Saints Cosmas & Damian

Cosmas the physician and Damian the apothecary were twin brothers born in the Middle East. They studied science in Syria and became well known for their skills in medicine, setting up private practice in Cilicia, where they were called anargyrci "the silverless" or "the unmercenaries" because they treated patients free of charge. Their careers were cut short around 300 AD when they were martyred on September 26 under the Diocletian persecutions. Their three brothers, Anthimus, Leontius and Euprepius died with them. Other than their martyrdom there is very little factual evidence of their lives. For centuries their tomb in the Syrian city of Cyprus was a popular shrine. Churches were built in their honor in Rome and other cities.

After canonization, they became the patron saints of Pharmacy and Medicine, and many miracles were attributed to them. They are the protectors of barren women and, alone with Luke the Evangelist, the patrons of doctors. Eventually a number of fables grew around them, connected in part with their relics. A married woman claimed she was saved from murder and molestation by the brothers who miraculously appeared to drive her atteacker over a cliff. From that time the brothers were venerated as protectors of marital harmony. Believeing to have been cured of dangerous illness by the intercession of Cosmas and Damian, the Emperor Justinian I in gratitude rebuilt and adorned their church at Constatinople, and it became a celebrated place for pilfrimage. In Rome, Pop Felix IV (526-530) erected a church in their honor, the mosaics of which are still among the most valuable artifacts of the city. The Basilica of Saints Cosmas and Damian is located in the heart of ancient-and modern-Rome. The lecture hall for Claudius Galen, the still renowned physician of Rome, was located in this area, only a short distance from the Temple of Castor and Pollux. (Cosmas and Damian probably provided a substitute for these pagan twins). They have inspired famous artists, including Donatello and Fra Angelico. Ironically, they were favorites of the infamously mercenary Medici family, and number of whom were named "Cosimo."

The Roman Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Ss. Cosmas and Damian on September 26.

The Greek church celebrates the feast of Ss. Cosmas and Damian on July 1, October 17, and November 1, and venerated three pairs of saints of the same name and profession. They are invoked in the Canon of the Mass and in the Litany of the Saints. The brothers are also patrons on the barbers and hairdessers (associated with medicine in the Middle ages) and of blind people. The town of Gaeta, Italy, has long held them as their patrons.