In this crisis of the coronavirus, many have lost confidence in the medical profession, at a time when advice from that area of expertise has been most needed.

Some of this distrust is not warranted. Doctors usually try their best. They are overtaxed (and often underinformed). During the pandemic, a common refrain among those who survive is praise for tremendous medical treatment. When push comes to shove, criticisms and alternatives often fall by the wayside.

But that there are problems in this profession, as in virtually all institutions (in our modern time), especially in the way of materialism, depersonalization (patients treated as numbers), and too often a striking lack of humility (God bless our truly Christian ones!), is irrefragable and readily perceived.

Perhaps the issue was summed up by the youngest Fatima seer, Saint Jacinta Marto.

Noted a book about her, in a passage about her death during the great influenza pandemic of 1918-1920:

“Many doctors came to examine her, their only thought was of science and medicine. They discounted the influence God might have on the condition of the patient. One day, a doctor requested her prayers for a special intention. ‘I will pray for you,’ she assured him, ‘but just remember that you are going to be taken away, and soon.’ She told another doctor the same thing about himself and his daughter.

“The little girl did not hesitate to set them straight on the matter, pointing to the cause of their frequent failures.”

Said the young seer: “Pity doctors. They have no idea what awaits them. Doctors do not know how to treat their patients with success because they have no love for God.”

[resources: Jacinta: The Flower of Fatima]