October 18, 2024

Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke.
Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
Colossians 4:5-9, 14, 18. Luke 10:16-21.

Read Colossians 4:5-9, 14, 18

We celebrate the life of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke. He was born in Antioch, was a trained physician, who when he heard about Christ left everything and came to meet him. Luke was so moved by Jesus that he stayed and became one of the 70 apostles—who had the calling to preach the Kingdom and prepare the people for Jesus. After the Saviour’s Resurrection, St. Luke had the privilege of meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus along with Cleopas. St. Luke also became a close friend of St. Paul and he joined St. Paul on his second missionary journey. After the martyrdom of Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Luke left Rome to continue the mission in Achaia, Libya, Egypt and the Thebaid. St. Luke gave his life as a martyr in the city of Thebes.

He was a man of many talents. Not only was he a physician, a writer, but he was also a painter. Tradition has it that he painted the first icon of the Mother of God and the Apostles Peter and Paul. He wrote his Gospel around the years 62 in Rome with the help of St. Paul—St. Luke was an eyewitness of the Lord, knew the Tradition, but also was close with the Mother of God as she shared stories of the early life of Christ. Around the same year he also wrote the Acts of the Apostles, which is a continuation of the Gospel—the life of the Church guided by the Holy Spirit after the ascension of Jesus Christ. His relics currently reside in Padua, Italy at the Basilica of Saint Giustina.

St. Luke, pray to God for us!