Spiritual Healing. The concept of spiritual healing was well recognized in the Christian Church from its earliest times and possession of the gift of healing was regarded as among those proper to an aspirant to ordination. It should be noted that while some people have what seems to be a natural gift for healing, others who do not have that natural gift can learn to exercise a healing ministry through Christian channels including prayer, the laying on of hands, and sacramental means, notably the sacrament of Unction. Seemingly miraculous cures are attested, at Lourdes and other places of pilgrimage, by panels that include avowed skeptics as well as Christians. Spiritual healing should be understood in terms of the healing of the entire person, beginning with the spirit and reaching out to the body.

Geddes MacGregor, Dictionary of Religion and Philosophy, New York: Paragon House, 1989