Lukas von Steiris

Lukas von Steiris
Mosaic in the monastery of Hosios Lukas
Born	around 896 ( Kastoria )
Deceased	February 7, 946 or 953 ( Hosios Lukas Monastery )
Place of worship	Hosios Lukas Monastery

Lukas von Steiris, Lukas von Stiris, Lukas von Greece, Lukas Thaumaturg , Lukas the Younger or Lukas the Miracle Worker was a Byzantine saint of the 10th century who lived in the themes of Hellas and Peloponnese . His relics are kept in the monastery of Hosios Lukas, which he founded . The main source of Luke's life is the hagiography Life of an Anonymous Monk who was a follower of his. His feast day is celebrated on February 7th, the transfer of his relics is celebrated on May 3rd. Lukas von Steiris was one of the earliest saints to be observed levitating while praying .

Life

Greek icon

Lukas' parents Stephanos and Euphrosyn were originally farmers on the island of Aegina , from which they were expelled when the Saracens invaded. They first settled in Thessaly . Lukas was born the third of seven children in the Greek village of Kastoria .

He lived in asceticism from a young age , like his siblings Kale and Epiphanios. He ate vegetarian and gave his meals, seeds and his own clothes to the poor. His parents were angry that he was giving so much away and blamed him. He prayed much and fervently; his mother often watched him levitate during prayer.

After the early death of his father, he left his parents' house as a child against the will of his family in order to have some time to contemplate. However, he was captured by soldiers who believed him to be an escaped slave and only brought back home after his identity had been verified. When two monks who came from Rome stayed with the family, they managed to convince their mother that the now 14-year-old Lukas could go to a monastery. The monks accompanied Luke to a monastery in Athens , where he was accepted as a novice . However, the abbot of the monastery soon had a vision in which Lukas' mother demanded the return of her son because she needed him to work in the fields.

Four months later, his mother was also convinced of Lukas' vocation and no longer prevented him from making a decision for a religious life.

So Lukas finally left his parents' house at the age of 18 and built a cell for himself in 917 on Mount Ioannitsa (today: Yanitsa ) near Bansko in Bulgaria , where a church dedicated to Cosmas and Damian stood. Two monks passing through consecrated him as a monk and he gathered followers around him. In 918, however, the community was driven out by Bulgarian armed forces, after which Luke traveled along the coast, healed many people and then lived for ten years as an assistant to a pillar near Corinth .

Hosios Lukas Monastery

Around 927 Luke returned to Mount Ioannitsa, where more and more people flocked to see his miracles. These disturbed Lukas in his rest, which is why he went to Kalamion near Antikyra in 940 . From there he had to flee from the invading Hungarians in 943 to the desolate, arid island of Ampelos in the Bay of Antikyra . In 946 he finally settled at a spring on the site of today's monastery on Mount Stirion near Distomo , about 20 km east-southeast of Delphi in the Boeotia prefecture . His sister Kali already lived nearby as an ascetic. He again gathered many brothers around him and built the monastery, the church of which was dedicated to St. Barbara . There he again worked miracles and healed many people.

Today's main church of the monastery Hosios Lukas was built over his grave in the 11th century.

Relics

The relics of St. Luke of Steiris were stolen by crusaders during the plundering of the monastery in 1204 and initially brought to Bosnia , from where they were saved from the Muslims by Franciscans and brought to Venice . Up until a cardinal synod in 1464, it was assumed there were relics of the evangelist Luke.

In 1986 Pope John Paul II gave these relics to a delegation led by the Archbishop of Thiva and Livadia . In December of the same year they were buried in a shrine in the monastery church.

Legend

Around 940, Luke is said to have predicted the reconquest of the island of Crete, which was occupied by the Arabs at the time, for the year 961, which actually happened that year .

When Luke foresaw his death, he locked himself in his cell and prepared for three months. When his fellow brothers asked him where he wanted to be buried, Luke is said to have replied: "Throw my body into a ravine for the wild animals to eat." When his brothers urged him to change these instructions, he is said to have instructed them to give his To bury the body where they would find it.

When he died, he is said to have fixed his eyes to heaven and according to Psalm 31,6  EU and Luke 23,46  EU said: "Into your hands, Lord, I command my spirit."

Web links

Commons : Lukas von Steiris  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Hand painted icon of St. Lukas von Steiris on oramaworld.com .

literature

• Caroly L. Connor, W. Robert Connor: The life and miracles of Saint Luke of Steiris . Hellenic College Press, Brookline 1994, ISBN 0917653351 (English / Greek).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Saint Luke of Mount Steirion - Hand-Painted Icon. In: oramaworld.com. Retrieved May 29, 2016 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Ὁ Ὅσιος Λουκᾶς ὁ ἐν Στειρίῳ τῆς Ἑλλάδος. In: synaxarion.gr. Retrieved May 27, 2016 (Greek). 
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Joachim Schäfer: Luke of Greece. In: Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints. September 10, 2016, accessed May 27, 2016 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Ἀνακομιδὴ Τιμίων Λειψάνων Ὁσίου Λουκᾶ τοῦ ἐν Στειρίῳ. In: synaxarion.gr. Retrieved May 27, 2016 (Greek). 
5. ^ ^{A b} Benedictines, Bentley, Walsh: Saints of February 7. In: saintpatrickdc.org. Retrieved May 27, 2016 (English). 
6. ↑ ^{a b} Venerable Luke of Hellas. In: Orthodox Church in America. Retrieved May 28, 2016 .