Did you know that St. Luke was a doctor and an artist? – Feast of Saint Luke the evangelist

St Luke whose feast we celebrate today was a companion of St Paul and was his fellow worker. His name means “bringer of light”. We find three scriptural references to St Luke in the letters of St Paul and from them we can safely conclude that Luke was a particularly intimate and faithful companion.

Besides writing the Gospel, he is also the author of the Acts of the Apostles. The Acts of the Apostles covers a period stretching from A.D. 33 to A.D. 60 and together with the Gospel, Luke is responsible for penning 38,000 words, or 24% of the whole New Testament.

St Luke also had another job, he was the “the beloved physician”; he was as a medical practitioner and that is why he is the patron of doctors among others.  Luke is also the patron of artists. “According to tradition he was an artist, as well as a man of letters; and with a soul alive to all the most delicate inspirations, he consecrated his pencil to the holiest use, and handed down to us the features of the Mother of God. It was an illustration worthy of the Gospel which relates to the divine Infancy; and it won for the artist a new title to the gratitude of those who never saw Jesus and Mary in the flesh. Hence St. Luke is the patron of Christian art.” ( Excerpted from The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.)