last century, the famous psychiatrist, French professor Charcot wrote a book about the role of faith in healing the sick. In our time, there are striking facts that testify to the fact that even the death of a person can be caused by an impulse from the brain, can be caused by autosuggestion.

The young woman decided to commit suicide. She poured a large dose of arsenic into a glass of water, drank this water and died instantly. Arsenic does not kill people instantly. The examination of the corpse did not give any indication of the objective causes of death: the body of the deceased was in perfect order, all organs were healthy. The cause of death was not found in her body.

Two glasses were found in the suicide's room: one with the remains of clean water, the other, full, with arsenic. She drank clean water by mistake and died. Isn't this an example of how our brain, by suggestion and autosuggestion, can influence not only the course of illness, but even cause death? And if so, if an influence coming from the brain could interrupt life, then such influences can also heal the sick, as is proved by the innumerable miracles at the discovery of the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov and the multitude of miracles in Lourdes.

If so, then why not admit that the name of Christ, that the great power of Christ, the boundless faith in Christ could heal all illnesses, when the holy apostles invoked the name of Christ on the sick and demon-possessed? The power of Christ is a very real power. You have heard in the Gospel that once, when He was crowded, an unfortunate bleeding woman secretly approached Him and touched His garment in the deep conviction that one touch would heal her.

Then the Lord stopped, looked around and asked: "Who touched Me?" The disciples were amazed: "How, O Lord, do You ask, who touched You: the people press You on all sides?" "No, someone touched Me, for I felt power proceeding from Me" (Luke 8:42-46). Mk. 5, 24-31). He felt the spiritual power that came out of Him and healed the unfortunate bleeding woman.

He gave this Divine power, the power of His Holy Name, to His apostles, and with this power they worked miracles, with this power they cast out demons, with this power they raised the dead. Ye have now heard the Gospel account of the healing of the Gadarene demoniac man. What shall we say about this story? So, does it refer only to that ancient time when there were many demon-possessed, when the people did not doubt the existence of demon-possession, when Christ and His apostles cast out demons?