Ezra 6.7-8, 12, 14-20; Psalm 121; Luke 8.19-21
These two brothers, reputedly twins, born in Arabia in the 3rd Century, were eminent for their skills in medicine and surgery. They never accepted money for their services, for which reason they are known as Anargyroi (‘without silver’), and they cured blindness, paralysis, and reportedly drove out a breast serpent. They were arrested by Lysias, governor of Cilicia (modern-day Çukurova, Turkey), around the year 283, during the Diocletian persecution of the Church, because of their faith and their fame as faith healers. According to legend they remained true to their faith despite the gruesome tortures inflicted on them, including being hung on crosses, stoned, and shot by arrows. Finally they were martyred by beheading. They are invoked in the Roman canon, and are the patron saints of pharmacists.