His life
+ According to ancient tradition, Luke was born in Syria and was a physician.
+ A companion of Saint Paul the Apostle, he was in Rome with Paul at the time of his martyrdom. It is said that after Paul’s death, Luke traveled to Greece where he wrote his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.
+ In his writings, Saint Luke presents a Christian community of equals where all things are held in common and shows us a Jesus who is a friend of sinners and outcasts (cf. Acts 2:42-44).
+ Saint Luke is believed to have died of natural causes around the year 84.
+ Honored as the patron of doctors and pharmacists, he is also celebrated as a patron of artists because of an ancient tradition that he painted the first icon of the Madonna and Child.
For prayer and reflection
“The holy evangelists searched the wisdom of past ages. Through their gospels they confirmed the words of the prophets, alleluia.”—from The Liturgy of the Hours, antiphon from Morning Prayer for the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist
Spiritual bonus
On this day we also remember the “Martyrs of Pozzuoli.” These three men—the deacon Proculus and the laymen Acutius and Euthchius—were killed in 305, because of their public objections to the abuse of other Christians during the persecutions of the emperor Diocletian.
Prayer
Lord God, who chose Saint Luke
to reveal by his preaching and writings
the mystery of your love for the poor,
grant that those who already glory in your name
may persevere as one heart and one soul
and that all nations may merit to see your salvation.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
And today we celebrate...