Saint LUC, ÉVANGÉLISTE

Saint Luc

Évangéliste (Ier siècle)

Un médecin grec, adorateur des idoles, soucieux de ses malades dont il connaît la faiblesse et souvent la misère. Jusqu'au jour où il entend saint Paul parler de Jésus, qui vient apporter le salut et la résurrection. Pendant 18 ans, il ne quittera plus désormais l'apôtre des nations et le suivit jusqu'à son martyre à Rome en 67.

Il est l'auteur d'un évangile et du livre des Actes des Apôtres. On y trouve plusieurs termes médicaux pour parler de la maladie de ceux qui s'adressent à Jésus. Soucieux d'authenticité, il nous dit avoir étudié ses sources, comme le médecin écoute son patient pour mieux dire un diagnostic. Modeste et compatissant, il retient plus que les autres évangélistes tout ce qui marque la bonté du Sauveur: l'enfant prodigue, le bon Samaritain, la brebis perdue, la prostituée qui s'en va pardonnée, le bon larron. Dante dira de lui «Il est le scribe de la miséricorde du Christ». Heureux lui-même d'avoir trouvé le salut, il est, à sa manière, le chantre de l'amour incarné comme saint Jean le sera de l'amour infini de Dieu Trinité.

C'est lui qui nous a parlé avec tant de délicatesse de la Mère de Dieu, la toute pure et toujours Vierge Marie dont il nous dit: «Elle méditait toutes ces choses en son cœur» ce qui veut dire qu'avec amour Marie relisait dans sa mémoire les faits et gestes du Seigneur, pour en approfondir toute la signification, comme saint Luc l'a fait en écoutant saint Paul et en nous transmettant cet évangile de la bonté de notre Père du ciel.

Homme cultivé, il maniait le grec avec dextérité et avait étudié la médecine. C'est la raison pour laquelle il a été, tôt, choisi comme patron des médecins, de même que les deux frères, saint Côme et saint Damien, morts martyrs en Syrie. (Diocèse aux Armées françaises)

Fête de saint Luc, Évangéliste. Né, comme on le rapporte, à Antioche d'une famille païenne, médecin, il se convertit à la foi du Christ et devint le compagnon très cher de l'Apôtre saint Paul. Dans son Évangile, il exposa avec soin tout ce que Jésus a fait et enseigné, en scribe de la miséricorde du Christ, et, dans les Actes des Apôtres, il se fit l'historien des débuts de la vie de l'Église jusqu'au premier séjour de saint Paul à Rome.

Martyrologe romain

SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/2037/Saint-Luc.html

Jan Gossaert  (1478–1532), Hl. Lukas malt die Madonna /Saint Luke painting the Virgin, circa 1520 , 110.5 x 83.5, Kunsthistorisches Museum  

Saint Luc

Évangéliste

(Ier siècle)

Saint Luc, né à Antioche, est une des principales gloires de cette ville. On sait peu de chose de ses premières années; on ignore même si, avant sa conversion, il était païen ou observait la religion juive; cette dernière opinion est la plus généralement adoptée. Doué d'un caractère ferme et d'une belle intelligence, il fut, paraît-il, très habile médecin, et ne dédaignait pas, dans ses loisirs, de cultiver l'art de la peinture, pour lequel il avait un goût prononcé.

Luc serait sûrement arrivé à l'une des premières charges de la cité, quand il renonça à son brillant avenir pour aller voir, en Judée, ce Jésus qui venait d'inaugurer Sa vie publique, et dont le nom, la doctrine, les miracles, faisaient grand bruit dans tous les pays voisins. Il Le vit, crut en Sa mission divine, et prenant pour lui la parole du Maître: Que celui qui veut être Mon disciple quitte tout et Me suive, il suivit dès lors le Sauveur pas à pas dans Ses courses apostoliques; il fut témoin de Sa Passion, de Sa Résurrection, de Son Ascension, reçut le Saint-Esprit au Cénacle, le jour de la Pentecôte, et partit pour évangéliser Antioche sa patrie.

Plein d'enthousiasme pour le génie de saint Paul, il le prit pour son maître et se joignit à lui pour l'aider dans ses travaux; il lui fut si fidèle, qu'il l'accompagna dans tous ses voyages et supporta patiemment avec lui fatigues, souffrances et persécutions.

Saint Luc écrivit, sous l'inspiration de l'Esprit-Saint et avec une compétence personnelle qui est incontestable, l'Évangile qui porte son nom et les Actes des Apôtres. Son Évangile est surtout précieux par ses récits assez détaillés des mystères de l'Incarnation et de la Nativité du Sauveur, de l'Annonciation et de la Visitation. Les Actes des Apôtres servirent à faire disparaître beaucoup de mensonges qu'on répandait sur le christianisme naissant, et à confirmer les fidèles dans la foi.

Qui n'a entendu parler des Vierges peintes par saint Luc? D'après une tradition, il aurait obtenu de Marie la grâce de faire Son portrait, et la divine Mère aurait consenti à poser devant lui; le travail terminé, la Sainte Vierge l'aurait béni en disant: "Ma grâce sera toujours avec cette image." Les Madones de saint Luc sont vénérées en plusieurs lieux.

Après la mort du grand Apôtre, Luc continua son apostolat en Italie, dans les Gaules, la Dalmatie, la Macédoine. Il répandit son sang pour la foi, soit dans le Péloponèse, soit en Bithynie. – Les peintres et les médecins le regardent comme leur patron.

Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950

SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_luc.html

SAINT LUC, ÉVANGÉLISTE

Luc veut dire s'élevant ou montant, ou bien il vient de Lux, lumière. En effet il s'éleva au-dessus de l’amour du monde, et il a monté jusqu'à l’amour de Dieu. II fut la lumière du monde qu'il éclaira tout entier : « Vous êtes la lumière du monde », dit J.-C. (Math., V), or, la lumière du monde est le soleil lui-même. Cette lumière est située en haut (Eccl., XXVI): « Le soleil se lève sur le monde au haut du trône de Dieu » ; elle est agréable à voir (Eccl., XI) : « La lumière est douce, et l’oeil se plait à voir le soleil, elle est rapide dans sa course» (III, Esdras, c. IV, p. 34) : La terre est grande, le ciel est élevé et la course du soleil est rapide. » Elle est utile en ses effets, parce que, d'après le Philosophe, l’homme engendre l’homme, et le soleil en fait autant. De même saint Luc eut cette élévation par la contemplation des choses célestes; par sa douceur dans sa (200) manière de vivre, par sa rapidité dans sa fervente prédication et par l’utilité de la doctrine qu'il a écrite.

Luc, Syrien de nation, originaire d'Antioche, médecin de profession, fut, selon quelques auteurs, un des soixante-douze disciples du Seigneur. Puisque saint Jérôme dit, avec raison, qu'il fut disciple des apôtres et non du Seigneur, et comme la Glose remarque (sur l’Exode, XXV) qu'il ne s'attacha pas à suivre le Seigneur dans sa prédication, mais qu'il ne vint à la foi qu'après sa résurrection, il vaut mieux dire qu'il ne fut pas un des soixante-douze disciples, malgré l’opinion de certains auteurs. Sa vie fut si parfaite qu'il remplit exactement ses devoirs envers Dieu, envers le prochain, envers soi-même, et conformément à son ministère. En raison de ces quatre qualités, il est peint sous quatre faces, celle de l’homme, du lion, du boeuf et de l’aigle. « Chacun des animaux, dit Ezéchiel (I), avait quatre faces et quatre ailes. » Et pour mieux comprendre cela, figurons-nous un animal quelconque ayant une tête carrée, comme un carré de bois sur chacun de ses côtés figurons-nous une face, sur le devant celle d'un homme, à droite celle d'un lion, à gauche celle d'un veau, et par derrière la face d'un aigle. Or, comme la face de l’aigle s'élevait au-dessus des autres en raison de la longueur de son cou, c'est pour cela qu'on dit que l’aigle était par dessus. Chacun de ces animaux avait quatre ailes ; car comme nous nous figurons chaque animal comme un carré et que dans un carré il se trouve quatre angles, à chaque angle se trouvait une aile. Par ces quatre animaux, (201) d'après quelques saints, on entend les quatre Évangélistes dont chacun eut quatre faces dans ses écrits, savoir : celles de l’humanité, de la passion, de la résurrection et de la divinité; cependant on attribue plus spécialement à chacun d'eux la face d'un seul animal, D'après saint Jérôme, saint Mathieu est représenté sous la figure d'un homme, parce qu'il s'appesantit principalement sur l’humanité du Sauveur; saint Luc sous celle d'un veau, car il traite du sacerdoce du Christ ; saint Marc, sous celle d'un lion, évidemment parce qu'il a décrit la résurrection. Les lionceaux, dit-on, restent morts trois jours en venant au monde, mais ils sont tirés de cet engourdissement le troisième jour; par les rugissements du lion. En outre, saisit Marc commence son évangile par la prédication de saint Jean-Baptiste. Saint Jean est représenté sous la figure d'un aigle, parce qu'il s'élève plus haut que les autres, quand il traite de la divinité du Christ. Or, J.-C. dont les évangélistes ont écrit la vie eut aussi les propriétés de ces quatre animaux : il fut homme en tant que né d'une vierge, veau dans sa passion, lion dans sa résurrection, et aigle dans son ascension. Par ces quatre faces sous lesquelles est désigné saint Luc, aussi bien que chacun des évangélistes, on a voulu montrer les quatre qualités qui le distinguent. En effet par la face d'homme, on montre quelles furent ses qualités envers le prochain qu'il a dû instruire par la raison, attirer par la douceur et encourager par la libéralité ; car l’homme est une créature raisonnable, douce et libérale. Par la face d'aigle on montré ses dispositions par rapport à Dieu ; parce qu'en lui, l'oeil (202) de l’intelligence regarde Dieu par la contemplation, son affection s'aiguise par la méditation, comme le bec de l’aigle par l’usage qu'il en fait, et il se dépouille de sa vieillesse en prenant un nouvel état de vie. L'aigle en effet a la vue perçante, en sorte qu'il regarde le soleil sans que la réverbération des rayons de cet astre lui fasse fermer les yeux; et quand il est élevé au plus haut des airs, il voit: les petits poissons dans la mer. Son bec est très recourbé pour qu'il ne soit pas gêné pour saisir sa proie, qu'il écrase sur les pierres de manière qu'elle peut lui servir de nourriture. Brûlé ensuite par l’ardeur du soleil, il se précipité avec grande impétuosité dans une fontaine et se dépouille de sa vieillesse. La chaleur du soleil dissipe les ténèbres qui obscurcissent ses yeux et fait muer son plumage. — Par la face du lion, on voit qu'il fut parfait en soi, car il posséda la générosité dans sa conduite, la sagacité nécessaire pour échapper aux embûches des ennemis, et des habitudes de compassion envers les affligés. Le lion en effet est un animal généreux, puisqu'il est le roi des animaux : il a la sagacité, puisque dans sa fuite, il détruit avec sa queue les vestiges de ses pas afin que personne ne le trouve, il a l’habitude des souffrances, car il souffre de la fièvre quarte. Par la face de veau ou de boeuf, on voit qu'il remplit avec exactitude les fonctions de son ministère, qui consista à écrire son évangile. Il procéda dans ce livre avec circonspection; en commençant par la naissance du Précurseur, celle du Christ et son enfance, et il décrit ainsi avec enchaînement toutes les actions du Sauveur jusqu'au dernier sacrifice. Son récit est fait avec (203) discernement, parce qu'écrivant après deux évangélistes, il supplée ce qu'ils ont omis et il omet les faits sur lesquels ils ont donné des renseignements suffisants. Il s'appesantit sur ce qui regarde le temple et les sacrifices ; ce qui est évident dans toutes les parties qui composent son livre. Le boeuf est, en effet, un animal lent, aux pieds fendus, ce qui désigne le discernement dans les sacrificateurs.

Au reste, il est aisé de s'assurer d'une manière plus exacte encore que saint Luc eut les quatre qualités dont il vient d'être question, pour peu qu'on examine soigneusement l’ensemble de sa vie. En effet, il eut les qualités qui lui étaient nécessaires par rapport à Dieu. Elles sont au nombre de trois, d'après saint Bernard : l’affection, la pensée et l’intention. 1° L'affection doit être sainte, les pensées pures, et l’intention droite. Or, dans saint Luc, l’affection fut sainte, puisqu'il fut rempli du Saint-Esprit. Saint, Jérôme, dans son prologue de l’évangile de saint Luc, dit de lui qu'il mourut en Béthanie, plein du Saint-Esprit. 2° Ses pensées furent pures ; car il fut vierge de corps et d'esprit, ce qui démontre évidemment la pureté de ses pensées. 3° Son intention fut droite, car, dans tous ses actes, il recherchait l’honneur qui est dû à Dieu. Ces deux dernières vertus font dire dans le prologue sur les Actes des Apôtres : « Il se préserva de toute souillure en restant vierge » ; voici pour la pureté de ses pensées ; « il aima mieux servir le Seigneur », c'est-à-dire, pour l’honneur du Seigneur, ce qui a trait à la droiture de ses intentions. Venons à ses qualités par rapport au prochain : Nous remplissons nos devoirs à son (204) égard quand nous accomplissons envers lui ce à quoi le devoir nous oblige. Or, d'après Richard de Saint Victor, nous devons au prochain notre pouvoir, notre savoir et notre vouloir, qui engagent à un quatrième devoir, les bonnes oeuvres. Nous lui devons notre pouvoir en l’aidant, notre savoir en le conseillant, notre vouloir en concevant en sa faveur de bons désirs, et nos actions en lui rendant de bons offices. Or, saint Luc eut ces quatre qualités. Il donna au prochain ce qu'il put pour le soulager : ce qui est évident par sa conduite envers saint Paul auquel il resta constamment attaché dans toutes les tribulations du Docteur des Gentils, qu'il ne quitta jamais, mais auquel il vint en aide dans la prédication. « Luc est seul avec moi », dit saint Paul à Timothée (I, IV). Et quand il dit ces mots « avec moi » il veut dire que saint Luc l’aide, le défend, fournit à ses besoins. Quand il dit : « Luc est seul », saint Paul montre qu'il lui est constamment attaché. Saint Paul dit encore dans la IIe Ep. aux Corinthiens (VIII), en parlant de saint Luc : « Il a été choisi par les Églises pour nous accompagner dans nos voyages. » Il donna au prochain son savoir, par les conseils, lorsqu'il écrivit, pour l’utilité du prochain, ce qu'il avait appris de la doctrine des apôtres et de l’Évangile. Il se rend à lui-même ce témoignage, dans son prologue, quand il dit : « J'ai cru, très excellent Théophile, qu'après avoir été informé exactement de toutes ces choses depuis leur commencement, je devais aussi vous en représenter par écrit toute la suite, afin que vous reconnaissiez la vérité de ce qui vous a été annoncé. » Il servit le prochain de ses conseils, (205), puisque saint Jérôme dit en son prologue, que ses paroles sont des remèdes pour les âmes languissantes. Il fut plein de bons désirs, puisqu'il souhaita aux fidèles le salut éternel (Coloss., IV) : « Luc, médecin, vous salue » — il vous salue, c'est-à-dire qu'il souhaite le salut éternel. 4° Ses actions étaient de bons services chose évidente par cela qu'il reçut chez lui Notre-Seigneur qu'il prenait pour un voyageur. Car il était le compagnon de Cléophas qui allait à Emmaüs, au dire de quelques-uns; ainsi le rapporte saint Grégoire, dans ses Morales, bien que saint Ambroise dise que ce fut un autre, dont il cite même le nom, (Saint Ambroise, in Luc.)

Troisièmement il posséda les vertus requises pour sa propre sanctification. Trois vertus disposent l’homme à la sainteté, dit saint Bernard : la sobriété dans la manière de vivre, la justice dans les actes, et la piété du coeur; chacune de ces qualités se subdivise encore en trois, toujours d'après saint Bernard. C'est vivre sobrement que de vivre avec retenue, politesse et humilité : les actes seront dirigés par la justice s'il existe en eux droiture, discrétion et profit : droiture dans l’intention qui doit être bonne, discrétion s'il y a modération, et profit par l’édification : il y aura piété de coeur, si notre foi nous fait voir Dieu souverainement puissant, souverainement sage, et souverainement bon : en sorte que nous croyons notre faiblesse soutenue par sa puissance, notre ignorance rectifiée par sa sagesse, et, notre iniquité détruite par sa bonté. Or, saint Luc posséda toutes ces qualités. 1° Il y eut sobriété dans sa manière de vivre, en trois (206) choses : a) en vivant dans la continence ; car saint Jérôme dit de lui en son prologue sur saint Luc, qu'il ne se maria point, et qu'il n'eut pas d'enfants; b) en vivant avec politesse, comme on l’a vu tout à l’heure en parlant de Cléophas, supposé qu'il eût été l’autre disciple : « Deux des disciples de Jésus allaient ce jour-là à Emmaüs. » Il fut poli, ce qui est indiqué par le mot « deux » ; c'étaient des disciples, donc c'étaient des personnes bien disciplinées et de bonne conduite; c) en vivant avec humilité, vertu insinuée en cela qu'il cite Cléophas son compagnon, mais sans se nommer lui-même. D'après l’opinion de quelques auteurs, il ne se nomme pas par humilité. 2° Il y eut justice en ses actes et chacun d'eux procéda d'une intention droite; vertu indiquée dans l’oraison de son office où il est dit que, « pour la gloire du nom du Seigneur, il a continuellement porté sur son corps la mortification de la Croix. » : il y eut discernement dans sa conduite calme; aussi est-il représenté sous la face du boeuf qui a la corne du pied fendue, c'est le signe de la vertu de discernement. Ses actes produisirent des fruits d'édification; car il était grandement chéri de tous. Ce qui le fait appeler très cher par saint Paul en son épître aux Colossiens (IV) : « Luc, notre très cher médecin, vous salue. » 3° Il eut des sentiments pieux, car il eut la foi; et dans son évangile il proclama la souveraine puissance de Dieu, comme sa souveraine sagesse, et sa souveraine bonté. Les deux premiers attributs de Dieu sont énoncés clairement au chap. IV: « Le peuple était tout étonné de la doctrine de J.-C., parce qu'il parlait avec autorité. » Le troisième est (207) énoncé dans le ch. XVIII : « Il n'y a que Dieu seul qui soit bon. » 4° Enfin, il remplit exactement les fonctions de son ministère qui était d'écrire l’Évangile. Or, son évangile est appuyé sur la vérité, il est rempli de choses utiles, il est orné de beaux passages, et confirmé par de nombreuses autorités. I. Il est appuyé sur la vérité. Il y en a de trois sortes : la vérité de la vie, de la justice et de la doctrine. La vérité de la vie est l’équation qui s'établit entre la main et la langue; la vérité de la justice est l’équation de la substance à la cause; la vérité de la doctrine est l’équation qui s'établit entre la chose perçue et l’intellect. Or, l’évangile de saint Lue est appuyé sur ces trois sortes de vérités qui y sont enseignées, car cet évangéliste montre que J.-C. posséda ces trois sortes de vérités et les enseigna aux autres; d'abord par le témoignage de ses adversaires : « Maître, est-i1 dit dans le chap. XX nous savons que vous ne dites et n'enseignez rien que de juste » : voici la vérité de la doctrine , « et que vous n'avez point d'égard aux personnes » : voilà la vérité de la justice, « mais que vous enseignez la voie de Dieu dans la vérité » : voilà la vérité de la vie. La voie qui est bonne s'appelle la voie de Dieu. Saint Luc montre dans son évangile que J.-C. a enseigné cette triple vérité : 1° la vérité de la vie qui consiste dans l’observation des commandements de Dieu. Au chapitre X il est écrit : « Vous aimerez le Seigneur votre Dieu, de tout votre coeur... Faites cela et vous vivrez. » Au chapitre XXIII, « un homme de qualité demanda à J.-C. : « Bon maître, que faire pour que j'obtienne « la vie éternelle? » Il lui est répondu : « Vous savez (208) les commandements : « Vous ne tuerez point, etc... » 2° La vérité de la doctrine. Le Sauveur dit en s'adressant à certaines personnes qui altéraient la vérité de la doctrine : « Malheur à vous, pharisiens, qui payez la dîme, c'est-à-dire qui enseignez qu'il faut payer la dîme de la menthe, de la rue, et de toutes sortes d'herbes, et qui négligez la justice et l’amour de Dieu. (XI) » Il dit encore au même endroit : « Malheur à vous, docteurs de la loi, qui vous êtes saisis de la clef de la science, et qui n'y étant point entrés vous-mêmes, l’avez encore fermée à ceux qui voulaient y entrer. » 3 ° La vérité de la justice est énoncée au chapitre XX : « Rendez donc à César ce qui appartient à César et à Dieu ce qui appartient à Dieu. » Au chapitre XIX : « Quant à mes ennemis, qui n'ont point voulu m’avoir pour roi, qu'on les amène ici, et qu'on les tue en ma présence. » Au chapitre XIII, où il est question du jugement, quand J.-C. doit dire aux réprouvés: « Retirez-vous de moi, vous tous qui faites des oeuvres d'iniquité. »

II. Son évangile est d'une grande utilité. Aussi fut-il médecin pour nous montrer qu'il nous prépara une médecine très salutaire. Or, il y a trois sortes de médecine: la curative, la préservative et l’améliorative. Saint Luc montre dans son évangile que cette triple médecine nous a été préparée par le céleste médecin. La médecine curative guérit des maladies; or, c'est la pénitence qui guérit toutes les maladies spirituelles. C'est cette médecine que saint Luc dit nous avoir été offerte par le céleste médecin, dans le chapitre IV : «J'ai été envoyé par l’Esprit du Seigneur (209) pour guérir ceux qui ont le coeur brisé; pour annoncer aux captifs qu'ils vont être délivrés, etc. Je ne suis pas venu appeler tes justes, mais les pécheurs (V). » La médecine qui améliore fortifie la santé, et c'est l’observance des conseils qui rend l’homme meilleur et plus parfait. C'est elle que le grand médecin nous a préparée, quand il dit (ch. XVIII) : « Tout ce que vous avez, vendez-le et le donnez aux pauvres. » « Si quelqu'un prend votre manteau, laissez-lui prendre aussi votre robe. » (ch. VI.) La médecine préservative prévient la chute, et c'est la fuite des occasions du péché et des mauvaises compagnies qui nous est, enseignée au chapitre XII : « Gardez-vous du levain des pharisiens, qui est l’hypocrisie » ; par où il nous apprend à fuir la compagnie des méchants. On peut dire encore que l’Evangile de saint Luc est fort utile, en ce sens que tous les principes de la sagesse y sont renfermés. Voici comme en parle saint Ambroise : « Saint Luc embrasse toutes les parties de la sagesse, dans soli évangile. Il y enseigne ce qui a rapport à la nature, lorsqu'il attribue au Saint-Esprit l’Incarnation de N.-S. » David avait aussi enseigné cette sagesse naturelle, quand il dit: « Envoyez votre Esprit et ils seront créés. » Ce que saint Luc fait encore, en parlant des ténèbres qui accompagnèrent la Passion de J.-C., des tremblements de terre et du soleil qui retira ses rayons. Il enseigna la morale, puisqu'il donna une règle de moeurs dans le récit des Béatitudes. Son enseignement est conforme à la raison, quand il dit : « Celui qui est fidèle dans les petites choses le sera dans les grandes. » Sans cette triple science, la (210) naturelle, la morale et la rationnelle, point de foi, point de mystère de la Trinité possible. » (Saint Ambroise.)

