THE VENERABLE LUKE OF HELLAS

February 7

From the Prologue

Luke was born in Castoria. Even as a child, he never desired to taste meat and always conducted his life in chastity and in prayer. At one time, Luke entered a field to sow grains of wheat, but along the way he distributed a greater portion of the grains of wheat to the poor and the lesser portion which was left over, he planted. From that lesser amount of seeds of wheat, God gave him a greater harvest than had previously come from the entire amount. After that, Luke left his widowed mother and entered a monastery. The grieving mother prayed earnestly to God to reveal to her the secret where her son could be found. God heard the prayers of the mother. The abbot of that monastery, where Luke had fled, dreamed on three consecutive nights that a certain woman sharply rebuked him because he took away her only son. The abbot then ordered Luke to immediately return to his mother. Luke went, visited with his mother and once again, parted from her without returning. He atoned on "Mount Johannitsa," near Corinth. At night he prayed to God and during the day he worked in the garden and in the field, not for his sake but for the sake of the indigent and the visitors. However, Luke fed only on bread made of barley. God bestowed upon him the gift of working miracles. Luke died peacefully in the year 946 A.D. From time to time, Chrism [oil] flowed from his relics.