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Who is St. Luke?
St. Luke is believed to be the author of the Gospel that bears his
name as well as of the Acts of the Apostles. According to Eusebius,
he was probably born in Antioch, Syria of a prosperous Greek family and
was trained as a physician.
His gospel is considered the most poetic and beautiful of all. He uses
the best grammar and the most eloquent and correct Greek of the New Testament.
He shows Jesus not as the Jewish Messiah, but as the world’s Savior and
Lord. He was a man of prayer, for his gospel is pre-occupied with the power
of prayer. He had a high regard for the dignity of women for they played
an important part of his writings.
He accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey and doubtless had
the care of Paul’s health. Luke was with Paul in his last days and
final imprisonment in Rome.
After writing those famous words to Timothy, ‘The time of my dissolution
is at hand, I have fought a good fight: I have finished my course: I have
kept the faith...’ Paul goes on to say, ‘Only Luke is with me.’
What happened to Luke after Paul’s martyrdom we have no certain knowledge.
But according to a fairly early and widespread tradition, he was unmarried
and wrote his gospel in Greece at Boeotia, where he died at age 84.
Because the gospel which bear his name was believed to be an accurate
account of the life of Christ and especially of Christ’s birth, Luke was
taken as one of the patrons of notaries.
He is also the patron of the medical profession. He was reported to
be a fine painter and is also patron of artists, painters, sculptors, craft
workers and lacemakers.
His symbol is the ox. This may account for his also being patron of
butchers. In art, Luke is represented by a winged ox because he begins
his gospel with the account of the priest, Zachary, sacrificing in the
temple. The ox represents Christ’s sacrifice.
Paul spoke of Luke as “the beloved physician.” Together they evangelized
Greece and Rome.
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