III. Son évangile est embelli par toutes sortes de grâces : son style, en effet, et son langage sont fleuris et fort clairs. Or, pour qu'un écrivain atteigne à cette grâce et à cet éclat, trois qualités sont nécessaires, d'après saint Augustin, plaire, éclairer et toucher. Pour plaire, il faut un style orné ; pour éclairer, il le faut clair; pour toucher, il faut. parler avec feu.. Qualités que saint Luc posséda dans ses écrits et dans sa prédication. Lés deus premières, d'après ce témoignage de la II° aux Corinthiens : « Nous avons envoyé avec lui un frère (La Glose entend par ce frère saint Barnabé ou saint Luc) qui est devenu célèbre dans toutes les églises par son évangile. » Par ces mots « qui est devenu célèbre », saint Paul fait entendre que son style est orné. Par ceux-ci « dans toutes les églises », on voit qu'il a parlé avec clarté. Qu'il ait parlé avec feu, cela est évident, parce qu'il posséda un coeur ardent, selon qu'il le dit lui-même « Notre cour n'était-il pas embrasé en nous, lorsqu'il nous parlait dans le chemin et qu'il nous expliquait les Écritures ? »

IV. Son évangile a été confirmé par de nombreuses autorités : 1° par celle du Père, qui dit dans Jérémie (XXXI) : « Le temps vient, dit le Seigneur,où je ferai une nouvelle alliance avec la maison d'Israël et la maison de Juda ; non selon l’alliance que je fis avec leurs pères, mais voici l’alliance que je ferai avec la maison d'Israël, après que ce temps-là sera venu, dit le Seigneur : j'imprimerai ma loi dans leurs entrailles (211) et je l’écrirai dans leur coeur. » A la lettre, il parle ici de la doctrine évangélique. 2° Il a été corroboré par l’autorité du Fils, qui dit an chapitre XXI : « Le ciel et la terre passeront, mais mes paroles ne passeront point. » 3° Son évangile fut inspiré par l’Esprit-Saint, d'après ces paroles de saint Jérémie dans son prologue sur saint Luc : « Par le mouvement du Saint-Esprit, il a écrit son évangile dans l’Achaïe. » 4° Il fut figuré d'avance par les anges ; c'est à ce sujet qu'il est dit dans l’Apocalypse (XIV) : « Je vis l’ange de Dieu qui volait par le milieu du ciel, portant l’Évangile éternel. » Or, cet Évangile est appelé éternel, parce qu'il a nue origine éternelle, c'est-à-dire J.-C. qui est éternel, dans sa nature, dans sa fin et dans sa durée.

V. Il a été annoncé par les prophètes. En effet, le prophète Ezéchiel a en vue l’évangile de saint Luc; quand il dit qu'un des animaux avait une face de veau. Le même prophète veut en parler encore (II), quand il raconte avoir vu un livre écrit en dedans et en dehors, et dans lequel on avait écrit des plaintes lugubres, des cantiques et des malédictions. Ce qui a rapport à l’évangile de saint Luc, qui est écrit, en dedans par les mystères qu'il renferme, et en dehors, par le récit historique. On y trouve encore les plaintes de la Passion, le cantique de la Résurrection et les malédictions de la Damnation éternelle, dans le chapitre XI, où se rencontrent beaucoup d'imprécations.

VI. Il a été expliqué et manifesté par la Sainte Vierge, qui en conservait toutes les particularités dans son cour et les ruminait, est-il dit en saint Luc (II), afin de pouvoir les faire connaître dans la suite aux (212) écrivains sacrés; d'après ce que dit la Glose : « Tout ce qu'elle savait des actions et des paroles du Seigneur, elle le recueillit dans sa mémoire, afin qu'au moment de prêcher et d'écrire les circonstances de l’Incarnation, elle prît expliquer, d'une manière satisfaisante, à qui le demanderait, tolet ce qui s'était passé. C'est ce qui fait que saint Bernard, expliquant pourquoi l’ange annonça à la Sainte Vierge la grossesse d'Élisabeth, dit : « Si la conception d'Élisabeth est découverte à Marie, c'est afin que la venue du Sauveur et celle du Précurseur étant connues, elle pût, en conservant dans son esprit la suite et l’enchaînement des faits, en révéler, dans la suite la vérité aux écrivains et aux prédicateurs, puisque, dès le principe, elle fut pleinement instruite miraculeusement de tous ces mystères. » Aussi croit-on que les évangélistes lui demandaient bien des renseignements, sur lesquels elle les éclairait.

On a pensé de saint Luc en particulier qu'il eut recours à elle comme à l’arche du Testament, et qu'il en apprit avec certitude bien des faits, surtout ceux qui la concernaient personnellement, comme l’Annonciation de l’ange, la naissance de J.-C. et autres semblables dont saint Luc est le seul qui fasse état.

VII. L'Évangile lui fut notifié par les apôtres. Puisque saint Luc ne fut pas témoin de toutes les actions et des miracles de J.-C. if fut obligé d'écrire son évangile selon les données et le rapport des apôtres qui avaient été présents : il le donne à entendre dans son prologue quand il dit : « J'ai écrit sur le rapport que nous en ont fait ceux qui dès le commencement ont (213) vu ces choses de leurs propres yeux et qui ont été les ministres de ta parole. » Comme on a coutume de rendre témoignage soit de ce que l’on a vu, soit de ce que l’on a entendu, dit saint Augustin; c'est pour cela que le Seigneur a voulu avoir deux témoins qui l’eussent vu, savoir saint Mathieu et saint Jean, et deux qui eussent entendu, savoir saint Marc et saint Luc. Mais parce que le témoignage de ce qu'on a vu est plus sûr et plus certain que celui de ce qu'on a entendu, c'est pour cette même raison, ajoute saint Augustin, que les deux évangélistes qui ont vu sont l’un au commencement et l’autre à la fin, et les deux qui ont entendu sont placés au milieu, afin que, tenant le milieu comme les plus faibles, ils soient protégés et défendus par ceux qui se trouvent au commencement et à la fin comme étant plus certains.

VIII. Il fut merveilleusement approuvé par saint Paul, qui, en preuve de ce qu'il disait, apportait le témoignage de l’évangile de saint Luc. Ce qui fait (lire à saint Jérôme, dans son livre des Hommes illustres, que plusieurs estiment que si saint Paul parle ainsi dans ses épîtres : « Selon mon évangile », il veut parler de l’ouvrage de saint Luc. Saint Paul approuvait encore merveilleusement l’évangile de saint Lire quand il écrit aux Corinthiens (II, c. VIII) que « saint Luc est devenu célèbre dans toutes les églises par son évangile. » — On lit dans l’Histoire d'Antioche que les chrétiens qui habitaient cette ville s'étant livrés à d'affligeants et nombreux désordres, furent assiégés par les Turcs, et en proie à une grande misère et à la famine. Mais étant revenus tout à fait (214) au Seigneur par la pénitence, il apparut à quelqu'un qui veillait dans l’église de Sainte-Marie de Tripoli un personnage éclatant de lumière et revêtu d'habits blancs ; et quand l’homme qui veillait eut demandé à celui-ci qui il était, il lui fut répondu, qu'il était saint Luc, venu d'Antioche, où le Seigneur avait convoqué la milice céleste, avec les apôtres et les martyrs, afin de combattre pour ses serviteurs. Alors les chrétiens, pleins d'ardeur, taillèrent en pièces l’armée entière des Turcs.

La Légende dorée de Jacques de Voragine nouvellement traduite en français avec introduction, notices, notes et recherches sur les sources par l'abbé J.-B. M. Roze, chanoine honoraire de la Cathédrale d'Amiens, Édouard Rouveyre, éditeur, 76, rue de Seine, 76, Paris mdccccii

SOURCE : http://www.abbaye-saint-benoit.ch/voragine/tome03/157.htm

Saint Luc, évangéliste

Fête à Rome au IXème siècle.

(Leçons des Matines)

Du livre de saint Jérôme, Prêtre : Des écrivains ecclésiastiques.

Quatrième leçon. Luc, médecin d’Antioche, instruit, comme ses écrits l’indiquent, dans la langue grecque, fut le disciple de l’apôtre saint Paul, et son compagnon en ses diverses pérégrinations. Il a écrit un Évangile, et c’est de lui que le même Apôtre dit : « Nous avons envoyé avec lui un de nos frères dont on fait l’éloge, à cause de l’Évangile, dans toutes les Églises ; » et aux Colossiens : « Luc, le médecin bien-aimé, vous salue ; » et à Timothée : « Luc est seul avec moi. » Il a aussi laissé un autre livre excellent intitulé : Les Actes des Apôtres, et qui renferme l’histoire de ces temps-là jusqu’à la seconde année du séjour de Paul à Rome, c’est-à-dire la quatrième de Néron : d’où nous inférons que l’ouvrage fut composé dans cette même ville.

Cinquième leçon. Aussi regardons-nous les voyages de Paul, de Thècle et toute la fable du Lion baptisé, comme des livres apocryphes. Car est-il possible que, parmi tant d’autres choses, un compagnon de l’Apôtre n’ait oublié que celles-là ? D’ailleurs Tertullien, peu éloigné de ces temps-là, rapporte qu’en Asie, un certain prêtre, qui affectionnait l’Apôtre, ayant été convaincu par saint Jean d’être l’auteur de l’ouvrage et ayant avoué qu’il l’avait fait par affection pour saint Paul, fut déposé précisément pour ce sujet-là. Au sentiment de quelques-uns, toutes les fois que Paul, en ses Épîtres, écrit ces mots : « selon mon Évangile, » c’est de l’Évangile selon saint Luc qu’il entend parler.

Sixième leçon. Et ce n’est pas seulement de l’Apôtre saint Paul, qui n’avait point été avec le Seigneur au temps de sa vie mortelle, mais encore des autres apôtres, que saint Luc recueillit les récits de son Évangile. C’est ce qu’il déclare lui-même au commencement de son livre, en ces termes : « Suivant que ces choses nous ont été transmises par ceux qui, dès le commencement, les ont eux-mêmes vues, et qui ont été les ministres de la parole. » Ainsi donc, il a rédigé son Évangile sur le rapport d’autrui, et les Actes des Apôtres, d’après ce qu’il avait vu lui-même. Il vécut quatre-vingt-quatre ans et ne fut point marié ; on l’ensevelit à Constantinople, ses ossements y ayant été transportés d’Achaïe, avec les reliques de l’apôtre saint André, l’an vingtième de Constantin.

SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/18-10-St-Luc-evangeliste

Bonne fête aux Luc et aux Lucas, aux paroisses qui sont sous le patronage de saint Luc, ainsi qu'aux médecins, infirmières et infirmiers, aux aides-soignantes, aux étudiants en médecine.

Selon le témoignage de saint Paul, à la fin de sa Lettre aux Colossiens (4, 14), saint Luc était médecin. Luc l'Évangéliste : personne n'a autant mérité que lui le titre de "porteur de la Bonne Nouvelle de Jésus Sauveur" ! Son oeuvre comporte deux parties reliées par Jérusalem : son évangile en est comme l'ascension depuis Bethléem et Nazareth (l'évangile de l'Enfance), et le témoignage des Actes de Apôtres nous conduit de Jérusalem à Rome. Saint Luc nous a ainsi laissé, avec saint Paul, la plus importante contribution personnelle au Nouveau Testament ; il est l'historien de l'Église naissante. Ami et compagnon de saint Paul, il se convertit grâce à lui au christianisme. Avec Timothée, il sera l'un des amis les plus intimes de l'Apôtre des Nations, spécialement au cours des 2e et 3e missions, à travers l'Asie mineure, la Grèce, la Méditerranée et enfin Rome.

Saint Luc, en communion étroite avec le témoignage des Apôtres et de l'Église de Jérusalem, se fera, selon l'expression de Dante, "le chantre de la mansuétude du Christ" ! Dans la personne et le visage de Jésus le Sauveur, Luc met d'abord en relief, avec une très vive sensibilité, l'amour qui est tendresse et miséricorde. C'est dans son évangile qu'on trouve les récits les plus "forts" : de l'Agonie de Jésus au Jardin des oliviers, de l'accueil sans limites à tous les pécheurs, à tous les "malades" d'où qu'ils viennent. On y trouve les paraboles du publicain et du bon Samaritain et le témoignage du bandit qui meurt dans la paix, en croix près de Jésus. Les femmes, dans l'oeuvre de saint Luc, ont une place considérable qui correspond parfaitement aux attitudes du Seigneur : l'accueil de la pécheresse, l'hospitalité de Marthe et l'écoute de Marie à Béthanie, les veuves de Naïm et du Temple…et surtout la place faite à Marie, Mère de Jésus. Luc nous en a laissé la plus belle Icône en témoignant : "Quant à Marie, elle conservait tous ces évènements, les méditant dans son coeur".

Le prénom Luc signifie en grec "pur" (leukos). Pur se dit également katharos en grec, ce qui a donné naissance au prénom Catherine.

Rédacteur : Frère Bernard Pineau, OP

SOURCE : http://www.lejourduseigneur.com/Web-TV/Saints/Luc-Evangeliste

Nicolas Fouquet, Saint Luc, 

Heures de Raguier et Robertet, f.15, Pierpont Morgan Library, ms.M834

Le taureau et saint Luc l'évangéliste

Le taureau est le symbole de l'évangéliste saint Luc dans notre tradition chrétienne. C'est une image qui paraît lui être tout à fait bien adaptée pour plusieurs raisons.

La première raison consiste dans ce trait biologique propre aux bovins : ils ruminent. Longuement, pour bien digérer le foin ou toute autre nourriture, ils la mâchent et la remâchent comme saint Luc l'a fait pour les paroles de Jésus. À lire l'évangile de Luc, on sent que son auteur a bien assimilé chaque enseignement du Christ. C'est peut-être pourquoi les phrases sont disposées avec tant d'harmonie, juste à l'endroit qu'il faut.

De plus, saint Luc a donné du relief à des personnes qui « ruminaient » la parole de Dieu. Les personnalités contemplatives ont retenu son intérêt. La Vierge Marie ressort comme un de ces êtres qui s'attachent à l'approfondissement des événements du salut. Elle a creusé le sens des paroles de l'ange Gabriel et les a comprises un peu plus à la naissance de Jésus. Après la visite des bergers à la crèche, Marie, selon les mots de saint Luc, conservait avec soin toutes ces choses, les méditant en son coeur (Luc 2,19). L'autre Marie, la sœur de Marthe, appartenait à la même classe de personnalités contemplatives (Luc 10,39).

Le taureau, dans l'imaginaire humain de tous les temps, représente également la puissance de travail. Le regard porte alors sur les bêtes toutes en muscles qui tirent une charrue ou une charge pesante. Le travail d'écrivain que saint Luc a accompli révèle sa capacité de réaliser une grande oeuvre fort exigeante. Quand on sait que l'écrivain antique met trois minutes à écrire une syllabe sur une feuille rude de papyrus (contre une seconde à notre époque), on évalue ce que représentent les 24 chapitres de l'évangile et les 28 chapitres des Actes des Apôtres. Tout un exploit de force morale et de zèle laborieux! Saint Luc, le taureau, nous donne une leçon bien actuelle de contemplation et de travail.

Pierre Bougie, PSS

Professeur au Grand séminaire de Montréal

SOURCE : http://www.interbible.org/interBible/ecritures/symboles/2002/sym_021112.htm

Luca Giordano  (1634–1705), Saint Luc peignant la Vierge, 1692, 203 x 262, Brest’s Museum of Fine Arts

Saint Luc, évangéliste

Nous fêtons aujourd’hui saint Luc évangéliste. Sa personnalité est mal connue. Papias de Hiérapolis en Asie Mineure vers 120, qui nous renseigne sur les évangiles et leurs auteurs, demeure muet à son sujet. Le canon de Muratori nous donne sur lui quelques informations générales : « Le 3ème livre de l’Evangile est selon saint Luc. Luc est ce médecin, qui après l’ascension du Christ, fut emmené par Paul comme compagnon de ses voyages et qui écrivit en son nom selon la pensée ; cependant, il ne vit pas lui-même le Seigneur en chair ; pour cela, il commença son récit à partir de la naissance de Jean, comme il put l’atteindre. » Irénée, Tertullien et Origène confirment ces données et y apportent même quelques éléments supplémentaires sans pour autant être exhaustifs. On apprend d’eux notamment que Luc était syrien de culture païenne et que dans son évangile, il entend s’adresser aux grecs. Il est donc bien « l’évangéliste des païens ». En ce sens, l’évangile de ce jour qui nous décrit l’envoi des soixante-douze disciples - soixante-douze faisant référence aux soixante-douze nations de Genèse 11 qui peuplent l’ensemble de la terre – s’applique tout particulièrement à lui.

Si Luc n’a pas de son vivant croisé la route de Jésus, il a pourtant dans la foi fait l’expérience personnelle d’une rencontre avec lui qui a bouleversé sa vie et qui fit de lui son disciple. Luc accueillit la seigneurie du Christ c’est-à-dire la réalité d’un Dieu venu jusqu’à lui pour le sauver de son péché. « Seigneur » est d’ailleurs un des titres favoris qu’il utilise pour désigner Jésus. Ne peut être envoyé en mission que celui qui a reconnu Jésus comme tel et l’a reçu comme tel au cœur de son histoire : « Parmi ses disciples, le Seigneur en désigna encore soixante-douze » (Cf. Evangile). Ne portera du fruit que celui qui aura fait l’expérience de ce Père qui le sauve en son Fils, de ce Dieu qui vient à sa rencontre pour le prendre sur ses épaules et le ramener à lui, la source de vie. Les paraboles de la miséricorde du chapitre quinze de saint Luc en sont le témoignage éloquent ! Dante Alighieri l’avait bien compris, lui qui appelait saint Luc le « scribe de la mansuétude du Christ », « scriba mansuetudinis Christi ».

L’œuvre de saint Luc témoigne aussi qu’il a fait cette expérience de Jésus Seigneur et Sauveur « en Eglise » et non pas de façon isolée ou solitaire. A travers son évangile et le récit des Actes, il nous montre que la rencontre avec le Christ se fait à travers des communautés de témoins concrètes et variées, animées par le dynamisme de l’Esprit Saint.

