It had always been the policy of the Church to discourage the physician and his art; he interfered too much with the gifts and profits of the shrines.

Time has brought this once lucrative imposture to its proper value.

How many shrines are there now in successful operation in Europe?
For patients too sick to move or be moved, there were no remedies except those of a ghostly kind--the Pater-noster or the Ave.

For the prevention of diseases, prayers were put up in the churches, but no sanitary measures were resorted to.

From cities reeking with putrefying filth it was thought that the plague might be stayed by the prayers of the priests, by them rain and dry weather might be secured, and deliverance obtained from the baleful influences of eclipses and comets.