On January 15, 2026, Tver State Medical University hosted the opening ceremony of the monument to St. Luke of Crimea, a professor of medicine and spiritual pastor who left a rich scientific and spiritual legacy: 55 works on surgery and anatomy, 10 volumes of sermons, and the theological work "Spirit, Soul, and Body." The holy relics of St. Luke were found in 1996 and transferred to the Trinity Cathedral in Simferopol. In the same year, the glorification of the holy saint of God took place. This year also marks the 65th anniversary of the saint's repose. Tver became the first city in 2026 where a monument to the saint was erected.
The opening ceremony of the monument was attended by Metropolitan Ambrose of Tver and Kashinsky, honorary guests, teachers and students of the university.
Metropolitan Ambrose consecrated the monument to St. Luke of Crimea and addressed the audience at the ceremony.:
"Today you and I have gathered here, in the very heart of the ancient and glorious city of Tver, to consecrate the monument to St. Luke, Archbishop of Crimea, in whose life and works faithfulness to Christ and His Church and the deep, God-given and subsequently multiplied talent of a teacher and scientist were naturally combined.
The future clergyman was called to the path of pastoral ministry in 1921, already being at that time a professor and head of the Department of Operative Surgery at Turkestan State University, and since then, despite the godless persecution of the Soviet government, for several decades he combined the priesthood and scientific activities. His work "Essays on purulent surgery" was awarded the state prize and still retains its relevance.
...To date, such monuments have already been installed in St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, Tambov, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Turukhansk, Chita, Saransk, Gorlovka and other cities. Today, thanks to the efforts of Pavel Alekseevich Astakhov and patrons, the monument has been erected in the very heart of the Upper Volga region.
During his earthly life, St. Luke combined, and in a sense reconciled, faith and science, faithfulness to Christ and faithfulness to accurate research. The miracle of today is that we can see how this work of the saint continues before our eyes, because the place for the monument is deeply symbolic: at the same time opposite the main building of the Medical University and the Transfiguration Cathedral. I sincerely wish that the opening of this monument would become a visible symbol of the movement of the Church and the university community towards each other. I sincerely thank all those who have worked hard in this good cause."
After the dedication of the monument, the guests, teachers and students gathered in the assembly hall of Tver State Medical University. Then the film "Doctor from God. St. Luke of Crimea".