Sts. Cosmas and Damian were twin brothers, physicians, and Christian martyrs who practiced medicine freely — never charging for treatment — in 3rd-century Syria. They are the patron saints of surgery, surgeons, physicians, pharmacists, and all who practice medicine. Their feast is September 26. The prayer to Sts. Cosmas and Damian before surgery asks for their intercession over the surgical team's hands and judgment — one of the most practical prayers available because it prays for the people performing the procedure, not only for the outcome.

Many Catholics keep a Sts. Cosmas & Damian medal at the bedside during a hospital stay as a reminder that the saints of medicine are interceding for both patient and surgical team.

St. Raphael is one of only three archangels named in Scripture. His name in Hebrew — Raphael — means "God heals." The Book of Tobit records him healing blindness, driving out illness, and accompanying a young man safely through a dangerous journey. He is the primary Catholic patron of healing of all kinds, of physicians, of those undergoing medical procedures, and of travelers. Many Catholics who face surgery carry his medal or place it on the hospital bedside table throughout their stay.

It is a long-standing Catholic practice to carry a St. Raphael medal during hospitalization — tucked in a pocket, worn around the neck, or kept on the bedside table as a physical act of placing oneself under his intercession.

St. Peregrine Laziosi was a 13th-century Servite friar who developed bone cancer in his leg. The night before his scheduled amputation, he prayed before a crucifix and fell asleep. He awoke to find his cancer completely healed — the surgeons found no trace of it. He lived another thirty years and died at age eighty. He is the patron of all cancer patients, of those facing surgery for cancer or other serious illness, and of those for whom medicine has run out of options. His medal is one of the most commonly carried by Catholics undergoing cancer treatment.

Many Catholics facing cancer surgery carry a St. Peregrine medal or keep a laminated prayer card in their hospital bag throughout treatment. A nine-day novena to St. Peregrine beginning before surgery is a traditional devotion for cancer patients and their families.

The Divine Mercy Chaplet carries a specific promise given by Jesus to St. Faustina: "When they say this Chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as the just Judge but as the merciful Savior." For surgery, it is prayed at 3pm — the Hour of Mercy, the hour Christ died — on the day of the procedure. Family members in the waiting room often pray it together at that hour. If the surgery is scheduled for 3pm, pray it immediately before going in. The Chaplet takes approximately twenty minutes.

Some Catholic families pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet on a standard rosary in the waiting room, moving through the beads at the Hour of Mercy as a way to pray together when they cannot be present in the operating room.

Most surgery requires fasting from midnight — which means a Catholic patient cannot receive Communion on the morning of surgery. The Spiritual Communion prayer, composed by St. Alphonsus Liguori, allows a Catholic to unite themselves with Christ in the Eucharist when physical reception is impossible. It is a prayer of desire — "I embrace You as if You were already here" — and the Church teaches that it draws real grace even without the physical sacrament. It is the right prayer for anyone preparing for surgery who cannot receive Communion that day.

Many Catholic patients keep the Spiritual Communion prayer on a laminated card in their hospital bag — it can be prayed quietly before surgery at any hour, regardless of the fasting requirement.

The Catholic Church definitively teaches that every person has a personal guardian angel assigned by God from birth. The Guardian Angel Prayer, one of the oldest in Catholic tradition, asks that angel to guard, protect, rule, and guide — exactly what a patient entering surgery needs. Many Catholic patients pray it quietly as they are wheeled into the operating room, asking their guardian angel to remain present throughout the procedure. It takes fifteen seconds and covers the entire operation.

Because the Guardian Angel Prayer takes only fifteen seconds, many Catholic patients have it memorized — or keep a small prayer card in their hospital gown pocket to read as they are wheeled in.