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[[Image:Osios Loukas.jpg|right|thumb|250px|St Luke the Younger (896-953 AD). Mosaic from the Monastery of Hosios Loukas.]]
Our Venerable and God-bearing Father '''Luke the Younger''', also ''' ''Luke of Steiris, Luke of Steirion, Luke the New of Mount Stirion, Osios Loukas O Steiriotis, Luke the Wonderworker, Luke Thaumaturgus, '' ''' or ''' ''Luke of Hellas'' ''' (896-953 AD) was a Byzantine [[saint]] of the tenth century AD, who founded the [[w:Hosios Loukas|Monastery of Osios Loukas]] (Venerable Luke) on the slopes of the ''"great and godly [[w:Mount Helicon|mount of Helicon]]"''<ref>Hesiod. ''[[w:Theogony|Theogony]]''. Transl. Dorothea Wender. Penguin Classics, 1973. p.23.</ref><ref group="note">The [[monastery]] of Hosίos Loukas, built οn the west-slopes of [[w:Mount Helicon|Mount Helίkon]], near ancient Stiris, is perhaps the most important monument of the Middle Byzantίne period in Greece. During the roughly ten centuries since its foundation, the monastery has played α leading role in the historical vicissitudes of the area. It won the favour of emperors and officials during the Byzantine period. During the Frankish period it passed into the possession of an order of Roman Catholic [[monk]]s and subsequently suffered the destructive frenzy and plundering of Catalan and Turkish conquerors. During the Greek Uprising of 1821 it was a base for "armatoloi" and "klephtes" (freedom fighters). (''[http://www.distomo.gr/english/osios_loukas_en.htm ΟΣΙΟΣ ΛΟΥΚΑΣ - HOSIOS LOUKAS]. Municipality of [[w:Distomo|Distomo]], [[w:Boeotia Prefecture|Boeotia Prefecture]], Greece.'')</ref> between Delphi and Levadia, near the coast of the Gulf of Corinth in Boeotia, Greece. He was also one of the earliest saints to be seen [[w:Saints and levitation|levitating in prayer]].<ref group="note">St. [[Ioannikios the Great|Joannicius the Great]] (752, Bithynia - † 4 November, 846, Antidium), one of the greatest monks of Christian East, levitated above the ground when he prayed. St. [[Seraphim of Sarov]] also reportedly levitated during his strolls (Valentine Zander. ''Saint Seraphim of Sarov: His Life.'' London, 1968. pp.39-40.)</ref>

The principal source for Luke's life is an anonymous ''[[Hagiography|Life]]'' written by a monk of Hosios Loukas who had been one of Luke's followers. According to some, he reposed in the year 946; according to others, in 953 AD.<ref>[http://home.iprimus.com.au/xenos/parthenios.html St Parthenios, Bishop of Lampsacos. Our Righteous Father Luke of Mount Stirion]. Commemorated February 7. [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia]].</ref> St. Luke's [[feast day]] is celebrated on [[February 7]], with the translation of the his [[relics]] celebrated on [[May 3]].

==Early Life==
Saint Luke was born in 896 to pious parents who came from Aegina but were forced to settle on the Greek mainland due to Saracen raids. Luke was the third of the seven children of Stephen and Euphrosyne. From his earliest years, he showed a desire for a life of [[Asceticism|ascesis]] and contemplation usually only found in seasoned [[Geronta|elders]]. He abstained from all flesh, cheese, eggs, and delicacies, drank only water, and kept a total fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. While herding cattle or tilling the family fields, he would often give away his food and even his clothing to the poor, returning home naked. He once gave away almost all the seed which was needed for planting in the fields. The [[Lord]] rewarded him for his charity, and the harvest gathered was greater than ever before.

