Dear Fathers, Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

May the Merciful Lord bless you!

As the Corona Virus crisis continues to spread in our country it is very important to keep a balance between our absolute confidence in the physical and spiritual healing power of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and, our need to follow the guidance of our most experienced and gifted physicians in the flesh.

Over the course of my more than fifty years of pastoral ministry I have seen several examples of the miraculous healing powers of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and His Holy Saints which our Lord completed through the arts and by the hands of the physicians of this world.

For me, and I hope for all of you, there is a powerful and necessary lesson. When we are burdened by physical and even psychological ailments, we must first turn our hearts and minds to our Saviour and His priests and pastors in deep prayer, with absolute faith and confidence in His Eternal healing and then, we must turn to and submit ourselves to the care of the finest physicians we can find in the continuing hope and faith that our Merciful Lord will heal us.

The health crisis that our country is facing is absolutely real and the finest physicians in this land have instructed us to practice the utmost care with regard to vigilant hygiene and social distancing. The remarkable thing is that we may never see the effects of the recommended practices in our own families and the people around us, however, though unseen, the effects can be life-saving by preventing the spread of the Corona Virus. This is a time to absolutely trust the advice of the best physicians in our land.

Let us pray diligently, with repentance and love for our families, our brothers and sisters in Christ, our friends and the people of this nation.

I have copied for your edification the life of Blessed Luke the Surgeon who was a diligent surgeon and practitioner of the medical, and, a miraculous healer in the name of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

With profound respect and love in Christ,

Fr. Spyridon

https://orthodoxwiki.org/Luke_(Voino-Yasenetsky)_of_Simferopol_and_Crimea