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St. Luke the Evangelist (October 18th) was a Gentile, a physician, and one of Paul’s fellow missionaries in the early spread of Christianity through the Roman world. He has been identified as the writer of the Gospel which bears his name and its sequel, the Acts of the Apostles. Luke apparently had not known Jesus, but was inspired by hearing about him from those who had known him.
Luke wrote in Greek so that Gentiles might learn about the Lord. In the first chapter of his Gospel, Luke makes clear that he offers authentic knowledge about Jesus’ birth, ministry, death, and resurrection. Luke provides the stories of the annunciation to Mary, her visit to Elizabeth, the child in the manger, the angelic host appearing to shepherds, and the meeting with the aged Simeon. He also records six miracles and eighteen parables included in the other Gospels.
In Acts, he tells of the coming of the Holy Spirit, the struggles of the apostles, and their triumph over persecution, of their preaching the Good News, and the conversion and baptism of other disciples, who would extend the Church in future years.
Luke was with Paul until the latter’s martyrdom in Rome. What happened to Luke after Paul’s death is unknown. Early tradition has it that he wrote his Gospel in Greece, and that he died at the age of eighty-four in Boeotia. In the fourth century, the Emperor Constantius ordered the supposed relics of Luke to be removed from Boeotia to Constantinople, where they could be venerated by pilgrims.
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