Commemorated on October 18
Native to Antioch, and practicing as a wise and talented doctor, the Holy Apostle Luke was blessed as one of the Seventy Apostles of Christ as well as authoring one of the four Gospels and the book Acts of the Apostles.
From his youth, he was very well educated and had a gift for medicine as well as knowledge in the field of philosophy. Her excelled in his studies of Greek philosophy, medicine and art. During the minsitry of the Lord Jesus on Earth, Luke came to Jerusalem.
When he traveled to Jerusalem, he saw the Savior face to face, heard His saving teaching and was witness to His miraculous works. Coming to belief in the Lord, St. Luke was numbered among the Seventy Apostles, and was sent out to preach. With Cleopas, he saw the resurrected Lord on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24) .
After the descent of the Holy Spirit, Luke returned his homeland, Antioch. There he became a fellow worker of the Apostle Paul and traveled to Rome with him, converting Jews and pagans to the Christian Faith. Luke, the beloved physician….greets you, writes the Apostle Paul to the Colossians. (Colossians 4:14) At the request of Christians, he wrote his Gospel in about the year 60. Following the martyrdom of the great Apostle Paul, St. Luke preached the Gospel throughout Italy, Dalmatia, Macedonia and other regions.
It is unclear exactly the time St. Luke wrote his gospel, but after the request from Christians it is estimated it was written between 60 β 80 AD.
He is also known as the first to paint an icon in the byzantine traditional style. He made three separate icons of the Panagia holding Christ. He also painted the Holy Peter and Paul.
Still traveling to spread the word of God, he continued even in his old age, and went to Libya and Upper Egypt. He continued to convert many idol worshippers or Jews for the entire span of his life. From Egypt he returned to Greece, where he continued to preach many with great zeal despite his old age.
In addition to his Gospel, St. Luke wrote both books of Acts and dedicated both works to Theophilus, the governor of Achaia.
He did not die peacefully, however, as some pagans did not like what his preaching. They tortured him at the old age of 84 and then hung him from an olive tree in Thebes, Greece.
His relics had originally been kept in Greece, and then were to be transported to Constantinople in the fourth century. At this time the crusades were taking place, soldiers stole the relics taking them to Italy where they were placed in a Catholic Church in the center of the city of Santa Gustine.
It had remained this way for roughly 1,000 years. Just recently, in 1992, The Metropolitan of Thebes, asked the church for a portion of the Holy Relics.
Kindly, the Bishop of Padua sent the rib of the blessed apostle. It is kept to this day at the tomb of Luke, in Thebes.
Miracles still occur from the rib. Myrrh poured occur from the marble and the entire tomb was rich with the sweet fragrance in 1997. We commemorate him on this day for the great works he wrote, the beautiful icons he left us and the road he paved for Christianity.
Glory be unto God!
Troparion & Kontakion
Troparion β Tone 5
Let us praise with sacred songs the holy Apostle Luke, / the recorder of the joyous Gospel of Christ / and the scribe of the Acts of the Apostles, / for his writings are a testimony of the Church of Christ: / He is the physician of human weaknesses and infirmities. / He heals the wounds of our souls, / and constantly intercedes for our salvation!
Kontakion β Tone 2
Let us praise the godly Luke: / he is the true preacher of piety, / the orator of ineffable mysteries / and the star of the Church; / for the Word, Who alone knows the hearts of men, / chose him, together with wise Paul, to be a teacher of the gentiles!