Blessed Luke :: Saint Luke Stiris Essays

Blessed Luke Background of Saint Luke ? Saint Luke was born in 896 A.D. most likely in Delphi or in nearby Kastri in Central Greece.[1]? He is known today as Blessed Luke, Luke the Younger, St. Luke of Stiris, and Luke the Wonderworker (Thaumaturgus in Greek).? ?His parents were farmers in Thessaly.?[2]? Originally from Egina, St. Luke?s parents fled the island when the Saracens attacked it. Saracens was the name that Medieval Europeans used to describe the Arabs and all Muslims in general.? As a youth, St. Luke was prone to give to charity, even though his parents were not very wealthy or happy about their son?s giving.[3]? St. Luke was also noted for his healing/special powers from an early age.? ?One of his legendary wonders was to make his parents? crops yield more than anyone else?s? despite only planting half of the seeds he was supposed to.[4] Life of Saint Luke ?As a teenager, St. Luke ran away from home after his father died.[5] However, another source said that he ran away from home because his parents were mad at him for wanting to enter into a monastery.[6] Unfortunately, soldiers mistook St. Luke for a runaway slave and put him in prison.? After he was freed, his mother finally gave her permission to allow Luke to enter a monastery outside of Athens.[7] He did not stay there long.? At the age of eighteen, St. Luke built a place on Mount Joannitsa near Corinth in Greece.[8] There he became a hermit.? St. Luke was credited with predicting the liberation of Crete, which happened within ten years after he died.[9]? Thus, he could predict the future as well as perform miracles.? It was also said that he settled in the village of Stiri.[10] According to different sources, he died either in the year 946 A.D. or 953 A.D.? His Saint?s Day is on February seventh of the Christian calendar.? The Orthodox Church declared Luke a Hossios and his reli cs were kept in the original church until the crypt was built in the Katholikon. Ossios Loukas ?The name means Blessed Luke and the site contains two monastic churches: Holy Luke and Our Lady.? Alternate spellings of its name include Osios Loukas and Hosios Loukas.? The first church built on the site between 941 to 944 A.D. was built for St. Barbara originally.[11]? Holy Luke is called the Katholikon in Greek and was built over the crypt dedicated to St.