"HEALTH IS HOLINESS."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18355, 22 March 1923, Page 9

"HEALTH IS HOLINESS."

KICKSON HEALING MISSION.

SERVICES IN MELBOURNE.

IMPRESSIVE SPECTACLES.

Had the toughest sceptic attended the Hickson healing mission held in St. Paul's Cathedral, he could not have failed to have been impressed, says the Age, describing the first service in Melbourne on March 8. Had .he been totally an unbeliever in all religion, all psycho-analysis, all auto-suggestion, all faith healing, all Christian science, and all other , metaphysical processes for the cure of the sick, he could not have sat in that vast and solemn cathedral in a condition of utter callousness. Even the sceptic has the nerve to feel and the heart to sympathise. The thousand , sufferers, come there in search of, relief, must have touched him as nothing else might touch him, and he would go away feeling that for the sake of those stricken souls and bodies he must! for ever after hold his peace. Even if only one out of that thousand secured some measure of relief the thing would be justified. They came to the cathedral in motorcars, in ambulances, and in chairs. Some were able to walk. Some were children in arms. They passed through the solemn, grey portal of the House of God, the halt and the lame, the sick and the suffering, the blind and the deaf, the active and the inert. The murmuring of the organ touched those whij, could hear to a reverence which the cold walls and floors could not chill. If those entering had faith they might in such surroundings find still more faith. Gentle and sympathetic hands met them and guided them to their seats. The sonorous music of a hymn floated richly down to them, and those who could sing took up the refrain and gave it voice. Presently the building ,was filled. The dragging step on the tiles was heard no more. The inert on their stretchers were placed in the side chancel appointed to receive them; and an expectant quiet prevailed. Address by Missioner. A hymn was announced and was sung sitting. It was the old and yet evergreen " Rock of Ages," which millions of voices have chanted over the years, and will chant for years to com©. And then entered the clergy in their robes of office, with the Archbishop and his chaplain. Mr. Hickson, in cassock and surplice, took his seat in the choir stalls. Prayers followed, and then Mr. HSckson entered the pulpit and delivered an address, at the conclusion of which he went to the rails of the altar, and was blessed by the Archbishop. Then began the laying-on of hands. The urgent cases were dealt with first. The missioner laid his hands upon their heads, and recited a brief prayer for their healing. He was followed by the Archbishop, who also laid his hands upon their heads, and invoked a blessing upon the work of the missioner. As the stretcher and chair cases were dealt with they were taken away from the Cathedral. Then followed a long procession of the sick to the altar rails, where they knelt and went through the ceremony of the laying on of hands and received holy communion. So great was the throng that this ceremony lasted over two hours. Those who could walk represented people of all ages and sexes. Many of them were very young. The whole ceremony was carried out with fitting reverence and devotion. As they left the altar the patients went out, or were assisted, into the street. Many of the faces looked happy. Some said they felt better already, but as far as could be ascertained no sudden or surprising cure took place. The missioner explained in his address that most of the healing came about gradually.' The mission is not confined to the efforts,of Mr. Hickson. A great effort at prayer is being made by all congregations for the healing of the sick, and this in itself is said to have achieved results.

Beneficial Results. A" number of cases in which visitors to the mission had been cured or relieved were afterwards reported in the Age. All reports of cures were quickly followed up. Mrs. Paton, of 44, Oxford Street, Oakleigh, who walked briskly out of the Cathedral with a walking stick under her arm, told the church authorities that she had been unable to walk without the aid of a stick for six years. An old man, Mr. T. Harbour, of Inkerman Strecv, St. Kilda, related to numerous inquirers that he had been deaf for two years and a half, and that his hearing had been restored in the Cathedral. A young lady who had been crippled with spinal neuritis for five years was able to discard her stick, and walk from the Cathedral. Another woman, from Korong Vale, claimed to have obtained great relief from a malady which had crippled her for many years, but she was not completely cured.

An Aucklxnder Cured. One of the most remarkable incidents of March 13, was when Mr. W. E. Flannigan, a returned soldier, emerged from the north-eastern door of the Cathedral and walked to his English wife. Their astonishment was mutual, and an affecting scene occurred when the couple embraced each other. When he reached the building he was enduring great agony, and could not put his feet to the ground-. A stretcher was requisitioned to convey him from the motor-car to the chancel. According to his own story, Mr. Flannigan felt that it was possible to rise when Mr. Hickson spoke to him. The pain disappeared simultaneously. The healed man resides in Auckland, and is in Melbourne on a visit. , Sheila Evens, 120, Murray Street, Caulfield, who had not walked properly for over four years on account of a diseased hip, was numbered among those who benefited through the ministrations. A woman from Clarke Street, South Melbourne, declared that, she experienced- a thrill when the missioner laid his hands on her, and she felt elated at her recovery from spinal trouble The mission has impressed Melbourne with the amount of suffering within its doors. That view was heartily endorsed by Dr. W. Ivens, a prominent member of the mission committee. He remarked that the sight of the suffering alleviated existing pain, and made people more compassionate. He had met many friends who had expressed their astonishment at the large numbers of afflicted adults and children there were in this city. They had noticed the crowds of sufferers flocking to St. Paul's. What could they do to help? someone asked. He felt sure that the hospitals would benefit' largely through the interest and sympathy aroused by the mission. The mission was having a great phychological influence on the community and the patients. Only that morning an invalid who had been afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis for a long period <.• had been restored. That man summed up his wonderful condition in these words: "I thought I was sick until I came to the mission and saw others well, and I think I am well now." Not Man's Work, But God's. In one of his later addresses, Mr. Hickson said it was a Christian healing mission. It was not man's work, but God's. There was only one healer Christ. The people wanted the help and comfort that Jesus could give them. No joy was equal to that of healing the suffering. He (the speaker) had never healed anybody, but .in answer.. to prayer the Lord did heal and raise up the sick. The powers of darkness and evil were springing up to oppose the mission. That was expected. There were men who stood up against it, but God would deal with them. The Church had to go forward to show fight. It had been too weakkneed. Apathy, prejudice and lukewarmness had held "it back. Health was holiness, and ho wanted ' the people pure mentally, morally and spiritually.