St. Cosmas & St. Damian
St. Cosmas and St. Damian - Pray for Us
Cosmas and Damian are names that, if you’re Catholic, you’ve probably heard in the Canon of the Mass and the Litany of Saints. But did you know they were twin brothers? I didn’t until we read Ethel Pochocki’s Once Upon a Time Saints book when my own twin sons were 6 years old.
On a cool September morning fourteen years ago we first encountered the story of these twin saints. My energetic boys were intrigued by their heroic deaths. Friendship and conflict, fire and arrows and cliffs - what boy wouldn’t be intrigued?
Getting to know the saints - our heavenly friends - through stories was woven into the rhythm of our family’s homeschool days. Each year we revisited our favorite stories on each saint’s feast day. Sometimes we celebrated with tea and a treat. Other times we simply read aloud together, curled up comfortably on the couch.
Almost every September 26th, we revisited the legends surrounding Sts. Cosmas and Damian. They were born in the 3rd century to Christian parents and loved near modern day Turkey and Syria. They both became doctors, trained in the largely herbal healing arts of the time, and placed themselves at the service of anyone, rich or poor, in need of healing. They became skilled at utilizing the natural gifts of the earth, recognizing and teaching about all that our Divine Healer provided for our health. They refused to charge for their services, since they saw themselves as simply doing the work God called them to.
Their generous service to so many drew the attention of the governor. He couldn’t have these twin brothers converting others to Christ through their charity. So around 287, during the Diocletian persecution, Cosmas and Damian were captured and ordered to renounce their faith, which they refused to do. These twin brothers were then among those executed for their faith.
Amazingly, killing them wasn’t easy. Legend has it that first their hands and feet were bound and they were thrown off a cliff into the sea. But then the raging waves calmly settled and the brothers miraculously walked to the shore, unbound. They were then thrown into a fire, but the fire faded as the brothers stepped out unharmed. They were hung on crosses and stoned, but the stones turned around toward their attackers instead. Arrows were shot at their hearts, but these too changed directions and fell back onto the archers. Finally, it was ordered that they be beheaded, and that is how they joined the company of the martyrs. Cosmas and Damian gave themselves completely - body, minds and souls - to God in both their lives and deaths. They were courageous , faithful, united brothers until the end.
Their martyrdom has been celebrated since the days of the early Church. Not surprisingly, they continue to carry on their healing mission from heaven. Many miracles are attributed to their intercession.
I’ve been pondering lately how we humans are a people made for stories. Whether legend or fiction or biographical facts - good stories connect us and give us glimpses of The Story and The Storyteller.
Eight years after we first read their story, my boys chose these courageous twin saints as their confirmation saints. I couldn’t help but think that they were drawn to them partly through story. They got to know St. Cosmas and St. Damian as friends, as part of the communion of saints, between the pages of a book.
May these courageous twin saints pray for my own twins and for all of us. May we have the courage to remain steadfast in our faith, no matter what comes. And if you or any of your loved ones are in need of healing, ask for their intercession. Their work is not yet done, thanks be to God.
