The Monk Kosma the Hermit

Commemorated on August 3

The Monk Kosma the Hermit lived during the VI Century in the Tharan wilderness in Palestine. An account of the Bikaneia presbyter Abba Basil about the Monk Kosma is located in the book "Spiritual Meadow" compiled by the Monk John Moskhos. He was strict of fasting, a firm defender of the Orthodox faith and Church dogmas, and profoundly knowledgeable in Holy Scripture and the works of the Church fathers. The Monk Kosma particularly revered the works of Sainted Athanasias the Great and told those to whom he spoke: "If thou comest across a word of Saint Atanasias and hast not paper, write it down upon thy clothing". He had the habit to stand at prayer all night Saturday through Sunday. Having once come to Antioch, he died there. The patriarch buried his body at his monastery. Abba Basil relates, that when he came to venerate at the grave of Saint Kosma, he found there a beggar, who told him: "It is a great elder, which ye have buried here!", and he explained that he lay as a cripple for 12 years and received healing through the prayers of Saint Kosma.