The Silverless Saints Cosmas and Damian were brothers. Their homeland is Asia. This was the name of a part of Asia Minor in ancient times. Neither the time of their birth nor the time of their death is known. What is certain is that they lived no later than the fourth century. This is the way to think, firstly, because in the first half of the fifth century, under Emperor Theodosius the Younger, holy temples were built in their name, and secondly, because the Copts, who separated from Orthodoxy since the Council of Chalcedon (431), recognize them as saints, whereas those who lived after They don't accept saints anymore.
Their father was a Greek and a pagan, and their mother was a Christian named Theodotia. At an early age, they lost their parent, but this served to their happiness. The mother could take up parenting more freely. Having decided to remain a widow for the rest of her life, she zealously fulfilled the Christian law; renouncing all the joys of life, she only cared to please the Lord. In short, she was a true widow, such as the apostle Paul praises: a true widow and isolated, trusting in God and abiding in prayers and supplications day and night (1 Timothy 5:5).
Therefore, the Holy Church canonized her, named her venerable, and commemorates her together with her children. One can understand what kind of upbringing the children received under the guidance of such a mother. From her very infancy, she tried to instill in them the fear of God and the love of virtue. And as soon as the children began to come of age, she sent them to a God-fearing husband to teach literacy. Here, of course, the main science was the Divine Scriptures, but at the same time, driven by their love for suffering humanity, they studied medical science and learned the healing properties of herbs and plants.
The Lord blessed their good intentions and gave them a special grace – the gift of healings and miracles. The illnesses stopped as soon as Kosma and Damian began to heal. This, of course, attracted many patients of all kinds to them.
The blind, the lame, the paralyzed, the possessed surrounded the miracle workers. But the saints were not burdened by this. Moreover, in order to be more accessible to the sick, they themselves sought them out and for this purpose moved from city to city, from all over the town, and to all the sick, without distinction of gender and age, rank and condition, they were given healing.
And they did this not in order to enrich themselves or become famous, but with the purest, lofty goal – to serve those who suffer for God's sake, to express their love for God in love for their neighbors. Therefore, they never accepted any reward from anyone for their labors, not even any tokens of gratitude for their own benefits. They firmly knew and faithfully kept the Saviour's commandment: heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons: accept thyself, give thyself (Matthew 10:8).
They received grace from God for nothing, and they gave it freely. They asked only one thing of those who were healed by them: that they firmly believe in Christ and live holily in Christ; if those who were being treated had not yet been enlightened by the light of the gospel, they tried to convert them to the Christian faith. Thus, while they were healing physical ailments, they were also healing mental ailments.
For this selfless service to suffering humanity, for these miraculous healings of incurable diseases, the Holy Church honors them as silverless and miracle workers.
But the healing power of the holy doctors did not only extend to people. They did not forget the dumb animals either. The righteous man has mercy on the souls of cattle, says the word of God (Prov.12:10). Faithful to this commandment, they went to houses, deserts and forests, found sick animals themselves and gave them healing. The grateful animals felt their benefits, knew their benefactors, and as soon as they appeared in the deserts, they followed them in whole herds.
One day they happened to go to a deserted place. Here they found a barely alive camel. The devil drove him here and defeated him here; the saints took pity on the animal, healed him and released him healthy to his place. After the death of the holy brothers, this camel helped the worshippers of Cosmas and Damian solve a difficult task.
One day, a woman who was cured by the saints asked Damian, who categorically did not want to take any payment, to take at least three eggs from her "in the name of the Holy Trinity." When Damian heard the Name of the Lord, he could not refuse. However, Kosma considered this act to be a violation of the vow of lack of money. She even commanded not to bury her brother next to him.
And so Kosma died, followed by Damian. My family was doubtful: bury them side by side or separately. But a miracle happened: a camel that had once been healed by the brothers came up to the audience and said in a human voice that the brothers should be laid side by side, because the gift that Damian had accepted was taken by him for the sake of the Lord.
In our Fatherland, the Silverless Saints Cosmas and Damian (of Asia) are mainly considered the patrons of children. They are used prayerfully at the beginning of learning to read and write, so that they strengthen the still weak children's powers and promote their proper development.