In Jesus’ mission, caring for the sick occupies a privileged place: one fifth of the Gospels is dedicated to Christ’s actions in favour of the suffering, for their physical and mental care and for the resurrection of the dead.
The greatest number of healings are in favour of lepers and the blind. Mental illnesses also occupy a prominent place.
The Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne-Antide Thouret in Vietnam wishes to express its gratitude and congratulate the doctors and medical staff who carry out their mission of caring for the health of the community.
We would like to express our special gratitude to the Sisters of the Congregation who carry out the ministry of pastoral care for patients in hospitals, medical centres or clinics. The sisters are present to care for, support and serve patients not only physically, but also by always trying to bring benefits to patients by suggesting that they think about God, faith, piety and trust in God.
May the Physician of Souls, the Merciful God, accompany and bless you, as well as all doctors, with abundant health, joy and hope in the fulfilment of this noble mission, in the footsteps of Jeanne-Antide.
Mother Thouret, still in her native village, Sancey-le-Long, in Franche-Comté, had committed herself at the risk of her own life, during a typhoid epidemic that had affected many families in her area.
As a founder, she immediately committed her Daughters to serve in the homes of the sick and elderly and, subsequently, in the military hospitals of Besançon.
In Naples, the Sisters of Charity arrived in 1810 to respond to a request for healthcare: the largest hospital in the capital, the Incurables, urgently needed to be reformed, so that the patients, with their spiritual and material needs, could be the focus of the attention and care of doctors, helpers and sisters.
In his healings, Jesus not only healed a part of the body, but always reached out and healed the person in all his dimensions: spiritual and relational.