« Seigneur, ravive en nous la mémoire de ce jour où nous t’avons reçu comme le Seigneur de nos vies. Merci pour ceux que tu as mis sur notre route et qui nous ont conduits jusqu’à toi. Seigneur, que devant l’abîme de ta miséricorde nos yeux s’ouvrent sur la profondeur de notre misère. Car nous ne pourrons être des témoins authentiques de toi que dans la mesure où nous recevrons ton Amour qui tout en nous comblant nous dépouillera de ce qui nous rendait grands (Lc 9, 46) à nos propres yeux. »

SOURCE : http://viechretienne.catholique.org/homelie/21606-saint-luc-evangeliste

1. LUC, médecin d’Antioche comme le mentionnent ses écrits, n’était pas ignorant du grec (1) ; disciple de l’apôtre Paul et le compagnon de tous ses voyages (2), il écrivit un Évangile dont Paul parle aussi : « Nous avons envoyé avec lui un frère dont on trouve l’éloge dans l’évangile adressé à toutes les Églises » (2 Co 8, 18) ; il dit aussi dans sa Lettre aux Colossiens : « Luc, notre très cher médecin, vous salue » (Col 4, 14), et dans sa Lettre à Timothée : « Luc seul est avec moi » (2 Tm 4, 11) (3). 2. Luc publia aussi un autre ouvrage remarquable qui a comme titre les Actes des Apôtres et qui raconte l’histoire de ce temps jusqu’à la deuxième année du séjour de Paul à Rome, c’est-à-dire jusqu’à la quatrième année du règne de Néron. Cela nous fait conclure qu’il a écrit ce livre dans cette ville (4). 3. Aussi devons-nous compter parmi les écrits apocryphes les Voyages de Paul et de Thècle, ainsi que l’histoire entière du lion baptisé (5). En effet, comment le compagnon inséparable de l’apôtre Paul aurait-il pu ignorer ce fait seul alors qu’il avait connaissance de tous les autres ? Et Tertullien aussi, proche de cette époque, rapporte (6) qu’un prêtre en Asie, admirateur de l’apôtre Paul, convaincu par Jean d’être l’auteur de ce livre et ayant avoué qu’il l’avait composé par amour pour Paul, fut destitué de sa charge. 4. Certains supposent que, chaque fois que Paul dit dans ses Lettres : « selon mon évangile (7) », il fait allusion au livre de Luc, et que Luc a appris son évangile non seulement de l’apôtre Paul, qui n’avait pas fréquenté personnellement le Seigneur, mais aussi de tous les autres apôtres (8). 5. C’est ce que lui-même déclare aussi au début (9) : « Comme nous l’ont rapporté ceux qui dès les débuts ont été des témoins oculaires et des serviteurs de la Parole » (Lc 1, 2). Par conséquent, il écrivit son Évangile selon ce qu’il avait entendu raconter et composa les Actes des Apôtres, selon ce qu’il avait lui-même vu.

6.Il est enterré à Constantinople, ville dans laquelle, la vingtième année du règne de Constantin, ses ossements furent transférés avec les reliques de l’apôtre André (10).

(1)    Luc, qui usait d’une langue très élaborée, faisait un usage très précis des temps et des modes. Il recherchait aussi un style très raffiné.

(2)    Paul le rencontra lors de son second voyage missionnaire à Troas et l’emmena avec lui jusqu’à Philippes. Plus tard Luc l’accompagna jusqu’à Jérusalem, puis à Rome depuis Césarée – si du moins les passages des Actes des Apôtres usant  du « nous » sont bien à interpréter comme un témoignage  personnel de Luc et non comme la trace du journal de voyage, utilisé par Luc, d’un compagnon de Paul non identifié.

(3)    Paul, pressentant sa mort prochaine, déplore que ses compagnons l’aient abandonné et appelle Timothée à son secours.

(4)    Les Actes auraient donc, selon Jérôme, été rédigés en 62-63. Cela supposerait que l’évangile selon Luc ait déjà été écrit à cette date, alors que les exégètes situent maintenant cet évangile vers 70 au plus tôt. Luc était aux côtés de Paul lors de son premier emprisonnement à Rome, ainsi que lorsque l’apôtre attendait la mort. Il aurait ensuite quitté Rome.

(5)   Ces écrits apocryphes très lus à l’époque de Jérôme racontent l’histoire de la rencontre entre sainte Thècle et saint Paul. La jeune femme vivait à Iconium quand Paul la convertit : elle le suivit dans ses voyages et fut condamnée à subir le martyre. Sa foi l’en sauva à trois reprises, dont la première fois par une lionne, qui devint, avec le temps, un lion baptisé, cf. Écrits apocryphes chrétiens, t. 1, 1127-1142.

(6)    Tertullien, Du Baptême, 17, 5.

(7)    Rm 2, 16 ; 16, 25 ; 2 Tm 2, 8.

(8)    Les exégètes débattent la question de savoir si Matthieu et Luc disposaient du même texte de Marc, ou d’un texte narratif plus ancien suivi de près par Marc.

(9)    On doit remarquer que Jérôme utilise le même terme – principium – pour désigner aussi bien le début de l’évangile de Luc que le début de la vie publique du Christ.

(10)                       Jérôme vit sans doute cette information confirmée lors de son séjour à Constantinople en 381.

Saint JÉRÔME. Les hommes illustres. Paris, Migne. « Les pères dans la foi, 2010, 67-69 (notes de Delphine Vieillard )Redécouvrir l’évangéliste Saint Luc (historien, médecin, peintre et évangéliste)

« Luc est né à Antioche. L’on ignore s’il était païen ou juif non croyant. Il exerçait la profession de médecin. Cet homme cultivé connaissait la langue grecque. Il se présente comme écrivain, soucieux de vérité historique. La visée théologique d’un missionnaire de la fin du 1e siècle apparaît cependant derrière la construction littéraire de ses écrits. Luc a réalisé un travail d’écrivain qui révèle sa capacité d’écrire une œuvre harmonieuse. Sur le plan de l’écriture, Luc est l’écrivain le plus doué des évangélistes.

Ses écrits, parus dans les années 60, font partie des trois évangiles dits « synoptiques ». Les deux autres évangiles ont été réalisés par Matthieu et Marc. »

1 – Luc, un homme avec plusieurs cordes à son arc, mais qui ne dit rien de lui.

Qui est Luc ?

Historien, médecin, peintre… Luc, un homme avec plusieurs cordes à son arc, mais qui ne dit rien de lui. Luc est le compagnon de Paul. Il est l’auteur du 3e évangile et des Actes de Apôtres. Il adresse ces deux textes à un certain Théophile. C’est aussi l’évangéliste qui raconte la naissance et l’enfance de Jésus.

Luc historien

Luc n’a pas connu Jésus pendant sa vie terrestre. Son évangile et les Actes des Apôtres qui s’achèvent avec l’arrivée de Paul à Rome forme un tout. Ils ont été rédigés autour des années 60. Luc écrit une biographie de Jésus, puis l’histoire des premiers chrétiens.

Dans le prologue de son évangile, il présente la manière dont il travaille. Comme un historien, il a mené l’enquête de manière à présenter des faits reconnus dans lesquels, il veut que son lecteur reconnaisse l’œuvre de Dieu. «Puisque beaucoup ont entrepris de composer un récit des événements qui se sont accomplis parmi nous, d’après ce que nous ont transmis ceux qui furent dès le début des témoins oculaires et serviteurs de la Parole, après m’être informé exactement de tout depuis les origines, d’en écrire pour toi l’exposé suivi, excellent Théophile, pour que tu te rendes bien compte de la sûreté des enseignements que tu as reçus.»

Il recommence dans le prologue des Actes des Apôtres. Toujours dans les Actes, il présente les différents lieux où le christianisme est annoncé : à Jérusalem, en Judée, en Samarie jusqu’aux extrémités de la terre (Actes 1,8). Il agit en reporter : il énonce des faits, les illustrent et montrent leurs cohérences.

Celui qui raconte l’enfance de Jésus

Luc donne une place importante à Marie. Les récits de l’enfance de Jésus sont racontés de son point de vue. Elle est celle qui a vu l’amour de Dieu. Il fait d’elle la première messagère de la Bonne Nouvelle.

Luc commence par raconter la naissance de Jean-Baptiste parce que, pour lui, l’histoire de Jésus commence avec celui qui le précède. Puis vient l’annonce faite à Marie : «Voici que tu vas concevoir et enfanter un fils : tu lui donneras le nom de Jésus» (Luc 1, 31). Marie questionne, dialogue avec l’ange et finalement dit oui : «je suis la servante du Seigneur. Qu’il m’advienne selon sa parole» (Luc 1, 38). Le signe donné à Marie est la naissance proche attendue par Elisabeth. Elle part la rejoindre. Les histoires de Jean-Baptiste et de Jésus se mêlent quand Elisabeth et Marie se rencontrent (la Visitation). De cette rencontre surgit une prière : le Magnificat, le chant d’action de grâce de Marie. A cette prière, une autre vient comme en écho : celle de Zacharie, mari d’Elisabeth, lors de la naissance de Jean-Baptiste.

Luc nous donne ensuite quelles informations sur Joseph. Il est issu de la maison et de la famille de David. C’est la raison pour laquelle il quitte Nazareth où il est installé, pour Bethléem, ville de David, pour se faire recenser comme le demande l’empereur César Auguste.

Jésus naît à Bethléem. Ce sont les bergers gardant leurs troupeaux qui seront les premiers à recevoir la nouvelle : «Aujourd’hui, vous est né un Sauveur» (Luc 2, 11). On apprend également que huit jours après sa naissance, Jésus est circoncis, puis, un peu plus tard présenté au temple. C’était la coutume de consacrer le premier d’une famille au Seigneur.

Le récit de Jésus à douze ans qui discute avec les docteurs de la loi du Temple de Jérusalem est fait uniquement par Luc. Cela lui permet de marquer une étape dans la vie de Jésus et de montrer qu’il est humain. «Il croissait en sagesse, en taille et en grâce devant Dieu et devant les hommes» (Luc 2, 52). Il est à la fois vrai homme et vrai Dieu.

Luc a vécu au cours du 1er siècle, il est grec. Il est né à Antioche (dans l’actuelle Turquie), ville connue à cette époque pour ses écoles dans tout l’Orient.

Luc rencontre Paul et se convertit. Il devient son fidèle collaborateur et l’accompagne dans ses déplacements à partir de 51. Paul le décrit comme un éminent médecin : «notre cher médecin» (lettre aux Colossiens 4, 14). Vers l’an 56, Luc est envoyé à Corinthe par Paul. Lorsque Paul est mis en prison à Rome, une première fois en 61, une seconde en 65 ou 66, Luc partage sa captivité. Quand Paul est décapité, Luc quitte Rome. On ne sait plus grand chose de sa vie ensuite.

Luc, médecin

Il est le seul des quatre Evangélistes à décrire les maladies avec une précision médicale, pour désigner par exemple la localisation d’une paralysie et pour utiliser des termes médicaux. Vers la fin du Moyen-Age, les médecins l’adoptent comme leur saint patron. A partir du 15ème siècle, la rentrée en Faculté de Médecine se fait le jour de la fête de saint Luc, le 18 octobre. Les médecins militaires, aussi bien dans leurs hôpitaux qu’en opérations, fêtent la saint Luc.

Luc est renommé également comme peintre de la Vierge, peut-être parce qu’il est celui qui décrit avec le plus d’attention Marie. Certains tableaux en Syrie et à Rome, sont dit peints par lui. Il arrive que sur des gravures ou des peintures du XVe siècle, Luc soit représenté à la fois en écrivain (évangéliste) et en peintre ; et quelquefois, avec les habits du médecin. Actuellement quelques établissements médicaux et quelques galeries de peintures portent le nom de Luc.

Les représentations de Luc

Les plus anciennes représentations de Luc le montrent écrivant son évangile. La tradition a donné comme symbole à Luc, un taureau. Le début de son évangile (Luc 1, 9) s’ouvre sur Zacharie au temple – lieu dans la Bible des sacrifices.

On le représente aussi, selon une tradition, en train de peindre la sainte Vierge.

Par Geneviève Pasquier, le 10/01/2007

http://www.etdieudanstoutca.com/bible/luc/qui-est-luc

Moretto da Brescia  (1498–1554). Evangelista Luca

2 – Évangile selon saint Luc

L’Évangile selon saint Luc (kata Lukas, où kata signifie selon) a pour auteur Luc (médecin et, selon la légende, peintre, compagnon de saint Paul). Il n’a pas connu lui-même le Christ, durant son ministère public. Il a également composé les Actes des Apôtres, qui sont la suite de son évangile. Les deux livres sont pareillement dédiés à « Théophile » (personnage réel, ou peut-être fictif, figure de l’ « ami de Dieu », Théo-phile).

Les deux ouvrages ont été rédigés probablement dans les années 60, avant la destruction du Temple (en 70), et avant le martyre des saints apôtres Pierre et Paul à Rome (en 64 ou 67).

Avec l’Évangile selon saint Marc et l’Évangile selon saint Matthieu, il fait partie des évangiles dits synoptiques. C’est le plus long de nos quatre évangiles, retenus dans le Nouveau Testament.

Il y a deux traditions relatives à l’auteur du Troisième Évangile.

L’une, orale, fut transmise par Gégoire le grand puis Théophylacte jusqu’à Jacques de Voragine et Anne Catherine Emmerich: L’évangéliste n’était autre que le compagnon anonyme de Cléopas. Épiphane de Salamine lui donnait pour nom Nathanaël [1]

L’autre, scripturaire, voyait en lui le compagnon de Paul. Saint Irénée note dans son Adversus Haereses (vers 180): « De son côté, Luc, le compagnon de Paul, consigna en un livre l’Évangile que prêchait celui-ci. » (Adv. Hae. III, Prologue)

Un ancien prologue grec de l’évangile de Luc, daté de la fin du second siècle, décrivait ainsi la genèse de cet évangile, et son auteur: « Luc était un syrien d’Antioche, médecin de profession, disciple des apôtres, et plus tard un accompagnateur de Paul jusqu’à son martyre. Il servit le Seigneur sans divertissement, sans femme et sans enfants. Il mourut à l’âge de 84 ans, en Béotie, rempli du Saint Esprit. » Ce prologue poursuit: « Quoique des évangiles existassent déjà, celui selon Matthieu, composé en Judée, et celui selon Marc en Italie, il fut incité par le Saint Esprit, et composa cet évangile entièrement dans la région avoisinant l’Achaïe; il rend très clair dans le prologue que les autres (évangiles) avaient été écrits avant le sien [...] Plus tard le même Luc écrivit les Actes des Apôtres. » (Cf. Joseph A.Fitzmyer, The Gospel according to Luke, I-IX, 1981, page 38-39).

De même le Canon de Muratori (document romain du milieu du IIe s.) : « Troisièmement, le livre de l’évangile selon Luc. Ce Luc était médecin. Après l’Ascension du Christ, Paul l’ayant pris pour second à cause de sa connaissance du droit, il écrivit avec son assentiment ce qu’il jugeait bon. » Il continue: « Cependant lui non plus ne vit pas le Seigneur dans la chair. Et par conséquent selon ce dont il avait pu s’informer il commença à le dire à partir de la Nativité de Jean. »

Saint Paul de Tarse se réfère à Luc en Col 4,14 où il l’appelle « le cher médecin »; de même dans l’épître à Philémon (24) où Luc se trouve en compagnie de Marc, pendant la première captivité romaine de Paul, et dans la deuxième à Timothée (4,11): « Seul Luc est avec moi. » Luc pourrait avoir été, sous les directives de Paul, le rédacteur des épîtres dites pastorales (1 Tm ; 2 Tm ; Tt). En effet, on croit y reconnaître son style.

Les trois cantiques

C’est dans Luc que l’on trouve les trois célèbres cantiques, repris dans la liturgie des heures :

• Le Benedictus (ou cantique de Zacharie)

• Le Magnificat (ou cantique de Marie)

• Le Nunc dimittis (ou cantique de Siméon)

Marie livrant ses souvenirs, soit à l’apôtre Jean soit directement à l’évangéliste Luc, affirme à deux reprises qu’ « elle conservait avec soin toutes ces choses, les méditant en son cœur. » (Lc 2,19; cf. 2,51). Si elle a conservé tous ces souvenirs, c’était pour la postérité. Si elle les a médités, c’est qu’elle a dû chanter bien souvent dans son cœur les cantiques qui y sont contenus. Toute cette poésie est emplie de réminiscences bibliques. Effectivement, si de tels souvenirs sont parvenus à la connaissance de Luc, et à la nôtre, ce ne peut être que par Marie.

Luc, l’évangéliste de la miséricorde

L’analyse des sources de l’Évangile selon saint Luc met en évidence son originalité.

Saint Irénée a puissamment résumé, dans une page célèbre (cf. Adv. Hae. III, 14, 3), la nouveauté de l’évangile de Luc. Il recoupe notre exposé du précédent titre.

Luc en personne, dans son Prologue, a précisé sa méthode et sa préoccupation première.

« Puisque plusieurs ont entrepris de composer un récit des événements qui se sont accomplis parmi nous, d’après ce que nous ont transmis ceux qui furent dès le début témoins oculaires et serviteurs de la Parole, j’ai décidé, moi aussi, après m’être informé exactement de tout depuis les origines d’en écrire pour toi l’exposé suivi, excellent Théophile. » (Lc 1,1-3).

Théophile devait être un éditeur de Rome par lequel Luc a publié son double ouvrage de l’évangile et des Actes (cf. Ac 1,1), mais aussi un chrétien fervent qui, en l’espèce, nous représente tous.

Luc a décidé de suivre l’exemple de plusieurs confrères : Matthieu l’apôtre qui (en hébreu ?), avait publié l’enseignement du Seigneur et plusieurs de ses faits et gestes. Marc l’interprète et le confident de Pierre et qui lui-même avait assisté, au sortir de l’enfance, à la Passion du Sauveur et qui avait fréquenté, chez sa mère, les apôtres et la première communauté chrétienne.

Philippe enfin, le diacre et compagnon d’Étienne, qui, selon une hypothèse, entreprenait avec l’aide de Luc de confectionner un évangile original reprenant les logia de Matthieu, mais qu’il n’écrirait et ne publierait qu’après le départ pour Rome de Luc et de Paul.

Luc a interrogé les « témoins oculaires et [les] serviteurs de la Parole », ceux de la première génération qui avaient connu le Seigneur: avant tous Jean, l’apôtre, et même la mère de Jésus, ainsi que les « frères du Seigneur »: Jacques, Simon et Jude, et avec eux toute l’Église de Jérusalem, héritière au premier chef de la pensée et de la mémoire de Jésus le Nazaréen. Il enquêta sur place en Palestine, profitant de son séjour forcé et prolongé dans la patrie du Christ. Philippe et Luc, dans leurs investigations, travaillèrent en commun avec Paul, puisqu’il nous est précisé que ce dernier pouvait recevoir librement dans sa prison (cf. Ac 24,23).

Luc est allé aux sources, ainsi qu’aux documents originaux, comme lui-même l’affirme avec insistance. Il l’a fait en historien consciencieux, même si son œuvre demeure artisanale à bien des égards, comme l’analyse l’a montré.

Si l’on poursuit dans le détail la comparaison de Luc avec les autres synoptiques, on observe sur le vif l’activité d’un écrivain qui excelle à présenter les choses d’une manière qui lui est propre, évitant ou atténuant tout ce qui peut froisser, ou bien ce qui serait peu compréhensible au lecteur, ménageant les personnes des apôtres, ou les excusant, interprétant les termes obscurs, ou précisant la géographie.

En vrai « scriba mansuetudinis Christi », écrivain de la mansuétude du Christ (Dante), il aime à souligner la miséricorde de son Maître pour les pécheurs (15,1.7.10), à raconter des scènes de pardon (7,36-50). Il insiste volontiers sur la tendresse de Jésus pour les humbles et pour les pauvres, tandis que les orgueilleux et les riches jouisseurs sont sévèrement traités (16,19-31).

Cependant même la juste condamnation ne se fera qu’après les délais patients de la miséricorde (13,6-9). Il faut seulement qu’on se repente. Ici Luc tient à répéter l’exigence d’un détachement décisif et absolu des richesses (14,25-33).

On notera les passages propres au troisième évangile sur la nécessité de la prière (18,1-8) et l’exemple qu’en a donné Jésus (6,12).

Enfin comme chez saint Paul, et dans les Actes (suites de l’évangile), l’Esprit Saint occupe une place de premier plan que Luc seul souligne (4,1; 24,49).

Ceci avec l’atmosphère de reconnaissance et d’allégresse spirituelle qui enveloppe tout le troisième évangile achève de donner à l’œuvre de Luc cette ferveur qui touche.

