Venerable (Monastic)9th century

Venerable Luke of Sicily

9th century (died 820)

Also known as Luke of Tauromenium

A Sicilian ascetic who left family and betrothed for the wilderness monastic life near Mount Etna and later guided others.

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Luke of Tauromenium in Sicily

Life

Luke of Sicily was a ninth-century ascetic and monastic founder native to Tauromenium (modern Taormina), a Byzantine-held city in northeastern Sicily. As a young man he left his parents and his betrothed to take up the eremitic life in the wilderness, devoting many years to fasting and prayer, chiefly in the region of Mount Etna.

Late in life, prompted by a revelation, he established a monastery, and he travelled to a number of cities to acquaint himself with the rule and manner of life of other monastic communities. He died at Corinth in 820. The Orthodox Church in America commemorates him on November 6.

He is distinct from the later Sicilian saint Leoluca (Leo Luke) of Corleone, commemorated on March 1, with whom he is sometimes confused.

Troparion1 hymnReadHide

TroparionTone 8

By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile,
and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance.
By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe!
O our holy father Luke, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline5 momentsReadHide

Late 8th centuryBirth at TauromeniumLuke was born at Tauromenium (modern Taormina) in northeastern Sicily, then a city within the Byzantine orbit.
In his youthWithdrawal to the wildernessAs a young man he left his parents and his fiancée and went into the wilderness, taking up a life of fasting and prayer. Synaxarion accounts place his turn to monastic life at around the age of eighteen.
Many yearsAscetic life at Mount EtnaHe pursued a rigorous ascetic discipline in the region of Mount Etna, spending years in solitude, fasting, and prayer.
Toward the end of his lifeFounding of a monasteryIn response to a revelation, Luke founded a monastery, and he visited many cities to learn the rule and life of other monasteries.
820Death at CorinthLuke died at Corinth, a major Byzantine city in Greece, in the year 820.

Contributions & Legacy

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Ascetic Life

Having renounced his family and his betrothal, Luke settled in the wilderness and gave himself to prolonged fasting and prayer. His ascetic labors are associated especially with the region of Mount Etna in Sicily.

The synaxarion tradition remembers him for extreme austerity. By these accounts he undertook a severe fast in which, over a period of eighteen months, he took only bread and water, and those only every three or four days, without allowing himself physical rest; a further period of intensive fasting in isolation is said to have culminated in a divine and angelic visitation that confirmed his monastic calling. These fuller details survive only in later synaxarion excerpts and could not be verified against a complete text.

Monastic Foundation and Death

Late in life Luke founded a monastery, an undertaking he attributed to a revelation. To ground its common life, he travelled to many cities in order to observe the rule and practice of established monasteries.

He died at Corinth in 820. His death in a major Byzantine center of mainland Greece is generally understood in connection with these journeys to study the monastic life of other communities.

Historical Context

Luke's lifetime fell in a period when Sicily and southern Italy supported numerous Greek hermits and monastic communities, with substantial documentary evidence for Byzantine monasticism in the region appearing in the ninth and early tenth centuries.

During his life Tauromenium remained within the Byzantine orbit. The Arab (Aghlabid) conquest of Sicily began in 827, seven years after his death, and advanced gradually: Syracuse fell in 878 and Taormina itself only on 1 August 902. Arab raids were nonetheless an increasing pressure on Sicily during his lifetime.

Identity and Distinction

Luke of Tauromenium (feast November 6, died 820) is a distinct person from Leoluca, or Leo Luke, of Corleone (c. 815 – c. 915, feast March 1), with whom he is sometimes conflated. Leoluca was born at Corleone, entered the Monastery of St. Philip at Agira, later fled to Calabria amid Saracen raids, founded monasteries in the Merkourion region, became abbot of Mount Mula, and is honored as patron of Corleone and Vibo Valentia.

No separate reference-work article treats Luke of Tauromenium specifically; general encyclopedic entries titled for a Sicilian Luke typically describe Leoluca of Corleone instead.

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints