In 1503 the Pope gave the Franciscan Third Order Regular (TOR) friars the Basilica of Cosmas and Damian to care for. Prime real estate, you might think, having a church on the forum. Not so much though, since it was a malaria district—and the church itself was a hospital.
After our Station Mass (Thursday—I’m a little behind), one of the friars walked a few of us around the church.
This included taking us down a floor, because in 1632 Pope Urban VII found a way to make the place a little healthier by simply raising the floor up a level above its flooding state. Which split the church in half horizontally, meaning that today you celebrate Mass up by the ceiling: and you get a nice close up of the mosaic.
Down in what is now the crypt, we saw the actual tomb of Saints Cosmas and Damian, as well as their three other brothers who were also doctors and also martyrs: not as famous as them because their testimony and execution weren’t as high profile.
With the previous use of the building as a temple and hospital by the Romans, it is appropriate that it was dedicated to the two medical saints—and then continued to be used as a hospital through the Middle Ages. Today the Franciscans are looking at hosting medical conferences on bioethical issues. Nothing like staying on topic for 2 millennia.
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