Extraits

Lc 1,26-28 : Au sixième mois, l’ange Gabriel fut envoyé par Dieu dans une ville de Galilée appelée Nazareth, vers une vierge qui était fiancée à un homme de la maison de David, nommé Joseph ; et le nom de la vierge était Marie. Etant entré où elle était, il lui dit : » Salut, pleine de grâce ! Le Seigneur est avec vous… »

Lc 2,4-7 : Joseph aussi monta de Galilée, de la ville de Nazareth, en Judée, à la ville de David, qui s’appelle Bethléem, parce qu’il était de la maison et de la famille de David, pour se faire recenser avec Marie son épouse, qui était enceinte. Or, pendant qu’ils étaient là, le temps où elle devait enfanter s’accomplit, et elle mit au monde son fils premier-né, l’emmaillota et le coucha dans une crèche, parce qu’il n’y avait pas de place pour eux dans l’hôtellerie.

Lc 2,44-47 : Pensant qu’il était avec la caravane, ils marchèrent tout un jour, puis ils le cherchèrent parmi leurs parents et leurs connaissances. Ne l’ayant point trouvé, ils s’en retournèrent à Jérusalem en le recherchant. Or, au bout de trois jours, ils le trouvèrent dans le temple, assis au milieu des docteurs, les écoutant et les interrogeant ; et tous ceux qui l’entendaient étaient ravis de son intelligence et de ses réponses.

Lc 13,34-35 : « Jérusalem, Jérusalem, qui tues les prophètes et lapides ceux qui te sont envoyés ! Que de fois j’ai voulu rassembler tes enfants comme une poule sa couvée sous ses ailes, et vous n’avez pas voulu ! Voici que votre maison va vous être laissée (déserte). Je vous le dis, vous ne me verrez plus que ne [soit venu quand] vous direz : Béni celui qui vient au nom du Seigneur ! «

Lc 22,60-62 : Pierre dit : » Homme, je ne sais ce que tu dis. » Et à l’instant, comme il parlait encore, un coq chanta. Et le Seigneur, s’étant retourné, arrêta son regard sur Pierre, et Pierre se souvint de la parole du Seigneur, comme il lui avait dit : » Avant que le coq ait chanté aujourd’hui, tu me renieras trois fois. » Et étant sorti, il pleura amèrement.

Voir : http://fr.orthodoxwiki.org/%C3%89vangile_selon_saint_Lucussi

El Greco  (1541–1614), Saint Luke the Evangelist, circa 1605, 100 x 76, Toledo Cathedral

3 – L’œuvre de Saint Luc :

L’oeuvre de Luc, calquée sur les livres des Rois ?

Dans le Nouveau Testament, c’est l’évangéliste Luc qui raconte le plus nettement l’ascension de Jésus. Il le fait même à deux reprises : une fois à la fin de son évangile (Lc 24, 50-53), puis au début des Actes des Apôtres, second tome, en quelque sorte, de son évangile.

Depuis longtemps, les exégètes ont remarqué la proximité entre l’oeuvre de Luc et ce que l’on nomme les cycles d’Elie et d’Elisée aux livres des Rois (1R 17 – 2 R 1 pour Elie, 2 R 2-13 pour Elisée). Luc aime calquer ses récits, ou certains de ses récits, sur ces grands modèles bibliques. Et la figure d’Elie, dans son immense stature de prophète, lui permet une approche du mystère de Jésus. Mais Jésus est plus grand qu’Elie, Luc ne cessera de le montrer. Ainsi trouve-t-on, dans la finale de l’évangile de Luc et le début des Actes, des récits qui reprennent les grands et beaux textes concernant Elie et son disciple.

L’ascension de Jésus

Nous tenons ainsi de Luc deux récits de l’Ascension de Jésus. Le premier, à la fin de son évangile, est christologique : il parle de Jésus. Venu de Dieu, il repart vers lui. Il est le Fils. L’accent du texte porte donc sur l’identité de Jésus : « Il les emmena jusque vers Béthanie et, levant les mains, il les bénit. Et il advint, comme il les bénissait, qu’il se sépara d’eux et fut emporté au ciel. Pour eux, s’étant prosternés devant lui, ils retournèrent à Jérusalem en grande joie, et ils étaient constamment dans le Temple à louer Dieu » (Luc 24, 50-53).

Le second récit ouvre les Actes des Apôtres. Il raconte encore l’Ascension de Jésus, mais porte un accent différent. La pointe du récit est alors ecclésiologique : il dit qui est le disciple et quelle est sa mission. Il parle de la naissance de l’Eglise, constituée de disciples fragiles, que l’Esprit de Dieu emporte dans son souffle pour les envoyer jusqu’au bout du monde (Actes 1, 8). Telle est en effet la mission que Jésus leur donne au moment de son départ. Désormais ils sont pleinement apôtres, c’est-à-dire envoyés : « Vous allez recevoir, dit Jésus, une force, celle de l’Esprit Saint qui descendra sur vous. Vous serez alors mes témoins à Jérusalem, dans toute la Judée et la Samarie, et jusqu’aux extrémités de la terre » (Actes 1, 8). Le relais leur est passé, c’est désormais le temps de l’Eglise.

Un langage théologique

Après ces paroles, poursuit le récit des Actes, ils le virent s’élever et disparaître à leurs yeux dans une nuée. Et comme ils fixaient encore le ciel où Jésus s’en allait, voici que deux hommes en vêtements blancs se tenaient devant eux et disaient : « Galiléens, pourquoi restez-vous là à regarder vers le ciel ? Jésus, qui a été enlevé du milieu de vous, reviendra de la même manière que vous l’avez vu s’en aller vers le ciel » (Actes 1, 9-11).

Ainsi Jésus s’élève et disparaît dans une nuée. L’image de la nuée est présente tout au long de la Bible pour évoquer la présence mystérieuse de Dieu auprès de son peuple. C’est dans une nuée que le Seigneur accompagne son peuple à la sortie d’Egypte, dans le passage de la mer et la marche au désert. Et sous la forme d’une colonne de feu, la nuit ! Une nuée entoure Jésus et ses disciples à la Transfiguration. C’est le signe de la présence et d’une révélation de Dieu. Et c’est bien sûr aussi vers le ciel que Jésus est emporté, puisque le ciel est ce lieu d’en haut, le lieu de Dieu.

Le langage des peintres

Notre habitude du langage des évangiles nous met aussi en alerte lorsque le récit évoque deux hommes vêtus de blanc. Comme à la résurrection ! Le blanc est la couleur de Dieu, le chiffre deux celui du témoignage parfait, confirmé par cette double présence.

L’Assomption de Marie

Ce que la Bible exprime dans une dimension spatiale est avant tout une vision ou une compréhension théologique. La théologie s’exprimera en termes semblables pour évoquer le mystère de Marie. Comprenant que Marie, mère de Jésus, est en même temps Mère de Dieu, elle exprimera en des images forgées au creuset biblique, sa proximité infinie de Dieu. Marie sera dite Immaculée conception, épargnée absolument par le péché. Et le langage de la foi dira de même que Marie ne meurt pas, mais qu’elle est emportée auprès de Dieu.

L’Assomption n’est pas plus un voyage stratosphérique que l’Ascension de Jésus. La théologie orientale, utilisant d’autres images, parle de la Dormition de Marie. Les peintres l’ont également magnifiquement représentée, à grand renfort de fleurs printanières surgissant en abondance : Marie n’est pas morte, elle dort, de ce sommeil dans lequel veille la vie de Dieu tout entière.

http://www.croire.com/Themes/Fetes-religieuses/Ascension/Dans-l-Ecriture/Les-deux-recits-de-Luc

Luca Giordano  (1634–1705), San Lucas pintando a la Virgen, circa 1650, 285,2 x 186.1, Museo de Arte de Ponce

4 – Saint Luc évangéliste, historien et peintre

Luc est né à Antioche. L’on ignore s’il était païen ou juif non croyant. Il exerçait la profession de médecin. Cet homme cultivé connaissait la langue grecque. Il se présente comme écrivain, soucieux de vérité historique. La visée théologique d’un missionnaire de la fin du 1e siècle apparaît cependant derrière la construction littéraire de ses écrits. Luc a réalisé un travail d’écrivain qui révèle sa capacité d’écrire une oeuvre harmonieuse. Sur le plan de l’écriture, Luc est l’écrivain le plus doué des évangélistes.

Ses écrits, parus dans les années 60, font partie des trois évangiles dits « synoptiques ». Les deux autres évangiles ont été réalisés par Matthieu et Marc.

Luc est l’auteur du livre des Actes des Apôtres qui suit les quatre Evangiles dans le Nouveau Testament. Il distingue clairement le temps de Jésus et celui des débuts de l’Église et est le seul évangéliste qui apporte des précisions sur l’enfance de Jésus. L’évangile selon Saint Luc peut être divisé en trois grandes parties :

- Le ministère de Jésus en Galilée

- De la Galilée à Jérusalem

- A Jérusalem.

Luc veut montrer que l’histoire de Jésus et celle de l’Église constituent l’accomplissement des promesses qui avaient été faites dans l’Ancien Testament.

Sa conversion fit suite à sa rencontre avec Paul de Tarse dont il devint le principal disciple. Il accompagna Paul de Tarse lors de son deuxième voyage missionnaire aux environs de l’an 49. Ils se retrouvent ensuite à Philippes. Lorsque Paul de Tarse fut décapité, Luc quitta Rome.

Luc fut également peintre et iconographe de la Vierge Marie. Plusieurs artistes l’ont représenté ainsi et nous vous invitons à lire, page suivante, l’histoire de la vierge noire vénérée en Pologne.

Le taureau est le symbole de l’évangéliste saint Luc dans notre tradition chrétienne.

Cet animal représente la puissance de travail dans l’imaginaire humain.

Pour prendre connaissance du texte concernant Paul de Tarse.

http://www.capsizun.com/luc_evangeliste.htm

5 – SAINT LUC : L’Évangéliste (Patron des peintres et des médecins) fêté le 18 octobre

LUC naquit à Antioche en Syrie. Il était grec de naissance et médecin de profession.

Luc fut un des premiers à être convertis. Plus tard, il devint le compagnon missionnaire de saint Paul pendant une partie de son deuxième et troisième voyage. Il prit soin de Paul lors de son incarcération à Césarée et à Rome. Paul en parle comme étant « le plus attentionné des médecins » et comme étant aussi « un travailleur acharné ». Avec Paul, il s’embarqua sur un bateau les menant de Troas à la Macédoine et demeura pendant sept ans à Philippes, partageant les naufrages et les périls du voyage jusqu’à Rome. En lisant les épîtres de Paul, nous apprenons que Luc est demeuré son compagnon fidèle.

Luc est l’auteur du troisième Evangile écrit avant l’an 63. Il a aussi écrit les Actes des Apôtres. Son symbole est le boeuf car celui-ci représente l’animal du sacrifice et on le retrouve dans son Evangile avec l’histoire de Zacharie le prêtre, offrant le sacrifice à Dieu. Luc parle de la prêtrise du Christ. Il mentionne aussi les oeuvres merveilleuses de Dieu lors de la construction de son Eglise et des événements et miracles qui eurent lieu de par saint Paul et auxquels il fut lui-même témoin.

Les icônes de Saint Luc (Biographie selon le Monastère Orthodoxe des Saints Elie et Elisée)

D’après la tradition, ce fut Saint Luc qui, le premier, exécuta trois Images de la sainte Mère de Dieu portant dans ses bras l’Enfant Dieu. Il les soumit à l’approbation de la Sainte Vierge, alors qu’elle était encore en vie. Celle-ci accueillit avec joie ces Saintes Images et dit: « Que la grâce de Celui qui a été enfanté par moi, soit en elles! ». Par la suite, Saint Luc, représenta en Image les Saints Apôtres et transmit à l’Eglise cette pieuse et Sainte Tradition de la vénération des Icônes du Christ et de ses Saints.

Saint Luc était originaire de la ville d’Antioche la Grande. De noble naissance, il excellait en particulier dans les domaines de la science médicale et de l’art pictural. Sous le règne de l’empereur Claude (vers 42 ap. J.C.), alors qu’il dispensait ses soins aux malades de la région de Thèbes en Béotie, il rencontra l’Apôtre Paul, dont les paroles de feu le convainquirent que la vérité absolue qu’il recherchait depuis tant d’années se trouvait effectivement chez les disciples de Jésus-Christ. Après avoir été séparé de son maître, Luc retourna en Grèce pour y proclamer l’Evangile. Il se fixa à nouveau dans la région de Thèbes, où il mourut dans la paix à l’âge de quatre-vingts ans.

Voulant rendre gloire à son fidèle serviteur, Dieu fit couler de son tombeau un liquide miraculeux, qui guérissait les maladies des yeux de ceux qui s’en oignaient avec foi. C’est ainsi que même après sa mort, Saint Luc continua d’exercer la médecine. De longues années plus tard (3 mars 357), l’empereur Constance, fils du Grand Constantin fit transporter la Relique du Saint à Constantinople par l’intermédiaire de Saint Artémios, duc d’Egypte, et la fit déposer sous l’Autel de l’église des Saints-Apôtres, auprès des Saintes Reliques des Apôtres André et Timothée.

Selon des traditions, Saint Luc a peint à trois reprises la Vierge, ouvrant la voie aux icônes peintes. C’est à l’une de ces icônes, acquise en Palestine par la femme de Théodose II et rapportée à Constantinople, que remonterait le type, très populaire, de la « Vierge Hodigitria », Vierge qui indique la Voie (le Christ enfant sur le bras gauche, la main droite ramenée devant le buste, désignant le Christ).

Plusieurs icônes sont traditionnellement attribuées à Saint Luc. Entre autres, les icônes Russes de la Vierge de Vladimir, de Jérusalem, de Tikhvine, de Smolensk, ainsi que, en Pologne, la Vierge de Czestochowa. Les icônes russes de la Vierge correspondent à des compositions iconographiques différentes. (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ic%C3%B4ne_(religion))

http://apotres.amour.free.fr/page4/luc.htm

SOURCE : http://www.paixetdeveloppement.net/religion-chretienne-redecouvrir-levangeliste-saint-luc-historien-medecin-peintre-et-evangeliste/

Giorgio Vasari  (1511–1574), Saint Luc peignant la Vierge  Marie, circa 1565, fresco, Basilica della Santissima Annunziata (Basilica of the Annunciation of Mary), Florence, 

St. Luke

St. Luke’s name – of Latin origin – indicates that he apparently was not of Jewish derivation. The earliest surviving testimony describes him as a Syrian from Antioch. His abundant acquaintance with the Antiochean Church, as well as his knowledge of literary Greek, both illustrated in his writings, supports this testimony. Tradition and one text of St. Paul’s (Colossians 4:14) say that St. Luke was a trained physician. His Gospel exhibits a Greek literary style absent from the other Gospels and documents of the New Testament. Luke, apparently, was a well-educated man. His Greek was as polished as that of such classical writers as Xenophon.

Luke’s association with the disciples of Jesus probably began after Christ’s death, in the early 30s of the 1st century. His Gospel reveals a special acquaintance with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and tradition describes him as a friend and companion of St. Paul and of St. Mark. When St. Paul began his second missionary journey, about 49 A.D., St. Luke became a member of the party, joining St. Paul at the town of Troas and traveling to Macedonia with him (Acts 16: 11-12). Luke then probably remained at Philippi, rejoining St. Paul when he had finished his third missionary journey and was returning to Jerusalem (Acts 20:5, 26:18).

The Acts further say that St. Luke accompanied St. Paul when St. Paul was taken as a prisoner to Rome to be judged by Caesar (Acts 27:1, 28:26). The contents of St. Paul’s letters to Philemon (24) and Timothy (II, 4:11) reveal that St. Luke probably stayed with St. Paul until St.Paul’s death. A document called the Anti-Marcionite Prologue, which dates from the end of the 2nd century, says that St. Luke died unmarried in Boeotia or Bithynia at the age of 84 toward the end of the 1st century.

St. Luke’s authorship of the Third Gospel has not been seriously disputed. Nor has the attribution of the Acts of the Apostles to him been questioned. Luke’s Gospel is clearly related to the Gospels of St. Mark and St. Matthew both in content and in structure; all three drew on a common source. St. Luke, however, used a second source unknown to either St. Matthew or St. Mark. Scholars have surmised that this source may have been Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her closest friends, all of whom knew Jesus intimately.

The story of Jesus is presented by St. Luke within a tripartite view of human history. According to his view, the lifetime of Jesus occupied the central position, being preceded by the time of the Law and the Prophets and being followed by the time of the Christian Church. Scholars have assigned the composition  of St. Luke’s Gospel to between 70 and 80. Both internal and external evidence indicates that it was composed outside Palestine and intended for use by non-Jews.

SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/saint-luke/

Saint Luke on a 17th century painting by unknown artist in the choir of Sankta Maria kyrka in Åhus, Sweden.

Evangelisten Lukas på en 1600-talsmålning i av okänd konstnär i koret i Sankta Maria kyrka i Åhus. Category:Images by David Castor

Saint Luke the Evangelist

Memorial

18 October

9 May (translation of relics)

20 June (translation of relics)

13 October in the martyrology by Mabillon

21 September on some calendars

26 September on some calendars

27 November on some calendars

Profile

Born to pagan Greek parents, and possibly a slave. One of the earliest converts to Christianity. Physician, studying in Antioch and Tarsus. Probably travelled as a ship‘s doctor; many charitable societies of physicians are named for him. Legend has that he was also a painter who may have done portraits of Jesus and Mary, but none have ever been correctly or definitively attributed to him; this story, and the inspiration his Gospel has always given artists, led to his patronage of them. He met Saint Paul the Apostle at Troas, and evangelized Greece and Rome with him, being there for the shipwreck and other perils of the voyage to Rome, and stayed in Rome for Paul‘s two years of in prison. Wrote the Gospel According to Luke, much of which was based on the teachings and writings of Paul, interviews with early Christians, and his own experiences. Wrote a history of the early Church in the Acts of the Apostles.

Born

at Antioch

Died

c.74 in Greece

some stories say he was martyred, others that he died of natural causes

relics at Padua, Italy

Canonized

Pre-Congregation

Name Meaning

bringer of light (= luke)

Patronage

artists

bachelors

bookbinders

brewers

butchers

doctors

glass makers

glassworkers

glaziers

gold workers

goldsmiths

lacemakers

lace workers

notaries

painters

physicians

sculptors

stained glass workers

surgeons

unmarried men

Worshipful Company of Butchers

Worshipful Company of Painters

—

Capena, Italy

Hermersdorf, Germany

Petrovac, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Representation

physicians

bishop

book

brush (refers to the tradition that he was a painter)

man accompanied by a winged ox

man painting an icon of Blessed Virgin Mary

ox

palette (refers to the tradition that he was a painters)

winged calf

winged ox

Additional Information

A Garner of Saints, by Allen Banks Hinds, M.A.

American Cyclopeadia

Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate

Catholic Encyclopedia: Gospel of Saint Luke

Golden Legend

Lives of Illustrious Men, by Saint Jerome

Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler

Lives of the Saints, by Father Francis Xavier Weninger

Lives of the Saints, by Sabine Baring-Gould

New Catholic Dictionary

Patron Saint of the Worshipful Company of Painters, by Walter Hayward Pitman

Pictorial Lives of the Saints

Roman Martyrology

Saints of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein

Short Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly

books

Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints

other sites in english

1001 Patron Saints and Their Feast Days, Australian Catholic Truth Society

Catholic Cuisine: Artist’s Palate Cookies

Catholic Culture

Catholic Culture

Catholic Harbor

Catholic Heroes

Catholic Ireland

Catholic News Agency

Catholic Online

Catholic Tradition

Christian Biographies, by James Keifer

Christian Iconography

Cradio

Encyclopedia Brittanica

Father Michael Cummins

Franciscan Media

Independent Catholic News

Jean M Heimann

Jimmy Akin: 10 Things to Know and Share

John Dillon

Regina Magazine

Saints for Sinners

Saints in Rome

Saints Stories for All Ages

Scott P Richert

uCatholic

Wikipedia

images

Santi e Beati

Wikimedia Commons

video

YouTube PlayList

e-books

Saint Luke: His Life, Character and Teaching, by McVeigh Harrison, OHC

sitios en español

Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición

sites en français

Abbé Christian-Philippe Chanut

Fête des prénoms

Wikipedia

fonti in italiano

Cathopedia

Santi e Beati

Santo del Giorno

Wikipedia

nettsteder i norsk

Den katolske kirke

Wikipedia

Writings

Canonical Gospel According to Luke

Canonical Acts of the Apostles

MLA Citation

“Saint Luke the Evangelist“. CatholicSaints.Info. 31 August 2021. Web. 18 October 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-luke-the-evangelist/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-luke-the-evangelist/

Evangelist Lukas, deesis icon 14 th century, Hilandar

Saints of the Day – Luke the Evangelist

Article

1st century. Saint Luke was a gentile (not mentioned as a Jew by Saint Paul in Colossians 4:10-11), a Greek (according to Saint Jerome), perhaps born in Antioch (per Eusebius), and a medical man by profession – Saint Paul speaks of him as ‘our beloved Luke, the physician’ (Colossians 4:14). He was the author of the Gospel the bears his name and of its continuation – the Acts of the Apostles. The Gospel was definitely written by a Gentile Christian for Gentile Christians. Though Jesus lived and worked almost entirely among Jews, He also reached out to others. Whenever Jesus has dealings with, for example, Syrians, or praises a Roman centurion, Luke tells us about it. He also shows Jesus’ special friendship with the outcasts of society and his love of the poor.

