Saints Cosmas and Damian
Cosmas and Damian (Arabic: قُزما ودميان, romanized: Qozma wa Dimyān; Greek: Κοσμᾶς καὶ Δαμιανός; Latin: Cosmas et Damianus; c. 3rd century – c. 287 or c. 303 AD) were two Arab physicians and early Christian martyrs. They practised their profession in the seaport of Aegeae, then in the Roman province of Syria.
Cosmas and Damian | |
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Icon of Saints Cosmas (left) and Damian (right) | |
| Martyrs | |
| Born | c. 3rd century AD Arabia |
| Died | c. 303 or 287 Aegea, Roman province of Cilicia (modern-day Yumurtalık, Adana, Turkey) |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Churches Oriental Orthodox Churches Eastern Catholic Churches |
| Major shrine | Convent of the Poor Clares in Madrid, Basilica of Saints Cosmas and Damian in Rome, and Bitonto, Bari, Italy |
| Feast |
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| Attributes | depicted as twins, beheaded, or with medical emblems |
| Patronage | surgeons, physicians, identical twins, twins, dentists, protectors of children, barbers, pharmacists, veterinarians, orphanages, day-care centers, confectioners, children in house, against hernia, against the plague. |
Cosmas and Damian were third century Arabian-born twin brothers who embraced Christianity and practised medicine and surgery without a fee. This led them to being named anargyroi (from the Greek Ἀνάργυροι, 'the silverless' or 'unmercenaries'); by this, they attracted many to the Christian faith. They reputedly cured blindness, fever, paralysis and reportedly expelled a breast serpent. They were arrested by Lysias, governor of Cilicia (modern day Çukurova, Turkey) during the Diocletian persecution because of their faith and fame as healers. Emperor Diocletian, who favoured the worship of the Olympian gods, issued a series of edicts that condemned the Christians with the goal of eliminating Christianity from the Roman empire.