Martyr
Unmercenary Cosmas of Asia Minor
III–IV век (мирная кончина)
Also known as: Косма Малоазийский
Cosmas of Asia Minor — an unmercenary wonderworker who, together with his brother Damian and their mother Venerable Theodota, healed people and animals without charge through the power of the Holy Spirit; he died peacefully.
The wonderworking unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian of Asia Minor were brothers whose pagan father died while they were children; their mother, St. Theodota, raised them as devout Christians.
Having received from the Holy Spirit the gift of healing both body and soul — and, by tradition, even animals — they refused all payment, following Christ's command "freely you have received, freely give." A well-known episode tells of the sick woman Palladia, healed through their prayers, whose gift of three eggs (offered in the name of the Holy Trinity) Damian accepted without violating their vow of unmercenary service — vindicated miraculously by a camel they had once treated.
They died peacefully, and their relics were laid together at Thereman in Mesopotamia.
Their feast is November 1/14.
NOTE: this entry has been identified with the Asia Minor pair of Cosmas and Damian — distinct from the Roman pair described in the separate entry martyr_cosmas, and from the Arabian pair (Martyrs Cosmas and Damian with their brothers Leontius, Anthimus, and Eutropius, feast October 17/30). The three pairs are DIFFERENT historical saints who share a common name and calling — not duplicates of one another. This entry has no images.