My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
On the 18th of October, the Holy Orthodox Church Commemorates
the Holy Apostle LUKE, the Evangelist.
Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn. Third Tone
O HOLY Apostle and Evangelist Luke, intercede with the Merciful God
that He grant unto our souls forgiveness of offences.
Kontakion Hymn. Fourth Tone
THOU with Paul didst shine thy light upon the whole world, since
thou wast a genuine disciple of the Logos/Word of God. And thou
didst drive out the gloom far hence when thou didst write the
divine Gospel of Christ God.
This holy Apostle was an Antiochian, a physician by trade, and a disciple and companion of Saint Paul. He wrote his Gospel in Greek after Matthew and Mark, after which he wrote the Acts of the Apostles, and dedicated both works to Theophilus, who, according to some, was Governor of Achaia.
The name "Luke" is an abbreviated form of the Latin name "Lucanus." His parents were not members of the Hebrew race. In one passage in his Epistle (Letter) to the Colossians, the holy Apostle Paul makes a clear distinction between Luke and those "who are of the circumcision," that is, the Jews [Colossians 4:10-15]. In his own writings, however, Luke shows a thorough knowledge of the law of Moses and the customs of the Jewish people. He was instructed in both the Hebrew and Syriac tongues. From his youth, he advanced in wisdom and knowledge. In his native land, which was renowned for the flourishing state of the arts and sciences, Luke had developed his intellect with various scholarly studies. He was a man of noble character and many talents, having become skilled in many arts. From the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Colossians, we learn also that Luke had studied medicine (Colossians 4:14).
When he came of age, he went to Greece and to Egypt where he learned all the wisdom of the Greeks. At school, no one excelled him in grammar and rhetoric–not even the rhetors of old. He surpassed all in philosophy, so that none other arrived at his level of understanding. His cognizance and appreciation of those things heavenly and earthly were clearly comprehended by him. By contemplation he came to the knowledge of things, and this manifested itself on a practical level as he governed himself toward virtue. Thus, even before he came to know Christ, he was a good example to all who observed him. As a university man, he came to study all the sciences. He, however, specialized in medicine and earned an esteemed name in his chosen profession. Now as Luke was growing up in Antioch and while receiving higher education abroad, he was not acquainted with piety and true religion. As a Greek, and son of Greek parents, he too was a product of his culture steeped in idolatry. Hear, however, how Luke came to the true Faith.
When news of the miracles and teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ spread from Galilee throughout Syria and the entire surrounding region, Luke journeyed from Antioch to Galilee, where the Lord Jesus Christ had begun to sow the seeds of His saving teaching. Luke heard the preaching of the Lord, and immediately came to believe in Him. His spiritual eyes were quickly opened to the Light of the knowledge of the Truth and the Kingdom of the Heavens. He had long been struggling in virtue to purge and purify himself of the passions of the world. Thus, he readily received the seed of teaching as good earth that had been cleaned and prepared. He utterly left off the religion of the idolaters and followed the Master Christ with all his soul.
Saint Luke the physician had been present at the many miracles of healing bestowed by Jesus, which further helped in making him steadfast in the knowledge of God and divine mysteries. Even as he surpassed his peers in those times in both wisdom and learning, so did he quickly go beyond them in understanding the Truth. Thus, the holy Luke became a genuine disciple of the Christ and never left His side. Although he was not one of the Twelve, he was numbered among the Seventy secret Apostles [Luke 10:1], whom the Lord appointed and sent forth, two by two, before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.
During the final days of the Savior’s earthly life, when, with the striking down of the Shepherd, the sheep of His flock also were scattered, the holy Luke abode in Jerusalem, lamenting and weeping for his Lord Who had accepted suffering voluntarily. In all probability, Saint Luke also stood "afar off" among the others who knew Jesus, and looked upon the Crucified One. But soon his sorrow was transformed into joy, for the Resurrected Lord consoled Luke on the very day of His Resurrection, counting him worthy to see and converse with him, as Saint Luke himself informs us in his Gospel in detail and with much animation [Luke 24:13-32].
