LUCA, archimandrite of MESSINA, saint. - A Calabrian Basilian monk, perhaps from Rossano. He was a disciple of St. Bartolomeo di Simeri, who in 1128 left him at the monastery of the Most Holy Salvatore in Messina.
In 1134 King Ruggero II made him the first archimandrite of this cenobium, with jurisdiction over 40 Greek monasteries. For these he composed the Typicon and laid down wise rules, which served as a model for medieval Greek monasticism. At the same time he governed the monastery of Patirion, near Rossano, from which he came. He died on 27 Feb. 1149.
BIBL.: The Vita is preserved in Greek codex 27 of the University of Messina, originating from the Most Holy Salvatore; F. Matranga, Il monastero dei Greci dell'Acroterio di Messina e s. L. primo archimandrita, in Atti dell'Accad. Pelositania, 3 (1867), p. 67 et seq.; S. Rossi, La prefazione al Typicon del monastero del S.mo Salvatore scritto da L. primo archimandrita, ibid., 17 (1902), pp. 71-84; M. Scaduto, Il monachismo basiliano nella Sicilia medievale, Rome 1947, see index. Francesco Russo