On Sunday, we remember the Holy Unmercenary Healers, Sts. Cosmas and Damianos. The two physician- brothers were healers of body and soul. They are numbered in a group of physician-healers that include the Holy Apostle St. Luke, the Great Martyr St. Panteleimon, the contemporary surgeon, St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol, Sts. Cyrus and John, St. Tryphon, and St. Sampson the Hospitable. All these skilled holy ones and physicians knew well the direct connection between the body and the soul, between physical illness and spiritual sickness. They were convinced that Jesus’ directive “They will place their hands on the sick and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:18), was meant not only for sickness of the body but for its primary cause: the illness of the soul. The Holy Unmercenaries understood, in the Patristic tradition, that all physical illness has, as its contributing factor, a fundamental disorder of the soul, an off-centeredness with God, an imbalance in the daily attempt to live a whole and healthy human life. St. John Chrysostom wrote of the intimate link between bodily illness and spiritual sickness in Jesus’ own ministry: “Jesus Christ desires most of all to heal our spiritual illnesses, since he heals our bodies only to go on thereafter to heal our souls.” (Homilies on Matthew, XXIX)
Human sickness and pain are only evil in appearance. They can even constitute a blessing for man if one uses them appropriately. As difficult as it is for us to accept these words, the Holy Fathers teach that we can draw spiritual benefits from illness, turning a sign of our mortality into an instrument of our salvation. Sickness prompts us to reach for God, to reestablish our soul’s connection with Him. It bids us to rely on help and healing from others, to allow them into our suffering, to establish common spiritual ground with them.. It tames the pride that so often rules our every day. It can remind us of our true priorities in making us recall the true fragility of life in this world. Furthermore, human illness can offer us the opportunity to develop Christian patience. St. Paul reminds us in the Epistle to the Romans: “suffering produces patience (hypomone), and patience produces character, and character produces hope.” (Rom.5:3-4) Lastly, the suffering that accompanies illness, to whatever degree, can produce repentance, facilitate compunction, and leave the soul well disposed to genuine, heart-felt prayer. These last effects are particularly fruitful, since they essentially motivate and direct all Orthodox spiritual life. Sickness and more serious illness touch all our lives, directly or in the lives of those we know and love. The lesson on the feast of St. Cosmas and Damianos is this: don’t be quick to reject illness as a useless and punishing burden. While it does have a dimension of suffering, it also can be a way to become closer to and more intimate with God. St. Barsanuphius reminds us: “Be attentive to the limits of endurance, do not despair and do not be discouraged. For God is near, He who says, ‘I will never fail you nor forsake you!’” I wish each of you this precious grace.
Fr. Dimitrios
