In the front eastern side chapel of the nave of St Michael's stands a masterpiece of craftsmanship, the Kosmas-Damian shrine. It preserves the memory of two people who learnt the art of medicine from people and at the same time understood it as a charism, a gift from God. They used their ability to heal people and animals. For themselves, they demanded ‘no good’ in return. This memory is precious and genuine.
The shrine, made in Bremen around 1420, has the shape of an elongated church with a gabled roof, measuring 116 cm x 83 cm x 50 cm. It was carved from oak wood with great attention to detail, skilfully planked with gilded silver sheets and decorated with rock crystals and translucent blue enamel plates. The shrine came to Munich in 1649 through the mediation of Elector Maximilian I, where it was transferred to St Michael's Church in a solemn procession.
When the shrine is opened, the inside of the door leaves show paintings from the lives of the two patron saints of the medical professions and the sick. Inside the silk-lined interior are two pearl-embroidered cushions on which the two precious skull relics of the saints rest. Cosmas and Damian were brothers or twins who lived in Syria in the 3rd century. They were already honoured during their lifetime because they treated the sick and waived all fees. Their relics came to Bremen via Rome in 965, where the shrine for their dignified preservation was modelled on older Rhenish reliquaries. Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian are commemorated on 26 September.
Every third Wednesday of the month, a service for the sick is celebrated at 6 pm in St. Michael's Church in the centre of Munich. The grille in front of the chapel is uncovered and the shrine is opened. A priest gives the sick and their relatives an individual blessing and assures them of God's special attention.
St. Michael's is the first and largest Renaissance building north of the Alps. For more than two centuries the magnificent church influenced church building in southern Germany. The streets and alleys of Munich were narrow, as in all medieval cities. There was not enough space for admiring grand façades. St. Michael's was the first church in the city that was given such a monumental front wall, a façade (Italian: faccia, face). The new building was not oriented to the east like older churches, although the first plans still had envisaged this traditional alignment. Instead, the church was to be fitted into existing architectural structures of the city.
