Prayer to Saints Cosmas and DamianOh glorious martyrs of Christ,
Saints Cosmas and Damian,
you gave your lives for the love of God,
benefiting your fellow man,
and crowning your martyrdom with an open
and loyal profession of your faith.
You taught us to love God above all things,
and to love our fellow man as ourselves,
professing always,
and without fear,
the religion of Jesus.
Oh great protectors,
Saints Cosmas & Damian,
assist us with your love and free us from all evils.
The martyrs Cosmas and Damian were executed in the city of Cyrrhus in Syria about 303, during the persecution decreed by the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Other facts about their lives are uncertain. An early legend suggests that they were twin brothers born in Arabia who became skilled physicians.
As Christian doctors, according to the legend, they charged no fees of those they healed or cared for; they were thus called “the holy moneyless ones,” and along with St. Luke (the “beloved physician” mentioned by St. Paul in Col 4:14), Cosmas and Damian are considered the patron saints of physicians.
Within a century of the deaths of Cosmas and Damian, their fame had spread more widely than that of most martyrs, and perhaps as early as the sixth century their names were added to the Roman Canon.
“Dear brothers and sisters, let us pray to the Virgin Mary,
to help us all to be holy as these heroic witnesses of the faith
and of dedication even to martyrdom. This is the only way to
provide a credible and comprehensive answer to the human
and spiritual questions, which gives rise to the deep crisis of
the contemporary world: love in truth...
What wonderful models of holiness, the Church proposes
to us! These saints are witnesses to that love that loves
‘to the end’, and ignores the evil received, but fights it with
the good (cf. 1 Cor 13,4-8). From them we can learn the
evangelical heroism that inspires us, without fear, to give
our life for the salvation of souls. Love conquers death!”.
Pope Benedict XVI
