Author: Irina Vysokovskaya
Date of publication: 12/27/2015
A saint is not a superman or a hero in the usual sense of the word. The saint is recognized not in loud words and grandiose deeds, but in everyday affairs in the implementation of professional duty, in utmost personal honesty and decency, in the ability to courageously and steadfastly endure trials, to maintain calm and presence of mind in the face of formidable dangers, trusting in everything to the good Will and the all-wise Providence of God... The memory of St. Luke of Voino-Yasenetsky is still alive among representatives of the older generation. It is this example of spiritual feat, revealed to those who lived recently, that helps our contemporaries, especially the younger generation, understand what holiness is.
Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'
Valentin Feliksovich Voino-Yasenetsky, circa 1910
Brief Life of Saint Luke
Saint Luke (before monastic tonsure - Valentin Feliksovich Voino-Yasenetsky 1877-1961), Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea, was born on April 27, 1877 in Kerch, in the family of a pharmacist. His parents soon moved to Kyiv, where in 1896 he simultaneously graduated from the 2nd Kyiv Gymnasium and the Kiev Art School. He was going to enter the Academy of Arts, but the desire to bring direct benefit to the people forced him to change his plans.
Valentin Feliksovich studied for a year at the Faculty of Law, then moved to the Faculty of Medicine at Kyiv University. In 1903 he graduated from the university with honors.
In January 1904, during the war with Japan, he was sent with the Red Cross hospital to the Far East and worked in Chita as the head of the surgical department of the hospital. Here Valentin Feliksovich met a sister of mercy, whom the wounded called the “holy sister,” and married her. From 1905 to 1917 V.F. Voino-Yasenetsky worked as a zemstvo doctor in hospitals in the Simbirsk, Kursk, Saratov and Vladimir provinces and practiced in Moscow clinics. During this time, he performed many operations on the brain, organs of vision, heart, stomach, intestines, bile ducts, kidneys, spine, joints, etc. and introduced a lot of new things into surgical techniques. During the First World War, a religious feeling awakened in him, which had been forgotten behind a lot of scientific work, and he began to constantly go to church.
In 1916 V.F. Voino-Yasenetsky defended his dissertation in Moscow on the topic: “Regional anesthesia” and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine. The University of Warsaw awarded his dissertation a major Hajnicki Prize. In 1917, Voino-Yasenetsky received, through a competition, the position of chief physician and surgeon of the Tashkent hospital. In 1919, his wife died of tuberculosis, leaving four children.
Voino-Yasenetsky was one of the initiators of the organization of Tashkent University and in 1920 he was elected professor of topographic anatomy and operative surgery at this university. Surgical art, and with it the fame of Prof. Voino-Yasenetsky's numbers were increasing. In various complex operations, he sought out and was the first to apply methods that later received universal recognition. His former students told wonders about his amazing surgical technique. Patients came to his outpatient appointments in a continuous stream.
He himself increasingly found consolation in faith. He attended the local Orthodox religious society, studied theology, became closer friends with the clergy, and took part in church affairs. As he himself said, he once spoke at a diocesan congress “on one very important issue with a big heated speech.” After the congress, Tashkent Bishop Innokenty (Pustynsky) told him: “Doctor, you need to be a priest.” “I accepted this as God’s call,” said the archbishop. Luke,” and, without a moment’s hesitation, answered: “Okay, Vladyka, I will.”
In 1921, on the day of the Presentation of the Lord, prof. Voino-Yasenetsky was ordained a deacon, on February 12 - a priest and appointed junior priest of the Tashkent Cathedral, while also remaining a university professor. In May 1923, Father Valentin took monastic vows with the name Luke, in honor of St. Apostle and Evangelist Luke, who, as you know, was not only an apostle, but also a doctor and an artist.
On May 12 of the same year, he was consecrated secretly in the city of Penjekent as Bishop of Tashkent and Turkestan. From this time the Lord’s way of the cross begins. He had to endure many arrests, torture, and exile, which, however, did not weaken his faith and ardent zeal in serving his neighbors. (The first arrest occurred in May 1923; Vladyka returned from his last exile in 1943 and was appointed to the Tambov See.)
