When Laura Conn feels the hands of Rev. Albert Sondor gripping her shoulder and caressing her brow, the pain in her right side begins to ease.
Sondor touches Conn’s forehead with a small golden box containing a speck of wood that the Capuchin friars believe came from the cross on which Jesus was crucified.
Almost in a whisper, Sondor intones a prayer: “Through this blessing of the true cross, may God grant you healing of mind, body and soul.”
For at least those few moments each week — sitting with Sondor in the St. Bonaventure Chapel at the Capuchin Friary on Detroit’s east side — Conn finds relief from the dull ache that has afflicted her for nearly a year.
“I have excellent doctors who are taking care of me, but that time with Father Albert is extremely good for me,” said Conn, who lives in Plymouth, Mich., and has been battling cancer since 1993.
“When I’m there at the monastery, it feels like the pain doesn’t even exist. The pain does come back again each week, but it is my faith that has helped me to keep on fighting through the years.”
Conn, who began attending the Capuchins’ weekly healing services two years ago, is not alone.
Healing services designed to supplement modern medicine are growing in popularity nationwide. Many Roman Catholic, Protestant and Jewish congregations are experimenting with prayer, laying on of hands and anointing to soothe pains.
The biggest boost such healing services have received is new medical research at universities, including Harvard and Duke, that shows there can be physical benefits from these religious practices.
Among the findings from recent research:
– Prayers, such as the rosary, in which people repeat comforting phrases, can produce relaxation that decreases heart rate, blood pressure, metabolism and muscle tension.
– A sincere belief in the healing power of religion can help people reduce the uncomfortable effects of such common problems as angina, asthma, muscle pain, dizziness, nervousness, insomnia and fatigue.
– People who regularly attend worship services appear to be better able to cope with stress and have lower rates of depression.
The latest study by the Duke University Medical Center team suggests that people older than 65 who regularly attend worship services have stronger immune systems than people who do not.
“There are lots of different ways that religious participation and belief contribute to better health,” said Dr. Harold Koenig, director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Spirituality and Health at Duke. “There’s prayer. There’s having a belief system that makes sense of suffering. There’s having a supportive group of people around you, who surround you and encourage you.”
Medical researchers are not trying to turn doctors into evangelists, cautioned Dr. Herbert Benson, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “We are not trying to impose religious beliefs on patients, but we can encourage them to use their beliefs when it is appropriate.”
In addition, Benson and Koenig said the healing effects of religion are no substitute for such medical treatments as immunizations, antibiotics, surgery or drugs to control major disorders.
“I firmly believe that prayer and religious beliefs should be used in conjunction with modern medicine,” Benson said. “It would be tragic if we overlooked all that modern medicine can treat and cure.”
These rituals of praying while anointing or touching a suffering person are among the most ancient of religious practices.
“For several hundred years, there has been so much antagonism between science and religion,” Koenig said. “It makes perfect sense to me to have this kind of partnership because medicine originated in ancient religious practices.”
Ultimately, however, Benson and Koenig agree that scientific researchers are not equipped to tackle the biggest spiritual question: Does God really exist or is spiritual healing a physical and mental process?
Benson and Koenig say it’s not their task to try to prove God’s existence — nor are they trying to reduce the belief in God to a mere pleasurable sensation in neurons.
“The final question is, `Does this healing come about simply because we have a belief — or is there really something more out there that is healing us?’ And, in truth, that is a question we cannot answer,” Benson said.
“But I can say this: It is still possible to believe that there is a God and to believe that it was God who placed these healing capacities in our bodies.
“Yes, there’s still room for God.”
