{"id":2303,"date":"2014-09-27T06:30:41","date_gmt":"2014-09-27T05:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2006\/09\/moneyless-physicians-labouring\/"},"modified":"2014-09-27T08:47:01","modified_gmt":"2014-09-27T07:47:01","slug":"moneyless-physicians-labouring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2014\/09\/moneyless-physicians-labouring\/","title":{"rendered":"Moneyless physicians labouring without pay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ss_cosma_e_damiano\"<\/a>Saints of the Roman Canon<\/strong><\/p>\n

From the end of the fourth century right up until 1970 the Mass of the Roman Rite was never celebrated without commemorating today\u2019s glorious martyrs, Saints Cosmas and Damian. The names of Saints Cosmas and Damian<\/a> are enshrined in the \u201cCommunicantes\u201d prayer of the Roman Canon. For well over a thousand years, the venerable Roman Canon was the only anaphora (Eucharistic Prayer) of the Roman Church. The fact that the names of Cosmas and Damian were pronounced in every single Mass celebrated from the time of Saint Gregory the Great to that of Paul VI has conferred on them an aura of venerable familiarity. Saints Cosmas and Damian are thus indelibly inscribed in the collective Catholic memory.<\/p>\n

Loved in the East<\/strong><\/p>\n

Looking Eastward, we see a similar attachment to Saints Cosmas and Damian. They are named explicitly at every Divine Liturgy at the moment of the preparation of the bread and wine. Placing a piece of bread on the holy diskos, the priest says, \u201cIn honour and memory of the holy, wonderworking, and Moneyless Ones . . . and all the holy physicians labouring without pay.\u201d Moneyless physicians labouring without pay! What a marvelous notion! One begins to understand why Saints Cosmas and Damian came to occupy a place of choice in the affection of the Christian people.<\/p>\n

Healing by the Power of Christ<\/strong><\/p>\n

Who were Cosmas and Damian? Tradition has it that they were twin brothers, Arabs by race, and physicians, practicing their profession without claiming payment from their patients. Hence they were known as the \u201cmoneyless\u201d or \u201cunmercenary\u201d physicians. The lesson at Matins has this lovely line: \u201cNot more by their knowledge of medicine than by the power of Christ they healed diseases which had been hopeless for others.\u201d Ultimately, Cosmas and Damian gave their lives in witness to the Divine Physician Christ. They were honoured first in the East, and by the sixth century they had their own basilica in Rome where they were depicted in mosaics which can still be seen today.<\/p>\n

Intercession for Physicians and Nurses<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is no surprise that Cosmas and Damian came to be invoked as the patron saints of physicians, surgeons, and other health care givers. For this reason, we remember today all the unmercenary physicians and nurses who have cared for us in the past, and who care for us now. Some of them may be reading this post. We shall be praying for you today, dear Fran, Lisa, Raphael, Tracy, and Brother Luke.<\/p>\n

The Word That Heals<\/strong><\/p>\n

In some way we are, all of us, moneyless health care givers. There is a long tradition of this \u2014 an apostolic one, in fact. Remember Saint Peter saying at the \u201cgate which is called Beautiful\u201d (Ac 3:2) \u201cI have no silver or gold, but I give you what I have\u201d (Ac 3:6). Saint Peter then offered healing in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The charism of healing may not given to all, but the word of comfort, the word of the Lord that dispels fear and brings assurance, is something that each of us can offer. Holy Father Benedict, speaking of the cellarer of the monastery, says that, \u201ca good word is above the highest gift\u201d (RB 31:14). If words can wound, bringing suffering, they can also heal, bringing light and peace.<\/p>\n

Healing in the Sacred Body and Precious Blood of Christ<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ultimately, the words that bring us together for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on this feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian and on every other day \u2014 \u201cThis is my Body which will be given up for you,\u201d and \u201cThis is the cup of my Blood\u201d \u2014 are words of healing. They come forth from the mouth of the Divine Physician, moneyless and unmercenary who, \u201cthough he was rich, yet for your sake became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich\u201d (2 Cor 8:9).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saints of the Roman Canon From the end of the fourth century right up until 1970 the Mass of the Roman Rite was never celebrated without commemorating today\u2019s glorious martyrs, Saints Cosmas and Damian. The names of Saints Cosmas and Damian are enshrined in the \u201cCommunicantes\u201d prayer of the Roman Canon. For well over a <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homilies","category-saints"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-B9","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2303"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2303"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8065,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2303\/revisions\/8065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}