The Commemoration Saint Luke Of Crimea And Simferopol And His Speedy Aid To Those In Need

June 11, 2025—Today the Orthodox Church celebrates the feast day of Saint Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky), Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea—an exceptional surgeon and confessor of the faith.

Saint Luke, born Valentin Felixovich Voino-Yasenetsky (1877–1961), is especially venerated by Orthodox believers in Ukraine. This remarkable surgeon and archbishop served for many years in Crimea, combining deep faith with brilliant achievements in medicine. As a professor of surgery, he developed new methods for treating purulent infections and advanced military field surgery—categorically refusing to operate in any surgical room that lacked an icon of the Theotokos.

His medical accomplishments were so extraordinary that, despite being persecuted along with the Church itself, he was awarded the Stalin Prize.

He was sent by the Soviet authorities into exile on several occasions, betrayed by friends and even fellow clergy while serving in Tashkent. In the midst of these struggles, he never lost his love for his fellow man, never abandoned his service to the Church. He was arrested and spent a total of 11 years in exile and labor camps, yet he continued to perform divine services and treat the sick wherever possible. His steadfastness in faith became a model of true Christian confession.

Saint Luke is especially beloved and honored by the faithful, who pray to him particularly for the healing of eye diseases and for the gift of wisdom to doctors.

He is also greatly venerated in Greece, where he is considered the patron saint of doctors and surgeons. Greek Orthodox believers frequently make pilgrimages to his relics and dedicate churches in his honor. In Serbia, the Military Medical Academy celebrates this saint as its patron.

I myself came to love Saint Luke in 2022. I was working in Colorado and attending a parish in Colorado Springs. One day, during Vespers, I couldn't help but keep looking over at the icon of this as-of-yet unknown saint. It was like his icon was looking at me, I could feel his gaze as clear as day. The next morning after liturgy, I was in line for coffee in the trapeza hall. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small icon of him for sale; under the icon was a book on his life titled the Blessed Surgeon. I had the inclination that he wanted me to purchase these items—so I did. 

I returned home to North Carolina a few months later and finally read the book. I was so incredibly moved by his life. I wept reading each chapter and asked God why my love seemed so distant from his—the answer to this was clear: my sinfulness. Not long after, I developed a toothache. The toothache began to grow into a painful abscess. The throbbing pain in my face and head were increasingly unbearable, and I looked at the icon of Saint Luke on the bookshelf. I prayed for his intercession, that God would heal me. As I prayed, I heard a voice in my soul say "you must go to confession and commune of the Holy Mysteries." 

By this time, I knew better than to disobey this voice.

That evening, I went to confession, and in the morning, I went to communion. I returned home from church and was overcome by utter exhaustion. I couldn't resist the pull to sleep. I set my alarm for one hour and laid down. I awoke, and it was dark, I had slept for several hours. As I became more conscious, I realized that there was no pain in my tooth and the abscess had completely vanished.

Saint Luke knew my symptoms and directed me to the cure for all illnesses and infections. As I thanked him for his help it occurred to me that those many months ago, God knew that I would need help, and he sent St. Luke.

Who is so great a God as our God?

The relics of Saint Luke rest in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Simferopol, Crimea.

Saint Luke was canonized in the year 2000 as both a saint and a confessor. His life is an example of how serving God can be united with serving humanity through medicine and science, all while remaining faithful to the Orthodox tradition.

Previously, the Union of Orthodox Journalists (SPZh) wrote in detail about why believers so deeply love and revere Saint Luke.

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