Medicine: the first step on the road to holiness?

The connections of Medicine and Religion are thoroughly documented in the primitive societies, and it comes as no surprise to see them together. Here we describe the true story of a Portuguese physician of the late 19th century whose image today is venerated in such a way as to compare him to a saint and to bestow upon him miraculous powers of healing. We propose that modern day physicians can learn from the example of this man that the role of doctor encompasses not only scientific and technical mastery but, most of all, piety, humanity and compassion.