St. Luke

St. Luke the Evangelist was, by the witness of St. Paul, a physician and a faithful companion of the Apostle, called by him "the beloved physician" and remaining at his side to the end, as Paul writes, "Luke alone is with me." A Gentile, likely from Antioch and well educated in the Greek of his day, he is the only evangelist who was not a Jew.

He is honored as the author of two New Testament books: the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, together forming the largest single contribution to the New Testament by one writer. His Gospel is especially rich in mercy and tenderness, preserving the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son and giving fullest attention to the Blessed Virgin and the poor, while Acts records the birth and spread of the Church. Tradition holds he lived to old age and, by some accounts, painted the first images of Our Lady. He is celebrated on 18 October, patron of physicians and of artists.