It should be added that, upon accepting the priesthood, Prof. Voino-Yasenetsky received an order from Patriarch Tikhon, confirmed by Patriarch Sergius, not to abandon scientific and practical activities in surgery; and all the time, no matter what conditions he found himself in, he continued this work everywhere. He invariably wore a cassock with a cross to the hospital and to lectures; icons hung in the operating room, so that every operation was sanctified with prayer.
Bishop Luke did not forget his pastoral duties. All the numerous churches in the city of Yeniseisk, where he lived, as well as the churches in the regional city of Krasnoyarsk, were captured by the renovationists. Bishop Luke, with three priests accompanying him, celebrated the liturgy in his apartment, in the hall, and even ordained priests there who came hundreds of miles away to the Orthodox bishop. From January 25, 1925 to September 1927, Bishop Luke was again Bishop of Tashkent and Turkestan. From October 5 to November 11, 1927 - Bishop of Yeletsky, Vic. Oryol diocese. From November 1927 he lived in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, then in the city of Krasnoyarsk, where he served in a local church and worked as a doctor in a city hospital.
In 1934, his book “Essays on Purulent Surgery” was published, which became a reference book for surgeons.
From the very first days of the Great Patriotic War until the end of 1943, Bishop Luka worked as the chief surgeon and consultant of the Krasnoyarsk evacuation hospital for the seriously wounded.
In the fall of 1942, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop with an appointment to the Krasnoyarsk see. On September 8, 1943, he was a participant in the council that unanimously elected Metropolitan Sergius as Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. In January 1944, he was appointed Archbishop of Tambov and Michurinsky.
In 1946, he was awarded the Stalin Prize for his outstanding scientific works “Essays on Purulent Surgery” and “Late Resections for Infected Wounds of Large Joints,” which still do not lose their significance.
In addition to works on medical topics, Archbishop. Luke composed many sermons and articles of spiritual, moral and patriotic content. In 1945-1947 he worked on a large theological work - “Spirit, Soul and Body”, in which he developed the question of the soul and spirit of man, as well as the teaching of Holy Scripture about the heart as an organ of knowledge of God. He also devoted a lot of time to strengthening parish life. In 1945, he expressed the idea of the need to elect a patriarch by lot.
In February 1945, for archpastoral activities and patriotic services, Archbishop. Luke was awarded the right to wear a cross on his hood.
In May 1946, he was appointed Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea. According to the recollections of people who knew him, “when Vladyka served, it was impossible to enter the temple - there were so many people there. He possessed not only the gift of speech and enormous erudition, enormous intelligence and high culture, he possessed genuine spiritual strength and could infect with his faith a person who was an atheist to the core.”
In Simferopol, he published three new medical works, but his vision was getting worse. His left eye had not seen light for a long time, and at that time a cataract, complicated by glaucoma, began to mature on his right eye.
In 1956, Archbishop Luke became completely blind. He left practical medical practice back in 1946, but continued to help patients with advice. He ruled the diocese until the very end with the help of trusted persons. In the last years of his life, he only listened to what was read to him and dictated his works and letters.
Archbishop Luke died on June 11, 1961, on the day of All Saints who shone in the Russian land. A huge number of people came to his funeral, so the authorities, who tried to prevent the “foot procession,” could do nothing. On July 2, 1997, in Simferopol, the city where the saint lived in 1946-1961, a monument to him was unveiled.
At the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2004, St. Luke was canonized for church-wide veneration. His memory is celebrated on May 29th Art. Art./June 11 AD Art., as well as on January 25 (February 7) - together with the holy new martyrs and confessors of Russia and on December 15 (December 28) - the council of all Crimean saints. The relics of Bishop Luke rest in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Simferopol. He is revered as a saint by other local Churches, in particular the Greek Orthodox Church. The main supporter of his glorification in Greece is Archimandrite Nektarios (Antonopoulos), abbot of the Sagmata monastery. In 2001, a silver shrine was brought from Greece for the relics of the saint.
