Saints Cosmas and Damian and the Traditions of Faith and Charity in Medicine.

Sts. Cosmas and Damian, the twin patron saints of medicine, were once among the most recognized saints in Christendom. In today's secularized society their prominence is much less known. The saints were beheaded during the violent persecutions of Christians in the Roman Empire in the end of the 3rd century and the first years of the fourth. Their story, however, is more than miracles and martyrdom. The history of Sts. Cosmas and Damian show the connection between medicine of Classical Greece and the worship of doctor-saints in early Christendom, and the tradition of charity to the poor in medical care.