St. Luke, Confessor, Archbishop of Crimea

On the pedestal is an icon of the Holy Confessor Luke Voino-Yasenetsky, a Russian surgeon, Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of theology, spiritual teacher and selfless confessor of the Christian faith. Archbishop Luke (in the world Valentin Feliksovich Voino-Yasenetsky) was born in Kerch on April 27, 1877. When choosing a future profession in his younger years, his main criterion was serving suffering people. He received a medical degree and has been engaged in medical practice and scientific research all his life. His extensive practical experience and scientific activity formed the basis of important essays on local anesthesia and surgery, which marked the beginning of the transition of medicine to a new level in the pre-revolutionary years. In the 1920s, while working as a surgeon in Tashkent, while actively participating in church life, he was ordained a priest. After three years of service, Father Valentin takes monastic vows with the name of the apostle, evangelist and physician Luke. On May 30, 1923, Hieromonk Luke was secretly consecrated bishop. During the Great Patriotic War, Bishop Luke Voino-Yasenetsky, who constantly operated in military hospitals, was accused of professing the Christian faith. Having become a victim of repression, he spent a total of 11 years in exile. During the times of severe persecution, St. Luke set an example of steadfastness of faith and selfless Christian life. During his spiritual ministry, he was Bishop of Tashkent and Turkestan (1923-1927), Bishop of Yelets, Vicar of the Orel diocese (1927), Archbishop of Krasnoyarsk and Yenisei (1942-1944), Archbishop of Tambov and Michurinsk (1944-1946), from 1946 to the end of his days — Archbishop of the Crimean diocese. St. Luke is revered as the heavenly patron saint of natural sciences and medicine, especially surgery. Prayers for healing are offered to him by both sufferers and doctors. Through the prayers of the saint, numerous miracles are performed. The product with the image of St. Luke is made in the form of a small temple with a domed dome with a cross and two angels in prayer gestures. On the rustic pedestal is an image of the symbol of medicine — a blossoming staff with a snake and the years of the life of confessor Luke (1877-1961). Since the middle of the 20th century, the staff with a snake has been accepted as an important part of the emblem of the World Health Organization. Its history goes back to ancient times. According to legend, the ancient physician Asclepius, who had an amazing talent for healing at that time, was called by the king, whose son died. The doctor went to the palace, despite the fact that he did not know how to overcome death. On the way, he saw that a snake had wrapped itself around his staff, he killed the snake, but another snake crawled to it and resurrected the first one with the grass he brought. Asclepius found a miraculous herb and resurrected the king's son. So the staff with the snake became a symbol of medical experience. The pedestal of the product serves not only as a decoration, but also as a holding stand for a removable icon. The reverse side of the product is decorated with lush carved flowers in the ancient Novgorod tradition. In the center is a troparion to St. Luke: "To the proclaimer of the way of salvation, confessor and archpastor of the Crimean land, true guardian of fatherly traditions, unshakable pillar, mentor of Orthodoxy, wise physician, St. Luke, unceasingly pray to Christ the Savior to grant faith to the unshakeable Orthodox both salvation and great mercy." The words of the troparion are completed by a flourishing cross, and the frame is made in the form of the smallest beads of a pearl obnisi. A miniature text of the prayer is engraved on the end of the icon: "O all-blessed confessor, our holy Father Luke, falling down to you, as children of the father, we pray to you: hear us."