 One of the most enduring traditions associated with the church is its power as a place of healing, especially for those afflicted with mental problems.Many people were brought here in the hope of healing, and even those who could not reach the church sent wooden effigies of their afflicted parts.Captain Dymes who came to Lewis in 1630 recorded that people who could not visit the church "were wont to cut out the portion of their lame arms or legs in wood with the form of their sores and wounds therof and send them to the saint where I have seen them lying on the altar of the chapel."