One of the interesting aspects of Luke’s Gospel is his frequent juxtaposition of a story about a man and then another about a woman. For example, the cure of the demoniac (Luke 4:31-37) is followed by the cure of Peter’s mother-in-law (4:38-39); the centurion’s slave is healed (7:1-10), then the widow of Nain’s son is raised (7:11-17); the Gerasene demoniac is healed (8:26-39) followed by the raising of Jairus’s Daughter and healing of the woman with the hemorrhage (8:40-56).

Luke also mentions the women who followed and assisted Jesus in His ministry (e.g., 8:1-3). Thus, in a way that no other evangelist does, Luke depicts a Jesus who cares for the status and salvation of women quite as much as He does for men. Perhaps this is because Luke probably learned much about Jesus from the Blessed Virgin herself. Only he and Matthew record elements about the hidden life of the Lord before his public ministry.

Luke stresses God’s mercy and love of all mankind. He alone records the parables of the lost sheep, the Good Samaritan, the prodigal son, the Pharisee and the publican, the barren fig tree, Dives and Lazarus. He is also the only one to record Jesus’ forgiveness of Mary Magdalen (?) (Luke 7:47), His promise to the good thief (Luke 23:43), and His prayer for his executioners (Luke 23:34). And he is also the only evangelist to record the Ave Maria the Magnificat, the Benedictus, and the Nunc Dimittis, which are all used in the Liturgy of the Hours (Night, Evening, Morning, and Night Prayer respectively). Luke also emphasizes the call to poverty, prayer, and purity of heart, which comprise much of his specific appeal to the Gentiles.

Luke also wrote the Acts of the Apostles, which might more appropriately be known as the Acts of the Holy Spirit. This is a continuation of his Gospel account, though the Acts may have been written first. According to Eusebius and Jerome, Acts was written during Paul’s imprisonment, though Saint Ireneaus says after Paul’s death c.66. Eusebius says that the Gospel was set down before Paul’s death, Jerome says after, and an early tradition records it as being composed shortly before Luke’s death.

Legend has him as one of the 72 disciples, and some scholars identify him with Lucius of Cyrene, a teacher and prophet at Antioch (Acts 13:1) and with Lucius, Paul’s companion at Corinth (Rom. 16:21). We don’t know exactly when he was converted; perhaps in 42 when Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas came to preach at Antioch, or possibly even earlier when the Christians fled from Jerusalem to Antioch after the stoning of Saint Stephen.

Certain passages of Acts, written in the first person plural, are usually held to show that the writer was with Saint Paul on parts of his second and third missionary journeys and on the voyage to Italy, when the ship was wrecked off the coast of Malta (Acts 16:10ff; 20:5ff; 27-28). He was with Paul during both his first and second imprisonments. In his letters, Paul thrice (AD 61-63) refers to Luke’s presence in Rome, writing to Timothy, ‘Luke is my only companion.’

Between the two missionary journeys (AD 51-57), he stayed at Philippi as a leader of the Christian community. Then he rejoined Saint Paul on the third trip, meeting him in Macedonia and accompanying him to Jerusalem. Thereafter, he was Paul’s constant companion. He was with Paul after his arrest in the Temple and during the two years (57-59) of his imprisonment at Caesarea. When Paul appealed to Caesar, Luke went with him and was shipwrecked with Paul on the coast of Malta. Until Saint Paul’s martyrdom in 67, Luke never left his side.

A writer perhaps as early as the late second century declares that, having served the Lord constantly and written his gospel there, According to a less reliable tradition, Luke died, unmarried, in Boeotia, Greece, at the age of 84, ‘full of the Holy Spirit.’ He is said to have been martyred, which is very doubtful, but we have no record of his history after the time he was in Rome with Paul.

Though Luke may never have known Our Lord in the flesh, it is possible that he did know the Mother of God and Saint John. He was in Rome at the same time as Saints Peter and Mark and, while in the company of Paul, must surely have known many of the disciples.

Translations of his relics were claimed by Constantinople and Padua (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Green-Armytage, Walsh, White).

Perhaps one of the best novels about Saint Luke is Taylor Caldwell’s Dear and Glorious Physician, which is especially good in portraying extant pagan heralds to the coming of Christ.

Saint Luke is the patron saint of physicians and surgeons, and also of guilds of artists, art schools, and painters of pictures because later tradition in the Greek Church claims that Luke was also an artist. Reputedly Luke carried a portrait of the Blessed Mother with him and that it was the instrument of many conversions. Indeed, he was a great artist in words, and his narratives have inspired many masterpieces of art; but the existing pictures of the Blessed Virgin, which he is said actually to have painted, are all works of a much later date, including that of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Unfortunately, a rough drawing in the catacombs inscribed as “one of seven painted by Luca” confirmed the Greek legend in the popular mind.

Additionally, he is considered the patron of sculptors, bookbinders, goldsmiths, lacemakers, notaries (because of his account of Christ’s life), and butchers (because of his emblem, the winged ox) (Appleton, Roeder, Tabor).

Saint Irenaeus is credited with having first assigned the mysterious winged ox, described in Ezekiel and by Saint John in Revelation, to Saint Luke. The first known usage of the emblems of the apocalyptic creatures is in the apse mosaic of Saint Pudentiana in Rome dating to the end of the 4th century, although they were not specifically associated with any one of the Evangelists. Nevertheless, since the time of Saints Jerome (died 420) and Augustine (died 430), the winged ox has been assigned to Saint Luke. This may be an allusion to the sacrifice in the Temple at the beginning of his Gospel, and to Saint Luke’s emphasis on the atonement made by Christ’s suffering and death (Appleton).

In art he appears (1) as a bishop or a physician with a book or scroll, often accompanied by a winged ox; (2) painting the Virgin (anonymous, at Saint Isaac of Syria Skete, Boscobel, Wisconsin, USA) (this subject is especially used in 15th and 16th- century Flemish paintings); (3) in a doctor’s cap and gown, holding a book; (4) occasionally present in scenes of the Annunciation or angel’s message to Zacharia; (5) giving his book to Saint Theophilus B; or (6) as an evangelist, writing (14th century French illumination) (Roeder, White). Exceptional painting of Saint Luke include those of Roger van der Weyden in the Pinacoteca, Munich; Jean Grossaert in Prague; and the School of Raphael in the Accademia di San Luca in Rome (Tabor).

MLA Citation

Katherine I Rabenstein. Saints of the Day, 1998. CatholicSaints.Info. 3 August 2020. Web. 19 October 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-day-luke-the-evangelist/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-day-luke-the-evangelist/

Master of the Magdalen, San Luca, circa 1285, tempera on panel, 132 x 50, Uffizi 

Saints of the Day – Luke the Evangelist

Article

1st century. Saint Luke was a gentile (not mentioned as a Jew by Saint Paul in Colossians 4:10-11), a Greek (according to Saint Jerome), perhaps born in Antioch (per Eusebius), and a medical man by profession – Saint Paul speaks of him as ‘our beloved Luke, the physician’ (Colossians 4:14). He was the author of the Gospel the bears his name and of its continuation – the Acts of the Apostles. The Gospel was definitely written by a Gentile Christian for Gentile Christians. Though Jesus lived and worked almost entirely among Jews, He also reached out to others. Whenever Jesus has dealings with, for example, Syrians, or praises a Roman centurion, Luke tells us about it. He also shows Jesus’ special friendship with the outcasts of society and his love of the poor.

One of the interesting aspects of Luke’s Gospel is his frequent juxtaposition of a story about a man and then another about a woman. For example, the cure of the demoniac (Luke 4:31-37) is followed by the cure of Peter’s mother-in-law (4:38-39); the centurion’s slave is healed (7:1-10), then the widow of Nain’s son is raised (7:11-17); the Gerasene demoniac is healed (8:26-39) followed by the raising of Jairus’s Daughter and healing of the woman with the hemorrhage (8:40-56).

Luke also mentions the women who followed and assisted Jesus in His ministry (e.g., 8:1-3). Thus, in a way that no other evangelist does, Luke depicts a Jesus who cares for the status and salvation of women quite as much as He does for men. Perhaps this is because Luke probably learned much about Jesus from the Blessed Virgin herself. Only he and Matthew record elements about the hidden life of the Lord before his public ministry.

Luke stresses God’s mercy and love of all mankind. He alone records the parables of the lost sheep, the Good Samaritan, the prodigal son, the Pharisee and the publican, the barren fig tree, Dives and Lazarus. He is also the only one to record Jesus’ forgiveness of Mary Magdalen (?) (Luke 7:47), His promise to the good thief (Luke 23:43), and His prayer for his executioners (Luke 23:34). And he is also the only evangelist to record the Ave Maria the Magnificat, the Benedictus, and the Nunc Dimittis, which are all used in the Liturgy of the Hours (Night, Evening, Morning, and Night Prayer respectively). Luke also emphasizes the call to poverty, prayer, and purity of heart, which comprise much of his specific appeal to the Gentiles.

Luke also wrote the Acts of the Apostles, which might more appropriately be known as the Acts of the Holy Spirit. This is a continuation of his Gospel account, though the Acts may have been written first. According to Eusebius and Jerome, Acts was written during Paul’s imprisonment, though Saint Ireneaus says after Paul’s death c.66. Eusebius says that the Gospel was set down before Paul’s death, Jerome says after, and an early tradition records it as being composed shortly before Luke’s death.

Legend has him as one of the 72 disciples, and some scholars identify him with Lucius of Cyrene, a teacher and prophet at Antioch (Acts 13:1) and with Lucius, Paul’s companion at Corinth (Rom. 16:21). We don’t know exactly when he was converted; perhaps in 42 when Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas came to preach at Antioch, or possibly even earlier when the Christians fled from Jerusalem to Antioch after the stoning of Saint Stephen.

Certain passages of Acts, written in the first person plural, are usually held to show that the writer was with Saint Paul on parts of his second and third missionary journeys and on the voyage to Italy, when the ship was wrecked off the coast of Malta (Acts 16:10ff; 20:5ff; 27-28). He was with Paul during both his first and second imprisonments. In his letters, Paul thrice (AD 61-63) refers to Luke’s presence in Rome, writing to Timothy, ‘Luke is my only companion.’

Between the two missionary journeys (AD 51-57), he stayed at Philippi as a leader of the Christian community. Then he rejoined Saint Paul on the third trip, meeting him in Macedonia and accompanying him to Jerusalem. Thereafter, he was Paul’s constant companion. He was with Paul after his arrest in the Temple and during the two years (57-59) of his imprisonment at Caesarea. When Paul appealed to Caesar, Luke went with him and was shipwrecked with Paul on the coast of Malta. Until Saint Paul’s martyrdom in 67, Luke never left his side.

A writer perhaps as early as the late second century declares that, having served the Lord constantly and written his gospel there, According to a less reliable tradition, Luke died, unmarried, in Boeotia, Greece, at the age of 84, ‘full of the Holy Spirit.’ He is said to have been martyred, which is very doubtful, but we have no record of his history after the time he was in Rome with Paul.

Though Luke may never have known Our Lord in the flesh, it is possible that he did know the Mother of God and Saint John. He was in Rome at the same time as Saints Peter and Mark and, while in the company of Paul, must surely have known many of the disciples.

Translations of his relics were claimed by Constantinople and Padua (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Green-Armytage, Walsh, White).

Perhaps one of the best novels about Saint Luke is Taylor Caldwell’s Dear and Glorious Physician, which is especially good in portraying extant pagan heralds to the coming of Christ.

Saint Luke is the patron saint of physicians and surgeons, and also of guilds of artists, art schools, and painters of pictures because later tradition in the Greek Church claims that Luke was also an artist. Reputedly Luke carried a portrait of the Blessed Mother with him and that it was the instrument of many conversions. Indeed, he was a great artist in words, and his narratives have inspired many masterpieces of art; but the existing pictures of the Blessed Virgin, which he is said actually to have painted, are all works of a much later date, including that of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Unfortunately, a rough drawing in the catacombs inscribed as “one of seven painted by Luca” confirmed the Greek legend in the popular mind.

Additionally, he is considered the patron of sculptors, bookbinders, goldsmiths, lacemakers, notaries (because of his account of Christ’s life), and butchers (because of his emblem, the winged ox) (Appleton, Roeder, Tabor).

Saint Irenaeus is credited with having first assigned the mysterious winged ox, described in Ezekiel and by Saint John in Revelation, to Saint Luke. The first known usage of the emblems of the apocalyptic creatures is in the apse mosaic of Saint Pudentiana in Rome dating to the end of the 4th century, although they were not specifically associated with any one of the Evangelists. Nevertheless, since the time of Saints Jerome (died 420) and Augustine (died 430), the winged ox has been assigned to Saint Luke. This may be an allusion to the sacrifice in the Temple at the beginning of his Gospel, and to Saint Luke’s emphasis on the atonement made by Christ’s suffering and death (Appleton).

In art he appears (1) as a bishop or a physician with a book or scroll, often accompanied by a winged ox; (2) painting the Virgin (anonymous, at Saint Isaac of Syria Skete, Boscobel, Wisconsin, USA) (this subject is especially used in 15th and 16th- century Flemish paintings); (3) in a doctor’s cap and gown, holding a book; (4) occasionally present in scenes of the Annunciation or angel’s message to Zacharia; (5) giving his book to Saint Theophilus B; or (6) as an evangelist, writing (14th century French illumination) (Roeder, White). Exceptional painting of Saint Luke include those of Roger van der Weyden in the Pinacoteca, Munich; Jean Grossaert in Prague; and the School of Raphael in the Accademia di San Luca in Rome (Tabor).

MLA Citation

Katherine I Rabenstein. Saints of the Day, 1998. CatholicSaints.Info. 3 August 2020. Web. 18 October 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-day-luke-the-evangelist/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-day-luke-the-evangelist/

Gospel of Saint Luke

The subject will be treated under the following heads:

I. Biography of Saint Luke; 

II.Authenticity of the Gospel; 

III. Integrity of the Gospel; 

IV. Purpose and Contents; 

V. Sources of the Gospel: Synoptic Problem; 

VI. Saint Luke's Accuracy; 

VII. Lysanias, Tetrarch of Abilene; 

VIII. Who Spoke the Magnificat?

IX. The Census of Quirinius; 

X. Saint Luke and Josephus.

Biography of Saint Luke

The name Lucas (Luke) is probably an abbreviation from Lucanus, like Annas from Ananus, Apollos from Apollonius, Artemas from Artemidorus, Demas from Demetrius, etc. (Schanz, "Evang. des heiligen Lucas", 1, 2; Lightfoot on "Col.", iv, 14; Plummer, "St. Luke", introd.)

The word Lucas seems to have been unknown before the Christian Era; but Lucanus is common in inscriptions, and is found at the beginning and end of the Gospel in some Old Latin manuscripts (ibid.). It is generally held that St. Luke was a native of Antioch. Eusebius (Church History III.4.6) has: Loukas de to men genos on ton ap Antiocheias, ten episteuen iatros, ta pleista suggegonos to Paulo, kai rots laipois de ou parergos ton apostolon homilnkos--"Lucas vero domo Antiochenus, arte medicus, qui et cum Paulo diu conjunctissime vixit, et cum reliquis Apostolis studiose versatus est." Eusebius has a clearer statement in his "Quæstiones Evangelicæ", IV, i, 270: ho de Loukas to men genos apo tes Boomenes Antiocheias en--"Luke was by birth a native of the renowned Antioch" (Schmiedel, "Encyc. Bib."). Spitta, Schmiedel, and Harnack think this is a quotation from Julius Africanus (first half of the third century). In Codex Bezæ (D) Luke is introduced by a "we" as early as Acts 11:28; and, though this is not a correct reading, it represents a very ancient tradition. The writer of Acts took a special interest in Antioch and was well acquainted with it (Acts 11:19-27; 13:1; 14:18-21, 14:25, 15:22, 23, 30, 35; 18:22). We are told the locality of only one deacon, "Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch", 6:5; and it has been pointed out by Plummer that, out of eight writers who describe the Russian campaign of 1812, only two, who were Scottish, mention that the Russian general, Barclay de Tolly, was of Scottish extraction. These considerations seem to exclude the conjecture of Renan and Ramsay that St. Luke was a native of Philippi.

St. Luke was not a Jew. He is separated by St. Paul from those of the circumcision (Colossians 4:14), and his style proves that he was a Greek. Hence he cannot be identified with Lucius the prophet of Acts 13:1, nor with Lucius of Romans 16:21, who was cognatus of St. Paul. From this and the prologue of the Gospel it follows that Epiphanius errs when he calls him one of the Seventy Disciples; nor was he the companion of Cleophas in the journey to Emmaus after the Resurrection (as stated by Theophylact and the Greek Menologium). St. Luke had a great knowledge of the Septuagint and of things Jewish, which he acquired either as a Jewish proselyte (St. Jerome) or after he became a Christian, through his close intercourse with the Apostles and disciples. Besides Greek, he had many opportunities of acquiring Aramaic in his native Antioch, the capital of Syria. He was a physician by profession, and St. Paul calls him "the most dear physician" (Colossians 4:14). This avocation implied a liberal education, and his medical training is evidenced by his choice of medical language. Plummer suggests that he may have studied medicine at the famous school of Tarsus, the rival of Alexandria and Athens, and possibly met St. Paul there. From his intimate knowledge of the eastern Mediterranean, it has been conjectured that he had lengthened experience as a doctor on board ship. He travailed a good deal, and sends greetings to the Colossians, which seems to indicate that he had visited them.

St. Luke first appears in the Acts at Troas (16:8 sqq.), where he meets St. Paul, and, after the vision, crossed over with him to Europe as an Evangelist, landing at Neapolis and going on to Philippi, "being assured that God had called us to preach the Gospel to them" (note especially the transition into first person plural at verse 10). He was, therefore, already an Evangelist. He was present at the conversion of Lydia and her companions, and lodged in her house. He, together with St. Paul and his companions, was recognized by the pythonical spirit: "This same following Paul and us, cried out, saying: These men are the servants of the most high God, who preach unto you the way of salvation" (verse 17). He beheld Paul and Silas arrested, dragged before the Roman magistrates, charged with disturbing the city, "being Jews", beaten with rods and thrown into prison. Luke and Timothy escaped, probably because they did not look like Jews (Timothy's father was a gentile). When Paul departed from Philippi, Luke was left behind, in all probability to carry on the work of Evangelist. At Thessalonica the Apostle received highly appreciated pecuniary aid from Philippi (Philippians 4:15-16), doubtless through the good offices of St. Luke. It is not unlikely that the latter remained at Philippi all the time that St. Paul was preaching at Athens and Corinth, and while he was travelling to Jerusalem and back to Ephesus, and during the three years that the Apostle was engaged at Ephesus. When St. Paul revisited Macedonia, he again met St. Luke at Philippi, and there wrote his Second Epistle to the Corinthians.

St. Jerome thinks it is most likely that St. Luke is "the brother, whose praise is in the gospel through all the churches" (2 Corinthians 8:18), and that he was one of the bearers of the letter to Corinth. Shortly afterwards, when St. Paul returned from Greece, St. Luke accompanied him from Philippi to Troas, and with him made the long coasting voyage described in Acts 20. He went up to Jerusalem, was present at the uproar, saw the attack on the Apostle, and heard him speaking "in the Hebrew tongue" from the steps outside the fortress Antonia to the silenced crowd. Then he witnessed the infuriated Jews, in their impotent rage, rending their garments, yelling, and flinging dust into the air. We may be sure that he was a constant visitor to St. Paul during the two years of the latter's imprisonment at Cæarea. In that period he might well become acquainted with the circumstances of the death of Herod Agrippa I, who had died there eaten up by worms" (skolekobrotos), and he was likely to be better informed on the subject than Josephus. Ample opportunities were given him, "having diligently attained to all things from the beginning", concerning the Gospel and early Acts, to write in order what had been delivered by those "who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word" (Luke 1:2, 3). It is held by many writers that the Gospel was written during this time, Ramsay is of opinion that the Epistle to the Hebrews was then composed, and that St. Luke had a considerable share in it. When Paul appealed to Cæsar, Luke and Aristarchus accompanied him from Cæsarea, and were with him during the stormy voyage from Crete to Malta. Thence they went on to Rome, where, during the two years that St. Paul was kept in prison, St. Luke was frequently at his side, though not continuously, as he is not mentioned in the greetings of the Epistle to the Philippians (Lightfoot, "Phil.", 35). He was present when the Epistles to the Colossians, Ephesians and Philemon were written, and is mentioned in the salutations given in two of them: "Luke the most dear physician, saluteth you" (Colossians 4:14); "There salute thee . . . Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke my fellow labourers" (Philem., 24). St. Jerome holds that it was during these two years Acts was written.

