I believe deeply in God and I have built my whole life upon His commandments., St. Luke Archbishop of Crimea, the Surgeon

 “The Spiritual Will “ of Saint Luke (excerpt)

St. Paul left a will to all the Christians. “Become followers of me, as I am of Christ.” I certainly do not dare to say this to all the Christians but to you, my children; I can say follow my example just as I have followed the example of the Apostle Paul. My life has been tough and difficult but never did I pray to God to make it easy. Because “narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” MT.7:14…

And now, my children let me offer to you my last will and testament. I believe deeply in God and I have built my whole life upon His commandments. And I bequeath to you that you offer your lives to God and build all things upon the commandments of Christ.

For a long time and with great determination I sailed through life against the current of the world and to you my children I bequeath that you sail against the current, as difficult at that may be. Turn your attention and your heart away from the great majority of human beings who pursue not the higher goals but those which are easy to acquire. Do not accede to the great majority of people who live according to their own thinking and with the mind of their leaders. They anchor their lives not with the commandments of Christ but on the directives of people who have the power to lead them not to the Kingdom of Heaven but to the riches of the earthly kingdom.

The purpose of life is to seek after the highest truth and to never divert from that road even when they force you to serve the purposes of the lowest form of truth by trampling upon the truth of Christ.

You should be ready even to be martyred since you are sailing against the current. Keep your faith firmly in your thoughts, in your husbands and in your wives just the way I kept it…

Imitate me just the way I imitated the Apostle Paul and do not work for your stomach but to help those who without your help cannot free themselves from the tortures of poverty and lies.

If you fulfill all these things that I bequeath to you, the blessing of God will come upon you in harmony with the words of David the prophet. “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember his commandments to do them.” (Psalm 103: 17-18.)..

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Now we do not understand meaning of sorrows, but later we will understand them. Now we sense that we are treated unjustly and cursed. Later we will understand that from everything we would have an awesome benefit: a humble mind.

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                                                                                                                             Λουκάς,Κριμαιας-ιατρός_Saint Luke Archbishop of Crimea_Св Лука Крымский_0790a8736eda18a6

The Lord came to save sinners. With love He embraced every sinner and sought to lead them to salvation. Of the Pharisees who complained about him, He said: “Go and learn what it means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.‘” (Matthew 9:13) The Scribes and Pharisees placed their hope of salvation in their sacrifices and their prayers, and the Lord says that He does not desire sacrifice, but mercy, mercy towards sinners.

Now, the Lord does not expect any sacrifice but mercy. He expects from us compassion towards all sinners and those disdained. Our behavior towards these people should be the same as that which He showed. Let us not act as if anyone, anyone is lower than us. Let us behold our own sins and not those of the other, let us obtain humility and meekness, imitating His humility and meekness. Let us love and be gracious towards those disdained and those humbled, in order to offer them spiritual help, showing care towards their salvation.Our Lord gave us paradoxical and wondrous commandments. He said that He does not desire sacrifice, but mercy, mercy towards all those who need it. 

In the eyes of God, he who disdains his brethren commits a grave sin. In all things we must be imitators of the Lord and follow His example. Let us follow Him, therefore, and not perceive ourselves as higher than our neighbor, whatever he may be—thief, murderer, or robber—for in the eyes of God, we might all be worse than him.

 Let us always remember how the Lord behaved towards sinners…and never condemn sinners, that we not stigmatize them, but offer to them love, showing reverence to their person, even if they themselves do not honor it…let us imitate our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Selected spiritual quotes of St. Luke Archbishop of Crimea.Words and Homilies, Volume II. Edition of “Orthodox Kypseli”, Thessaloniki.

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