Ss. Cosmas and Damian of Asia

Two brothers of Asia Minor whose father died when they were small, and whose mother, Theodotia, brought them up in the faith and had them taught medicine. They healed for nothing, taking the Lord’s word as it stands, "freely ye have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8), and so the Church calls them the Unmercenaries, anargyroi, "without silver"; tradition adds that they tended animals too. Unlike the two other pairs of the same names, the Romans kept on 1 July and the Arabians on 17 October, who died as martyrs, these two died in peace. They are named with Panteleimon and the other unmercenary physicians in the prayer of Holy Unction. Feast: November 1.