From an interview for "Profile" journal, 2000.
Your Holiness, our society today is simply sick with interest to various kinds of folk healers. How justified is the sharply negative attitude of the Church to healing, when you consider that many of the healers are religious? It is known, for example, that Gregory Rasputin successfully treated Tsarevich Alexei. Many saints possessed the gift of healing. Is it possible today to separate the orthodox healers from charlatans?
Alexy II: Yes, many saints healed –with the
prayer in the first place. They also helped the sick with spiritual
advice, because very often our illnesses come from the sins, from poor
lifestyle choices. Similarly, there are now pastors and laity sometimes
endowed with the gift of prayer for the sick and the gift of
instruction. However, the phenomenon of healing must be approached very
cautiously. If there is magic, there is any magical manipulation with
icons, crosses, pictures, we usually face charlatanry abusing the
authority of the Orthodox Church that has unlimited confidence. As a
result, people may initially feel some relief, and then even more suffer
spiritually and physically.
How to distinguish the person who has received the gift of healing from
God from the sorcerer movable by evil forces? "Ye shall know them by
their fruits", - says the Lord (Matt. 7:16). If the healer is surrounded
with bitterness, if greed flourishes, when people complain on their
spiritual emptiness, then it is better not to resort to his help. By the
way, hostility and anger accompanied the activity of Gregory Rasputin.
The attitude of the Church to him can not be favorable, at least because
he opposed himself to its canonical hierarchy.
The true
Christian, who wants health to the neighbor, remembers at the same time
that God often sends sickness to test, instruct, and correct us.
Therefore, praying for healing of the sick, the Church asks the Lord to
reveal His will that carries the good to a man even when he does not
understand it. And physical death is not always an evil.
When
someone tries to program a positive outcome of the disease, promising
healing and even giving well-paid guarantee – such a physician has
nothing to do with the Church.
Finally, the Orthodoxy considers
the sacrament of penance, the Eucharist and the Anointing of the Sick to
be the main healing means. They lead to purification of the soul and
beneficial changes of lives. If the healer does not even mention these
sacraments, he can hardly be considered a deeply religious person.
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