Prot. Dionysius Dunaevsky. The power of humility: the story of St. Andronik (Lukash)translated

Today the Holy Church celebrates the Synaxis of the Glinsk Saints. I want to share with you the story of one of them - St. Andronik (Lukash), a man whose life became clear evidence that true holiness is manifested not in loud words, but in silence and meekness, capable of melting even the harshest heart.

Kolyma greeted Father Andronik with severe frosts and endless gray skies, but inside him the quiet lamp of the Glinsk Hermitage continued to burn. By chance, or, as the elder himself believed, by special Providence, he was assigned as an unescorted worker in the house of the head of the camp.

For the stern officer, accustomed to the barking of dogs and the shouts of the guards, this short, always calm and silent old man became a mystery. Father Andronik did the simplest work: he stoked the stoves, carried water, cleaned the rooms. But he did it as if he was performing a sacred rite.

Soon the house was transformed. The screams disappeared, the irritation that the boss brought from work subsided. The wife and children reached out to “grandfather” Andronik, feeling the inexplicable warmth emanating from him. He hardly spoke about faith, but his very gait, gentle gaze and prayerful concentration acted on those around him as a healing...