Chaplain's Corner 

The Orthodox Christian Ethos of our school is underpinned by the lives of our patron Saints Cosmas and Damianos. These two Saints lives are epitomized by a life of service to the other and dedication to God despite being actively persecuted. We are very blessed to have a small part of their relics at our Church. Below is some information about the lives of these two Holy Brothers.

During the third century, one set of pious parents living in Rome chose the names Cosmas and Damian for their sons, naming them after the saintly physicians and healers from Asia Minor.

These brothers Cosmas and Damian were prayerful and pious Christians and God granted them the gift of healing. They cared for many very ill people, healed them, and taught them about Christ. They traveled all over the area to care for the sick.

Like the earlier brothers, this Cosmas and Damian did not accept any payment for their

services so we refer to them as unmercenary physicians. They spoke to their patients about

God and through them many people became believers. However, this was during a time when the government did not look kindly on Christians speaking to others about their faith and soldiers were sent to apprehend the brothers.

Cosmas and Damian could not be found. Friends had insisted that they hide. But the soldiers were not deterred and they arrested other Christians in place of the brothers. The brothers could not bear to see others suffer in their place, so they surrendered themselves to the soldiers and asked that the other Christians be let go.

Cosmas and Damian were taken to Rome and put on trial there. They refused to abandon

Christ, even when they were accused of performing magic and sorcery. They also

steadfastly refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods that the Romans worshipped. The brothers enraged the Emperor Carinus and at one point the emperor was struck blind.

The brothers continued to profess their belief in Christ and finally the emperor came to believe that their power to heal came from the true God. He asked Cosmas and Damien to heal him.

They did, and the emperor converted to Christianity. He had the brothers set free and allowed them to continue their work as physicians. For a time, they were able to continue to heal the sick and teach them about God in relative peace. But their troubles were not over. A former teacher of theirs, with whom they had once been close, was jealous of their fame and their God-given ability to heal others. He lured them to the mountains on the pretense of seeking ingredients for some of their medicines and there he killed Cosmas and Damian. They died as holy, Christian martyrs who had maintained their Christian faith throughout their entire lives.

How many of us today are willing to confess our faith?  To use our talents to serve our neighbour? It is vitally important that we take not just the lives of these holy protectors of our school into account and as a point of imitation but also for us as parents and guardians of our children to remember the sacred and holy task that we have in rearing our children in the faith. I invite each of you to attend the services in dedication to our Holy Patrons. Services are as follow;

Reference: https://dce.oca.org/assets/files/resources/Saints-Physicians.pdf