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[[Image:Agios Loukas.jpg|right|thumb|230px| Saint Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky) of Simferopol]] [[Image:St. Luke Archbishop of Simferopol 2.jpg|right|thumb|230px|St. Luke Archbishop of Simferopol]] [[Image:The Reliquary of St. Luke of Simferopol in Sagmata Monastery.jpg|right|thumb|230px|The Reliquary of St. Luke in Simferopol]][[Image:LukeSimferopol2.jpeg|right|thumb|330px|St Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky) of Simferopol]] Saint '''Luke, Bishop of Simferopol and Crimea, the Blessed Surgeon''', was born '''Valentin Felixovich Voino-Yasenetsky''' (''Валентин Феликсович Войно-Ясенецкий'', Βαλεντίν Βόϊνοpolish spelling ''Wojno-ΓιασενέτσκιJasieniecki''), ; [[April 14]], 1877 and died [[June 11]], 1961.
Doctor of Medicine, Professor, and State Prize winner, since 1944 he was the Archbishop of Tambov and Michurinsk, and later of Simferopol and the Crimea. While he was serving the church as an [[Archbishop]], he was also practicing as a surgeon and taught and published many books and articles on regional anesthesia and surgery. He is now known to be a world-famous pioneering surgeon.
==Life==
[[Image:LukeSimferopol2.jpeg|right|thumb|430px|St Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky) of Simferopol]]
Born with the name Valentine Felixovitch Voino-Yassentsky on [[April 27]], 1877 in Kerch (east Crimea), his family members were civil servants to Lithuanian and Polish Kings. The family was impoverished over time but Saint Luke remembers that he received his religious inheritance from his pious father. His first true understanding of the Christian faith came from the [[New Testament]] given to him at his high school graduation by his principal.
===Education===
He had an outstanding secular training. Having exceptional drawing abilities, he graduated the Kiev Academy of Fine Arts.<ref group="note">[http://naomaeduwww.runaoma.edu.ua/ National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture].</ref> He decided however against pursuing art in favor of a career where he could help people who suffer, and chose to be a physician.
In 1903 at the age of 26, he graduated from Great Prince St. Vladimir Medical School at the [[w:Kiev University|University of Kiev]], and for a long time worked as a local district physician. An extraordinary medical student, he excelled at anatomy. His superior knowledge of anatomy served him throughout his surgical career.
===Ordination and Persecution===
[[Image:Лука (Войно-Ясенецкий).jpg|right|thumb|Bishop Luke, 1923.]]
Despite the dangers from the Lenin regime he fearlessly attended theological discussions arranged by [[Archpriest]] Mikhail Andeev. During this period when [[clergy]]men and pious people would prove their faith in [[blood]], providence led the Archpriest to invite Valentine to the [[priest]]hood. Thus in 1921 at the age of 44 Valentine was [[Ordination|ordained]] a priest. For two years, this exceptional individual was active not only in his pastoral work but in public and scientific activity.
===Doctor, Scientist, Bishop, Imprisonments===
Noting Fr. Valentine’s spiritual gifts, prior to his departure from Tashkent (arrest and exile to Siberia), in 1923 Bishop Andrey Ufimsky of Ufa Andrew (Ukhtomsky) administered [[monasticism|monastic]] [[tonsure]] and facilitated his consecration as [[Bishop]].<ref group="note">When consecrated [[Bishop]], he was given the name [[Apostle Luke|Luke]] after the Apostle who similarly, in addition to being a physician and [[evangelist]], was a talented [[iconographer]].</ref> Almost immediately Saint Luke was sent to the first of his three imprisonments.
Due to his talent as a surgeon there would always be placement at a remote medical facility where the attending colleagues would be astounded that a professor with such impeccable academic credentials would be subservient to the whims of the local civil authorities. Despite the criticisms of lesser surgeons Saint Luke would practice his medical skills. With the grace of God he amazed his colleagues with excellent medical outcomes in ophthalmologic and surgical cases that others deemed incurable.
In 1942, Vladyka was elevated to the rank of [[Archbishop]] and appointed to the Krasnoyarsk kathedra, which at the time did not have a single church. Through Archbishop Luke’s efforts, in 1943 a church was opened in a suburb of Krasnoyarsk. He wrote to Patriarch [[Sergius I (Stragorodsky) of Moscow|Sergius]]:
<blockquote>“All of Eastern Siberia, from Krasnoyarsk to the Pacific Ocean, gave no sign of church life…If churches in various parts of the Krasnoyarsk area are not opened in the near future, there is a risk that the people will lapse into religious savagery....”</blockquote>
[[Image:St. Luke Archbishop of Simferopol 2.jpg|right|thumb|St. Luke Archbishop of Simferopol]]
In 1944, the archbishop was appointed to the kathedra in Tambov.
As a Bishop he preached incessantly not only about the need to live Orthodoxy but against the perils of the “[[Living Church]]”. The latter was a defiled heretical sect propagated by the communist regime. He is credited with 1250 sermons over 38 years of priesthood and episcopal service, of which 750 are preserved in twelve volumes. When he practiced surgery from this point on, he wore his bishop's cassock in the operating room, and refused to perform surgery without an [[icon]].