When his father died, he abandoned farm work to devote himself entirely to [[prayer]], making such progress that he was often witnessed by his mother  [[w:Saints and levitation|lifted above the ground while praying]].<ref>''Life'', ch. 7.</ref>

==Monasticism==
As a child Luke tried twice to leave home to seek a solitary life of prayer. The first time, he attempted to withdraw to Thessaly, but was captured by soldiers lying in wait for escaped slaves and was returned home.<ref>''Life'', ch. 8.</ref> The second time he had more success, meeting two monks journeying from Rome to Jerusalem<ref>''Life'', ch. 9.</ref> who took him to a monastery in Athens where he received the [[w:Degrees_of_Eastern_Orthodox_monasticism#Stavrophore|small habit]].<ref>''Life'', ch. 10.</ref><ref group="note">Little Schema, or Stavrophore Monk (lit. 'Cross-bearing Monk').</ref> At this point he was only fourteen years old (910 AD), and Luke's mother who was very concerned for him, prayed for her son's return. After seeing his mother in a dream, tearfully calling for her son, the abbot sent him home. 

He returned home for four months, and then with his mother's blessing he set out again upon the [[monasticism|monastic]] life, going to a solitary place on a mountain called Ioannou (or Ioannitsa). Here there was a [[church]] dedicated to the holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian, where he lived an ascetical life in constant prayer and fasting for seven years.<ref>''Life'', chs. 16,32.</ref> The ''Life'' records with suspicious symmetry that during this time Luke received the [[w:Degrees_of_Eastern_Orthodox_monasticism#Great_Schema|great habit]]<ref group="note">Great Schema or [[Schemamonk]].</ref> from two monks<ref group="note">[[Geronta|Elders]] who were on pilgrimage.</ref> travelling from Jerusalem to Rome (presumably the same two from whom he had received the small habit on their outward journey).<ref>''Life'', ch. 21.</ref> After this, St Luke redoubled his ascetic efforts, for which the Lord granted him the gift of foresight.

Luke's fame spread and a number of miracles are ascribed to him during this period, such as revealing to two brothers the location of their dead father's buried treasure.<ref>''Life'', ch. 27.</ref> Numerous proofs of Luke's holiness are also given, such as sleeping in a trench to remind himself of death,<ref>''Life'', ch. 25.</ref> or being visited in a dream by an [[angel]] who let a hook down Luke's mouth and "drew out a certain fleshly member therefrom", freeing him from the temptations of the flesh.<ref>''Life'', ch. 29.</ref>

After a seven years on Ioannou, the saint moved to Corinth because of an invasion of the Bulgarian emperor Symeon (which Luke had predicted).<ref>''Life'', ch. 32.</ref> Hearing about a certain [[Stylite]] at Zemena (''Gimenes'') near Corinth, he went to see him, and remained for ten years to serve the ascetic with [[humility]] and obedience.

Afterwards, ca. 927 AD, the saint returned again to Mount Ioannou to build his own community and again pursue asceticism. Often he would be forced to move by the number of visitors who learned of his holiness, and came to him for [[prayer]] or a word of counsel or prophecy, no matter how secretly he tried to live. Luke drew so many followers that he found the distractions unbearable and decided to retreat further into the wilderness, with the blessing of his Elder Theophylactus.<ref>''Life'', ch. 47.</ref> Three years later, however, Luke was displaced again, this time by a Magyar invasion. 

Luke retreated with the local villagers to the nearby island of Ampelon.<ref>''Life'', ch. 50.</ref> Once there, Luke found the desert island to be a suitable place to pursue his solitary ascetic life, and stayed for three years, enduring terrible thirsts.<ref>''Life'', ch. 51.</ref> His sister would occasionally bring him some bread, but he gave much of it away to the needy or to passing sailors.

==Hosios Loukas==
[[Image:Osios Loukas of Mt Stirion.jpg|right|thumb|St. Luke the New of Mt. Stirion.]]
Eventually Luke's disciples persuaded him to leave, and he returned to the mainland and settled for the remainder of his life in the far more amenable environment of the present [[w:Hosios Loukas|Hosios Loukas]], where he founded his hermitage ca. 946 AD in the area of Stiris (''which may be a corruption of Soterion, or place of healing'').<ref name=DISTOMO>[http://www.distomo.gr/english/osios_loukas_en.htm ΟΣΙΟΣ ΛΟΥΚΑΣ - HOSIOS LOUKAS].</ref><ref group="note">Midway between [[w:Distomo|Distomo]] (ancient Ambryssos) and the monastery of [[w:Hosios Loukas|Osios Loukas]], lies the [http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-ca&q=distomo&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl village of Stiri], which is named after, but does not occupy, the site of ancient Stiris. (Jeremy McInerney. ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=IbNyCyYmq4cC&dq=%22ancient+stiris%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s The Folds of Parnassos: Land and Ethnicity in Ancient Phokis].'' University of Texas Press, 1999. p.317.)</ref>

