Orthodox saint
St Luke of Crimea
St Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky), Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea, the Surgeon
Άγιος Λουκάς ο Ιατρός, Αρχιεπίσκοπος Συμφερουπόλεως και Κριμαίας · Свѧти́тель Лука̀, а҆рхїепи́скопъ Сѷмферопо́льскїй и҆ Кры́мскїй · Святитель Лука (Войно-Ясенецкий), архиепископ Симферопольский и Крымский
St Luke of Crimea is remembered on 11 June on both calendars. Orthodox Christians pray to St Luke of Crimea for a successful operation and a skilled hand for the surgeon, healing of physical and mental illness and the sick with cancer.
Feast days
- Feast
- Repose
- Kept on
- 11 June on both calendars
- Next
- Feast
- Uncovering of relics (1996)
- Kept on
- 18 March on both calendars
- Next
- Feast
- Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia
- Kept on
- the Sunday nearest 25 January
- Next, New Calendar
- Next, Old Calendar
The New Calendar is kept by the Greek, Antiochian, Romanian and Bulgarian churches, the OCA and most converts; the Old Calendar by the Russian, Serbian and Georgian churches, Jerusalem and Mount Athos, 13 days later on the civil calendar.
The life of St Luke of Crimea
Valentin Voyno-Yasenetsky was born in Kerch in 1877 and chose medicine over art out of a longing to relieve human suffering. A brilliant young surgeon, he resolved to be "a doctor for the poor," serving in field hospitals and country clinics, and his Essays on Purulent Surgery became a classic of Russian medicine. Widowed during the Revolution, he was ordained and became Bishop Luke, and the Soviet authorities answered with arrest, prison and exile again and again. Wherever he was sent he went on operating, praying before every incision and saving lives in Siberian exile. In 1946 he received the Stalin Prize for his surgical work while serving as Archbishop of Crimea, and he kept healing and preaching even after he went blind. He reposed on June 11, 1961. Orthodox Christians pray to Saint Luke the Surgeon before operations and in serious illness, and doctors of Russia and Greece honor him as their own heavenly colleague.
What the faithful ask of St Luke of Crimea
The faithful pray for
- a successful operation and a skilled hand for the surgeon
- healing of physical and mental illness
- the sick with cancer
- doctors, that they may heal with wisdom and mercy
- unshakable Orthodox faith
- forgiveness of sins and salvation
- comfort and strength in long illness
- courage to confess the faith under pressure
St Luke of Crimea protects
- patients on the operating table
- the seriously ill from despair
- doctors from pride and carelessness
- confessors of the faith in persecution
Patron of
- surgeons
- physicians
- nurses
- pharmacists
- medical scientists and students
- the sick
- Crimea
- those persecuted for the faith
Miracles
Pilgrims come daily to his relics in Holy Trinity Cathedral, Simferopol, and many testify to recovery from grave illness, including tumors, after praying to him.
Source: Чудесные исцеления от святого врача (Российская газета)
On his feast in Simferopol, by long-standing tradition, the white coats of doctors are sprinkled with holy water.
Where the traditions differ
Glorified by the Russian Church (Crimea 1996, Church-wide 2000) and kept by Old-Calendar churches on 29 May; Greek and other New-Calendar churches keep his repose on 11 June. Devotion in Greece is very strong, where he is known simply as 'Saint Luke the Physician.'
St Luke of Crimea in our shop
We don't carry an icon of St Luke of Crimea yet. Ask for it below, and we will write to you when it is ready.
Until then, the closest we carry
Folding diptychChrist (Zvenigorod Saviour) & Vladimir Mother of God Folding DiptychAlso prayed to for the sick and healing$99$69
Folding diptychRoyal Passion-Bearers (Romanov family) & Feodorovskaya Mother of God Folding DiptychAnother new martyr$99$69
Have it consecrated by our priest before it reaches you — Consecration, $49.
Ask our priest
Our priest can serve a moleben to St Luke of Crimea for the people and the need you name.
Name days
These names keep their name day on a feast of St Luke of Crimea:
Prayed to for
Related saints
Questions
When is the feast day of St Luke of Crimea?
Repose: 11 June on both calendars; Uncovering of relics (1996): 18 March on both calendars; Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia: the Sunday nearest 25 January.
What do Orthodox Christians pray to St Luke of Crimea for?
Orthodox Christians pray to St Luke of Crimea for a successful operation and a skilled hand for the surgeon, healing of physical and mental illness, the sick with cancer, doctors, that they may heal with wisdom and mercy, unshakable Orthodox faith and forgiveness of sins and salvation.
What is St Luke of Crimea the patron saint of?
St Luke of Crimea is the patron of surgeons, physicians, nurses, pharmacists, medical scientists and students, the sick, Crimea and those persecuted for the faith.
What does St Luke of Crimea protect from?
St Luke of Crimea protects patients on the operating table, the seriously ill from despair, doctors from pride and carelessness and confessors of the faith in persecution.
Whose name day is on a feast of St Luke of Crimea?
The name day of Luke and Luka.
Sources
- Saint Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol (OCA) (read 14 October 2026)
- Святитель Лука (Войно-Ясенецкий) (Азбука веры) (read 14 October 2026)
- Чудесные исцеления от святого врача (Российская газета) (read 14 October 2026)
- Молитвы об исцелении при онкологическом заболевании (Азбука веры) (read 14 October 2026)
- Greek and Russian hierarchs and faithful come together to celebrate St. Luke of Simferopol (OrthoChristian) (read 14 October 2026)
- Luke Voyno-Yasenetsky (Wikipedia) (read 14 October 2026)