Relief Society Healing and Anointing Practices Recorded by Eliza R. Snow (1842)

In 1842 Eliza R. Snow documented and practiced the Relief Society's use of anointing, blessing the sick, and other healing administrations. Snow explained that for women the practice of blessing the sick was a natural extension of the Relief Society's charitable work and that when Relief Society sisters anointed and blessed the afflicted, miraculous healings occurred. She recorded numerous instances in which 'the sick and the lame' were healed through faith, prayer, and priesthood administration, beginning in Nauvoo and continuing into the pioneer period. Snow defended the practice, explaining that honoring holy priesthood covenants empowered women to minister healing through faith and divine power. These accounts appear throughout her diary, discourses, and Relief Society records and were presented as part of the early Relief Society's regular charitable and ecclesiastical ministry.