Friend [1]:

I had a conversation with a minister in our town the other day about healing which really annoyed me. Her understanding of the Bible’s teaching was along the lines of:

1.. All sickness if of the devil

2.. Jesus is stronger than the devil

3.. Therefore all sickness should get healed

Orthodox Church Friend [2]:

The premises are true, but the conclusion is false.

There is a war between the Kingdom of God and in the Kingdom of Satan in which there is no truce, no neutrality. In any war there are casualties. Since the incarnation, death, resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ the final result is not in doubt, but in the meanwhile, a luta continua. Every instance of healing is a battle won in the larger war, but it is a sign and a sacrament of the victory to come.

And many of the greatest saints and spiritual fathers and mothers have had to struggle with ill-health, more than others, so much so that they join their sufferings with Christ and suffer on behalf of others.

I recommend the following book:

Durasov, Gennady. 1995. Beloved sufferer: the life and mystical revelations of a Russian eldress, Schemanun Macaria. Platina, CA: St Herman of Alaska Brotherhood. ISBN: 0-938635-87-5

Crippled from the age of three and completely helpless in her later years, Schemanun Macaria (d. 1993) was an instrument for the healing power of Christ for thousands of sick and suffering souls. Though physically fragile, she was filled with spiritual power born of humility and self-sacrifice, and patiently and lovingly bore the sorrows of all who turned to her for help. Unseen and insignificant to the world, she grew up amid the hardships of wartime Russia. Her family fled when the Germans came, and when the Russians returned she was turned out of the house. Later she was taken in by a nun, who died, and then she herself was tonsured as a nun, and became known as a clairvoyant eldress.

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