My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
On the 1st of November, Our Holy Orthodox Church Commemorates
the holy and Wonderworking Unmercenaries KOSMAS and DAMIANOS
(DAMIAN) of Asia.
Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn. Plagal of Fourth Tone
O HOLY Unmercenaries and wonderworkers, visit our infirmities;
freely ye received, freely give to us.
Kontakion Hymn. Second Tone
Having received the grace of healing, ye extend health to those in
need, O glorious and wonderworking physicians. Hence, by your
visitation, cast down the audacity of our enemies, and by your
miracles heal the world.
KOSMAS and DAMIANOS (DAMIAN), the siblings and holy Martyrs, known as the holy Unmercenaries (anargyroi), were from Asia. They were the sons of a certain pious woman named Theodote. They were skilled in the medical arts but received their gift of healing from Christ. They ministered free of charge to their patients, fulfilling the Gospel command: "FREELY YE RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE" [Matthew 10:8]. The Holy Orthodox Church also commemorates two other sets of holy Unmercenaries, who share the names of Kosmas and Damian. We differentiate them by provenance. The second pair, commemorated on the 1st of July, lived in Rome during the reign of Emperor Carinus (283-285 A.D.), whom they converted. They also met a martyric end by stoning. The third pair, hailing from Arabia, commemorated on the 17th of October, lived during the time of pagan Emperor Diocletian and Maximian (292 A.D.). Together with three other brothers, Leontios, Anthimos, and Evtropios (or Evprepios), they were cast into the seas, thrown into a blazing furnace, and nailed to a cross, before they were finally beheaded in Lycia.
We now need to speak of Saints Kosmas and Damianos of Asia. As a preface to their inspiring lives, we beseech the blessed Christians to give heed and not neglect the gift of grace that is in each of us. Let us meditate upon God’s precepts and statutes, for the mind of man is not without movement. Let us meditate on those subjects which bear good fruit, life, and salvation, as the divine David says: "If Thy law had not been my meditation, then should I have perished in my humiliation" [Psalm 118:92]. For his cause it is always to our benefit to be contemplating what is good and reading the Scriptures and the Lives of the Saints, because even Christ said, "Keep on searching the Scriptures, for in them ye think to have eternal life; and these are they which testify concerning Me" (John 5:39].
There are many Saints in the Church of whom we know neither their names nor their achievements, because we do not wish to gain wealth for our souls, but only consume our days with earthly cares. If we hear fictions, straightway, we put them in our minds and remember them; but if we hear the accounts of the Saints, we immediately forget them. As a result, we neither know what the will of God might be, nor do we know what is virtue and what is vice. Thus, that we might live God-pleasing lives and not be delivered over to everlasting punishment, let us meditate on the word of God, that we might come to repentance and not let sin reign in our lives.
Kosmas and Damianos of Asia were called Unmercenaries, because they healed the sick without receiving any payment, whether it be money or gifts, for their labors. The brothers were scions of a well-to-do family. Their father had been a Greek pagan, but later, after he begat Kosmas and Damianos, he denied vile idolatry and embraced Christianity. He managed his life in a virtuous, prudent, and sober manner. Not much time passed, however, before he surrendered his soul to his Creator. He consigned his two boys to divine succor and assistance and the protection of their mother. Their mother, Theodote, had been a Christian from girlhood. Being left a widow, she diligently pursued the rearing and education of her sons, though more so toward piety and reverence. She also was a woman of uncommon excellence and was a model of womanly virtue to all those in the neighborhood. Her sons applied themselves conscientiously to the study of medicine, and they learned their art exceedingly well. After they had finished their studie, they immediately commenced their philanthropic work. Their primary treatment was not the curing of bodies as much as the healing of souls, by preaching in every place and at all times the name of the Christ.
Conducting their lives in this manner, the holy physicians were vouchsafed Apostolic gifts of grace; for they also received the gift of healing, given by Christ to His Holy Apostles to cure every kind of sickness. This means that, without herbs, plasters, and other therapeutic treatments, they cured every illness by the grace of the All-Holy Spirit. How can one describe the brothers’ humility, poverty, philanthropy, and other virtues which they possessed even as Christ’s Apostles? Their humility was such that they personally treated patient’s wounds. Their poverty was so profound that they possessed neither money, nor a second garment, nor even a bag for the road. The people did not address them by their first names, Kosmas and Damianos, but "Unmercenaries," and thus the surname designated both them and their class. All were treated on an equal basis, whether the patient was rich or poor, or a foreigner or fellow countryman. Their home was the site of the new sheep pool of Bethesda [John 5:2], which surpassed each day upon the stretching forth of the healing hands of the wise physicians Kosmas and Damianos. Their almsgiving and love for all was of such a degree that they even cured irrational beasts.
