SS Cosma & Damiano

• History

 

Twin brothers, by their faith in Jesus Christ and by their common martyrdom under Diocletian, were born at Aegea, in Arabia.  As physicians they healed the worst diseases as much by the virtue of Christ as by their medical knowledge.  They were Apostles rather than physicians, healing the souls as well as the bodies, thereby following the example of Jesus in Palestine.  They were called in the East “The Moneyless Ones” because they cared for their patients free of charge.  SS. Cosma & Damiano were also responsible for the conversion of many sinners.

They were denounced by their ruler Lysias.  Though under constant tortures, they were thrown into the sea, fire and other devices.  They managed to survive.  Finally they were beheaded with swords.

Their bodies were carried into Syria and buried at Cyrus.  Theodoret, who was bishop of the city in the fifth century, mentions that their relics were then deposited in a church in Cyrus which bore their name.

Emperor Justinian, out of religious regard for the treasure of these precious relics strongly fortified the city of Cyrus, finding a ruinous church at Constantinople, rebuilt the church in honor of these saints, a stately edifice in its room, as a monument of his gratitude and to express his particular devotion to these saints, for the recovery of his health.

St. Gregory of Tours relates several miracles performed by their intercession.  Their relics were conveyed to Rome, where the Holy Pope, St. Felix, great grandfather to St. Gregory the Great, built a church in their honor in which these relics are kept with veneration to this day.

Their names are mentioned in the canon of the mass which today is our First Eucharistic Prayer.

They are the patron saints of physicians and pharmacists.  Their feast day is September 27.

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The Twin Saints

by Ron Caylor

Two brothers - later proclaimed saints - performed an amazing leg transplant and removed a cancerous tumor... 1,700 years ago.

In the 3^rd century A.D., Cosmas and Damian, according to official Catholic Church records, successfully removed the gangrenous leg of a Roman and replaced it with a healthy leg taken from a slave.

The incredible feat is depicted in a 500-year-old wood carving at the Cathedral of Palencia, Spain.  Cathedral records describe the story in detail, Father Jesus San Martin, canon of the archives, told the Enquirer:

"The two magi standing behind the couch are Cosmas and Damian.  On the couch is a Roman nobleman who had a gangrenous left leg.

"Cosmas and Damian amputated the gangrenous leg and also amputated the leg of a slave in the nobleman's household.  Then they grafted the slave's healthy leg onto the nobleman's stump."

Dr. Jose Rivas Torres, a medical professor at Spain's Malaga University, said: 

"The evidence of the carving is perfectly clear to any surgeon.  What it depicts is obviously a leg transplant, and the cathedral's records back this up.

"Modern medicine has not yet conquered the problem of rejection of foreign tissue by the human body that would make such a limb transplant possible.  This is historical evidence that medicine was fantastically advanced centuries ago!"

Spanish heart transplant surgeon Dr. Cristobal Martinez Bordiu believes the carving's "implications are startling and provocative."

Cosmas and Damian - incredibly accomplished Arab physicians and surgeons - were famed for their mysterious, miraculous cures.  Christian martyrs, they were beheaded by the Emperor Diocletian in 303 A.D.

"Their skill as physicians was such that, without doubt, they cured the sick - so effectively that the oldest artistic representations of them concentrate on their professional acts, rather than their martyrdom,"  says the Enciclopedia Cristiana, the official Italian language Roman Catholic reference work which lists among the pictorial representations of the saints a second, independent version of the transplant.

                And on a "relicarium" or small coffin from the 12^th or 13^th century belonging to the treasury of Notre Dame Cathedral in Cracow, Poland, is a scene which portrays Cosmas and Damian performing another great feat - cancer surgery.

                The scene, according to the Enciclopedia Cristiana shows the two saints "extracting a serpent which, introduced into the mouth of a sleeping farmer, was removed by surgery performed by the saints."

                Dr. Rafael Carillo, a noted Spanish surgeon and medical historian, told the Enquirer: 

"The word ‘serpent' was commonly used as a euphemism for a tumor of cancer.

"The carving in Cracow undoubtedly represents the world's earliest surgical operation for removal of cancer."

                Monsignore Giovanni Ottieri of the Vatican Library in Rome said: "Vatican records prove that Cosmas and Damian were sainted shortly after their deaths because of their medical miracles and their martyrdom."

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RELICS

by Joan Carroll Cruz

Author of The Incorruptibles

The veneration of relics is practiced by Christians and non-Christians alike.  It is in no way restricted to the Catholic religion, but is, to some extent, a primitive instinct with origins that predate Christianity.

Since the early days of the Church, the remains of a Saint or holy person were called relics, from the Latin Reliquiae meaning remains.  Relics are divided into three categories.  First-class relics are parts of the bodies of saints and the instruments of Our Lords Passion.  Second-class relics are objects sanctified by close contact with saints, such as articles of clothing, objects used in life, or, in the case of a martyr, the instruments of his torture.  Third-class relics are objects or cloths touched to either first- or second-class relics.

Material benefits obtained through relics of saints have often included miracles, as is witnesses not only by the history of the Church and the lives of the saints, but also by Sacred Scripture.

At the present time first-, second- and third-class relics may be authenticated and distributed by religious orders on the approval of the local bishop.  But the most formidable task of authenticating and historically approving first-class relics rests with the Relic office in the Vatican.

Relics should be handled intelligently without abuses.  They are signs which can be useful to spread devotion to holy men and women all over the world.  When relics are requested for private and public veneration they must be accompanied by official papers warranting their validity and authenticity.  In no other way may they be sold.  A contribution may be requested merely to cover expenses such as for the relic case and mailing charges.

Father Michael James Nappo is a Franciscan priest from St. Anthony of Padua Church in New York City.  While he was in Rome he was offered the relics of any saints of his choosing.  Father Nappo grew up in East New York in Brooklyn when St. Rita's Church had statues of Saints Cosma and Damiano and held a feast in their honor each year.  It was his choice to pick the relics of Saints Cosma and Damiano.

When speaking to his cousin, Al Stabile and hearing of Al's relationship with the International Society of Saints Cosma & Damiano Father Nappo decided to give Al the bone chips of the Saints, a first-class relic.  In return, Al asked if he could give the relics to the International Society of Saints Cosma and Damiano.  He felt it should be enjoyed by everyone who believes in the twin saints.  Al has donated the relics to the Society in memory of his son Frank C. Stabile.  The relics were presented to Joseph De Candia, President and founder at a general meeting in October 1991 so they can be enjoyed by everyone.

The relics are sealed with the Stamp of the Vatican and the official paper to warrant their authenticity accompanied the relics.

 

 

Ceiling of Basilica in Rome,
Twin Saints in white on left and right.