LUKE, Archimandrite of MESSINA, saint. — A Basilian monk of Calabria, perhaps from Rossano. He was a disciple of St. Bartholomew of Simeri, who, in 1128, left him in the monastery of the Most Holy Saviour in Messina.
King Roger II, in 1134, appointed him the first archimandrite of this monastery, with jurisdiction over 40 Greek monasteries. For these he composed the *Typicon* and laid down wise laws, which served as a model for medieval Greek monasticism. At the same time, he governed the monastery of Patrìon, near Rossano, from which he came. He died on 27 February 1149.
BIBL.: The Life is preserved in Greek codex 27 of the University of Messina, coming from the Most Holy Saviour; F. Matranga, *Il monastero dei Greci dell'Acrotério di Messina e s. L. primo archimandrita*, in Atti dell'Accad. Peloritana, 3 (1867), pp. 67 ff.; 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.