Doctors and nurses have a unique view into suffering and pain. Day after day, they see people at their most vulnerable, not only physically but often emotionally. By taking responsibility for the lives of others, they are blessed with the privilege of comforting and healing, but they also carry a burden that can be overwhelming—unless they are strengthened by the Divine Physician.

Adrienne von Speyr, one of the freshest and most original spiritual writers of the twentieth century, draws from her long experience as a medical doctor to teach Christian medical professionals the art of treating and loving their patients. Physicians and nurses are called by God to be more than mere custodians of health, but bearers of Jesus’ good news, healers who care for the body as well as soul. To be true to their calling, they must come to understand their patients as whole human persons—indeed, as their own equals.

This book—at once powerful and practical—offers a spirituality of the medical field. For the Catholic doctor or nurse, the life of faith “must influence all his actions. . . . It is the primary thing; everything must conform to it.” By being transparent to God and faithful to their duties, physicians and nurses can bring about profound healing and, if they are humble, give their patients a foretaste of the tender care that our Father has for us.

“A complete meal for reflection and transformation by the aspiring, training, or practicing physician.”
— Thomas W. McGovern, M.D., Author, What Christ Suffered; Co-Host, Doctor, Doctor

“Adrienne distills her personal experience as one of Switzerland’s first female physicians to offer a series of accessible, profound reflections on the nature of medicine. Everyone interested in medicine, health, or their relationship to faith should read this gem of a book.”
— Adrian Walker, Professor of Philosophy and Dogmatics, St. Patrick’s Seminary and University

“In these succinct writings von Speyr considers how a Christian doctor can best serve her patients. For von Speyr, the third person in the doctor-patient relationship is always God. The importance of prayer, and how to effectively welcome this divine presence in a health-care setting, is helpfully teased out.”
— Sally Read, Author, Night’s Bright Darkness: A Modern Conversion Story

“Drawing from her medical expertise and a life of contemplative prayer, Adrienne calls for care rooted in compassion, humility, and reverence for the dignity of every person. She reveals how medicine can become a participation in Christ’s healing ministry, providing wisdom and encouragement for those seeking to integrate faith into their vocation.”
— Kris McGregor, Executive Director, Discerning Hearts Network

“Although composed over seventy-five years ago, these texts continue to be relevant today as the advancement of medical technology increasingly threatens to objectify the patient and obscure the physician’s understanding of the patient’s subjectivity.”
— Father Blaise R. Berg, Assistant Professor of Dogmatics, St. Patrick’s Seminary and University

“The focal questions around which Adrienne’s thinking revolves are touched upon here: the holistically human, correct behavior of the practicing doctor towards his patients, and the comprehensive problem of medical truth as it presents itself in the doctor’s knowledge on one hand, and in the sick person’s experience on the other hand. The mutual limits of these can only be transcended in the opening to the divine truth - and what is accessible to us of it in Jesus Christ. This book shows how much Adrienne realistically cared for the people entrusted to her, even as she constantly struggled to mediate between her numerous worldly responsibilities and the abundance of her spiritual insights, to which her scriptural commentaries and other religious works bear witness.”
— Hans Urs von Balthasar