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The First Church in the Roman Forum: Ss. Cosmas & Damian

Apsidal mosaic in the Basilica of Ss. Cosmas and Damian in Rome, featuring Christ at the center in radiant robes, flanked by Saints Peter and Paul, who present Saints Cosmas and Damian to Him. The mosaic includes depictions of Pope Felix IV offering the church and a phoenix symbolizing resurrection above the apostles.

The Feast of Ss. Cosmas and Damian

On September 27th, we traditionally celebrate the feast of Ss. Cosmas and Damian, two brothers martyred in the persecution of Diocletian around 304 A.D. Despite the unreliable historical accounts of their lives, they are remembered as doctors who treated patients for free, and are therefore honored by the Eastern churches as “moneyless” saints. They moved from Arabia to Aegea in Cilicia, modern-day southeastern Turkey, where their Christian charity drew the attention of the Roman governor. Eventually, they were killed alongside their three brothers, Anthimus, Leontius, and Euprepius.

The Christianization of Rome and the Basilica's Historical Significance

Pope St. Felix IV constructed the basilica of Ss. Cosmas and Damian in 527 A.D., marking an important moment in the Christianization of Rome. This basilica represents two critical firsts in the Eternal City’s history. It was the first church built inside the Roman Forum, and one of the first “sanctuarium” in Rome, i.e. a church dedicated to saints who had no material connection to the site.

Constantine’s Churches and Expansion of Christianity

After the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in 313 A.D., he began constructing churches in several cities, including six in Rome. Initially, most of these churches were located outside the city walls, with the religion barely establishing a foothold in the ancient pagan city. Over the next two centuries, churches such as St. Anastasia, St. Clement, and Mary Major were built closer to the Forum, inching towards the heart of ancient Rome’s public and religious life.

The Iconic Mosaic of Ss. Cosmas and Damian

Below is the apsidal mosaic inside the church of Ss. Cosmas and Damian. On the far left, Pope Felix IV offers the church which he has built to Christ and His Saints. St. Paul presents one of the brothers to Christ, while St. Peter presents the other. Dressed as Roman senators, Peter and Paul, the patron Saints of Rome, stand closer to Christ. Meanwhile, Cosmas and Damian are depicted in foreign attire, with darker faces, reflecting how they would have appeared to a sixth-century Roman.

Apsidal mosaic in the Basilica of Ss. Cosmas and Damian in Rome, featuring Christ at the center in radiant robes, flanked by Saints Peter and Paul, who present Saints Cosmas and Damian to Him. The mosaic includes depictions of Pope Felix IV offering the church and a phoenix symbolizing resurrection above the apostles.

The Church's Placement within the Forum

The church of Ss. Cosmas and Damian was built utilizing two older structures: a hall from Emperor Vespasian’s Forum of Peace and a library built by Maxentius in the early 4th century. The entrance, located on the Via Sacra, symbolically places the Christian church at the heart of what was once the domain of pagan temples and Roman religious life.

Exterior view of the Basilica of Ss. Cosmas and Damian in Rome, seen from the Palatine Hill. The basilica features its ancient round apse and original bronze doors, highlighting its role as the first Christian church built within the Roman Forum.

Significance of the Gospel Read in the Basilica

During Lent, the Roman Rite traditionally reads from the Gospel of Luke at this church (4, 38-44), the accounting of Christ’s healing of St. Peter’s mother-in-law, and the expulsion of demons. When heard in this first Christian church of the Forum, the words “to other cities also I must preach the kingdom of God” remind worshippers of the Roman Empire’s role in spreading the Gospel.

Christianity’s Victory

The Basilica’s Legacy and Global Evangelization

The basilica of Ss. Cosmas and Damian stands as the first church in the Roman forum, the heart of the once-pagan city’s religious life. This choice symbolizes the Church’s mission to evangelize beyond the borders of the Roman Empire, extending to the native lands of Ss. Cosmas and Damian. It reflects the Church’s acceptance of its global duty to spread the Gospel.

The basilica of Ss. Cosmas and Damian remains a monument to both the early Christian church’s courage in the face of persecution and its victory over ancient Roman paganism. As the first Christian church built within the Forum, it holds a unique place in the history of the Christianization of Rome.

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Dr. Nancy Llewellyn

Co-Founder, Veterum Sapientia Institute
Magistra - Introductory Latin

Magistra Annula is Associate Professor of Latin at Belmont Abbey College, coming to North Carolina after a decade at Wyoming Catholic College. She teaches Latin at the Charlotte Diocese’s new St. Joseph College Seminary in addition to her work at Belmont. Earlier in her career she studied with Fr. Reginald Foster and at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome. Returning to her native California, Nancy founded SALVI in 1997 and served on its board until 2019, directing SALVI workshops (Rusticationes) around the country and abroad. She holds her PhD (2006) from UCLA.

