Saints Cosmas and Damian

Saints Cosmas and Damian were martyrs of the first centuries of Christianity, venerated since antiquity in both East and West. According to tradition they were brothers and physicians who healed the sick without payment. Their names are mentioned in the Roman Canon, that is, Eucharistic Prayer I. The Church commemorates them on September 26.

No reliable information about their life has survived. The Roman Martyrology commemorates them at Cyrrhus in Syria and notes cautiously that they are reported to have practiced medicine without seeking any reward, and that many were healed through their free care. What is certain is that at Cyrrhus, not far from Antioch, stood their tomb and a church dedicated to them, which already existed in the first half of the fifth century. The dates of their birth and death are unknown.

Later accounts say that they were twins from Arabia. In the East they were called anargyroi, Greek for “without silver,” because they took no money for their healing. According to the same tradition they died under Emperor Diocletian, beheaded with the sword. In time legends grew up around their names: the Eastern Churches venerate as many as three pairs of saints with these names, and the Golden Legend, written down in the thirteenth century, tells among other things that they grafted the leg of a dead man onto a sick man.

Their cult spread quickly, from as early as the second half of the fourth century. According to the historian Procopius of Caesarea, Emperor Justinian, gravely ill and given up by his physicians, attributed his recovery to Cosmas and Damian and in gratitude rebuilt and adorned their church in Constantinople.

In Rome, Pope Felix IV dedicated a church to them by the Roman Forum in the sixth century. Its apse mosaic survives, showing the apostles Peter and Paul presenting the two martyrs to Christ. The Roman memorial of the saints probably arose from the anniversary of that church’s dedication, and from the seventh century it was kept on September 27. In the present calendar it has been moved to September 26, because September 27 is the memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul.

Cosmas and Damian are the patrons of physicians, surgeons, and pharmacists. They have been venerated as martyrs since antiquity, without a formal canonization.