As the regimes of Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev came and went, Saint Luke’s persecutions and frequent transfers only increased his popularity. Despite public slander, he was known as an unselfish, loving, physician and spiritual father. This posed a great propaganda threat to each regime and towards the end of his life Saint Luke was restricted in his travels and his medical responsibilities to remedial services. This also was in God’s plan, as towards the end of his life Saint Luke lost his vision to glaucoma. He could now devote his time exclusively to matters of faith. He performed many healing [[Miracle|miracles]] and had many spiritual children.
===Death and Funeral===
[[Image:The Reliquary of St. Luke of Simferopol in Sagmata Monastery.jpg|right|thumb|The Reliquary of St. Luke in Simferopol]]
Towards the end of his life he was worried if it would be permitted to chant “Holy God” at his funeral. He last celebrated the [[Divine Liturgy]] on the feast of the [[Nativity]] of Christ in 1960, and his last sermon was on Forgiveness Sunday. His repose was [[June 11]], 1961, the day of commemoration for “All Saints who shone forth in the Land of Russia”.
===Glorification===
On [[March 17th 17]], 1996, St. Luke's remains were disinterred, with an estimated 40,000 people taking part. It is said that an indescribable aroma arouse arose from his [[relics]], while his heart was discovered incorrupt, a testament to the great love he bore towards Christ and his fellow men. Three days later on [[March 20th 20]], 1996, his relics were transferred to the Church of the Holy Trinity.
His relics continue to work countless miracles, in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Simferopol, at Sagmata Monastery in Greece, and throughout the world.
{{start box}}
{{succession|
before=?Innoсent (Pustynsky)|
title=Bishop of Tashkent and Turkestan|
years=1923-19421927|after=?Sergius (Lavrov)}}
{{succession|
before=?Anthony (Milovidov)|title=Archbishop of Krasnoyarsk and YeniseiYeniseysk|
years=1942-1944|
after=?Bartholomew (Gorodtsov)}}
{{succession|
before=?Gregory (Chukov)|
title=Archbishop of Tambov and Michurinsk|
years=1944-1946|
after=?Joasaph (Zhurmanov)}}
{{succession|
before=?Joasaph (Zhurmanov)|
title=Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea|
years=1946-1961|
after=?Alypius (Khotovitsky)}}
{{end box}}
* V Kogan. ''[http://journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/ymai/medline/record/MDLN.11620503 Two letters of V.P. Filatov to V.F. Voino-Yasenetsky]''. In '''Agapit.''' January 1996, Issue 4, pp.65-69. (''History, 20th Century; Portraits; Religion and Medicine; Ukraine'')
* [http://www.impantokratoros.gr/8C1597E5.en.aspx "Science and Religion"] An article by St Luke on the compatibility of science and religious faith.
* {{fr icon}} Orthodoxologie. ''[http://orthodoxologie.blogspot.com/2008/07/saint-archevque-luc-voino-yasenetskyde.html Saint Archevêque Luc ( Voino-Yasenetsky) de Simféropol].'' Dimanche 27 Juillet 2008.
* {{el icon}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/3756/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Ἅγιος Λουκᾶς Ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Κριμαίας].'' 11 Ιουνίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
* {{el icon}} "Ρωμηοσύνη". ''[http://www.romiosini.org.gr/CDF1B836.el.aspx Η Μ.Κ.Ο. "ΡΩΜΗΟΣΥΝΗ" ΣΥΜΜΕΤΕΧΕΙ ΣΕ ΣΥΝΕΔΡΙΟ ΓΙΑ ΤΟΝ ΑΓΙΟ ΛΟΥΚΑ ΤΟΝ ΙΑΤΡΟ ΣΤΗΝ ΚΥΠΡΟ].'' 24-10-2008 (Γρηγοριανόν); 11-10-2008 (Ιουλιανόν).
* {{el icon}} [http://agiosloukas.org/ Αγιος Λουκάς Συμφερουπόλεως - Κριμαίας].
'''YouTube Video Videos (in Greek)'''
*[http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=0cU-LHwC-jE Αγιος Λουκάς Κριμαίας μέρος 1ο][http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=wwJXUoJEvAI μέρος 2ο]
*[http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=emObdkofrAE&feature=related Στο Ησυχαστήριο της Αδελφότητας των Δανιηλέων στα Κατουνάκια Αγίου Όρους ο '''Πάτερ Δανιήλ Αγιογραφεί''' τον Άγιο Λουκά τον Ιατρό Αρχιεπίσκοπο Συμφερουπόλεως και Κριμαίας.]
*[http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=K3UuAuOf6Cw&feature=related Veneration of his sacred & holy relics outside Russia - 1] [http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=66edFUqh3Lw 2]
==References==
[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:20th-century bishops]]
[[Category:Bishops of Tashkent|Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky)]]
[[Category:Bishops of Yeniseysk|Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky)]]
[[Category:Unmercenaries]]
[[Category:Wonderworkers]]
[[Category:20th-century saints]]
[[el:Λουκάς Συμφερουπόλεως]]
