Church celebrates the feast of the Apostle and Evangelist Luke

Icon of the Apostle Luke. Photo: open sources

On October 31 (October 18 according to the Julian calendar), the Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Luke the Apostle and Evangelist, one of the four Evangelists and a close companion of the Apostle Paul.

Saint Luke was born in Antioch of Syria, was a physician by profession, and belonged to the Seventy Apostles of Christ. Though he was not an eyewitness of the Savior’s earthly life, he carefully studied it through the testimonies of the Most Holy Theotokos and other disciples of Christ.

The Apostle Luke is the author of the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. His Gospel is distinguished by its detailed account of the Nativity of Christ, the childhood of the Savior, and by the inclusion of many parables not mentioned by other Evangelists.

According to Church tradition, Saint Luke was also a skilled iconographer who painted the first icons of the Mother of God. He accompanied the Apostle Paul on his missionary journeys, sharing in his labors and sufferings for the preaching of the Gospel.

Saint Luke reposed peacefully at the age of 84 in the Greek region of Achaia, where he had been proclaiming the word of God.

Earlier, the UOJ reported on how the first days of the Church shaped the life of modern Christians.

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