Equal-to-the-Apostles
Cosmas of Aetolia
Cosmas of Aetolia, Equal to the Apostles
New Calendar August 24 Old Calendar September 6
Why they are a saint
The Church remembers Cosmas of Aetolia, Equal to the Apostles. Numbered among the apostles (of the Twelve or of the Seventy); commemorated with the apostolic Church. Feast day: August 24. Tradition noted: Greek.
Limited historical information is available about this saint.
Life
Saint Cosmas of Aitolia, in the world Constas, studied at the Vatopedi school on Mount Athos and was tonsured and ordained at Philotheou Monastery. Desiring to strengthen his fellow Christians, he went to Constantinople and, with the written permission of Patriarch Seraphim II, began to preach the Gospel.
He preached in Constantinople, the Danube lands, Thessalonica, Macedonia, Akarnania, Aitolia, Kephalonia and elsewhere, simply and gently, and in many places those who heard him set up wooden crosses. In 1779, at 65, he was seized by the Turks and strangled, and his body thrown into a river; found after three days, it was buried at a monastery near Kolikontasi. He was glorified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1961.
Sources: OCA Lives of the Saints. Retold in our own words.
Traditional patronage
The cited source names no specific patronage.
Patronage / why chosen as patron
Orthodox Christians usually take Cosmas of Aetolia as a patron when they bear the name Cosmas at baptism, or were born or baptized near the feast on August 24. As an apostle, he is also asked to pray for missionaries and those who spread the Gospel.
Prayer
O holy Cosmas of Aetolia, pray to God for us.
A short general prayer to a saint, not a liturgical text. No public-domain troparion for this saint is included.