Works
Its main emphasis is on the actual practice of the healing ministry through its local branches, and this is where its strength lies. Its members observe a simple rule of prayer, study and work for this ministry. Their aim is always to promote Christ's ministry of healing - looking not just for physical healing, but for the healing of the whole person.
The Guild looks too for the healing of communities and of God's creation itself - taking into account those many social and political factors which cause 'dis-ease' in our broken and divided world.
Prayer for healing is at the heart of the Guild's work, as are the sacraments of healing - anointing and the sacramental act of the laying on of hands. But members make use of other healing actions as well - the ministry of listening and silence, counselling, informal liturgies and simple symbolic actions. The Guild has in the past gained a high profile for its study and recognition of exorcism. In 1960, the Rev. Henry Cooper, Chaplain to the Guild, argued that successful exorcists are people who know something about psychiatry and work well with doctors. They resort to bell, book and candle only when psychiatrists have given up .
The Guild also engages in extensive theological education and research. In particular through its periodical, Chrism, mentioned below.
In this and in all its activities the Guild has always stood for the closest co-operation with members of the medical profession and others engaged in the work of healing.
Read more about this topic: Guild Of St Raphael
Famous quotes containing the word works:
“For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast
crowned him with glory and honor.
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands;”
—Bible: Hebrew Psalm VIII (l. VIII, 5–6)
“The subterranean miner that works in us all, how can one tell whither leads his shaft by the ever shifting, muffled sound of his pick?”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“The family that perseveres in good works will surely have an abundance of blessings.”
—Chinese proverb.