After the Ascension of the Lord, Saint Luke remained in Jerusalem for a time, with the other holy Apostles; but later, as tradition bears witness, he went to Antioch, his native city, where there were already many Christians. He left the city only when he became the traveling companion and fellow laborer of the holy Apostle Paul, who, in the words of several ancient writers, was even one of his kinsmen. This took place during the Apostle Paul’s Second Missionary Journey. At that time, Saint Luke and the Apostle Paul traveled to Greece to preach the Gospel, and the holy Evangelist was left behind by the "Apostle to the Gentiles" to establish and organize the Church in the Macedonian city of Philippi; thenceforth, for a period of several years, the holy Luke labored to spread Christianity throughout those parts.
When, at the end of his Third Missionary Journey, the Apostle Paul again visited Philippi, Saint Luke, on his instruction and as the choice of all the faithful, went to Corinth to collect alms for the poor Christians of Palestine (cf. 2 Corinthians 8:18-19). When he had finished what he had been sent to do, Saint Luke departed with the Apostle Paul for Palestine, stopping along the way to visit the Churches on the island of Aegean archipelago, along the coast of Asia Minor, in Phoenicia, and in Judaea.
On arriving in Rome, the holy Luke again stayed by the holy Apostle Paul’s side and together with Mark, Aristarchos, and several other of the Apostles’ companions, preached Christ in the capital city of the ancient world. In Rome, the holy Luke wrote his Gospel and the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. Now the holy Apostle Paul guided him in this labor and afterward approved the Gospel written by Saint Luke. In the same way was the Book of the Acts of the Apostles written, as the tradition of the Church says, at the command of the Apostle Paul.
After two years in chains in the dungeons of Rome, the Apostle Paul was released and, departing Rome, visited several Churches he had founded before. At this time also the holy Luke was his companion. But before long, the Emperor Nero initiated a cruel persecution against the Christians in Rome. The Apostle Paul then returned to Rome, that by his discourse and example he might encourage the persecuted Church, make it steadfast, and, if it so pleased God, share with the faithful the crown of martyrdom. He was arrested by the pagans and imprisoned again. Yet even then the holy Luke did not forsake his teacher, and he alone, among all the Apostles’ fellow laborers, stayed at his side during that period of time which was so terrible that the Apostle compared himself to a victim doomed to be slaughtered.
It is quite possible that holy Luke was also a witness to the martyrdom of the Apostle Paul in Rome. After the repose of his teacher, the holy Luke, as the Tradition of the Church informs us, spread the Gospel of Christ in Italy, Dalmatia, Gaul, and, especially, in Macedonia, in which he had labored before for several years. He also evangelized Achaia, which borders on Macedonia. When he was already quite elderly, the Apostle Luke undertook a journey to faraway Egypt and there labored greatly and endured many afflictions for the holy name of Jesus. Returning to Greece he again set up churches there, primarily in Boeotia, ordained priests and deacons, and healed the sick of body and soul.
Like his friend and mentor, the holy Apostle Paul, Saint Luke fought the good fight, finished his course, and kept the Faith (2 Timothy 4:7). At the age of eighty-four, he died a Martyr’s death in Achaia, crucified on an olive tree in lieu of a cross. His precious body was buried in Thebes, the principal of Boeotia, where his holy relics, which were responsible for a multitude of healings, were not to be found until the second half of the 4th century; they were subsequently transferred to Constantinople, the Capital of the Eastern Empire.
Holy Tradition also informs us that Saint Luke was a painter. The writers of the ancient Church inform us that Saint Luke was the first to paint the image of the All-Holy Theotokos. Thus, he depicted the Virgin Theotokos holding in her arms the Pre-Eternal Infant, our Lord Jesus Christ, and later painted two other icons of the All-Holy Theotokos and brought them to the Mother of God for her approval. On seeing the icons, she said: "May the grace of Him Who was born of me, through me, be imparted to them!" Of these icons, one is located in the Peloponnesos at the Monastery of the Great Cave.
The holy Luke also painted on boards the images of the holy preeminent Apostles Peter and Paul, and was thus himself the initiator of the good work of iconography, to the glory of God, the Mother of God, and all the Saints, unto the adornment of the holy churches and the salvation of the faithful who piously venerate them. Amen. [Souce: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church]
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 