Fr. Dylan Schrader, PhD

Magister - Scholastic Theology

Pater Pelagius is a priest of the Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri, ordained in 2010. He holds a PhD in systematic theology from the Catholic University of America and is the translator of several Scholastic works, including On the Motive of the Incarnation, the first volume in CUA’s Early Modern Catholic Sources series, and Book 2 of Thomas Aquinas’s Commentary on the Sentences, edited by the Aquinas Institute for the Study of Sacred Doctrine. Fr. Schrader is the author of The Shortcut to Scholastic Latin, published by the Paideia Institute Press. He has attended every Veterum Sapientia conference since its inception.

Mr. Christopher Owens, STM

Chief Executive Officer

Christopher Owens completed licentiate studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (“the Angelicum”) with a concentration in Thomism, and is a doctoral candidate at the same university. His research investigates the question of predestination in the writings of the early Thomists. More generally, Christopher’s research interests in both philosophy and theology are focused on the preambles of faith, ontology, meta-ethics, and action theory as found principally in the Thomistic tradition, as well as in the medieval dialectic of the University of Paris. Additionally, Christopher serves on the editorial board for Philosophical News, the official journal of the European Society for Moral Philosophy, and is vice-president of the Albertus Magnus Center for Scholastic Studies, based in Norcia, Italy.

Fr. Joseph Matlak

Magister


Fr. Joseph Matlak is a priest of the Eparchy of Saint Josaphat in Parma (Ukrainian Greek-Catholic). Born in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England, he studied Ancient History at King’s College London, and completed seminary studies and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of America, Washington DC. He is currently finishing a doctorate at the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge, England. He serves as administrator of Saint Basil the Great Parish in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is an instructor within the Honors College of Belmont Abbey College. He has previously worked in parishes and missions, schools, youth and young adult ministry, liturgical music, and Catholic media, among other roles.

Magister Marcus Porto

Magister - Introductory Latin

Magister Marcus holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Thomas Aquinas College and a Latin Fluency Certificate from Academia Vivarium Novum, where he learned to speak Latin under Luigi Miraglia. He is currently a graduate student at Kentucky University, studying Latin under Terence Tunberg and Milena Minkova, and works as a classical languages’ instructor, Liberal Arts teacher, and editor at Instituto Hugo de São Vitor, Brazil.

Dr. Samuel Stahl

Magister

Samuel Stahl earned a PhD in Classics at the State University of New York at Buffalo. His dissertation is an annotated verse translation from Claudian’s carmina minora; his passions, both personal and professional, include Christian poetry and ecumenism. In addition to his work with VSI, he teaches ELA at a Catholic grammar school in Western New York, where he lives with his wife and two cats.

Magister Tod Post, MA

Magister

Mr. Post holds a B.A. in philosophy from St. John’s Seminary College in Camarillo, CA and an M.A. in Medieval Studies from the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto. His areas of study and interest include codicology and palaeography and creating medieval and classical inks and writing materials. He particularly enjoys working in his garden surrounded by plants from the classical world such as papyrus, acanthus, figs, olives and grapes which also gives him an opportunity to practice his botanical Latin. He is a lifelong resident of southern California where he has been teaching and promoting Latin since 2004 and where he resides with his wife and six children.

Kit Adderley

Magister

Kit Adderley became interested in Ancient Rome at a young age, and following a particularly interesting and formative Roman History class in high school, decided to study Classics at Franciscan University of Steubenville. While studying and in subsequent years, Kit was blessed to attend many spoken Latin programs both in the United States and in Rome. Kit has taught Latin for 10 years at the high school and middle school level in Texas and Minnesota, most recently designing and implementing a spoken Latin program for high school that enjoyed tremendous success. Kit currently works in the finance industry but continues to love Latin and the classical world and is excited to work with Veterum Sapientia in bringing that knowledge to others.

Matthew Ratcliff

Coordinator for Marketing and Course Development

Matthew Ratcliff is a graduate from Belmont Abbey College, where he fell in love with Latin while studying under Nancy Llewellyn and Gregory DiPippo, and where he encountered the natural method for the first time. He has previously taught for Aquinas Learning Center in Charlotte for the 2023-2024 academic year. Matthew firmly believes that everyone can learn Latin well. He loves incorporating physical movement in the classroom and is excited to share the joy of the language with every class!

Magister Gregory DiPippo

Director of Academic Development, Assistant to the Dean, Magister - Introductory Latin

Magister Gregorius was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, where he attended a high school which offered an excellent Latin program. He attended McGill University in Montreal, where he studied Classical Languages and Literature, and the Augustinian Patristic Institute in Rome, where he studied the Fathers of the Church. For 23 years, he worked as a tour guide in Rome, and for the last 15 years, he has been a regular contributor (and for 10 years editor) to the New Liturgical Movement website.

Andrea Allen

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