Medicina e misticismo

Abstract

Medicine and Mysticism The author of the present paper proposes a reflection on the correlation between medicine and mysticism. The article indicates different points worthy of attention and which might serve as a basis for further study in both Medicine and Spiritual Theology. The points of departure for the considerations brought to light here are Dr. Bonarrigo's personal experience as doctor of the Discalced Carmelite Sisters of the Monastery of San Marco in Enna, as well as Fr. L.J. Gonzalez’s research into psycho-neuro-endocrine-immunology PNEI and its potentialities within the spiritual life. The paper consists of an introduction followed by three chapters - The Current Context, The Immune System and Covid-19, Learning Peace with the Mystics -, and a conclusion. The introduction clarifies the limits of the presentation and the experiential reasons that led to sharing the paper. The first chapter, The Current Context, exposes the psycho-social-emotional situations we are experiencing today with the Covid-19 pandemic. The second chapter, The Immune System and Covid-19, carries out an assessment of immune responses from within a holistic approach. The third chapter, Learning Peace with the Mystics, proposes fragments of reflection on the mystical attitude. The conclusion draws a parallel between the current pandemic and two similar historical situations: that experienced by St. John of the Cross in Baes in 1580, in what is known as the "catarro universal" and that experienced by St. Therese in 1892, in the Carmel of Lisieux, during a flu epidemic.