The phenomenon of veneration of St. Luke of Crimea in Greece

Abstract

Despite historical, cultural, and religious storms and instabilities that intermittently cloud interstate relations, the shared Orthodox faith has consistently fostered the strengthening of ties between the Russian and Greek peoples. Within Orthodoxy, authorities for the Church are not only the texts of sacred books but also revered individuals—saints. The veneration of ascetics unites different nations in a single spiritual realm. Biographies of Russian saints garner significant interest among Greek readers. Apart from numerous translated and compiled works, there exist many original research pieces. Some Russian ascetics are even more renowned in Greece than in their homeland. A particular phenomenon is the veneration of Archbishop Luke of Simferopol and Crimea (Valentin Voyno-Yasenetsky). This article attempts to trace the origins, scale and nature of the veneration of St. Luke in Greece. Greeks first learned about Archbishop Luke of Simferopol and Crimea during his lifetime, in 1957, when a lecture about him was delivered for the first time. However, the true nationwide popularity of St. Luke’s name was earned thanks to the efforts of Archimandrite (since 2013, Metropolitan of Argolis) Nectarios (Antonopoulos). He first heard about St. Luke in the summer of 1996. Archimandrite bought a book about Archbishop Luke by Archdeacon Vasiliy Marushchak, “The Blessed Surgeon: The Life of Saint Luke of Simferopol” in Crimea and commissioned its translation into Greek. He then extensively traveled to the places where the saint once lived. For many years, Antonopoulos independently collected archival materials and interviewed people who knew Valentin Voyno-Yasenetsky. As a result of this work, in 1999, Father Nectarios published his book “Archbishop Luke. A Saint Pastor and Physician Surgeon” in Greek, which has been reprinted multiple times (the 28th edition was released in 2020). This article discusses this and other publications dedicated to St. Luke in the Greek language. It also focuses on academic conferences devoted to understanding the legacy of the saint. As of 2016, more than 40 newly constructed churches dedicated to St. Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky) were consecrated in Greece. The article details the most famous centers of veneration of the saint in Greece and some of the churches built and consecrated in recent years. Additionally, it provides some information on the veneration of St. Luke in the Balkan Peninsula and Cyprus.