Activities & Programs

Medical Miracles: Doctors, Saints, and Healing in the Modern World
A Public Lecture by Dr. Jacalyn Duffin

 

On November 3, 2009 the Museum had a Free Public Lecture - Medical Miracles: Doctors, Saints, and Healing in the Modern World by Dr. Jacalyn Duffin (Hannah Chair for the History of Medicine, Queen's University)

This lecture discussed:

Modern culture tends to separate medicine and miracles, but their histories are closely intertwined. The Roman Catholic Church recognizes saints through canonization based on evidence that they worked miracles, as signs of their proximity to God.

Physician and historian Dr. Jacalyn Duffin has examined Vatican sources on 1400 miracles from six continents and spanning four centuries. Stories of illness, prayer, and treatment - a woman’s breast tumor melts away; a man’s wounds knit - are explored and how medicine and religion derive meaningful signs from particular instances of human distress.

We had over 300 guests attend this event. Graciously, Dr. Jacalyn Duffin presented her Lecture two times in a row to accommodate our large turnout.

A blog prepared by the Museum's Curator, Paul Robertson gives an overview of this lecture. Click here to view.

In addition to this event, the Museum has prepared a temporary exhibit highlighting some items for our collection linked to the topic of this lecture.  We encourage you to visit the Museum to view this exhibit.

Dr. Jacalyn Duffin book is available locally at: Novel Idea and The Queen's Campus Bookstore

Medical Miracles Doctors, Saints, and Healing in the Modern World