Holy Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damian of Asia Minor in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Although the Holy Unmercenaries, Kosmas and Damian, celebrated today, are different from their namesakes, also Unmercenaries, who are celebrated on July 1, their Service is exactly the same as theirs. It emphasizes the element par excellence of the holiness of both pairs, their unmercenary actions and life, that is, the provision of their services, as their synaxarion notes, free of charge and without pay. This means that the Saints were completely non-avaricious – “cutting off the disease of avarice,” notes the Hymnographer – an example of the elevation of their intellect above material things – “demonstrating the intellect superior to the material.” But how can one disentangle oneself from material goods? Only when one is “involved” with something higher and loftier. And this is none other than love for God and Christ. Only those who have a living relationship with Him, only those who have Him active in their hearts, can truly see their fellow human beings and the whole world with a pure, that is, loving, eye. And this is exactly what happened with the Holy Unmercenaries: they loved Christ and therefore loved every fellow human being, and every creature of God. “Always having Christ active in you, Holy Unmercenaries, you work miracles in the world, healing the sick.”

Saint Eumenios the New: "I Saw the Holy Unmercenaries in White Shirts, Like Doctors"

One afternoon, Father Eumenios felt an unbearable pain in his stomach, to the point of despair. He told me how he was cured: 

“I didn’t know what to do. My stomach had never hurt me before. So I went into the church, stood in front of the icon of the Holy Unmercenaries,* and began to cross my stomach and ask the Holy Unmercenaries to make me well. I crossed myself for over four hours. Then I sat down to rest for a while, and fell asleep. This is when I saw the Holy Unmercenaries in white shirts, like doctors, performing an operation on me. They took out my stomach and showed it to me. Immediately afterwards I woke up and was fine. Since then it hasn’t hurt me at all.”

Source: From the book of Monk Simon, Father Eumenios, the Good Shepherd and Wonderworker. Translation by John Sanidopoulos.

 

* Father Eumenios served as the priest of the Chapel of the Holy Unmercenaries, which celebrates on November 1st, at the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in the suburb of Agia Varvara in Athens.

 

November: Day 1: Teaching 2: Holy Wonderworkers and Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damian

 

November: Day 1: Teaching 2: Holy Wonderworkers and Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damian
 
(On the Sin of Love of Money)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

Today we celebrate the memory of two unmercenary physicians named Kosmas and Damian. The two brothers, Kosmas and Damian, were the children of a pious widow. Raised in piety, they received from God the gift of healing the sick, and they helped not only people but also animals. They helped them freely, remembering the Lord's commandment: "Freely you have received, freely give."

II. The Holy Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damian, who healed the sick free of charge, teach us to avoid the passion of avarice, which, having taken possession of our soul, can finally extinguish our love for God and our neighbors and deprive us of eternal life.

"Before My Operation, the 12 Holy Unmercenaries Came and Stood All Around My Bed"

 

Elder Emmanuel of Gregoriou recounts the following miraculous incident with the Holy Unmercenaries:

"Do you remember, Elder, telling me about a miracle of the Holy Unmercenaries?"

"Yes. I heard about one that happened in my time. When I took over this Cell of the Holy Unmercenaries, the covers of the Holy Table were worn out. I had to change them. The issue was also financial and, moreover, I did not know anyone who could sew them. Fortunately, I remembered a woman from Thessaloniki. She had previously sewn three sets of covers for me for Holy Week. With the financial help of pious women, this woman, Amalia was her name, bought the covers and sewed them. However, from the exhausting work, she went blind.