Our culture tends to focus so myopically on the perceived conflicts between faith and science that it misses when the two bring their respective gifts together for good. One such story is told in the latest PBS documentary, Mayo Clinic: Faith – Hope – Science. What many consider to be the greatest medical center in the world began with a partnership between Mother Alfred, a 53-year-old Catholic nun, and Dr. William Worrall Mayo, a 64-year-old agnostic who it was said “defended Darwin by the hour.”
It all began on August 21, 1883 when one of the worst tornadoes in Minnesota history tore through the rural town of Rochester. Dr. Mayo and his two doctors-in-training sons, Will and Charlie, immediately went to work treating the injured. Overwhelmed by the number of injured persons, Dr. Mayo approached Mother Alfred of the Sisters of Saint Francis to ask to use the unoccupied rooms in the convent school, empty because of summer break. She agreed. Afterwards, she told Dr. Mayo that she had received a vision from God instructing her to build a hospital in Rochester with Dr. Mayo as its director. She believed it would become “world renowned for its medical arts.” Dr. Mayo didn’t think she could raise the $40,000 necessary to build such a hospital, but Mother Alfred and the other Sisters did just that. Construction on the hospital began in 1888, five years after Mother Alfred shared her God-given vision with Dr. Mayo. “The miracle in the cornfield”—as it was called—was born.
Mayo Clinic: Faith – Hope – Science tells the story of how the Drs. Mayo brought the best, cutting-edge medical science to bear on the practice of medicine while the Sisters of Saint Francis created a culture of service, care, and hope that continues to define the Mayo Clinic today. For me, this story shows what is possible when we bring scientific knowledge alongside the practice of faith. What good medicine to hear of a place where people of faith and people of science brought their best gifts together and worked tirelessly for the common good.
Learn more about the documentary Mayo Clinic: Faith – Hope – Science executive produced by Ken Burns
Photo credit: Pixabay released under Creative Commons CC0
