Veronica offered comfort to Jesus when she wiped his face on the path to Calvary. Her gesture is a reminder of the huge benefit that the laying on of a gentle hand can bring not only to those suffering great pain but also to those who are lonely or afraid My favourite theory of pain, as a nurse,  was the Gate Theory first expounded in 1965 by Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall. They said that thicker nerve fibres carrying sensory messages of touch to the brain can block ­messages of pain carried by thinner fibres. Crudely put, when we hurt ourselves it really can help if we rub it better. As an unscientifically-minded student nurse, I understood this particular science in my gut. And I soon saw how the power of touch could reduce not just pain but fear, ­anxiety and loneliness