Here brethren gathered to the elder, and a small monastery grew up, the church of which was dedicated to the [[Barbara of Heliopolis|Great Martyr Barbara]]. Dwelling in the monastery, the saint performed many miracles, healing sicknesses of soul and of body.

==Death==
Saint Luke fell ill in his seventh year at Stirion. Foreseeing his end, the saint confined himself in a [[cell]] and for three months prepared for his departure. When asked where he was to be buried, the monk replied, ''"Throw my body into a ravine to be eaten by wild beasts."'' When the brethren begged him to change these instructions, he commanded them to bury his body on the spot where he lay. Embracing his disciples, he asked them to pray for him, prophesying that the place where he died would someday be the site of a great church and monastery. Then raising his eyes to heaven, he said, ''"Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit!"'' and reposed in peace and joy. St Luke fell asleep in the Lord on [[February 7]], 953. 

[[Myrrh]] flowed from his holy [[relics]],<ref group="note">Unfortunately, sometime in the later Middle Ages St. Luke's relics were taken elsewhere, and ended up in [[Venice]]. Thanks be to God, in 1986 they were correctly identified and returned to the monastery, where they reside to this day.</ref> and many healings occurred. His tomb exuded a fragrant oil which was collected and burned in a lamp, and many miracles and healings were wrought at the tomb. The rumour that his relic worked miracles brought great numbers of believers to the monastery to be healed, and the original buildings gave way to more monumental structures.<ref name="DISTOMO"/> As the Saint had predicted, two churches and a monastery were built there, and the [[w:Hosios Loukas|monastery of Hosios Loukas]] became a great place of pilgrimage, as it remains to this day.<ref group="note">Hosios Loukas is the largest of three monasteries surviving from the Middle Byzantine period in Greece. It differs from the [[w:Daphni Monastery|Daphnion]] and [[w:Nea Moni of Chios|Nea Moni]] in that it is dedicated to a single [[w:Military saint|military saint]]. St. Lukes' prophecy about the [[w:Byzantine_navy#Recovery_of_Crete_and_the_Levant|reconquest of Crete]] (in 960 AD) is commemorated by the [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Byzantine_fresca_from_St-Lucas.jpg image of Joshua] on the exterior wall of the Panagia church: Joshua was considered a model "warrior of the faith", whose help was especially effective in the wars waged against the Arabs.</ref> 

==Troparion, Kontakion==
'''Troparion of St Luke of Mount Stirion Tone 1'''<ref name=MENOLOGION>http://www.stnectarios.org/menologion/feb.pdf</ref><br>
Let us firmly honour Luke the Godbearer with hymns and chants,<br>
the glory of the faithful,<br> 
the boast of the righteous,<br>
bright light of Stirion and its true inhabitant;<br>
he brings near to Christ those who cry out in faith:<br>
Glory to Him Who has strengthened thee;<br> 
Glory to Him Who has crowned thee;<br>
Glory to Him Who through thee works healings for all.<br>

'''Kontakion of St Luke of Mount Stirion Tone 8'''<ref name="MENOLOGION"/><br>
God in ineffable judgment chose thee before thou wast fashioned according to His good pleasure;<br>
He took thee from thy mother's womb,<br> 
He sanctified thee as His servant.<br>
As the Lover of mankind,<br>
He guided thee to Himself,<br>
before Whom thou dost now stand rejoicing,<br> 
O Luke.<br>

==See also==
* [[Stylite]]

