Venerable
Unmercenary Healers Unmercenary Healers Cosmas and Damian
III век
Also known as: Косма и Дамиан Асийские
Unmercenary healers and wonderworkers Cosmas and Damian — brothers and physicians who healed people and animals free of charge in the name of Christ. This card represents Cosmas and Damian of Asia (feast Nov 1/14, died peacefully) — the pair most commonly meant in Russian iconographic tradition when the names appear without a qualifying epithet; the Orthodox calendar also venerates two other same-named pairs: Cosmas and Damian of Rome (July 1/14, martyrs) and Cosmas and Damian of Arabia (Oct 17/30, martyrs).
Under the names Cosmas and Damian, three distinct pairs of physician brothers who healed the sick free of charge ("unmercenaries") are venerated in the Orthodox calendar: of Asia (natives of Asia Minor, raised by their pious mother Theodotia, died peacefully, feast Nov 1/14), of Rome (suffered from the envy of their teacher-physician, feast July 1/14), and of Arabia (suffered during the persecution of Diocletian, feast Oct 17/30). Since the card's source data contains no qualifying epithet, this entry takes as its basis the veneration of Cosmas and Damian of Asia, the pair most commonly meant in Russian tradition: they came from Asia Minor, learned the medical art from a young age, and healed people and livestock without ever taking payment — hence the name "unmercenaries." They died of natural causes in old age and were buried in a single grave. The existence of three pairs is reflected in different iconographic types (differing ages, attributes held in hand), which complicates precise attribution of a single uncatalogued image without an inscription.