The holy unmercenary physicians Cosmas and Damian were brothers by birth. Their homeland was Asia, as part of Asia Minor was called in ancient times. Neither the time of their birth nor the time of their death is known. Only one thing is certain: they lived no later than the fourth century.
Their father was a Greek and a pagan, while their mother was a Christian named Theodotia. From early childhood she sought to instill in them the fear of God and love for virtue. When the children grew older, she entrusted them to a God-fearing man to be taught literacy. There the principal subject, of course, was Holy Scripture; at the same time, moved by love for suffering humanity, they studied medicine and learned the healing properties of herbs and plants.
The Lord blessed their good intention and granted them a special grace—the gift of healing and working miracles. Diseases ceased as soon as Cosmas and Damian began to treat them. They took no payment for healing, fulfilling Christ’s commandment: “Freely you have received; freely give.”
The healing power of the holy physicians extended not only to people. They did not forget even the speechless animals. Once they came to a deserted place, where they found a camel barely alive. The devil had driven it there and injured it; the saints took pity on the animal, healed it, and released it healthy to its place. After the repose of the holy brothers, this camel helped the venerators of Cosmas and Damian resolve a difficult matter.
Once a woman whom the saints had healed asked Damian—who firmly refused to take any payment—to accept from her at least three eggs “in the name of the Holy Trinity.” Hearing the Name of the Lord, Damian could not refuse. However, Cosmas considered this act a violation of the vow of unmercenariness and even commanded that his brother not be buried beside him.
Cosmas died, and after him Damian. Their relatives hesitated: should they bury them together or separately? Then a miracle occurred. The camel once healed by the brothers approached those gathered and, speaking with a human voice, said that the brothers should be laid to rest together, for the gift accepted by Damian had been taken for the sake of the Lord.