The brothers shared a single character and soul in their faith, fasting, and works. They were like-minded in disdaining the corruptible things of the world, rejecting the enjoyment of pleasures, and preserving their chastity. Dead to the things of this world, they cut off the sickness of avarice. They were more like inhabitants of heaven, though they dwelt in the flesh. The Saints, indeed, were accounted worthy of such grace from God as to heal every illness. They, however, did not attribute the restoration of their patients’ health to their skill or art, but instead named the Source of the remedy openly; the grace of God… No patient left without receiving benefits. Each departed rejoicing and having been rendered a double cure, that is, both of body and soul. Thus, the Saints drove away, by grace energizing in them, not only infirmities of the body, but also the darkness of evil spirits. Blessed Christians, to examine each and every patient’s condition is a formidable task and beyond the scope of this narration. We shall, however, discuss a few miraculous cases. As for the countless other illustrations, we must pass them by, lest the volume of the unmercenaries’ caseload overwhelm you.
At the time there was a woman named Palladia who was sorely afflicted and bedridden, so that for many years she had been unable to move from her place. She invited the holy Unmercenaries to her bedside. Straightway, as they entered her house, she was healed and suffered no trace of the ill-effects or handicaps of her prolonged illness. She marvelled and rejoiced at their great and awesome wonderworking upon her. She was desirous to recompense them with some small gift. She took three eggs and offered them, as the least gift to the Saints. They, however, upon seeing the eggs, declined the present. Palladia, upon seeing that they would not accept her offering, became very sorrowful. Later, she found Saint Damianos, the younger brother, and approached him, She then stood before him weeping and saying, "Why do you reject me and my tiny gift? I adjure thee, O Unmercenary, before Christ, the True God, in Whom I, the hapless one, believe, not to embitter thy handmaid, but receive this smallest gift as one great." Saint Damianos, after giving a patient hearing to her complaint, was moved to pity the woman and took those three eggs.
After a certain number of days, the blessed Damianos mentioned to his brother, Saint Kosmas, that he met with the woman who was healed. He described the encounter, saying, "She implored me and made a solemn oath. I pitied her and finally accepted her gift." When Saint Kosmas heard this report, he was moved to indignation. He sighed and wept, as one having fallen into great sin, that is, the passion of avarice. Kosmas rebuked Damianos. The holy Kosmas not only reproached his brother, but also said, "Upon my repose, they are not to inter my body in the place where they shall have buried thee, Damianos." Indeed, Damiano’s admission seemed hard and bitter to the elder brother.
In all this, however, God, the Knower of hearts, Who clearly knew the aim of Saint Damianos, did not leave Saint Kosmas so stricken and cast down with sorrow on account of his brother. Saint Kosmas was vouchsafed a vision of his brother’s true intention. This, therefore, restored peace to his heart and the mutual love between the brothers. Saint Kosmas , in the meantime, mentioned his vision to no one.
The Saints were walking about here and there, as mentioned earlier, furnishing their services and benefits in abundance to the people. They arrived at Phereman, a village of Asia Minor, where Saint Damianos took ill. It was God’s will that the younger brother first depart and take his rest from the corrupt and perishing things of this world and go to those incorruptible and good things of Paradise. Thus, Saint Damianos reposed in the Lord and surrendered his holy soul which was translated by radiant Angels. His honorable holy relics were laid to rest by Saint Kosmas and many other Christians there at Phereman. Not many days passed, however, before Saint Kosmas also fell asleep in the Lord.
The holy Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damianos made themselves wholly the abode of the Holy Trinity. Even to this day they pour forth torrents of healing. Their very names drive away the dark passions and impart healing of soul and body to those who are grievously ailing. "For as most excellent physicians," chants Saint John of Damascus, "in a mystical manner, they practise their art of surgery, dispensing medicines for salvation, and treating every malady, by drawing upon the divine treasury, while hymning to the Most Glorious God." [Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church]
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 