“Traveling Through Pain” is the title of the autobiography of Saint Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol, who became widely known to our pious people in a very short time, was greatly loved, and is now honored widely, while new miracles of the Saint are continually being remembered in the lives of those who call upon him.

The Saint records his journey, which is a journey through a pack of wolves trying to tear him apart, but each time the grace of God “disperses the counsel of nations.” Thus, his journey was truly a path through pain and at the same time a profound experience of the presence of God.

Therefore, this pain and the trials did not break the spirit of the Saint, but rather forged and cultivated within his soul a strong faith, an absolute trust in the person of Christ. He dictated his autobiography to his secretary in 1958, three years before his death, because he was blind.

Reading this account of the events of his life and the way he faced difficulties and temptations each time, one sees a man who experienced the liturgical exhortation “let us commit all our life to Christ our God.”

Saint Luke does not belong to a distant era. He is the Saint of our days. He stood fearless and free against every threat and demonstrated how every person can remain free and strong against any regime of slavery...