We have no information about St. Luke during the interval between St. Paul's two Roman imprisonments, but he must have met several of the Apostles and disciples during his various journeys. He stood beside St. Paul in his last imprisonment; for the Apostle, writing for the last time to Timothy, says: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course. . . . Make haste to come to me quickly. For Demas hath left me, loving this world. . . . Only Luke is with me" (2 Timothy 4:7-11). It is worthy of note that, in the three places where he is mentioned in the Epistles (Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24; 2 Timothy 4:11) he is named with St. Mark (cf. Colossians 4:10), the other Evangelist who was not an Apostle (Plummer), and it is clear from his Gospel that he was well acquainted with the Gospel according to St. Mark; and in the Acts he knows all the details of St. Peter's delivery—what happened at the house of St. Mark's mother, and the name of the girl who ran to the outer door when St. Peter knocked. He must have frequently met St. Peter, and may have assisted him to draw up his First Epistle in Greek, which affords many reminiscences of Luke's style. After St. Paul's martyrdom practically all that is known about him is contained in the ancient "Prefatio vel Argumentum Lucæ", dating back to Julius Africanus, who was born about A.D. 165. This states that he was unmarried, that he wrote the Gospel, in Achaia, and that he died at the age of seventy-four in Bithynia (probably a copyist's error for Bœotia), filled with the Holy Ghost. Epiphanius has it that he preached in Dalmatia (where there is a tradition to that effect), Gallia (Galatia?), Italy, and Macedonia. As an Evangelist, he must have suffered much for the Faith, but it is controverted whether he actually died a martyr's death. St. Jerome writes of him (De Vir. III., vii). "Sepultus est Constantinopoli, ad quam urbem vigesimo Constantii anno, ossa ejus cum reliquiis Andreæ Apostoli translata sunt [de Achaia?]."

St. Luke its always represented by the calf or ox, the sacrificial animal, because his Gospel begins with the account of Zachary, the priest, the father of John the Baptist. He is called a painter by Nicephorus Callistus (fourteenth century), and by the Menology of Basil II, A.D. 980. A picture of the Virgin in S. Maria Maggiore, Rome, is ascribed to him, and can be traced to A.D. 847 It is probably a copy of that mentioned by Theodore Lector, in the sixth century. This writer states that the Empress Eudoxia found a picture of the Mother of God at Jerusalem, which she sent to Constantinople (see "Acta SS.", 18 Oct.). As Plummer observes. it is certain that St. Luke was an artist, at least to the extent that his graphic descriptions of the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Shepherds. Presentation, the Shepherd and lost sheep, etc., have become the inspiring and favourite themes of Christian painters.

St. Luke is one of the most extensive writers of the New Testament. His Gospel is considerably longer than St. Matthew's, his two books are about as long as St. Paul's fourteen Epistles: and Acts exceeds in length the Seven Catholic Epistles and the Apocalypse. The style of the Gospel is superior to any N.T. writing except Hebrews. Renan says (Les Evangiles, xiii) that it is the most literary of the Gospels. St. Luke is a painter in words. "The author of the Third Gospel and of the Acts is the most versatile of all New Testament writers. He can be as Hebraistic as the Septuagint, and as free from Hebraisms as Plutarch. . . He is Hebraistic in describing Hebrew society and Greek when describing Greek society" (Plummer, introd.). His great command of Greek is shown by the richness of his vocabulary and the freedom of his constructions.

Authenticity of the Gospel

Internal evidence

The internal evidence may be briefly summarized as follows:

The author of Acts was a companion of Saint Paul, namely, Saint Luke; and

the author of Acts was the author of the Gospel.

The arguments are given at length by Plummer, "St. Luke" in "Int. Crit. Com." (4th ed., Edinburgh, 1901); Harnack, "Luke the Physician" (London, 1907); "The Acts of the Apostles" (London, 1909); etc.

(1) The Author of Acts was a companion of Saint Paul, namely, Saint Luke

There is nothing more certain in Biblical criticism than this proposition. The writer of the "we" sections claims to be a companion of St. Paul. The "we" begins at Acts 16:10, and continues to 16:17 (the action is at Philippi). It reappears at 20:5 (Philippi), and continues to 21:18 (Jerusalem). It reappears again at the departure for Rome, 27:1 (Greek text), and continues to the end of the book.

Plummer argues that these sections are by the same author as the rest of the Acts:

from the natural way in which they fit in;

from references to them in other parts; and

from the identity of style.

The change of person seems natural and true to the narrative, but there is no change of language. The characteristic expressions of the writer run through the whole book, and are as frequent in the "we" as in the other sections. There is no change of style perceptible. Harnack (Luke the Physician, 40) makes an exhaustive examination of every word and phrase in the first of the "we" sections (xvi, 10-17), and shows how frequent they are in the rest of the Acts and the Gospel, when compared with the other Gospels. His manner of dealing with the first word (hos) will indicate his method: "This temporal hos is never found in St. Matthew and St. Mark, but it occurs forty-eight times in St. Luke (Gospels and Acts), and that in all parts of the work." When he comes to the end of his study of this section he is able to write: "After this demonstration those who declare that this passage was derived from a source, and so was not composed by the author of the whole work, take up a most difficult position. What may we suppose the author to have left unaltered in the source? Only the 'we'. For, in fact, nothing else remains. In regard to vocabulary, syntax, and style, he must have transformed everything else into his own language. As such a procedure is absolutely unimaginable, we are simply left to infer that the author is here himself speaking." He even thinks it improbable, on account of the uniformity of style, that the author was copying from a diary of his own, made at an earlier period. After this, Harnack proceeds to deal with the remaining "we" sections, with like results. But it is not alone in vocabulary, syntax and style, that this uniformity is manifest. In "The Acts of the Apostles", Harnack devotes many pages to a detailed consideration of the manner in which chronological data, and terms dealing with lands, nations, cities, and houses, are employed throughout the Acts, as well as the mode of dealing with persons and miracles, and he everywhere shows that the unity of authorship cannot be denied except by those who ignore the facts. This same conclusion is corroborated by the recurrence of medical language in all parts of the Acts and the Gospel.

That the companion of St. Paul who wrote the Acts was St. Luke is the unanimous voice of antiquity. His choice of medical language proves that the author was a physician. Westein, in his preface to the Gospel ("Novum Test. Græcum", Amsterdam, 1741, 643), states that there are clear indications of his medical profession throughout St. Luke's writings; and in the course of his commentary he points out several technical expressions common to the Evangelist and the medical writings of Galen. These were brought together by the Bollandists ("Acta SS.", 18 Oct.). In the "Gentleman's Magazine" for June, 1841, a paper appeared on the medical language of St. Luke. To the instances given in that article, Plummer and Harnack add several others; but the great book on the subject is Hobart "The Medical Language of St. Luke" (Dublin, 1882). Hobart works right through the Gospel and Acts and points out numerous words and phrases identical with those employed by such medical writers as Hippocrates, Arctæus, Galen, and Dioscorides. A few are found in Aristotle, but he was a doctor's son. The words and phrases cited are either peculiar to the Third Gospel and Acts, or are more frequent than in other New Testament writings. The argument is cumulative, and does not give way with its weakest strands. When doubtful cases and expressions common to the Septuagint, are set aside, a large number remain that seem quite unassailable. Harnack (Luke the Physician! 13) says: "It is as good as certain from the subject-matter, and more especially from the style, of this great work that the author was a physician by profession. Of course, in making such a statement one still exposes oneself to the scorn of the critics, and yet the arguments which are alleged in its support are simply convincing. . . . Those, however, who have studied it [Hobart's book] carefully, will, I think, find it impossible to escape the conclusion that the question here is not one of merely accidental linguistic coloring, but that this great historical work was composed by a writer who was either a physician or was quite intimately acquainted with medical language and science. And, indeed, this conclusion holds good not only for the 'we' sections, but for the whole book." Harnack gives the subject special treatment in an appendix of twenty-two pages. Hawkins and Zahn come to the same conclusion. The latter observes (Einl., II, 427): "Hobart has proved for everyone who can appreciate proof that the author of the Lucan work was a man practised in the scientific language of Greek medicine--in short, a Greek physician" (quoted by Harnack, op. cit.).

In this connection, Plummer, though he speaks more cautiously of Hobart's argument, is practically in agreement with these writers. He says that when Hobart's list has been well sifted a considerable number of words remains. "The argument", he goes on to say "is cumulative. Any two or three instances of coincidence with medical writers may be explained as mere coincidences; but the large number of coincidences renders their explanation unsatisfactory for all of them, especially where the word is either rare in the LXX, or not found there at all" (64). In "The Expositor" (Nov. 1909, 385 sqq.), Mayor says of Harnack's two above-cited works: "He has in opposition to the Tübingen school of critics, successfully vindicated for St. Luke the authorship of the two canonical books ascribed to him, and has further proved that, with some few omissions, they may be accepted as trustworthy documents. . . . I am glad to see that the English translator . . . has now been converted by Harnack's argument, founded in part, as he himself confesses, on the researches of English scholars, especially Dr. Hobart, Sir W. M. Ramsay, and Sir John Hawkins." There is a striking resemblance between the prologue of the Gospel and a preface written by Dioscorides, a medical writer who studied at Tarsus in the first century (see Blass, "Philology of the Gospels"). The words with which Hippocrates begins his treatise "On Ancient Medicine" should be noted in this connection: 'Okosoi epecheiresan peri iatrikes legein he graphein, K. T. L. (Plummer, 4). When all these considerations are fully taken into account, they prove that the companion of St. Paul who wrote the Acts (and the Gospel) was a physician. Now, we learn from St. Paul that he had such a companion. Writing to the Colossians (iv, 11), he says: "Luke, the most dear physician, saluteth you." He was, therefore, with St. Paul when he wrote to the Colossians, Philemon, and Ephesians; and also when he wrote the Second Epistle to Timothy. From the manner in which he is spoken of, a long period of intercourse is implied.

(2) The Author of Acts was the Author of the Gospel

"This position", says Plummer, "is so generally admitted by critics of all schools that not much time need be spent in discussing it." Harnack may be said to be the latest prominent convert to this view, to which he gives elaborate support in the two books above mentioned. He claims to have shown that the earlier critics went hopelessly astray, and that the traditional view is the right one. This opinion is fast gaining ground even amongst ultra critics, and Harnack declares that the others hold out because there exists a disposition amongst them to ignore the facts that tell against them, and he speaks of "the truly pitiful history of the criticism of the Acts". Only the briefest summary of the arguments can be given here. The Gospel and Acts are both dedicated to Theophilus and the author of the latter work claims to be the author of the former (Acts 1:1). The style and arrangement of both are so much alike that the supposition that one was written by a forger in imitation of the other is absolutely excluded. The required power of literary analysis was then unknown, and, if it were possible, we know of no writer of that age who had the wonderful skill necessary to produce such an imitation. It is to postulate a literary miracle, says Plummer, to suppose that one of the books was a forgery written in Imitation of the other. Such an idea would not have occurred to anyone; and, if it had, he could not have carried it out with such marvellous success. If we take a few chapters of the Gospel and note down the special, peculiar, and characteristic words, phrases and constructions, and then open the Acts at random, we shall find the same literary peculiarities constantly recurring. Or, if we begin with the Acts, and proceed conversely, the same results will follow. In addition to similarity, there are parallels of description, arrangement, and points of view, and the recurrence of medical language, in both books, has been mentioned under the previous heading.

We should naturally expect that the long intercourse between St. Paul and St. Luke would mutually influence their vocabulary, and their writings show that this was really the case. Hawkins (Horæ Synopticæ) and Bebb (Hast., "Dict. of the Bible", s.v. "Luke, Gospel of") state that there are 32 words found only in St. Matt. and St. Paul; 22 in St. Mark and St. Paul; 21 in St. John and St. Paul; while there are 101 found only in St. Luke and St. Paul. Of the characteristic words and phrases which mark the three Synoptic Gospels a little more than half are common to St. Matt. and St. Paul, less than half to St. Mark and St. Paul and two-thirds to St. Luke and St. Paul. Several writers have given examples of parallelism between the Gospel and the Pauline Epistles. Among the most striking are those given by Plummer (44). The same author gives long lists of words and expressions found in the Gospel and Acts and in St. Paul, and nowhere else in the New Testament. But more than this, Eager in "The Expositor" (July and August, 1894), in his attempt to prove that St. Luke was the author of Hebrews, has drawn attention to the remarkable fact that the Lucan influence on the language of St. Paul is much more marked in those Epistles where we know that St. Luke was his constant companion. Summing up, he observes: "There is in fact sufficient ground for believing that these books. Colossians, II Corinthians, the Pastoral Epistles, First (and to a lesser extent Second) Peter, possess a Lucan character." When all these points are taken into consideration, they afford convincing proof that the author of the Gospel and Acts was St. Luke, the beloved physician, the companion of St. Paul, and this is fully borne out by the external evidence.

External evidence

The proof in favour of the unity of authorship, derived from the internal character of the two books, is strengthened when taken in connection with the external evidence. Every ancient testimony for the authenticity of Acts tells equally in favour of the Gospel; and every passage for the Lucan authorship of the Gospel gives a like support to the authenticity of Acts. Besides, in many places of the early Fathers both books are ascribed to St. Luke. The external evidence can be touched upon here only in the briefest manner. For external evidence in favour of Acts, see ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

The many passages in St. Jerome, Eusebius, and Origen, ascribing the books to St. Luke, are important not only as testifying to the belief of their own, but also of earlier times. St. Jerome and Origen were great travellers, and all three were omnivorous readers. They had access to practically the whole Christian literature of preceding centuries; but they nowhere hint that the authorship of the Gospel (and Acts) was ever called in question. This, taken by itself, would be a stronger argument than can be adduced for the majority of classical works. But we have much earlier testimony. Clement of Alexandria was probably born at Athens about A.D. 150. He travelled much and had for instructors in the Faith an Ionian, an Italian, a Syrian, an Egyptian, an Assyrian, and a Hebrew in Palestine. "And these men, preserving the true tradition of the blessed teaching directly from Peter and James, John and Paul, the holy Apostles, son receiving it from father, came by God's providence even unto us, to deposit among us those seeds [of truth] which were derived from their ancestors and the Apostles". (Stromata I.1.11; cf. Euseb., Church History V.11). He holds that St. Luke's Gospel was written before that of St. Mark, and he uses the four Gospels just as any modern Catholic writer. Tertullian was born at Carthage, lived some time in Rome, and then returned to Carthage. His quotations from the Gospels, when brought together by Rönsch, cover two hundred pages. He attacks Marcion for mutilating St. Luke's Gospel. and writes: "I say then that among them, and not only among the Apostolic Churches, but among all the Churches which are united with them in Christian fellowship, the Gospel of Luke, which we earnestly defend, has been maintained from its first publication" (Adv. Marc., IV, v).

The testimony of St. Irenæus is of special importance. He was born in Asia Minor, where he heard St. Polycarp give his reminiscences of St. John the Apostle, and in his numerous writings he frequently mentions other disciples of the Apostles. He was priest in Lyons during the persecution in 177, and was the bearer of the letter of the confessors to Rome. His bishop, Pothinus, whom be succeeded, was ninety years of age when he gained the crown of martyrdom in 177, and must have been born while some of the Apostles and very many of their hearers were still living. St. Irenæus, who was born about A.D. 130 (some say much earlier), is, therefore, a witness for the early tradition of Asia Minor, Rome, and Gaul. He quotes the Gospels just as any modern bishop would do, he calls them Scripture, believes even in their verbal inspiration; shows how congruous it is that there are four and only four Gospels; and says that Luke, who begins with the priesthood and sacrifice of Zachary, is the calf. When we compare his quotations with those of Clement of Alexandria, variant readings of text present themselves. There was already established an Alexandrian type of text different from that used in the West. The Gospels had been copied and recopied so often, that, through errors of copying, etc., distinct families of text had time to establish themselves. The Gospels were so widespread that they became known to pagans. Celsus in his attack on the Christian religion was acquainted with the genealogy in St. Luke's Gospel, and his quotations show the same phenomena of variant readings.

The next witness, St. Justin Martyr, shows the position of honour the Gospels held in the Church, in the early portion of the century. Justin was born in Palestine about A.D. 105, and converted in 132-135. In his "Apology" he speaks of the memoirs of the Lord which are called Gospels, and which were written by Apostles (Matthew, John) and disciples of the Apostles (Mark, Luke). In connection with the disciples of the Apostles he cites the verses of St. Luke on the Sweat of Blood, and he has numerous quotations from all four. Westcott shows that there is no trace in Justin of the use of any written document on the life of Christ except our Gospels. "He [Justin] tells us that Christ was descended from Abraham through Jacob, Judah, Phares, Jesse, David--that the Angel Gabriel was sent to announce His birth to the Virgin Mary—that it was in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah . . . that His parents went thither [to Bethlehem] in consequence of an enrolment under Cyrinius--that as they could not find a lodging in the village they lodged in a cave close by it, where Christ was born, and laid by Mary in a manger", etc. (Westcott, "Canon", 104). There is a constant intermixture in Justin's quotations of the narratives of St. Matthew and St. Luke. As usual in apologetical works, such as the apologies of Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Cyprian, and Eusebius, he does not name his sources because he was addressing outsiders. He states, however, that the memoirs which were called Gospels were read in the churches on Sunday along with the writings of the Prophets, in other words, they were placed on an equal rank with the Old Testament. In the "Dialogue", cv, we have a passage peculiar to St. Luke. "Jesus as He gave up His Spirit upon the Cross said, Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit?' [Luke, xxiii. 46], even as I learned from the Memoirs of this fact also." These Gospels which were read every Sunday must be the same as our four, which soon after, in the time of Irenæus, were in such long established honour, and regarded by him as inspired by the Holy Ghost. We never hear, says Salmon, of any revolution dethroning one set of Gospels and replacing them by another; so we may be sure that the Gospels honoured by the Church in Justin's day were the same as those to which the same respect was paid in the days of Irenæus, not many years after. This conclusion is strengthened not only by the nature of Justin's quotations, but by the evidence afforded by his pupil Tatian, the Assyrian, who lived a long time with him in Rome, and afterwards compiled his harmony of the Gospels, his famous "Diatessaron", in Syriac, from our four Gospels. He had travelled a great deal, and the fact that he uses only those shows that they alone were recognized by St. Justin and the Catholic Church between 130-150. This takes us back to the time when many of the hearers of the Apostles and Evangelists were still alive; for it is held by many scholars that St. Luke lived till towards the end of the first century.

Irenæus, Clement, Tatian, Justin, etc., were in as good a position for forming a judgment on the authenticity of the Gospels as we are of knowing who were the authors of Scott's novels, Macaulay's essays, Dickens's early novels, Longfellow's poems, no. xc of "Tracts for the Times" etc. But the argument does not end here. Many of the heretics who flourished from the beginning of the second century till A.D. 150 admitted St. Luke's Gospel as authoritative. This proves that it had acquired an unassailable position long before these heretics broke away from the Church. The Apocryphal Gospel of Peter, about A.D. 150, makes use of our Gospels. About the same time the Gospels, together with their titles, were translated into Latin; and here, again, we meet the phenomena of variant readings, to be found in Clement, Irenæus, Old Syriac, Justin, and Celsus, pointing to a long period of previous copying. Finally, we may ask, if the author of the two books were not St. Luke, who was he?

Harnack (Luke the Physician, 2) holds that as the Gospel begins with a prologue addressed to an individual (Theophilus) it must, of necessity, have contained in its title the name of its author. How can we explain, if St. Luke were not the author, that the name of the real, and truly great, writer came to be completely buried in oblivion, to make room for the name of such a comparatively obscure disciple as St. Luke? Apart from his connection, as supposed author, with the Third Gospel and Acts, was no more prominent than Aristarchus and Epaphras; and he is mentioned only in three places in the whole of the New Testament. If a false name were substituted for the true author, some more prominent individual would have been selected.

