Archive note: This text comes from the older archive of Nomika Epilekta and is preserved with editorial care for historical and informative reading.

This is a carefully prepared edition devoted to the martyric life and the immense scientific, spiritual and charitable work of Valentin Voyno-Yasenetsky, who, as the book states, was born in 1877 (14/27 April) in the city of Kerch, ancient Panticapaeum, at the eastern edge of the Crimean peninsula, which links the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov, to poor parents.

As the reader follows the course of Valentin Voyno-Yasenetsky's life, from his childhood to his death, the reader also experiences the historical events that took place during the Soviet regime in vast Russia, in the Soviet Union: from the Bolshevik Revolution and the Second World War, to Stalin's rise to power and finally to 11 June 1961, the date of Valentin Voyno-Yasenetsky's death.

The author used vivid language and, thanks to his literary ability, met the difficult task of presenting the personality, wide-ranging activity and countless offerings of Archbishop Luke to the human person, medical science and the Orthodox Church. He particularly notes that his holy life, his miracles and the faith of God's people confirmed his holiness. For this reason, a special research committee studied his life, works and miracles, and in November 1995, by decision of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, he was proclaimed a saint. A special service was written and his icon was painted [p. 416 of the book's 445 pages].

As the reader learns from this remarkable book, Archbishop Luke was an excellent father of four children, whom he raised alone after the death of his wife. He was a gifted painter, able to capture with his pen and with absolute precision every anatomical detail of the human body; an outstanding physician and surgeon, with an incredible contribution to science and humanity, internationally recognised for his work; an excellent spiritual and ecclesiastical leader; an uncompromising ideologue faithful to the Orthodox Church and to the traditions of the Orthodox people; and, in the literal sense, a martyr who was harshly persecuted for his faith and principles, which he defended with courage and bravery. As a result he won the admiration even of his fanatical persecutors, whom he forgave with Christian forbearance and love, becoming a living example of everything he taught and did, always serving the human person and tirelessly healing the sick, working beyond human limits and refusing payment, under miserable conditions, with deprivation and unceasing persecutions, exiles, torments and hardships.