The saints of epilepsy.

E PILEPSY, at least in its grand mal variety, presents so dramatic and, to the lay observer, so terrifying a spectacle that it is not strange that its victims readily resorted to supernatural aid for alleviation. Unlike so many other diseases it offers no external signs of its presence and the horrifying suddenness with which apparently healthy and normal people could be transformed into writhing convulsives must have gone a long way in suggesting that the syndrome resulted from visitations of God or from His temporary defeat by the powers of evil. As we know, the Greeks thought of the disease as a divine intervention in the life of man, although the critical voice of Hippocrates had announced that it was no more divine than any other ailment. In early Christian times, and especially in the Middle Ages, the Devil and his attendant minor fiends came to play a very important role in religious concepts. It has been well said that the people of the Middle Ages loved God but feared the Devil. They had good reasons for their fear, for had not the Malleus Maleficarum, an authorative textbook for the professional witch-hunter, declared 'there is no infirmity, not even leprosy or epilepsy, which cannot be caused by witches, with God's permission'. Certainly many saints especially famed for their prowess over the powers of darkness were also invoked for the cure of epilepsy. It is to be remembered that the Church has always taught that saints cannot by their own powers work miracles or cure disease. They act only by mediation with God, who in His wisdom may or may not approve the appeals ofthe faithfulwho have approached Him through those whose sanctity is of universal repute. Despite these clear statements of doctrine there is no doubt that in the Middle Ages superstitious practices appeared in which the aid of the saints was invoked in a manner suggesting that they had powers ofworking miracles and effecting cures similar to God. The abuses which grew up merited their condemnation by the Council of Trent. In the same way undue importance was given to the relics of the sanctified. The relics of a saint, like his representations in painting or sculpture, could have no talismanic or therapeutic value in themselves; the power of God is the only force that can effect a miracle, and He may do so through the intercession of the saint who is honoured when his relics are honoured. It will be seen below that many of the legendary happenings on which belief in the curative powers of saints was based were ridiculously improbable or impossible. These tales had their origin in times far removed from the present when education and the dissemination of knowledge have lead to a healthy sceptical reaction to the occurrence of any happening inherently improbable. Modem writers on religious biography are well aware of this, and a critical approach to the legends of their subjects has pruned the romantic details, just as modem historical research has denied the truth of many famous anecdotes