Integrity of the Gospel

Marcion rejected the first two chapters and some shorter passages of the gospel, and it was at one time maintained by rationalistic writers that his was the original Gospel of which ours is a later expansion. This is now universally rejected by scholars. St. Irenæus, Tertullian, and Epiphanius charged him with mutilating the Gospel; and it is known that the reasons for his rejection of those portions were doctrinal. He cut out the account of the infancy and the genealogy, because he denied the human birth of Christ. As he rejected the Old Testament all reference to it had to be excluded. That the parts rejected by Marcion belong to the Gospel is clear from their unity of style with the remainder of the book. The characteristics of St. Luke's style run through the whole work, but are more frequent in the first two chapters than anywhere else; and they are present in the other portions omitted by Marcion. No writer in those days was capable of successfully forging such additions. The first two chapters, etc., are contained in all the manuscripts and versions, and were known to Justin Martyr and other competent witnesses. On the authenticity of the verses on the Bloody Sweat, see AGONY OF CHRIST.

Purpose and contents

The Gospel was written, as is gathered from the prologue (i, 1-4), for the purpose of giving Theophilus (and others like him) increased confidence in the unshakable firmness of the Christian truths in which he had been instructed, or "catechized"--the latter word being used, according to Harnack, in its technical sense. The Gospel naturally falls into four divisions:

Gospel of the infancy, roughly covered by the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary (ch. i, ii);

ministry in Galilee, from the preaching of John the Baptist (iii, 1, to ix, 50);

journeyings towards Jerusalem (ix, 51-xix, 27);

Holy Week: preaching in and near Jerusalem, Passion, and Resurrection (xix, 28, to end of xxiv).

We owe a great deal to the industry of St. Luke. Out of twenty miracles which he records six are not found in the other Gospels: draught of fishes, widow of Naim's son, man with dropsy, ten lepers, Malchus's ear, spirit of infirmity. He alone has the following eighteen parables: good Samaritan, friend at midnight, rich fool, servants watching, two debtors, barren fig-tree, chief seats, great supper, rash builder, rash king, lost groat, prodigal son, unjust steward, rich man and Lazarus, unprofitable servants, unjust judge, Pharisee and publican, pounds. The account of the journeys towards Jerusalem (ix, 51-xix, 27) is found only in St. Luke; and he gives special prominence to the duty of prayer.

Sources of the Gospel; synoptic problem

The best information as to his sources is given by St. Luke, in the beginning of his Gospel. As many had written accounts as they heard them from "eyewitnesses and ministers of the word", it seemed good to him also, having diligently attained to all things from the beginning, to write an ordered narrative. He had two sources of information, then, eyewitnesses (including Apostles) and written documents taken down from the words of eyewitnesses. The accuracy of these documents he was in a position to test by his knowledge of the character of the writers, and by comparing them with the actual words of the Apostles and other eyewitnesses.

That he used written documents seems evident on comparing his Gospel with the other two Synoptic Gospels, Matthew and Mark. All three frequently agree even in minute details, but in other respects there is often a remarkable divergence, and to explain these phenomena is the Synoptic Problem. St. Matthew and St. Luke alone give an account of the infancy of Christ, both accounts are independent. But when they begin the public preaching they describe it in the same way, here agreeing with St. Mark. When St. Mark ends, the two others again diverge. They agree in the main both in matter and arrangement within the limits covered by St. Mark, whose order they generally follow. Frequently all agree in the order of the narrative, but, where two agree, Mark and Luke agree against the order of Matthew, or Mark and Matthew agree against the order of Luke; Mark is always in the majority, and it is not proved that the other two ever agree against the order followed by him. Within the limits of the ground covered by St. Mark, the two other Gospels have several sections in common not found in St. Mark, consisting for the most part of discourses, and there is a closer resemblance between them than between any two Gospels where the three go over the same ground. The whole of St. Mark is practically contained in the other two. St. Matthew and St. Luke have large sections peculiar to themselves, such as the different accounts of the infancy, and the journeys towards Jerusalem in St. Luke. The parallel records have remarkable verbal coincidences. Sometimes the Greek phrases are identical, sometimes but slightly different, and again more divergent. There are various theories to explain the fact of the matter and language common to the Evangelists. Some hold that it is due to the oral teaching of the Apostles, which soon became stereotyped from constant repetition. Others hold that it is due to written sources, taken down from such teaching. Others, again, strongly maintain that Matthew and Luke used Mark or a written source extremely like it. In that case, we have evidence how very closely they kept to the original. The agreement between the discourses given by St. Luke and St. Matthew is accounted for, by some authors, by saying that both embodied the discourses of Christ that had been collected and originally written in Aramaic by St. Matthew. The long narratives of St. Luke not found in these two documents are, it is said, accounted for by his employment of what he knew to be other reliable sources, either oral or written. (The question is concisely but clearly stated by Peake "A Critical Introduction to the New Testament", London, 1909, 101. Several other works on the subject are given in the literature at the end of this article.)

Saint Luke's accuracy

Very few writers have ever had their accuracy put to such a severe test as St. Luke, on account of the wide field covered by his writings, and the consequent liability (humanly speaking) of making mistakes; and on account of the fierce attacks to which he has been subjected.

It was the fashion, during the nineteenth century, with German rationalists and their imitators, to ridicule the "blunders" of Luke, but that is all being rapidly changed by the recent progress of archæological research. Harnack does not hesitate to say that these attacks were shameful, and calculated to bring discredit, not on the Evangelist, but upon his critics, and Ramsay is but voicing the opinion of the best modern scholars when he calls St. Luke a great and accurate historian. Very few have done so much as this latter writer, in his numerous works and in his articles in "The Expositor", to vindicate the extreme accuracy of St. Luke. Wherever archæology has afforded the means of testing St. Luke's statements, they have been found to be correct; and this gives confidence that he is equally reliable where no such corroboration is as yet available. For some of the details see ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, where a very full bibliography is given.

For the sake of illustration, one or two examples may here be given:

(1) Sergius Paulus, Proconsul in Cyprus

St. Luke says (Acts 13) that when St. Paul visited Cyprus (in the reign of Claudius) Sergius Paulus was proconsul (anthupatos) there. Grotius asserted that this was an abuse of language, on the part of the natives, who wished to flatter the governor by calling him proconsul, instead of proprætor (antistrategos), which he really was; and that St. Luke used the popular appellation. Even Baronius (Annales, ad Ann. 46) supposed that, though Cyprus was only a prætorian province, it was honoured by being ruled by the proconsul of Cilicia, who must have been Sergius Paulus. But this is all a mistake. Cato captured Cyprus, Cicero was proconsul of Cilicia and Cyprus in 52 B.C.; Mark Antony gave the island to Cleopatra; Augustus made it a prætorian province in 27 B.C., but in 22 B.C. he transferred it to the senate, and it became again a proconsular province. This latter fact is not stated by Strabo, but it is mentioned by Dion Cassius (LIII). In Hadrian's time it was once more under a proprætor, while under Severus it was again administered by a proconsul. There can be no doubt that in the reign of Claudius, when St. Paul visited it, Cyprus was under a proconsul (anthupatos), as stated by St. Luke. Numerous coins have been discovered in Cyprus, bearing the head and name of Claudius on one side, and the names of the proconsuls of Cyprus on the other. A woodcut engraving of one is given in Conybeare and Howson's "St. Paul", at the end of chapter v. On the reverse it has: EPI KOMINOU PROKAU ANTHUPATOU: KUPRION--"Money of the Cyprians under Cominius Proclus, Proconsul." The head of Claudius (with his name) is figured on the other side. General Cesnola discovered a long inscription on a pedestal of white marble, at Solvi, in the north of the island, having the words: EPI PAULOU ANTHUPATOU--"Under Paulus Proconsul." Lightfoot, Zochler, Ramsay, Knabenbauer, Zahn, and Vigouroux hold that this was the actual (Sergius) Paulus of Acts 13:7.

(2) The Politarchs in Thessalonica

An excellent example of St. Luke's accuracy is afforded by his statement that rulers of Thessalonica were called "politarchs" (politarchai--Acts 17:6, 8). The word is not found in the Greek classics; but there is a large stone in the British Museum, which was found in an arch in Thessalonica, containing an inscription which is supposed to date from the time of Vespasian. Here we find the word used by St. Luke together with the names of several such politarchs, among them being names identical with some of St. Paul's converts: Sopater, Gaius, Secundus. Burton in "American Journal of Theology" (July, 1898) has drawn attention to seventeen inscriptions proving the existence of politarchs in ancient times. Thirteen were found in Macedonia, and five were discovered in Thessalonica, dating from the middle of the first to the end of the second century.

(3) Knowledge of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe

The geographical, municipal, and political knowledge of St. Luke, when speaking of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, is fully borne out by recent research (see Ramsay, "St. Paul the Traveller", and other references given in EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS).

(4) Knowledge of Philippian customs

He is equally sure when speaking of Philippi, a Roman colony, where the duumviri were called "prætors" (strategoi--Acts 16:20, 35), a lofty title which duumviri assumed in Capua and elsewhere, as we learn from Cicero and Horace (Sat., I, v, 34). They also had lictors (rabsouchoi), after the manner of real prætors.

(5) References to Ephesus, Athens, and Corinth

His references to Ephesus, Athens, Corinth, are altogether in keeping with everything that is now known of these cities. Take a single instance: "In Ephesus St. Paul taught in the school of Tyrannus, in the city of Socrates he discussed moral questions in the market-place. How incongruous it would seem if the methods were transposed! But the narrative never makes a false step amid all the many details as the scene changes from city to city; and that is the conclusive proof that it is a picture of real life" (Ramsay, op. cit., 238). St. Luke mentions (Acts 18:2) that when St. Paul was at Corinth the Jews had been recently expelled from Rome by Claudius, and this is confirmed by a chance statement of Suetonius. He tells us (ibid., 12) that Gallio was then proconsul in Corinth (the capital of the Roman province of Achaia). There is no direct evidence that he was proconsul in Achaia, but his brother Seneca writes that Gallio caught a fever there, and went on a voyage for his health. The description of the riot at Ephesus (Acts 19) brings together, in the space of eighteen verses, an extraordinary amount of knowledge of the city, that is fully corroborated by numerous inscriptions, and representations on coins, medals, etc., recently discovered. There are allusions to the temple of Diana (one of the seven wonders of the world), to the fact that Ephesus gloried in being her temple-sweeper her caretaker (neokoros), to the theatre as the place of assembly for the people, to the town clerk (grammateus), to the Asiarchs, to sacrilegious (ierosuloi), to proconsular sessions, artificers, etc. The ecclesia (the usual word in Ephesus for the assembly of the people) and the grammateus or town-clerk (the title of a high official frequent on Ephesian coins) completely puzzled Cornelius a Lapide, Baronius, and other commentators, who imagined the ecclesia meant a synagogue, etc. (see Vigouroux, "Le Nouveau Testament et les Découvertes Archéologiques", Paris, 1890).

(6) The Shipwreck

The account of the voyage and shipwreck described in Acts (27 and 28) is regarded by competent authorities on nautical matters as a marvellous instance of accurate description (see Smith's classical work on the subject, "Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul" (4th ed., London, 1880). Blass (Acta Apostolorum, 186) says: "Extrema duo capita habent descriptionem clarissimam itineris maritimi quod Paulus in Italiam fecit: quæ descriptio ab homine harum rerum perito judicata est monumentum omnium pretiosissimum, quæ rei navalis ex tote antiquitate nobis relicta est. V. Breusing, 'Die Nautik der Alten' (Bremen, 1886)." See also Knowling "The Acts of the Apostles" in "Exp. Gr. Test." (London, 1900).

Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene

Gfrörer, B. Bauer, Hilgenfeld, Keim, and Holtzmann assert that St. Luke perpetrated a gross chronological blunder of sixty years by making Lysanias, the son of Ptolemy, who lived 36 B.C., and was put to death by Mark Antony, tetrarch of Abilene when John the Baptist began to preach (iii, 1). Strauss says: "He [Luke] makes rule, 30 years after the birth of Christ, a certain Lysanias, who had certainly been slain 30 years previous to that birth--a slight error of 60 years." On the face of it, it is highly improbable that such a careful writer as St. Luke would have gone out of his way to run the risk of making such a blunder, for the mere purpose of helping to fix the date of the public ministry. Fortunately, we have a complete refutation supplied by Schürer, a writer by no means over friendly to St. Luke, as we shall see when treating of the Census of Quirinius. Ptolemy Mennæus was King of the Itureans (whose kingdom embraced the Lebanon and plain of Massyas with the capital Chalcis, between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon) from 85-40 B.C. His territories extended on the east towards Damascus, and on the south embraced Panias, and part, at least, of Galilee. Lysanias the older succeeded his father Ptolemy about 40 B.C. (Josephus, "Ant.", XIV, xii, 3; "Bell Jud.", I, xiii, 1), and is styled by Dion Cassius "King of the Itureans" (XLIX, 32). After reigning about four or five years he was put to death by Mark Antony, at the instigation of Cleopatra, who received a large portion of his territory (Josephus, "Ant.", XV, iv, 1; "Bel. Jud.", I, xxii, 3; Dion Cassius, op. cit.).

As the latter and Porphyry call him "king", it is doubtful whether the coins bearing the superscription "Lysanias tetrarch and high priest" belong to him, for there were one or more later princes called Lysanias. After his death his kingdom was gradually divided up into at least four districts, and the three principal ones were certainly not called after him. A certain Zenodorus took on lease the possessions of Lysanias, 23 B.C., but Trachonitis was soon taken from him and given to Herod. On the death of Zenodorus in 20 B.C., Ulatha and Panias, the territories over which he ruled, were given by Augustus to Herod. This is called the tetrarchy of Zenodorus by Dion Cassius. "It seems therefore that Zenodorus, after the death of Lysanias, had received on rent a portion of his territory from Cleopatra, and that after Cleopatra's death this 'rented' domain, subject to tribute, was continued to him with the title of tetrarch" (Schürer, I, II app., 333, i). Mention is made on a monument, at Heliopolis, of "Zenodorus, son of the tetrarch Lysanias". It has been generally supposed that this is the Zenodorus just mentioned, but it is uncertain whether the first Lysanias was ever called tetrarch. It is proved from the inscriptions that there was a genealogical connection between the families of Lysanias and Zenodorus, and the same name may have been often repeated in the family. Coins for 32, 30, and 25 B.C., belonging to our Zenodorus, have the superscription, "Zenodorus tetrarch and high priest.' After the death of Herod the Great a portion of the tetrarchy of Zenodorus went to Herod's son, Philip (Jos., "Ant.", XVII, xi, 4), referred to by St. Luke, "Philip being tetrarch of Iturea" (Luke 3:1).

Another tetrarchy sliced off from the dominions of Zenodorus lay to the east between Chalcis and Damascus, and went by the name of Abila or Abilene. Abila is frequently spoken of by Josephus as a tetrarchy, and in "Ant.", XVIII, vi, 10, he calls it the "tetrarchy of Lysanias". Claudius, in A.D. 41, conferred "Abila of Lysanias" on Agrippa I (Ant., XIX, v, 1). In a. D. 53, Agrippa II obtained Abila, "which last had been the tetrarchy of Lysanias" (Ant., XX., vii, 1). "From these passages we see that the tetrarchy of Abila had belonged previously to A.D. 37 to a certain Lysanias, and seeing that Josephus nowhere previously makes any mention of another Lysanias, except the contemporary of Anthony and Cleopatra, 40-36 B.C. . . . criticism has endeavoured in various ways to show that there had not afterwards been any other, and that the tetrarchy of Abilene had its name from the older Lysanias. But this is impossible" (Schürer, 337). Lysanias I inherited the Iturean empire of his father Ptolemy, of which Abila was but a small and very obscure portion. Calchis in Coele-Syria was the capital of his kingdom, not Abila in Abilene. He reigned only about four years and was a comparatively obscure individual when compared with his father Ptolemy, or his successor Zenodorus, both of whom reigned many years. There is no reason why any portion of his kingdom should have been called after his name rather than theirs, and it is highly improbable that Josephus speaks of Abilene as called after him seventy years after his death. As Lysanias I was king over the whole region, one small portion of it could not be called his tetrarchy or kingdom, as is done by Josephus (Bel. Jud., II, xii, 8). "It must therefore be assumed as certain that at a later date the district of Abilene had been severed from the kingdom of Calchis, and had been governed by a younger Lysanias as tetrarch" (Schürer, 337). The existence of such a late Lysanias is shown by an inscription found at Abila, containing the statement that a certain Nymphaios, the freedman of Lysanias, built a street and erected a temple in the time of the "August Emperors". Augusti (Sebastoi) in the plural was never used before the death of Augustus, A.D. 14. The first contemporary Sebastoi were Tiberius and his mother Livia, i.e. at a time fifty years after the first Lysanias. An inscription at Heliopolis, in the same region, makes it probable that there were several princes of this name. "The Evangelist Luke is thoroughly correct when he assumes (iii, 1) that in the fifteenth year of Tiberius there was a Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene" (Schürer, op. cit., where full literature is given; Vigouroux, op. cit.).

Who spoke the Magnificat?

Lately an attempt has been made to ascribe the Magnificat to Elizabeth instead of to the Blessed Virgin. All the early Fathers, all the Greek manuscripts, all the versions, all the Latin manuscripts (except three) have the reading in Luke 1:46: Kai eipen Mariam--Et ait Maria [And Mary said]: Magnificat anima mea Dominum, etc. Three Old Latin manuscripts (the earliest dating from the end of the fourth cent.), a, b, l (called rhe by Westcott and Hort), have Et ait Elisabeth. These tend to such close agreement that their combined evidence is single rather than threefold. They are full of gross blunders and palpable corruptions, and the attempt to pit their evidence against the many thousands of Greek, Latin, and other manuscripts, is anything but scientific. If the evidence were reversed, Catholics would be held up to ridicule if they ascribed the Magnificat to Mary. The three manuscripts gain little or no support from the internal evidence of the passage. The Magnificat is a cento from the song of Anna (1 Samuel 2), the Psalms, and other places of the Old Testament. If it were spoken by Elizabeth it is remarkable that the portion of Anna's song that was most applicable to her is omitted: "The barren hath borne many: and she that had many children is weakened." See, on this subject, Emmet in "The Expositor" (Dec., 1909); Bernard, ibid. (March, 1907); and the exhaustive works of two Catholic writers: Ladeuze, "Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique" (Louvain, Oct., 1903); Bardenhewer, "Maria Verkündigung" (Freiburg, 1905).

The census of Quirinius

No portion of the New Testament has been so fiercely attacked as Luke 2:1-5. Schürer has brought together, under six heads, a formidable array of all the objections that can he urged against it. There is not space to refute them here; but Ramsay in his "Was Christ born in Bethlehem?" has shown that they all fall to the ground:--

(1) St. Luke does not assert that a census took place all over the Roman Empire before the death of Herod, but that a decision emanated from Augustus that regular census were to be made. Whether they were carried out in general, or not, was no concern of St. Luke's. If history does not prove the existence of such a decree it certainly proves nothing against it. It was thought for a long time that the system of Indictions was inaugurated under the early Roman emperors, it is now known that they owe their origin to Constantine the Great (the first taking place fifteen years after his victory of 312), and this in spite of the fact that history knew nothing of the matter. Kenyon holds that it is very probable that Pope Damasus ordered the Vulgate to be regarded as the only authoritative edition of the Latin Bible; but it would be difficult to Prove it historically. If "history knows nothing" of the census in Palestine before 4 B.C. neither did it know anything of the fact that under the Romans in Egypt regular personal census were held every fourteen years, at least from A.D. 20 till the time of Constantine. Many of these census papers have been discovered, and they were called apographai, the name used by St. Luke. They were made without any reference to property or taxation. The head of the household gave his name and age, the name and age of his wife, children, and slaves. He mentioned how many were included in the previous census, and how many born since that time. Valuation returns were made every year. The fourteen years' cycle did not originate in Egypt (they had a different system before 19 B.C.), but most probably owed its origin to Augustus, 8 B.C., the fourteenth year of his tribunitia potestas, which was a great year in Rome, and is called the year I in some inscriptions. Apart from St. Luke and Josephus, history is equally ignorant of the second enrolling in Palestine, A.D. 6. So many discoveries about ancient times, concerning which history has been silent, have been made during the last thirty years that it is surprising modern authors should brush aside a statement of St. Luke's, a respectable first-century writer, with a mere appeal to the silence of history on the matter.

(2) The first census in Palestine, as described by St. Luke, was not made according to Roman, but Jewish, methods. St. Luke, who travelled so much, could not be ignorant of the Roman system, and his description deliberately excludes it. The Romans did not run counter to the feelings of provincials more than they could help. Jews, who were proud of being able to prove their descent, would have no objection to the enrolling described in Luke 2. Schürer's arguments are vitiated throughout by the supposition that the census mentioned by St. Luke could be made only for taxation purposes. His discussion of imperial taxation learned but beside the mark (cf. the practice in Egypt). It was to the advantage of Augustus to know the number of possible enemies in Palestine, in case of revolt.

