, containing the alleged skulls of Cosmas and Damian. The convent of the
Poor Clares in
Madrid also has two skulls alleged to be those of Cosmas and Damian. presents Saints Cosmas and Damian with
the basilica he
rededicated to them. (
Musée du Louvre, Paris) The veneration of Cosmas and Damian quickly spread beyond Constantinople; accounts of their martyrdom were rewritten by various authors such as
Andrew of Crete,
Peter the Wonderworker,
Theodore II Laskaris, and a certain Maximus . The legends are preserved also in Syriac, Coptic, Georgian, Armenian, and Latin. As early as the 4th century, churches dedicated to the twin saints were established at
Jerusalem, in Egypt and in
Mesopotamia. Devotion to the two saints spread rapidly in both the East and the West.
Theodoret records the division of their reputed relics. Their relics, deemed miraculous, were buried in the city of
Cyrrhus in Syria. Churches were built in their honor by Archbishop
Proclus of Constantinople and by Emperor
Justinian I (527–565), who sumptuously restored the city of Cyrrhus and dedicated it to the twins, but brought their purported relics to
Constantinople. and it became a celebrated place of pilgrimage. At Rome, Pope
Felix IV (526–530) rededicated the Library of Peace (
Bibliotheca Pacis) as a
basilica of
Santi Cosma e Damiano in the
Forum of Vespasian in their honour. The church is much rebuilt but still famed for its sixth-century mosaics illustrating the saints. What are said to be their skulls are venerated in the
Convent of Las Descalzas Reales of the
Clares in
Madrid, where they have been since 1581, the gift of Maria, daughter of Emperor
Charles V. They had previously been removed from Rome to
Bremen in the tenth century, and thence to
Bamberg. Other skulls said to be theirs were discovered in 1334 by
Burchard Grelle,
Archbishop of Bremen. He personally "miraculously" retrieved the relics of the holy physicians Cosmas and Damian, which were allegedly immured and forgotten in the choir of the
Bremen Cathedral. In celebration of the retrieval Archbishop and
Chapter arranged a feast at Pentecost 1335, when the relics were translated from the wall to a more dignified place. Grelle claimed the relics were those Archbishop
Adaldag brought from Rome in 965. The cathedral master-builder Johann Hemeling made a shrine for the relics, which was finished . The shrine, made from carved oak wood covered with gilt and rolled silver is considered an important mediaeval gold work. In 1649 Bremen's Chapter,
Lutheran by this time, sold the shrine without the heads to
Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria. The two heads remained in Bremen and came into the possession of the small Roman Catholic community. They were shown from 1934 to 1968 in the Church of St. Johann and in 1994 they were buried in the crypt. The shrine is now shown in the
Jesuit church of St Michael in
Munich. At least since 1413 another supposed pair of skulls of the saints has been stored in
St Stephens's Cathedral in
Vienna. Other relics are claimed by the
Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in
Venice. The martyr twins are invoked in the
Canon of the Mass In Canada it has been moved to 25 September (as 26 September is the Feast of the Canadian Martyrs in Canada). Sts Cosmas and Damian are regarded as the patrons of physicians, surgeons, and pharmacists and are sometimes represented with medical emblems. They are also regarded as the patron saints of twins. s of the
arms of the guild of barber-surgeons carved into a
capital, 15th century, from the Carmes monastery in
Trie-sur-Baïse in southwestern France. The inscription reads, "Saints Cosmas and Damian pray for us". In
Brazil, the twin saints are regarded as protectors of children, and 27 September is commemorated, especially in
Rio de Janeiro, by giving children bags of candy with the saints' effigy printed on them and throughout the entire state of
Bahia where Catholics and adepts of
Candomblé religion offer typical food such as
caruru. The ritual consists of first offering the food to seven children that are no older than seven years old and then having them feast while sitting on the floor and eating with their hands. For adepts of Candomblé and
Umbanda, the saints are
syncretised with the
Ibeji. The
Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian, in
Igarassu, Pernambuco is Brazil's oldest church, built in 1535. In the UK, Damian is the
dexter side supporter in the
coat of arms of the
British Dental Association. Cosmas and Damian are venerated every year in
Utica, New York, at St. Anthony's Parish during the annual pilgrimage which takes place on the last weekend of September (close to the 27 September feast day). There are thousands of pilgrims who come to honor the saints. Over 80 busloads come from Canada and other destinations. The two-day festival includes music (La Banda Rosa), much Italian food, Masses and processions through the streets of East Utica. It is one of the largest festivals honoring saints in the Northeastern United States.
Miracle of the Black Leg The
Miracle of the Black Leg is a medieval transplant where Saints Cosmas and Damian allegedly replaced a white man's diseased leg with one from a deceased Black man. The saints, who were traveling physicians in third-century
Syria, performed this miracle in the 6th century, long after their deaths. According to the legend, a
verger in
Medieval Rome with a cancerous leg received a nighttime visit from the saints in a dream. They surgically removed his diseased limb and replaced it with one from a recently deceased
Ethiopian man. Upon awakening, the verger discovered his diseased leg had indeed been replaced with a Black leg. When people checked the Ethiopian donor's tomb, they found the verger's white leg attached to the deceased man's body. This transplant miracle, documented in the Golden Legend, has inspired numerous artistic depictions. == Eastern Christianity ==