Saint Luke Voino-Yasenetsky. Icon painted for the temple of St. Sergius, abbot of Radonezh, Chelyabinsk
Biography
- Memorial Day: May 29 (June 11)
Saint Luke, in the world Valentin Feliksovich (Voino-Yasenetsky) was born in Kerch, April 27, 1877. He was the third child in the family, and there were five children in total.
Valentin's father, Felix Stanislavovich, belonged to the Catholic Church. By profession he was a pharmacist. Mother, Maria Dmitrievna, professed the true Orthodox faith.
According to the established principles in Russia at that time regarding the upbringing of children born in mixed marriages, Valentin’s personality was formed in line with Orthodox traditions. His father, in general, did not object to this approach and did not impose his own worldview on his son. His mother taught him religious principles.
In 1889, the Voino-Yasenetsky family moved to Kyiv. Here Valentin, with the help of God, graduated from two educational institutions: a gymnasium and a drawing (art) school.
Thinking about choosing a future path in life, he considered two priority options: becoming an artist or a doctor. Already at the stage of readiness to enter the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, he changed his mind and decided to devote his energies to medicine. The most important selection criterion was the desire to alleviate people's suffering. In addition, he believed that in the place of a doctor he would bring more benefit to society.
In 1898, Valentin entered the Kiev University, the Faculty of Medicine. He studied well, as befits a capable person who has made a deliberate choice regarding his future profession. He graduated from the university in 1903. A good career could open up before him, which many less talented peers could only dream of. But, to the surprise of those around him, he announced that he wanted to become a zemstvo, “peasant” doctor.
Medical activity
With the beginning of the Russian-Japanese War, Valentin Feliksovich, accepting the offer of the leadership, went to the Far East to participate in the activities of the Red Cross detachment. There he headed the surgery department at the Kyiv Red Cross hospital, located in Chita. In this position, V. Voino-Yasenetsky acquired enormous medical experience.
During the same period, he met and formed a bond of love with a sister of mercy, a kind and gentle Christian Anna Lanskaya. By that time, she had refused two doctors seeking her female attention, and as they say, she was ready to live her life in sacred celibacy. But Valentin Feliksovich managed to reach her heart. In 1904, the young couple got married in a local Chita church. Over time, Anna became a faithful assistant to her husband not only in family matters, but also in her doctoral practice.
After the war, V. Voino-Yasenetsky fulfilled his long-standing desire to become a zemstvo doctor. In the period from 1905 to 1917, he worked in urban and rural hospitals in different regions of the country: in the Simbirsk province, then in Kursk, Saratov, on the territory of Ukraine, and finally in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky.
In 1908, Valentin Feliksovich arrived in Moscow and got a job as an external student at P. Dyakonov’s surgical clinic.
In 1916 he finished writing and successfully defended his doctoral dissertation. The topic of that doctoral work turned out to be so important and relevant, and its content so deep and elaborate, that one of the scientists, in admiration, compared it to the singing of a bird. The University of Warsaw then honored V. Voino-Yasenetsky with a special prize.
Post-revolutionary years
The first years after the October Revolution were literally bloody. During this difficult time, the state experienced a special need for medical workers. So, despite his commitment to faith, for some time Valentin Feliksovich was not persecuted.
From 1917 to 1923 he lived in Tashkent and worked at the Novo-Gorodskaya hospital as a surgeon. He willingly shared his experience with his students and taught at a medical school (later reorganized into the Faculty of Medicine).
During this period, the death of his beloved wife, who died of tuberculosis in 1919 and left four children without maternal care, turned into a serious test for V. Voino-Yasenetsky.
In 1920, Valentin Feliksovich accepted an offer to head the department at the State Turkestan University, recently opened in Tashkent.
