MEMORIAL OF SAINTS COSMAS AND DAMIAN, MARTYRS AND SAINTS CYPRIAN AND JUSTINA, MARTYRS: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saints Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs and Saints Cyprian and Justina, Martyrs. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, Mother of Mercy and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the safety and well-being of physicians, pharmacists, dentist, nurses and all health care professionals. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill, eye diseases and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏
SAINTS COSMAS AND DAMIAN, MARTYRS: Sts. Cosmas and Damian (d. 287 A.D.) were twins born in Arabia in the third century to Christian parents. They lived in the region around the border between modern day Turkey and Syria. The twins had become eminent for their skill in the science of medicine. They both became skilled physicians who practiced in Asia Minor. They took no money for their medical services, for which they were well-respected. Being Christians, they were filled with the spirit of charity and as doctors, they were known for their skills and the fact that they offered their services for free. At Egaea in Cilicia, where they lived, they enjoyed the highest esteem of the people. They were venerated in the East as the “moneyless ones” because they practiced medicine gratis. Many of their patients converted to the Catholic faith due to their charity and Christian witness and earned them a place of prominence in the Christian communites of Asia Minor.
But because they were so well-known, the brothers were two of the first targets when the Diocletian persecutions began at the end of the third century. In 287, Sts. Cosmas and Damian were apprehended by order of Lysias, Governor of Cilicia and told to deny their faith in Jesus. They refused, and were put through a series of tortures, including crucifixion. Miraculously, they remained unharmed throughout their cruel tortures holding firm in their faith to the end. When their torturers became tired of trying to get them to deny Christ, they simply beheaded them. They were martyred together with their three brothers. Their remains were buried in Syria and many miracles were attributed to them. In gratitude for the healing he received through the intercession of Sts. Cosmas and Damian, Roman Emperor Justinian I (6th c.) restored a church dedicated to their honor in Constantinople, which became a place of pilgrimage.
The great honor in which they are held and the antiquity of their veneration indicate some historical memory among the early Christians who came out of the great persecutions with a new cult of Christian heroes. Sts. Cosmas and Damian were not only ideal Christians by their practice of medicine without fee, they also symbolized God’s blessing upon the art of healing and that respect for every form of science, which is an important part of Christian tradition. They were venerated very early and became patrons of medicine, known for their miracles of healing. Along with St. Luke, they are the Patron Saints of doctors. They are regarded as the Patron Saints of physicians; surgeons; pharmacists; apothecaries; barbers; blind; chemists; druggists; hairdressers; hernias; marital harmony; midwives; relief from pestilence; identical twins; twins; dentists; protectors of children; veterinarian; orphanages; day-care centers; confectioners; children in house; against hernia; against the plague; Gaeta, Italy. The Church includes Saints Cosmas and Damian in the Litany of the Saints and they are invoked in the Roman Canon of the Mass. Their feast day is September 26th.
PRAYER: Lord, may the devout memorial of Sts. Cosmas and Damian render praise to You. For in Your ineffable providence You conferred eternal glory on them and a duty on us. Amen 🙏
SAINTS CYPRIAN AND JUSTINA, MARTYRS: Sts. Cyprian and Justina, Martyrs were Christians of Antioch who suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Diocletian at Nicomedia on September 26, 304. St. Cyprian was a heathen magician of Antioch who had dealing with demons. By their aid he sought to bring St. Justina, a Christian virgin, to ruin; but she foiled the threefold attacks of the devils by the sign of the cross.
Brought to despair, St. Cyprian made the sign of the cross himself and in this way was freed from the toils of Satan. He was received into the Church, was made pre-eminent by miraculous gifts, and became in succession deacon, priest, and finally bishop, while Justina became the head of a convent. When the persecution of Diocletian broke out, Sts. Cyprian and Justina were seized and presented to the same judge. St. Justina was inhumanly scourged, and St. Cyprian was torn with iron hooks. After this they were sent in chains to Diocletian, who commanded their heads to be struck off. This sentence was executed at Nicomedia, in the year 304.
Saints Cyprian and Justina, Martyrs ~ Pray for us 🙏