Cosmas and Damian | |
|---|---|
 Image 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 Anglican churches Lutheran 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 (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.[3][4] They practised their profession in the seaport of Aegeae, then in the Roman province of Cilicia.[5]
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.[6] They reputedly cured blindness, fever, paralysis and reportedly expelled a 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.[7]
- ^ Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Οἱ Ἅγιοι Κοσμᾶς καὶ Δαμιανός οἱ Ἀνάργυροι καὶ Θαυματουργοί Archived 2011-11-03 at the Wayback Machine. 1 Νοεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
- ^ Wonderworker and Unmercenary Cosmas of Asia Minor Archived 2007-11-16 at the Wayback Machine. OCA - Feasts and Saints.
- ^ Byzantium and the Arabs in the sixth century Irfan Shahid
- ^ Cyril Elgood (31 October 2010). A Medical History of Persia and the Eastern Caliphate: From the Earliest Times Until the Year A.D. 1932. Cambridge University Press. p. 207. ISBN 978-1-108-01588-2.
- ^ Richard Stracke. "Saints Cosmas and Damian: Art, Iconography, Legends". www.christianiconography.info. Archived from the original on 2019-03-29. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
- ^ "Catholic Encyclopedia: "Sts. Cosmas and Damian"". Archived from the original on 2005-08-27. Retrieved 2005-08-20.
- ^ Wong, Szu Shen (26 September 2016). "Saint Cosmas and Damian: the patron saints of pharmacy and medicine". The Pharmaceutical Journal. Retrieved 2022-07-30.