St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church

 

LUKE THE APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST OCTOBER 18 Luke was not a Jew, but understood the law of Moses and their customs. He had studied medicine, he was a painter, and he became one of the seventy apostles, after he had seen and heard Jesus in Galilee. After the crucifixion, Luke was walking to Enunaus, from Jerusalem, with Cleopas, and Jesus appeared to them in another form and traveled with them unrecognized. Beginning with Moses and the prophets, Jesus showed them passages that foretold His coming.

When He went in and broke bread with them, they recognized Him, and He vanished from before their eyes. The two went to tell the other apostles, but Simon had already seen Jesus. Then, Jesus appeared in their midst and showed them his wounds. Luke headed for Antioch after the ascension of Jesus. En route, he stopped in Sebaste and there found the relics of John the Baptist. He tried to take them back to Antioch, but was prevented from doing so. Instead, he detached and took John's right arm that Jesus had bowed his head under when He was baptized. He traveled with the Apostle Paul to Greece, that many writers say was his relative. Then Luke established the Church of Macedonia alone for several years. Luke was the first iconographer.

He showed the Theotokos three icons that he had painted of her and Jesus. She blessed them and said, "May the Gnu:e of Him who was born of me and my mercy be with these icons!" Luke traveled with Paul to Palestine and Rome, where Paul was imprisoned. Luke would never abandon Paul. In Rome, Luke wrote his gospel and the book of the Acts of the Apostles, and these were both reviewed and approved by Paul. After Paul was martyred in Rome, by Nero, Luke taught in Italy, Dalmatia, Gaul, Macedonia, Achaia, and Egypt, where he was ordained as bishop.

At the age of eighty-four, he was crucified on an olive tree in Achaia. His relics produced a multitude of healings, and especially healing of the eyes. In the forth century, his relics were transferred to Constantinople by Emperor Constantios. En route, an imperial eunuch, with an incurable disease, helped carry Luke's relics. When he had gone only a few steps, he was healed. Luke is buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles with Apostle Timothy and Andrew.

(Cootent provided by : The Orthodox Calendar Company; Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America! Orthodox Ministry ACCE5,S!Ecumenical Patriarchate/Orthodox World News).