Saints Cosmas and Damian

Cosmas and Damian were twins, and both were doctors. They died, according to tradition, in the persecution of Diocletian, around 303. They are remembered for one thing only, and it’s in the nickname they carry in Greek: *anargyroi*, without silver. They never took money from anyone for healing them. In a world where medicine was an expensive profession, reserved for those who could pay, that was enough to make them known and — says tradition — to convert many. There are three sources on them, and they don’t fully agree: an Asian tradition born in Constantinople, a Roman one that took hold in Syria, an Arabic one. They yield different places and details, but the core is always the same. Their cult in the West is very ancient: their names are in the Roman Canon of the Mass, and in Rome the Basilica of Saints Cosmas and Damian, carved out in the sixth century from a building in the Forum, keeps mosaics that are among the most beautiful in the city. In southern Italy they are deeply venerated. In Bitonto, in Puglia, and above all in Riace, in Calabria, their feast draws an enormous crowd every September. They are the patrons of doctors, surgeons and pharmacists. If your name is Cosmas or Damian, today is your name day.