Sveti vrači Kozma i Damjan (Heilige Ärzte Kosmas und Damian) – Vrači am 14. November - svetazvezda

Sveti vrači Kozma i Damjan (Holy Physicians Cosmas and Damian) – Vrači on November 14

On November 14 (November 1 on the Julian calendar), the Serbian Orthodox Church commemorates Sveti vrači Kozma i Damjan (Holy Physicians Cosmas and Damian). Among the people the day is simply called Vrači or Vračevi, because vračati means to heal in Serbian. The two brothers were physicians who healed the sick in the name of Isus Hristos and never accepted payment for it. Vrači is not marked in red in the church calendar, and there is no prescribed fast. Even so, many Serbian families celebrate the day as their Krsna Slava, and for doctors in Serbia it is the slava of their profession.

Who were Sveti Kozma i Damjan?

Kozma and Damjan came from Asia Minor. Their father was a pagan and died while the brothers were still small. Their mother Teodotija (Theodota) was a Christian. She raised her sons in the faith, read the holy books to them and had them trained in medicine. Kozma and Damjan grew into righteous, God-fearing men. The Church commemorates Saint Teodotija on the same day as her sons.

From God the brothers received the gift of healing both body and soul. Sveti Nikolaj Velimirović writes in the Ohridski prolog (Prologue from Ohrid) that they helped the sick not so much with medicines as with the name of the Lord Isus Hristos. They treated people and animals alike, and they never asked anything in return. That is why the Church calls them Bezsrebrenici (the silverless, in Greek Anargyroi), physicians without fee. They fulfilled to the letter the command the Lord gave His apostles when He sent them out to heal the sick:

Забадава сте добили, забадава и дајите.
Freely you have received, freely give.
– Матеј 10,8

Paladija's three eggs

A well-known story shows how seriously the brothers kept this vow. A woman named Paladija (Palladia) was gravely ill, and the doctors had given up on her. Through the prayer of the saints she was healed. Out of gratitude she secretly brought Damjan three eggs and implored him in the name of the Holy Trinity to accept the small gift. Damjan did not dare refuse. When Kozma found out, he was deeply grieved, believing his brother had broken their vow. He asked that after his death Damjan should not be buried beside him.

Kozma died first, and Damjan shortly after. While the faithful were unsure whether to follow Kozma's wish, according to tradition a camel that the brothers had once healed of its wildness came and spoke with a human voice: Damjan had not taken the eggs as payment, but out of reverence for the name of God. So the brothers were laid to rest side by side in Fereman (Pheremma) in Mesopotamia.

Miracles after their death

Even after their death the brothers helped all who called on them in faith. Their life tells of a man named Malh (Malchus) who lived near their church in Fereman. While he was away travelling, the Evil One appeared to his wife in the guise of one of her husband's friends, lured her to a lonely place and tried to kill her. She called upon the saints, and two men appeared, from whom the Evil One fled. They revealed themselves as Kozma and Damjan and vanished. Since then the brothers have also been venerated as protectors of Christian marriage.

In the Orthodox Church, Sveti Kozma i Damjan are invoked together with the other Bezsrebrenici in the service of Holy Unction (Jeleosvećenje), when the Church prays for the healing of the sick.

Three pairs of brothers, two feast days among the people

The Church knows three pairs of holy physicians named Kozma and Damjan. On November 14 (November 1) it commemorates the brothers from Asia Minor, whose story is told here. On July 14 (July 1) it commemorates the Roman Kozma and Damjan, who died as martyrs, and on October 30 (October 17) the Arabian pair. This is why Serbs celebrate two Vrači: the letnji Vrači (Summer Vrači) in July and Vrači in November. Popular tradition often says that Kozma died in July and Damjan in November, but the church calendar distinguishes the different pairs of brothers.

How Sveti Kozma i Damjan are shown on icons

On icons and frescoes the brothers usually stand side by side, in long robes like those worn by physicians in the Middle Ages. In their hands they hold small boxes (kovčežići) in which they carried their medicines. One of the best-known depictions of the two is among the frescoes of the Pećka patrijaršija (Patriarchate of Peć).