==Further reading==
* Walter Robert Connor, Carolyn Loessel Connor. ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=IXQRAQAAIAAJ&q=inauthor:%22Carolyn+Loessel+Connor%22&dq=inauthor:%22Carolyn+Loessel+Connor%22&hl=en&ei=8YpDTJDNE4GC8gbQ0bHEDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ The Life and Miracles of Saint Luke of Steiris: Text, Translation and Commentary].'' '''Volume 18 of Archbishop Iakovos Library of Ecclesiastical and Historical Sources.''' [[Hellenic College (Brookline, Massachusetts)|Hellenic College]] Press, 1994. 178 pp. ISBN 9780917653353 
'''In Greek'''<br>
:A brief life of the saint is given by [[w:Photios Kontoglou|Photios Kontoglou]]:
:* [http://users.uoa.gr/~nektar/arts/tributes/fwths_kontogloy/o_agios_loykas_o_steiriths.htm Φώτης Κόντογλου - Ὁ «Ἀμαθὴς καὶ Ἀγροῖκος Ἅγιος» Λουκᾶς ὁ Στειρίτης]. (Απὸ τὸ Ἀσάλευτο Θεμέλιο, ''Ἀκρίτας,'' 1996).

==Notes==
<references group="note" />

==References== 
<div><references/></div>

==Sources==
'''Wikipedia'''
* [[w:Luke of Steiris|Luke of Steiris]]
* [[w:Hosios Loukas|Hosios Loukas]]
'''Other'''
* [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100458 Venerable Luke of Hellas]. [[OCA]] - Feasts and Saints.
* [http://www.abbamoses.com/months/february.html Our Venerable Father Luke the New of Mount Stirion (~950)]. God is Wonderful in His Saints Orthodox Resources: Orthodox Saints commemorated in February.
* Aaron Taylor. [http://logismoitouaaron.blogspot.com/2009/02/his-faith-in-god-shonest-luke-younger.html 'His Faith in God Shone' — St Luke the Younger]. Logismoi tou Aaron. 19 February 2009.
* [http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/2010/02/st-luke-righteous-of-mount-steirion-and.html St. Luke the Righteous of Mount Steirion, and his Monastery]. Full of Grace and Truth Blogspot. Saturday February 6, 2010. 
* [http://home.iprimus.com.au/xenos/parthenios.html St Parthenios, Bishop of Lampsacos. Our Righteous Father Luke of Mount Stirion]. Commemorated February 7. [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia]]. 
* [http://www.distomo.gr/english/osios_loukas_en.htm ΟΣΙΟΣ ΛΟΥΚΑΣ - HOSIOS LOUKAS]. Municipality of [[w:Distomo|Distomo]], [[w:Boeotia Prefecture|Boeotia Prefecture]], Greece. 
* [http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4354 St. Luke the Younger]. February 7. Catholic Online.
* Jeremy McInerney. [http://books.google.ca/books?id=IbNyCyYmq4cC&dq=%22ancient+stiris%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s The Folds of Parnassos: Land and Ethnicity in Ancient Phokis]. University of Texas Press, 1999. 391pp. ISBN 9780292752306
* Great Synaxaristes: {{el icon}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/2058/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Ὅσιος Λουκᾶς ὁ ἐν Στειρίῳ τῆς Ἑλλάδος].'' 7 Φεβρουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
* Great Synaxaristes: {{el icon}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/2876/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ἀνακομιδὴ Τιμίων Λειψάνων Ὁσίου Λουκᾶ τοῦ ἐν Στειρίῳ].'' 3 Μαΐου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.

==External Links==
'''Wikipedia'''
* [[w:Levitation_(paranormal)#Mystical_levitation_in_Christianity|Mystical Levitation in Christianity]]
* [[w:Saints and levitation|Saints and Levitation]] 
'''Other'''
* [http://www.oramaworld.com/en/p/110043/Saint_Luke_of_Mount_Steirion_-_Hand-Painted_Icon Saint Luke of Mount Steirion - Hand-Painted Icon] Orama World.
* [http://www.nonsolosalento.it/la_storia_di_San_Luca_il_Giovane_Eremita_302.html Oggi San Luca il Giovane Eremita]. ''(Italian)''.

[[Category:Asceticism]]
[[Category:Byzantine Saints]]
[[Category:Greek Saints]]
[[Category:Hermits]]
[[Category:Monastics]]
[[Category:Wonderworkers]]
[[Category:10th-century saints]]

[[ro:Luca din Elada]]