Priestly ministry
In addition to fulfilling official and family responsibilities during this period, he took an active part in church life and attended meetings of the Tashkent Brotherhood. Once, after a successful report by V. Voino-Yasenetsky at a church congress, Tashkent Bishop Innocent expressed to him a wish that he become a priest. V. Voino-Yasenetsky, who had not thought about such an option for his life path, suddenly answered the bishop without delay that he agreed, if it pleases God.
In 1921 he was ordained a deacon, and a few days later - a priest. Having become a priest, Father Valentin was assigned to a local Tashkent church, where he served, pleasing God. At the same time, he did not interrupt either his medical or teaching practice.
In 1923, the renovationist movement that developed under the Church reached Tashkent. Bishop Innocent, for a number of related reasons, left the city without transferring leadership of the department to anyone. During this difficult period for the clergy and flock, Father Valentin, together with priest Mikhail Andreev, made every effort to unite the local clergy and even took part in organizing a congress (sanctioned by the GPU).
Monastic and episcopal ministry
In the same year, 1923, Father Valentin, moved by zeal and piety, took monastic vows. It is reported that initially Bishop of Ufa Andrei (Ukhtomsky) intended to give him the monastic name Panteleimon, in honor of the Christian healer glorified by God, but then, after listening to his sermons, he changed his mind and chose the name of the Evangelist, physician and Apostle Luke. So Father Valentin became Hieromonk Luke.
At the end of May of the same year, Hieromonk Luke was secretly installed as Bishop of Penjikent, and a few days later he was arrested because of his support for the line of Patriarch Tikhon. The accusation brought against him today seems not only far-fetched, but also absurd: the authorities accused him of counter-revolutionary connections with some Orenburg Cossacks and of collaboration with the British.
For some time, the arrested saint languished in the dungeon of the Tashkent GPU, and then he was taken to Moscow. Soon he was allowed to live in a private apartment, but then he was taken into custody again: first to Butyrskaya prison, and then to Taganskaya. Then the sufferer was sent into exile to the Yenisei.
In Yeniseisk he served at home. In addition, he was allowed to operate, and he saved the health of more than one resident. Several times the saint was transferred from one place to another. But even there he used every opportunity to serve God and heal people.
After the end of his exile, Bishop Luke returned to Tashkent and served in the local church. But the Soviet authorities were not going to leave the bishop alone. In May 1931, he was arrested again and, after spending several months in prison, he received a sentence: exile to Arkhangelsk for three years. In Arkhangelsk, he also treated patients.
Returning from prison, in 1934 he visited the city of Tashkent, and then settled in Andijan. Here he fulfilled the duties of a bishop and a doctor. Catching a fever turned out to be a misfortune for him: the disease threatened him with loss of vision and the saint underwent surgery (as a patient), as a result of which he became blind in one eye.
A new arrest followed in December 1937. The saint was interrogated for several days in a row and demanded to sign protocols prepared in advance by the investigation. In response, he went on a hunger strike, flatly refusing to sign anything that his Christian conscience could not agree with. A new sentence followed, a new exile, this time to Siberia.
From 1937 to 1941, the convicted bishop lived in the town of Bolshaya Murta, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he was moved to Krasnoyarsk and was involved in the treatment of the wounded.
In 1943, the saint ascended to the Krasnoyarsk archiepiscopal see, and a year later he was appointed Archbishop of Tambov and Michurinsk. During this period, the attitude of the authorities towards the saint seemed to change. In February 1946, for scientific developments in the field of medicine, he was awarded a state award - the Stalin Prize.
In May 1946, Saint Luke became Archbishop of Crimea and Simferopol. At this time, his eye disease began to progress, and in 1958 he became completely blind. However, as eyewitnesses recall, in this state the saint not only did not lose his good spirits, but also did not lose the ability to independently come to the temple, venerate shrines, and participate in divine services.
On June 11, 1961, the Lord called him to His Heavenly Kingdom. The saint was buried at the Simferopol cemetery.
He left behind a number of scientific and theological works. Among the latter, it is appropriate to note: Science and religion, Spirit, soul and body, On raising children, Gospel gold, Conversations during Lent and Holy Week, On family and raising children, Easter of the Lord, Sermons, Interpretation of the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian, I loved suffering, Let us bring you our love.