Sveti Vrači and the Serbs

The most important Serbian shrine of the brothers is Zočište Monastery near Orahovac in Kosovo and Metohija. It was built in the 14th century, in the time of the Nemanjić dynasty, on the remains of an older Byzantine shrine. It is first mentioned in 1327 in a charter of Sveti kralj Stefan Dečanski (Holy King Stefan of Dečani), who granted the monastery to Hilandar. The monastery has a spring whose water, according to tradition, helps with eye ailments. This is also the origin of the name Zočište, from za oči (for the eyes).

In July 1999 the monastery church was blown up. The relics of the saints had been taken to safety beforehand and were kept at Sopoćani Monastery. In 2004 the church was rebuilt using the stones of the old church, so the new building closely resembles the destroyed one. The relics returned, and an icon of the two saints from the old iconostasis, which survived the explosion, is also kept there. To this day the sick come to Zočište from all over Kosovo and Metohija to pray beneath the relics, among them many Albanians. Thousands of faithful gather for the monastery slava on July 14. In the village of Vračevo near Leposavić there is another monastery of Sveti Vrači, which also celebrates its slava in July.

Since 2007, Vrači has officially been the slava of the Lekarska komora Srbije (Serbian Medical Chamber). In many hospitals and health centres in Serbia the slavski kolač is cut with the priest on this day, and doctors, nurses and patients pray together for the sick.

Vrači as a slava

Many Serbian families celebrate Sveti Vrači as their Krsna Slava. On the feast day the family goes to the Liturgy, the slavski kolač is cut, the slava candle burns before the icon, and the family's patron saint is honoured with prayer and hospitality. If the slava falls on a Wednesday or Friday, it is kept with fasting. In 2026 Vrači falls on a Saturday, and since the Božićni post (Nativity Fast) only begins on November 28, it is celebrated without fasting. Learn more about the slava in our article What is the Slava? How to decorate the slavski kolač is shown in our article Kako se prave ukrasi za slavski kolač.

Customs and folk beliefs

Among the people, Vrači is a day of prayer for health. Not only the sick but also the healthy pray to God and the holy physicians on this day for the health of their loved ones. It is believed that through their intercession God keeps people free from illness and able to work throughout the year. In the past the sick made vows, promising to honour the saints in a special way if they recovered. In many places people leave the house on this day only when necessary. Some regions also believe that the holy physicians protect against lightning.

Vrači in the diaspora

Far from home, too, the slava candle burns before the icon of the holy physicians in many Serbian homes on November 14, in Switzerland, Germany and Austria as well as in America and Australia. Many Serbs in the diaspora work in healthcare themselves, as doctors, nurses or carers. For them, Vrači is a reminder that their profession is more than a job: it is service to their neighbour, as Kozma and Damjan lived it.

A feast of mercy

Kozma and Damjan had the training, the skill and the reputation to become rich. They chose the other path and gave freely what they had freely received from God. Even three eggs were too much for Kozma. Vrači reminds us that every gift we have is meant to be passed on, and that true healing begins where love asks nothing in return.

For the slava and the home

For families who celebrate Vrači and for all who venerate the holy physicians. You will find all icons and slava items dedicated to the saints in our Sveti Kozma i Damjan collection. How to display icons with dignity at home is explained in our article Kućni ikonostas.

Svetazvezda icon Sveti Kozma i Damjan, in three sizes, also framed
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Svetazvezda framed icon in DIN A4 format, Sveti Kozma i Damjan variant
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Icon Sveti Kozma i Damjan, 20 × 14.5 cm
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Icon Sveti Kozma i Damjan, 16 × 11.5 cm
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Build-your-own mini icon set, also with Sveti Kozma i Damjan
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Modlice for the slavski kolač, 12-piece set Sveti Vrači Kozma i Damjan
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Modlica for the slavski kolač, single icon Sveti Vrači Kozma i Damjan
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Slava candle for the feast day
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Свети врачи Козмо и Дамјане, молите Бога за нас.
Holy Physicians Kozma and Damjan, pray to God for us.

Срећна слава свима који славе Свете враче!
A blessed slava to all who celebrate Vrači!

Sources

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