Windows of St Bede’s – St Luke
St Luke the Evangelist
St Luke the Evangelist (gospel-writer) is traditionally ascribed as author of the Gospel of Luke, one of the four canonical gospels found in the Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In his Gospel, Luke emphasizes Christ’s compassion for sinners and for those who suffer. He focuses on the poor and oppressed, encouraging tenderness and compassion for the less fortunate. The Gospel stresses evangelizing people of all nations. Women also have an important place in Luke’s Gospel, including reference to the women who accompanied Jesus, and provided for Jesus and his disciples by using their own resources (Luke 8:1-3).
St Luke is considered to be the writer of the Acts of the Apostle as well as Luke’s Gospel, and to have accompanied St Paul from Macedonia to Philippi, in the mid-first century of the Common Era. Saint Luke was born a Greek and a Gentile (non-Jew) in Antioch, Syria and died in March, 84 in Thiva, Greece.
St Luke is believed to be a physician, based on Colossians 4:14, and the witness of ancient writers Eusebius, St Jerome, Saint Irenaeus and Caius (2nd century writer). He is the patron saint of physicians and surgeons. Luke may have been a slave, as it was not uncommon in those times for slaves to be educated in medicine, so the family would have a resident physician.
Saint Luke’s feast day is celebrated on October 18th.