Sermons
The gift of preaching was “discovered” by the future Saint Luke by Tashkent Bishop Innocent. “Your job is not to baptize, but to evangelize,” he told the newly ordained priest, Fr. Valentin Voino-Yasenetsky. “I consider it my main bishop’s duty to preach about Christ everywhere,” he said at the Simferopol Cathedral on October 31, 1952. And this principle stood until the last days.
Bishop of Tashkent and Turkestan Innokenty (Pustynsky) and priest Valentin Voino-Yasenetsky
What did Bishop Luke talk about in the temple? And what did you say? An eyewitness, Archpriest Evgeny Vorshevsky, testifies: “Archbishop Luke himself laid down the holy antimension and finished serving the Liturgy. Before his release, he went out to preach a sermon. The entire temple froze in anticipation. And then the preacher’s lips opened. Each word came from the depths of the heart and was filled with deep faith and devotion to the will of God. Crying and quiet sobs were heard from all sides of the temple. The words of the archpastor fell like ripe grains and penetrated deeply into the hearts of the listeners. Everyone felt renewed after preaching such strength of spirit and faith.” Sermons of St. The bows are short, he does not bore the listeners with “many verbs.” The topics are very diverse, but the Gospel remains the center and axis of all speeches. Often he turns to subjects that, due to poor preparation or fear of the authorities’ shout, the priests did not touch at all. So many sermons are devoted to the compatibility of science and religion. With all the power of his erudition, drawing on the facts of evolutionary teaching, physiology and psychology, the preacher defends the Gospel teaching about the triune composition of man: spirit, soul and body - a trinity to which he dedicated his famous monograph. Defending the faith from attacks, St. Luke cites the testimony of outstanding scientists and philosophers and turns to the history of human thought. He repeatedly warns his listeners against the sin of fanaticism, hatred of dissenters, and people of different views. “Treat every other person’s faith with care, never humiliate or insult” (Sermon on the Feast of the Midsummer, 1953). Summing up the results of his church life, Saint Luke claimed that during 38 years of priesthood he delivered 1250 sermons, of which no less than 750 were written down and amounted to twelve thick volumes of typescript. The Council of the Moscow Theological Academy called this collection of sermons “an exceptional phenomenon in modern church and theological life” and elected the author an honorary member of the Academy. Nowadays, to the great joy of believers, the works of the saint have become available to a wide range of readers.
Sermons on the website Azbuka.ru Sermons in the Golden Ship library
Sermon on Consistency in Prayer
Archbishop Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky)
They often ask me in words and letters to teach me how to pray. The first thing I answer to this request is the need for consistency in prayer. There are a lot of people who remember praying to God when He visits them with some kind of misfortune or severe sorrow, but usually they don’t pray to Him at all. Such prayers are unlikely to be heard by God. The ancient Romans had a wise proverb: a constantly dripping drop chisels a stone. Only incessant prayer, like falling drops, softens hearts frozen without prayer. To those who ask me to teach prayer, I give two most important pieces of advice: to be constant in prayer, not to leave a single day of life without it, and to be deeply attentive to every word of prayer. Do not imitate the sectarians who, in their pride, despise the prayers of the great saints and compose their own formulaic, very little spiritual prayers. The devil and his angels are trying with all their might to distract our attention from the deep and grace-filled words of church prayers written by holy people. They persistently and cleverly distract our mind somewhere aside, especially when the words of the prayer refer to themselves, when we ask God for protection from them, the damned. Only deep attention when reading church prayers can protect us from these machinations of theirs. This is much more difficult when reading prayers by heart than when reading them from a prayer book. It is very important to develop the habit of catching ourselves at every distraction and again reading those words from which the demons managed to divert our attention. The easiest way to achieve this is with the daily Jesus Prayer, repeated according to the rosary at least a hundred times: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner (or a sinner).” At the end of each prayer, with the words: “have mercy on me, a sinner,” you should remember your most difficult and nasty sin, and when you become stronger in this habit, gradually learn to remember all other sins. Each of the hundreds of Jesus prayers will chisel your heart just as a continuously falling drop of water chisels a stone - and your cold heart will be softened and warmed by the great Jesus Prayer. The same will be the effect of other great prayers, especially the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian, read, unfortunately, only during Great Lent. The holy words of this prayer will