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Luke of Sicily

15 bytes added, 03:20, March 22, 2012
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Life
==Life==
===In Sicily===
Saint Luke was born in [[w:Corleone|Corleone]], Sicily in the 9th century AD (c.815 to 818 AD),<ref name="ENRO"/> on the eve of the Saracen invasion of Sicily.<ref group="note">The first Arab battle against Byzantine troops occurred on July 15, 827, near [[w:Mazara del Vallo|Mazara]], resulting in an Aghlabid victory. It took over a century for Byzantine Sicily to be conquered. Syracuse held out for a long time, and Taormina fell in 902. Eventually all of Sicily was conquered by the Arabs in 965, and the [[w:Emirate of Sicily|Emirate of Sicily]] was formed, an Islamic state on the island of Sicily which existed from 965 to 1072.</ref> His parents Leo and Theoktiste baptized him Leo. They were a pious and wealthy family who raised him in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. He was orphaned at an early age when his parents died, and devoted himself to managing the estate and supervising the herds. In the solitude of the fields he realized that he had a call to religious life, so he sold the estate, gave the money to the poor, and went to the monastery of St. Philip in [[w:Agira |Agira]], in the province of Enna, Sicily.<ref name="SYNAX"/>
===Departure===
It is said that he lived the last days of his life in meditation, fasting and ecstatic raptures. In old age, he called the monks close to him, and foretold his end. He delegated the responsibility of the position of Hegumen to the monk Theodore, and assigned the priest Euthymios as his assistant.<ref name="SYNAX"/> Having received [[Holy Communion]], the Venerable Luke fell asleep in peace and was buried in the church of the Blessed [[Theotokos]].<ref name="SYNAX"/>
==Veneration among Roman Catholics==
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