St. Lazar the Prince of Serbia

The holy, glorious and right-victorious Great Martyr Lazar, Prince of Serbia (Свети Великомученик кнез Лазар, also Lazarus, or Lazar of Kosovo) was one of the Serbian noblemen who ruled the Serbian empire after the death of Emperor Dušan. After death of Emperor St. Uroš V (December 2), Lazar was the de facto ruler of Serbia. He died for Christ's name on June 15, 1389. His feast day is June 15/June 28 (Old Calendar).

Lazar was born in Prilepac, which is near Novo Brdo, in 1329, the son of the imperial chancellor Pribac Hrebeljanović. He was educated at Emperor Dušan's court in Prizren. He

was later granted the high title knez ("prince" in Serbian) by Dušan's successor St. Emperor Stefan Uroš V. Despite his imperial title, Uroš was a weak and ineffectual leader, allowing local nobles to gain power and influence at the expense of the central authority. Lazar remained a loyal vassal to Stefan Uros V.

After the death of the emperor, Lazar became a central figure in Serbia. He called, together with his son-in-law Đurađ Stracimirović, a synod that elected a new patriarch, St.Ephraem. Lazar sent a delegation to Constantinople with the monk Isaiah to implore the patriarch to heal the Serbian-Constantinople Schism of 1352. In 1375, full communion between Peć and Constantinople was re-established in the Holy Archangels Monastery on the grave of Emperor Dušan.

St. Lazar restored the monasteries of Hilandar on Mount Athos and Gornjak. He built Ravanica and Lazarica in Kruševac and was a benefactor of the Russian monastery of St.

St. Lazar and St. Milica

Pantaleon on Mt. Athos, as well as many other churches and monasteries.

Lazar married Milica (Venerable Euphrosine of Serbia) around 1353. Milica was a relative of Emperor Dušan. She was a daughter of Prince Vratko (кнез Вратко), who was a great-grandson of Vukan Nemanjic. Vukan himself was the eldest son of Stefan Nemanja. Lazar and Milica had seven children: Mara, St. Stefan Visoki, Vuk, Dragana, Teodora, Jelena and Olivera.

The Battle of Kosovo

St. Lazar fought against the Turkish powers on several occasions in order to protect his people. Finally, he fought the Turkish Emperor Amurat and lost on the Field of Blackbirds [Kosovo Polje] on June 15, 1389. Afterwards he was beheaded.

Lazar, having been visited by an angel of God on the night before the battle, was offered a choice between an earthly or a Heavenly kingdom. This choice would result in a victory or defeat, respectively, at the coming Battle of

Serbian Orthodox Monastery of Ravanica

Kosovo. Lazar, naturally, opted for the Heavenly kingdom, which will last "forever and ever" ("Perishable is earthly kingdom, but forever and ever is Kingdom of Heaven!" As a result, he perished on the battlefield. "We die with Christ, to live forever," he told his soldiers. Soon after death Lazar was glorified.
His body was translated and interred in Ravanica, in his memorial church near Ćuprija, and later was translated to Sisatovac in Srem. From there, during World War II, his body was translated to Belgrade and placed in the

Cathedral Church of the Holy Archangel Michael. In 1989, on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of his martyrdom, St. Lazar's relics were again translated to the Monastery of Ravanica in Ćuprija (Central Serbia - Uža Srbija). It rests there today incorrupt and extends comfort and healing to all those who turn to him with prayer.

+holy relics of St. Lazar in the Ravanica Monastary! 

His Troparion can be found here.

St. Luke of Crimea the Unmercenary Physician

Saint Luke, the Bishop of Simferopol and Crimea, and Blessed Surgeon, was born Valentin Felixovich Voino-Yasenetsky on April 14, 1877 and died June 11, 1961.

His family members were civil servants to Lithuanian and Polish Kings. The family was impoverished over time but Saint Luke remembers that he received his religious inheritance from his pious father. His first true understanding of the Christian faith came from the New Testament given to him at his high school graduation by his principal.

A Doctor of Medicine, Professor, and State Prize winner, since 1944 he was the Archbishop of Tambov and Michurinsk, and later of Simferopol and the Crimea. While he was serving the church as an Archbishop, he was also practicing as a surgeon and taught and published many books and articles on regional anesthesia and surgery. He is now known to be a world-famous pioneering surgeon.

Another important event in Valentin’s life was the marriage to his wife Anna, a nurse. They had four children. The family was transferred frequently to various regional health care facilities and from the very beginning Valentine never requested funds from his patients, nor would he turn anyone away because of his ethnic background or personal beliefs. When his wife died, God in setting the path for Valentine’s Sainthood provided the family with Sofia Sergeevna who would be the joyful surrogate mother of his children during the harsh times ahead. Valentine never remarried.

Photograph from the Funeral of Saint Luke the Archbishop of Simferopol

In November of 1995 he was announced as a Saint by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and was officially glorified by the Patriarchate of Russia May 25, 1996. He is commemorated by the church June 11 the anniversary of his falling asleep in the Lord.

The Reliquary of St. Luke of Simferopol in Sagmata Monastery

Saint Luke’s prayers to have “Holy God” chanted at his funeral during the atheistic times were answered!

Holy Hierarch Luke of Crimea, the Unmercenary Physician by Catalin Grigore