have a beneficial effect on you when you repeat it often: you will get used to feeling disgust for those vices that Ephraim the Syrian speaks of, asking God to deliver him from them - the spirit of idleness, idle talk, condemnation of others; you will get used to asking God for the virtues of chastity, humility, patience and love and memory of your sins. This is what I answer to people who ask me to teach them how to pray. But, of course, fervent prayers alone are not enough to become a temple of the Spirit of God, to become close and even a friend of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must fulfill all the great commandments of Christ, and above all the commandments of love and mercy towards our neighbors. We would have to talk about this a lot, repeating more than once what has been said to you before. I will only say about how the hearts of those blessed who are firm and constant in prayers and good deeds are transformed. I will say that every good deed leaves a larger or smaller mark in the heart of the person who performed it. Even a low bow to a beggar who has received alms from your hands will undoubtedly leave a mark on your heart. And these traces, more and more often remaining in the heart of the one who does good, will act on him, like a drop constantly dripping and chiseling a stone. They will soften the heart that does good and purify it, cleanse it and change it with grace. And the more good deeds you do, the higher and higher your immortal spirit will ascend from earthly dirt and untruth to heaven, in which God’s all-perfect and absolute truth reigns. You will rise higher and higher from the earth and breathe more and more pure air of heaven, you will draw closer and closer to God. And when your earthly journey ends, death will not be pleasant, but joyful, for it will only be a transition to eternal bliss. May our Triune and All-Holy Great God vouchsafe this to all of us! Amen. 1957
O great and glorious servant of God, our holy holy father Luke, accept this laudatory song from us unworthy, both brought to you with filial love. By your representation at the Throne of God and by your prayers, strengthen all of us in the Orthodox faith and good deeds. Save those who find themselves in this life from all troubles, sorrows, illnesses and misfortunes, and deliver them from torment in the future. And grant us in eternal life, together with you and with all the saints, to sing to our Creator: Alleluia. Kontakion 13 Akathist to Saint Luke
Prayers
Troparion, tone 1
To the herald of the path of salvation, / unshakable confessor, / true keeper of fatherly traditions, / teacher of Orthodoxy, / archpastor of the Crimean lands, / godly physician, St. Luke, / Christ the Savior We pray unceasingly, // to grant our souls great mercy.
Kontakion, voice of the same
Like an all-bright star, / in the night of godlessness you shone with virtues / and, having suffered much from persecutors, / you remained unshakable in faith, / adorned with medical wisdom, / many people you healed./ For this reason we cry out to you with love:/ Rejoice, virtuous confessor ,/ Rejoice, Father Saint Luke,// Rejoice, praise and affirmation of the Russian land.
Prayer to Saint Luke
O all-blessed confessor, holy saint, our Father Luke, great servant of Christ. With tenderness we bow the knee of our hearts, and falling before the race of your honest and multi-healing relics, like the children of our father, we pray to you with all diligence: hear us sinners and bring our prayer to the Merciful and Humane-loving God. To whom you stand now in the joy of the saints and with the faces of an angel. We believe that you love us with the same love with which you loved all your neighbors while you were on earth. Ask Christ our God, may He strengthen His children in the spirit of right faith and piety: may He give holy zeal and care for the salvation of the people entrusted to them to the shepherds: to observe the right of believers, to strengthen the weak and infirm in the faith, to instruct the ignorant, and to reprove those who oppose. Give us all a gift that is useful to everyone, and everything that is useful for temporal life and eternal salvation: the establishment of our cities, the fruitfulness of the earth, deliverance from famine and destruction. Comfort for the grieving, healing for the ailing, return to the path of truth for those who have lost their way, blessing for the parents, education and teaching for the children in the fear of the Lord, help and intercession for the orphaned and needy. Grant us all your archpastoral blessing, so that if we have such prayerful intercession, we will get rid of the wiles of the evil one and avoid all enmity and disorder, heresies and schisms. Guide us on the path that leads to the villages of the righteous, and pray to the omnipotent God for us, so that in eternal life we will be worthy with you to constantly glorify the Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. The prayer was compiled by Archpriest Georgy SEVERIN, rector of the Church of the Three Saints in Simferopol
Canon to Hiero-Confessor Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea
voice 8
Song 1
Irmos: Let us bring greatness to the wondrous God, and let the earth and heaven sing His glory magnificently with us.
