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St. Luke the Evangelist Parish is a Roman Catholic community in the Diocese of Worcester. We strive to learn, teach and joyfully live the fullness of our Faith and serve God and our neighbors in charity and truth.
- Who was St. Luke? St. Luke is mentioned by name in three passages of Scripture: In Colossians 4:14, St. Paul writes: “Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you.”
- What books of Scripture did St. Luke write? St. Luke is identified by early (2nd century) tradition as the author of the third Gospel and as the author of the book of Acts.
- What debt do we owe to St. Luke for his Gospel? St. Luke’s Gospel is one of the three “Synoptic Gospels,” which means that it covers much of the same territory as those of St. Matthew and St. Mark.
- Where did Luke get the information for his Gospel? At the beginning of his Gospel, Luke writes: Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you [Luke 1:1-3].
May 25, 2024 · St. Luke the Evangelist Feast day: Oct 18. St. Luke the Evangelist. On October 18, Catholics and other Christians around the world will celebrate the feast of St. Luke, the physician and companion ...
- Overview
- Scriptural sources
According to tradition, St. Luke was a physician and possibly a Gentile. He was not one of the original 12 Apostles but may have been one of the 70 disciples appointed by Jesus (Luke 10). He also may have accompanied St. Paul on his missionary journeys.
Why was St. Luke influential?
As the traditional author of two books of the New Testament, St. Luke had great influence in the development of Christianity. His Gospel According to Luke is one of the three Synoptic Gospels and was written for Gentile converts. The Acts of the Apostles documents the early Christian church after Christ’s Resurrection.
Where is St. Luke buried?
According to ancient sources, St. Luke was martyred at age 84 in the Greek city of Thebes. His remains were taken to Constantinople about 338 CE and later moved to Padua, Italy, where they are kept in the Basilica of Santa Giustina. A rib is interred at his original burial place in Thebes.
St. Luke, (flourished 1st century ce; feast day October 18), in Christian tradition, the author of the Gospel According to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, a companion of St. Paul the Apostle, and the most literary of the New Testament writers. Information about his life is scanty. Tradition based on references in the Pauline Letters has regarded him as a physician and a Gentile. He probably accompanied Paul on several missionary journeys. He is a patron saint of physicians and artists.
Luke is first mentioned in the letters of Paul as the latter’s “coworker” and as the “beloved physician.” The former designation is the more significant one, for it identifies him as one of a professional cadre of itinerant Christian “workers,” many of whom were teachers and preachers. His medical skills, like Paul’s tentmaking, may have contributed to his livelihood; but his principal occupation was the advancement of the Christian mission.
If Luke was the author of the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, the course and nature of his ministry may be sketched in more detail from both texts. He excludes himself from those who were eyewitnesses of Christ’s ministry. He indicates participation in the Pauline mission by the use of the first person in the “we” sections of Acts. They suggest that Luke shared in instructing persons in the Christian message and possibly in performing miraculous healings.
The “we” sections are analogous in style to travel reports found elsewhere in writings of the Greco-Roman period. They place the author with Paul during his initial mission into Greece—i.e., as far as Philippi, in Macedonia (c. 51 ce). It is there that Luke later rejoins Paul and accompanies him on his final journey to Jerusalem (c. 58 ce). After Paul’s arrest in that city and during his extended detention in nearby Caesarea, Luke may have spent considerable time in Palestine working with the apostle as the occasion allowed and gathering materials for his future two-volume literary work, the Gospel and the Acts. In any case, two years later he appears with Paul on his prison voyage from Caesarea to Rome and again, according to the Second Letter of Paul to Timothy 4:11, at the time of the apostle’s martyrdom in the imperial city (c. 66 ce).
Further direct information about Luke is scanty in the New Testament, but certain inferences may be drawn. The literary style of his writings and the range of his vocabulary mark him as an educated man. The distinction drawn between Luke and other colleagues “of the circumcision” (Colossians 4:11) has caused many scholars to conclude that he was a Gentile. If so, he would be the only New Testament writer clearly identifiable as a non-Jew. This conclusion, however, rests upon a doubtful equation of those “of the circumcision” with Jewish Christians. Actually, the phrase probably refers to a particular type of Jewish Christian, those who strictly observed the rituals of Judaism. It offers no support, therefore, to the view that Luke was a Gentile. His intimate knowledge of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) and the focus of interest in his writings favour, on balance, the view that he was a Jewish Christian who followed a Greek lifestyle and was comparatively lax in ritual observances.
Writings from the latter half of the second century provide further information. A number of them—St. Irenaeus’s Against Heresies, the Anti-Marcionite Prologue to the Gospels, and the Muratorian Canon listing the books received as sacred by the Christians—identify Luke as the author of the third Gospel and Acts. The Prologue makes the particular assertion that St. Luke was “a man from Antioch, Syria” who wrote while being “moved by the Holy Spirit”—that is, as a prophet. That interpretation receives a measure of support from the Lukan writings: the city of Antioch figures prominently in Acts, and there is a special interest in contemporary (Christian) prophets and prophecy. Whether Luke is to be identified, as some scholars believe, with the prophet Lucius mentioned in Acts 13:1 and with St. Paul’s “fellow worker” (and kinsman) in the Letter of Paul to the Romans 16:21 is more questionable, although not impossible. Less than certain also is the comment of the Prologue placing the writing of the Gospel and Luke’s death in Greece; but, on the whole, it is more probable than the later traditions locating his literary work in Alexandria (or Rome) and his death in Bithynia. The identification of St. Luke as “a disciple of the Apostles,” although true in a general sense, probably reflects the concern of the 2nd-century church to place all canonical Christian writings under an apostolic umbrella. Later notions that Luke was one of the 70 disciples appointed by the Lord, that he was the companion of Cleopas, and that he was an artist appear to be legendary.
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- E. Earle Ellis
Life. Print of Luke the Evangelist [6] Many scholars believe that Luke was a physician who lived in the Hellenistic city of Antioch in Ancient Syria, [c] born of a Greek family, [7] [8] [9] although some scholars and theologians think Luke was a Hellenic Jew.
Feb 3, 2023 · Saint Luke, also known as Luke the Evangelist, was one of the four Evangelists of the New Testament and is traditionally known as the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. He is the patron saint of medics, physicians, surgeons, students, butchers, and artists.
People also ask
What are some interesting facts about Saint Luke?
Why is Saint Luke important today?
Was Luke the only evangelist to include the Virgin Mary?
Why is Saint Luke considered the patron saint of painters?
Life of St. Luke. Scholars debate particulars of St. Luke’s life, and whether all references to “Luke” in the New Testament apply to the Evangelist. See, for example, this more detailed summary biography in the Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Luke.
