St. Luke

St. Luke was a physician and companion of St. Paul, author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles — and, by ancient tradition, the first iconographer.

Overview

• Luke was a physician and traveling companion of the Apostle Paul, called "the beloved physician" (Colossians 4.14).
• He wrote the third Gospel and its sequel, the Acts of the Apostles — together the largest single contribution to the New Testament and the fullest early history of the Church.
• Tradition honors him as the first iconographer, who painted the Theotokos; he is counted among the four Evangelists and symbolized by the ox.

Summary

St. Luke, a physician and a Gentile convert associated with Antioch, became a close companion of St. Paul, accompanying him on his missionary journeys (the "we" passages of Acts) and remaining with him at the end (Colossians 4.14; 2 Timothy 4.11). He is the author of the two-volume work comprising the Gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles — the Gospel especially rich in the infancy narratives, the parables of mercy, and the place of women and the poor, and Acts the primary account of Pentecost and the Church's spread to the nations. Because his Gospel preserves so much of the Virgin Mary's own story, tradition holds that he received it from her, and remembers him as the first to paint her icon; the Church venerates him as patron of iconographers and physicians. Cross-link St. Paul, Theotokos, Pentecost, Icons.

Sources

[^1]: Colossians 4.14; 2 Timothy 4.11 (WEB) — Luke "the beloved physician," companion of Paul. [^2]: The Gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles — the two-volume work attributed to him.