Decorate the holy throne in the city of Simferopol with light, having lived in it like an Angel, you have sanctified people with holy life and Divine teaching, so that they all bring the greatness of God and sing His glory.
Pray to the Almighty and the Lord for us, Saint Luke, to grant us forgiveness of sins, so that with you we will bring greatness to the wondrous God and sing His glory.
You have now appeared in your memory to the Crimean flock, a confessor of Christ, an unshakable pillar and an unbreakable wall, a consolation for the sick, a supporter of sinners, bringing greatness to God and singing His glory.
Theotokos: You are the Shelter and Protection of those who call upon you for salvation, O Most Pure Mother of God, and we also warmly call upon You from the bottom of our hearts: Lady, save us and teach us to bring greatness to the wondrous God and sing His glory.
Song 3
Irmos: Liken me, O Christ, wisely to Mount Zion, who has exalted and strengthened me in hope for You and who has sprinkled the dew of grace, O Lover of mankind.
You, O Saint, have poured out the teachings of a river of grace, and you have given every soul of the pious to drink, you have healed many, and you have prayed fervently for everyone, that the Lover of Mankind may drain the dew of His grace.
Through your labors, like a good shepherd, you showed St. Luke the way to people in the Kingdom of Heaven, and for your deeds you were crowned by God with glory in heaven.
When, by the will of God, exile to Siberia and prison, and many sorrows came upon you, then with patience and wisdom you overcame everything, confessing Christ and praying to Him, that He may pour out His grace upon all, as a Lover of mankind.
Theotokos: The great Archangel teaches us to love You, Most Pure Mother of God, and to glorify You with song and call us, Bride of God, rejoice, for the Lord is with You: Rejoice, Joy of the Angels and all men.
Song 4
Irmos: Thou art on horseback, Thy apostles, O Lord, and Thou hast accepted their bridles in Thy hand, and Thy salvation has come to those who faithfully sing: Glory to Thy power, O Lord.
Just as you have gained through Your venerable Blood, Your Church, O Christ, to strengthen your children and direct them to the path of peace, so you sighed for the Son of God, the Holy Hierarch, Our Father Luke, lifting up your venerable hands for the flock.
Love no longer disappears, says the Divine Spirit through the mouth of the Apostle Paul. In your day-night labors of healing the sick, your love is evident, O servant of Christ, and you showed this in mercy, constantly feeding widows and the orphans and the weak.
Learned, wise saint, you strengthened your flock in faith and your good deeds to the Church, was the confessor and teacher, Luko.
Theotokos: Thou art our fortress, Most Pure Mother of God, through Thy prayers and St. Luke we have all delivered ourselves from passions, and troubles, and circumstances, and manifold ailments, calling to the Savior Christ: glory to Thy power, Lord.
Song 5
Irmos: By illumination, O Christ God, Thy commandments have been shown to be good; before us, O Light-Giver, from the morning we send forth glory.
You theologized the uncreated Unity, the Holy Trinity of our God, and you taught the composition of human nature in spirit, soul and body with your sacred theology.
With a pure mind and spiritual writings you edified, O God-speaking Luko, you were an image of all your God-given flock, in word and life, love, faith and purity.
With the sight of God and the hierarchical blessing of my hand, do not reject the praise brought to you and your labor, Saint Luke, but accept and pray to Christ God, that He will deliver me from my standing and make Him worthy of His Heavenly Kingdom.
