OCT 18: COMMEMORATION OF LUKE, APOSTLE – EVANGELIST

     On October 18th we commemorate the Apostle Evangelist Luke. Luke the Evangelist is one of the Four Evangelists or authors of canonical Gospels of Jesus Christ. Luke was a native of the Hellenistic city of Antioch in Syria. The early church fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel according to Luke and the book of Acts of the Apostles, which originally formed a single literary work, referred to as Luke-Acts. In the New Testament, Luke is mentioned briefly a few times, and referred to as a doctor in the Pauline epistle to the Colossians; thus he is thought to have been both a physician and a disciple of Paul. Considered a saint by Christians since the faith’s early years, he is believed to have died a martyr. He is considered as a patron saint of artists, physicians, surgeons, students and butchers.