Theotokos: One Pure Mother of God, do not despise the prayers of Thy servant, accept these prayers for the sake of Thy saint Saint Luke and bring Thy Son to the throne, that He may save our souls.
Song 6
Irmos: Thou hast cast me away into the depths of the heart of the sea, and I have seen Thy wonders, O Lord.
You had a vestment of thinness, you were very rich, for you distributed all yours to the poor, fed the orphans and widows, but you were a stewards of the Merciful Savior Christ.
You were a teacher of the spiritual life of all the people of our country, adorning yourself with piety, and cut off pride, O blessed one, with a spiritual sword, disciplining and affirming the shepherds.
Working in the Divine pasture, this bishop, help our archpastors in prayers, so that the word of truth may rightly rule, protect the Orthodox Church, preserve our country, increase faith in us, so that we glorify Christ forever.
Theotokos: O Youth, chosen by God, we all praise You and pray faithfully, Virgin Mary: accept our prayer and fulfill our petitions.
Song 7
Irmos: In the beginning you founded the earth and established the Heavens with a word, blessed art thou forever, O Lord, God of our father.
With the oil of your love you have anointed people, you have taken the yoke of Christ upon your shoulders; you have followed His footsteps, laboring in a holy manner to proclaim the word of God, so that the faithful children of the Creator may glorify all things, singing to the Lord: Blessed are you forever, O God of our father.
You were a good shepherd of your verbal flock, St. Luke, ready to lay down your soul for the sheep: in the same way, you appeared to the offended as an invincible intercessor, an undaunted zealot for righteousness, lovingly rebuking the mighty of this world and admonishing and instructing your flock in a fatherly manner, so that they may faithfully sing praises to the Lord. , God our father.
The people of the city of Simferopol rejoice, you see that you are clothed with the lordship of the holy order and stand before the throne of God’s grace, fervently praying for your flock. Faithfully following the Apostle, you were all, and you brought everyone to Christ and cried out with everyone: Blessed are you forever, Lord, God of our fathers.
Theotokos: Give joy to the Giver, the Most Pure Mother of God, glorifying You with faith and singing from the soul, fill you with unspeakable joy and vouchsafe the Uneven Light, O Virgin of God, the Lady.
Song 8
Irmos: Cover with Your sublime waters, set the sea as a limit with sand and support everything, The sun sings to You, the moon praises You, All creation brings song to You, as the Creator of all forever.
Your name, Saint Luke, like the fragrance of God’s paradise wafts across the face of our entire land, delighting the hearts of the faithful and calling them to sing in spiritual joy the Creator of all forever.
Now neither in mirrors nor in good fortune-telling, but face to face with Christ the Lord, crying joyfully to the glorified Creator of all forever.
O Hierarch God-Wise, you have ended this sacred course, having most sacredly completed your most sacred life, rejoicing and chanting the sanctifying God, Creator of all, forever.
Theotokos: Walking along the path of the Divine commandments of Your Son, the Mother of God, and having You as an Intercessor and Representative, all the births of humanity by Your Nativity rise from the fall of the forefather and are delivered from the oath of the forefather.
Song 9
Irmos: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who raised up the horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, for He visited us from the East from on high and directed us to the path of peace.
Having preached the Gospel of Christ, to the wise Saint, having accomplished the work of God on earth and being vouchsafed to receive the Holy Mysteries of Christ, you rested in God.
Now, with the Highest Armies, pray, O servant of Christ, the Lover of Mankind, to grant to those who come to your intercession the remission of sins and correction of life.
And after death, as if alive, by the grace of God you remain with us, Saint Luke, the good shepherd, appearing to us, standing firmly in the Orthodox faith, strengthening us and instructing us in a virtuous life.
Theotokos: Rejoice, with the Archangel we call You, Pure One, for You gave birth to the Heavenly King, Virgin Mother of God, and we pray to You: deliver us, Your servants, from eternal death.