(3) King Herod was not as independent as he is described for controversial purposes. A few years before Herod's death Augustus wrote to him. Josephus, "Ant.", XVI, ix., 3, has: "Cæsar [Augustus] . . . grew very angry, and wrote to Herod sharply. The sum of his epistle was this, that whereas of old he used him as a friend, he should now use him as his subject." It was after this that Herod was asked to number his people. That some such enrolling took place we gather from a passing remark of Josephus, "Ant.", XVII, ii, 4, "Accordingly, when all the people of the Jews gave assurance of their good will to Cæsar [Augustus], and to the king's [Herod's] government, these very men [the Pharisees] did not swear, being above six thousand." The best scholars think they were asked to swear allegiance to Augustus.

(4) It is said there was no room for Quirinius, in Syria, before the death of Herod in 4 B.C. C. Sentius Saturninus was governor there from 9-6 B.C.; and Quintilius Varus, from 6 B.C. till after the death of Herod. But in turbulent provinces there were sometimes times two Roman officials of equal standing. In the time of Caligula the administration of Africa was divided in such a way that the military power, with the foreign policy, was under the control of the lieutenant of the emperor, who could be called a hegemon (as in St. Luke), while the internal affairs were under the ordinary proconsul. The same position was held by Vespasian when he conducted the war in Palestine, which belonged to the province of Syria--a province governed by an officer of equal rank. Josephus speaks of Volumnius as being Kaisaros hegemon, together with C. Sentius Saturninus, in Syria (9-6 B.C.): "There was a hearing before Saturninus and Volumnius, who were then the presidents of Syria" (Ant., XVI, ix, 1). He is called procurator in "Bel. Jud.", I, xxvii, 1, 2. Corbulo commanded the armies of Syria against the Parthians, while Quadratus and Gallus were successively governors of Syria. Though Josephus speaks of Gallus, he knows nothing of Corbulo; but he was there nevertheless (Mommsen, "Röm. Gesch.", V, 382). A similar position to that of Corbulo must have been held by Quirinius for a few years between 7 and 4 B.C.

The best treatment of the subject is that by Ramsay "Was Christ Born in Bethlehem?" See also the valuable essays of two Catholic writers: Marucchi in "Il Bessarione" (Rome, 1897); Bour, "L'lnscription de Quirinius et le Recensement de S. Luc" (Rome, 1897). Vigouroux, "Le N. T. et les Découvertes Modernes" (Paris, 1890), has a good deal of useful information. It has been suggested that Quirinius is a copyist's error for Quintilius (Varus).

Saint Luke and Josephus

The attempt to prove that St. Luke used Josephus (but inaccurately) has completely broken down. Belser successfully refutes Krenkel in "Theol. Quartalschrift", 1895, 1896. The differences can be explained only on the supposition of entire independence. The resemblances are sufficiently accounted for by the use of the Septuagint and the common literary Greek of the time by both. See Bebb and Headlam in Hast., "Dict. of the Bible", s. vv. "Luke, Gospel" and "Acts of the Apostles", respectively. Schürer (Zeit. für W. Th., 1876) brushes aside the opinion that St. Luke read Josephus. When Acts is compared with the Septuagint and Josephus, there is convincing evidence that Josephus was not the source from which the writer of Acts derived his knowledge of Jewish history. There are numerous verbal and other coincidences with the Septuagint (Cross in "Expository Times", XI, 5:38, against Schmiedel and the exploded author of "Sup. Religion"). St. Luke did not get his names from Josephus, as contended by this last writer, thereby making the whole history a concoction. Wright in his "Some New Test. Problems" gives the names of fifty persons mentioned in St. Luke's Gospel. Thirty-two are common to the other two Synoptics, and therefore not taken from Josephus. Only five of the remaining eighteen are found in him, namely, Augustus Cæsar, Tiberius, Lysanias, Quirinius, and Annas. As Annas is always called Ananus in Josephus, the name was evidently not taken from him. This is corroborated by the way the Gospel speaks of Caiphas. St. Luke's employment of the other four names shows no connection with the Jewish historian. The mention of numerous countries, cities, and islands in Acts shows complete independence of the latter writer. St. Luke's preface bears a much closer resemblance to those of Greek medical writers than to that of Josephus. The absurdity of concluding that St. Luke must necessarily be wrong when not in agreement with Josephus is apparent when we remember the frequent contradictions and blunders in the latter writer.

Appendix: Biblical Commission decisions

The following answers to questions about this Gospel, and that of St. Mark, were issued, 26 June, 1913, by the Biblical Commission. That Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, and Luke, a doctor, the assistant and companion of Paul, are really the authors of the Gospels respectively attributed to them is clear from Tradition, the testimonies of the Fathers and ecclesiastical writers, by quotations in their writings, the usage of early heretics, by versions of the New Testament in the most ancient and common manuscripts, and by intrinsic evidence in the text of the Sacred Books. The reasons adduced by some critics against Mark's authorship of the last twelve versicles of his Gospel (xvi, 9-20) do not prove that these versicles are not inspired or canonical, or that Mark is not their author. It is not lawful to doubt of the inspiration and canonicity of the narratives of Luke on the infancy of Christ (i-ii), on the apparition of the Angel and of the bloody sweat (xxii, 43-44); nor can it be proved that these narratives do not belong to the genuine Gospel of Luke.

The very few exceptional documents attributing the Magnificat to Elizabeth and not to the Blessed Virgin should not prevail against the testimony of nearly all the codices of the original Greek and of the versions, the interpretation required by the context, the mind of the Virgin herself, and the constant tradition of the Church.

It is according to most ancient and constant tradition that after Matthew, Mark wrote his Gospel second and Luke third; though it may be held that the second and third Gospels were composed before the Greek version of the first Gospel. It is not lawful to put the date of the Gospels of Mark and Luke as late as the destruction of Jerusalem or after the siege had begun. The Gospel of Luke preceded his Acts of the Apostles, and was therefore composed before the end of the Roman imprisonment, when the Acts was finished (Acts 28:30-31). In view of Tradition and of internal evidence it cannot be doubted that Mark wrote according to the preaching of Peter, and Luke according to that of Paul, and that both had at their disposal other trustworthy sources, oral or written.

Aherne, Cornelius. "Gospel of Saint Luke." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.28 Oct. 2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09420a.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Ernie Stefanik.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09420a.htm

October 18

St. Luke the Evangelist

See Tillem. t. 2. p. 148. Calmet, t. 7, p. 378. Six different Greek histories of St. Luke’s Acts are extant, all modern, and of no account. See Jos. Assemani, in Calend. Univ. t. 5, p. 308.

THE GREAT apostle of the Gentiles, or rather the Holy Ghost by his pen, is the panegyrist of this glorious evangelist, and his own inspired writings are the highest, standing, and most authentic commendation of his sanctity, and of those eminent graces which are a just subject of our admiration, but which human praises can only extenuate. St. Luke was a native of Antioch, the metropolis of Syria, a city famous for the agreeableness of its situation, the riches of its traffic, its extent, the number of its inhabitants, the politeness of their manners, and their learning and wisdom. Its schools were the most renowned in all Asia, and produced the ablest masters in all arts and sciences. St. Luke acquired a stock of learning in his younger years, which, we are told, he improved by his travels in some parts of Greece and Egypt. He became particularly well skilled in physic, which he made his profession. They who from hence infer the quality of his birth and fortune, do not take notice that this art was at that time often managed by slaves who were trained up to it, as Grotius proves, who conceives that St. Luke perhaps had lived servant in some noble family in quality of physician, till he obtained his freedom; after which he continued to follow his profession. This he seems to have done after his conversion to the faith, and even to the end of his life; the occasional practice of physic without being drawn aside by it from spiritual functions, being a charity very consistent with the ministry of the gospel. St. Jerom assures us he was very eminent in his profession, and St. Paul, by calling him his most dear physician, 1 seems to indicate that he had not laid it aside. Besides his abilities in physic, he is said to have been very skilful in painting. The Menology of the emperor Basil, compiled in 980, Nicephorus, 2 Metaphrastes, and other modern Greeks quoted by F. Gretzer, in his dissertation on this subject, speak much of his excelling in this art, and of his leaving many pictures of Christ and the B. Virgin. Though neither the antiquity nor the credit of these authors is of great weight, it must be acknowledged, with a very judicious critic, that some curious anecdotes are found in their writings. In this particular, what they tell us is supported by the authority of Theodorus Lector, who lived in 518, and relates 3 that a picture of the B. Virgin painted by St. Luke was sent from Jerusalem to the empress Pulcheria, who placed it in the church of Hodegorum which she built in her honour at Constantinople. Moreover, a very ancient inscription was found in a vault near the church of St. Mary in viâ latâ in Rome, in which it is said of a picture of the B. Virgin Mary, discovered there, “One of the seven painted by St. Luke.” 4 Three or four such pictures are still in being; the principal is that placed by Paul V. in the Burghesian chapel in St. Mary Major.

St. Luke was a proselyte to the Christian religion, but whether from Paganism or rather from Judaism is uncertain; for many Jews were settled at Antioch, but chiefly such as were called Hellenists, who read the Bible in the Greek translation of the Septuagint. St. Jerom observes from his writings, that he was more skilled in Greek than in Hebrew, and that therefore he not only always makes use of the Septuagint translation, as the other authors of the New Testament who wrote in Greek do, but he refrains sometimes from translating words when the propriety of the Greek tongue would not bear it. Some think he was converted to the faith by St. Paul at Antioch: others judge this improbable, because that apostle no where calls him his son, as he frequently does his converts. St. Epiphanius makes him to have been a disciple of our Lord; which might be for some short time before the death of Christ, though this evangelist says, he wrote his gospel from the relations of those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. 5 Nevertheless, from these words, many conclude that he became a Christian at Antioch only after Christ’s ascension. Tertullian positively affirms that he never was a disciple of Christ whilst he lived on earth. 6 No sooner was he enlightened by the Holy Ghost, and initiated in the school of Christ, but he set himself heartily to learn the spirit of his faith, and to practise its lessons. For this purpose he studied perfectly to die to himself, and, as the Church says of him, “He always carried about in his body the mortification of the cross for the honour of the divine name.” He was already a great proficient in the habits of a perfect mastery of himself, and of all virtues, when he became St. Paul’s companion in his travels, and fellow-labourer in the ministry of the gospel. The first time that in his history of the missions of St. Paul 7 he speaks in his own name in the first person, is when that apostle sailed from Troas into Macedon, in the year 51, soon after St. Barnabas had left him, and St. Irenæus begins from that time the voyages which St. Luke made with St. Paul. 8 Before this he had doubtless been for some time an assiduous disciple of that great apostle; but from this time he seems never to have left him unless by his order upon commissions for the service of the churches he had planted. It was the height of his ambition to share with that great apostle all his toils, fatigues, dangers, and sufferings. In his company he made some stay at Philippi in Macedon; then he travelled with him through all the cities of Greece, where the harvest every day grew upon their hands. St. Paul mentions him more than once as the companion of his travels; he calls him Luke the beloved physician, 9 his fellow-labourer. 10 Interpreters usually take Lucius, whom St. Paul calls his kinsman, 11 to be St. Luke, as the same apostle sometimes gives a latin termination to Silas, calling him Sylvanus. Many with Origen, Eusebius, and St. Jerom say, that when St. Paul speaks of his own gospel, 12 he means that of St. Luke, though the passage may be understood simply of the gospel which St. Paul preached. He wrote this epistle in the year 57, four years before his first arrival at Rome.

St. Matthew and St. Mark had written their gospels before St. Luke. The devil, who always endeavours to obscure the truth by falsehood, stirred up several to obtrude upon the world fabulous relations concerning Christ, to obviate which St. Luke published his gospel. In this undertaking some imagine he had also in view to supply some things which had been omitted by the two former; but it does not clearly appear that he had read them, as Calmet and others observe. Tertullian tells us, that this work of the disciple was often ascribed to St. Paul, who was his master. 13 That apostle, doubtless, assisted him in the task, and approved and recommended it; but St. Luke mentions others from whom he derived his accounts, who from the beginning had been eye-witnesses of Christ’s actions. He delivered nothing but what he received immediately from persons present at, and concerned in the things which he has left upon record, having a most authentic stock of credit and intelligence to proceed upon, as Tertullian speaks, and being under the direction and influence of the Holy Ghost, from whose express revelation he received whatever he has delivered concerning all divine mysteries, and without whose special assistance and inspiration he wrote not the least tittle, even in his historical narrative. What the ancients aver of the concurrence of St. Paul in this work, seems to appear in the conformity of their expressions in mentioning the institution of the blessed eucharist, 14 also in relating the apparition of Christ to St. Peter. 15 St. Jerom and St. Gregory Nazianzen tell us, 16 that St. Luke wrote his gospel in Achaia when he attended St. Paul preaching there and in the confines of Bœotia. He was twice in these parts with that apostle, in 53 and 58. He must have wrote his gospel in 53, if St. Paul speaks of it in his epistle to the Romans, as the ancients assure us. Those titles in some Greek manuscripts, which say this gospel was written at Rome during St. Paul’s first imprisonment, are modern, and seem to confound this book with the Acts of the Apostles.

St. Luke mainly insists in his gospel upon what relates to Christ’s priestly office; for which reason the ancients, in accommodating the four symbolical representations, mentioned in Ezechiel, to the four evangelists, assigned the ox or calf, as an emblem of sacrifices, to St. Luke. It is only in the gospel of St. Luke that we have a full account of several particulars relating to the Annunciation of the mystery of the Incarnation to the Blessed Virgin, her visit to St. Elizabeth, the parable of the prodigal son, and many other most remarkable points. The whole is written with great variety, elegance, and perspicuity. An incomparable sublimity of thought and diction is accompanied with that genuine simplicity which is the characteristic of the sacred penman; and by which the divine actions and doctrine of our Blessed Redeemer are set off in a manner which in every word conveys his holy spirit, and unfolds in every tittle the hidden mysteries and inexhausted riches of the divine love and of all virtues to those who with an humble and teachable disposition of mind make these sacred oracles the subject of their assiduous devout meditation. The dignity with which the most sublime mysteries, which transcend all the power of words, and even the conception and comprehension of all created beings, are set off without any pomp of expression, has in it something divine; and the energy with which the patience, meekness, charity, and beneficence of a God made man for us, are described, his divine lessons laid down, and the narrative of his life given, but especially the dispassionate manner in which his adorable sufferings and death are related, without the least exclamation or bestowing the least harsh epithet on his enemies, is a grander and more noble eloquence on such a theme, and a more affecting and tender manner of writing than the highest strains or the finest ornaments of speech could be. This simplicity makes the great actions speak themselves, which all borrowed eloquence must extenuate. The sacred penmen in these writings were only the instruments or organs of the Holy Ghost; but their style alone suffices to evince how perfectly free their souls were from the reign or influence of human passions, and in how perfect a degree they were replenished with all those divine virtues and that heavenly spirit which their words breathe.

About the year 56 St. Paul sent St. Luke with St. Titus to Corinth, with this high commendation, that his praise in the gospel resounded throughout all the churches. 17 St. Luke attended him to Rome, whither he was sent prisoner from Jerusalem in 61. The apostle remained there two years in chains: but was permitted to live in a house which he hired, though under the custody of a constant guard; and there he preached to those who daily resorted to hear him. From ancient writings and monuments belonging to the church of St. Mary in viâ latâ, which is an ancient title of a cardinal deacon, Baronius 18 and Aringhi 19 tell us, that this church was built upon the spot where St. Paul then lodged, and where St. Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles. On this account Sixtus V. caused a statue of St. Paul to be placed, with a new inscription, upon the famous pillar of Antoninus, in that neighbourhood. St. Luke was the apostle’s faithful assistant and attendant during his confinement, and had the comfort to see him set at liberty in 63, the year in which this evangelist finished his Acts of the Apostles. This sacred history he compiled at Rome, 20 by divine inspiration, as an appendix to his gospel, to prevent the false relations of those transactions which some published, and to leave an authentic account of the wonderful works of God in planting his church, and some of the miracles by which he confirmed it, and which were an invincible proof of the truth of Christ’s resurrection, and of his holy religion. Having in the first twelve chapters related the chief general transactions of the principal apostles in the first establishment of the church, beginning at our Lord’s ascension, he from the thirteenth chapter, almost confines himself to the actions and miracles of St. Paul, to most of which he had been privy and an eye-witness, and concerning which false reports were spread. St. Luke dedicated both this book and his gospel to one Theophilus, who, by the title of Most Excellent, which he gives him, according to the style of those times, must have been a person of the first distinction, and a public magistrate, probably of Antioch, who perhaps was a convert of this evangelist. These books were not intended only for his use, but also for the instruction of all churches, and all succeeding ages. As amongst the ancient prophets the style of Isaias was most elegant and polite, and that of Amos, who had been a shepherd, rough; so that of St. Luke, by its accuracy and elegance, and the purity of the Greek language, shows the politeness of his education at Antioch: yet it is not wholly free from Hebraisms and Syriacisms. It flows with an easy and natural grace and sweetness, and is admirably accommodated to an historical design.

St. Luke did not forsake his master after he was released from his confinement. That apostle in his last imprisonment at Rome writes, that the rest had all left him, and that St. Luke alone was with him. 21 St. Epiphanius says, 22 that after the martyrdom of St. Paul, St. Luke preached in Italy, Gaul, Dalmatia, and Macedon. By Gaul some understand Cisalpine Gaul, others Galatia. Fortunatus and Metaphrastes say he passed into Egypt, and preached in Thebais. Nicephorus says he died at Thebes in Bœotia, and that his tomb was shown near that place in his time; but seems to confound the evangelist with St. Luke Stiriote, a hermit of that country. St. Hippolytus says, 23 St. Luke was crucified at Elæa in Peloponnesus near Achaia. The modern Greeks tell us, he was crucified on an olive tree. The ancient African Martyrology of the fifth age 24 gives him the title of evangelist and martyr. St. Gregory Nazianzen, 25 St. Paulinus, 26 and St. Gaudentius of Brescia, 27 assure us that he went to God by martyrdom. Bede, Ado, Usuard, and Baronius in the Martyrologies only say he suffered much for the faith, and died very old in Bithynia. That he crossed the straits to preach in Bithynia is most probable, but then he returned and finished his course in Achaia; under which name Peloponnesus was then comprised. The modern Greeks say he lived four score and four years: which assertion had crept into St. Jerom’s account of St. Luke, 28 but is expunged by Martianay, who found those words wanting in all old manuscripts. The bones of St. Luke were translated from Patras in Achaia in 357, by order of the emperor Constantius, and deposited in the church of the apostles at Constantinople, 29 together with those of St. Andrew and St. Timothy. On the occasion of this translation some distribution was made of the relics of St. Luke: St. Gaudentius procured a part for his church at Brescia. 30 St. Paulinus possessed a portion in St. Felix’s church at Nola, and with a part enriched a church which he built at Fondi. 31 The magnificent church of the apostles at Constantinople was built by Constantine the Great, 32 whose body was deposited in the porch in a chest of gold, the twelve apostles standing round his tomb. 33 When this church was repaired by an order of Justinian, the masons found three wooden chests, or coffins, in which, as the inscriptions proved, the bodies of St. Luke, St. Andrew, and St. Timothy were interred. 34 Baronius mentions that the head of St. Luke was brought by St. Gregory from Constantinople to Rome, and laid in the church of his monastery of St. Andrew. 35 The ancient picture of St. Luke, together with all the instruments used formerly in writing, is copied by Montfaucon from old manuscript books of his gospel. 36 Some of his relics are kept in the great Grecian monastery on Mount Athos in Greece. 37

Christ, our divine Legislator, came not only to be our Model by his example, and our Redeemer by the sacrifice of his adorable blood, but also to be our doctor and teacher by his heavenly doctrine. He who, from the beginning of the world, had inspired and opened the mouths of so many prophets, vouchsafed to become himself our instructor, teaching us what we are to believe, and what we are to do, that through his redemption we may escape eternal torments and attain to everlasting life. With what earnestness and diligence, with what awful respect ought we to listen to, and assiduously meditate upon his divine lessons, which we read in his gospels, or hear from the mouths of his ministers, who announce to us his word, and in his name, or by his authority and commission! As by often iterating the same action the nail is driven into the wood, and not a stroke of the hammer is lost or superfluous; so it is by repeated meditation, that the divine word sinks deep into our hearts. What fatigues and sufferings did it cost the Son of God to announce it to us! How many prophets! how many apostles, evangelists, and holy ministers has he sent to preach the same for the sake of our souls! How intolerable is our contempt of it! our sloth and carelessness in receiving it!

Note 1. Coloss. i. 14. [back]

Note 2. L. 2, c. 43. [back]

Note 3. L. 1, pp. 551, 552. [back]

Note 4. Una ex vii. a Lucá depictis. Bosius et Aringhi, Roma Subterran. l. 3, c. 41. On St. Luke’s pictures of the B. Virgin, see Jos. Assemani in Calend. Univers. ad 18, Oct. t. 5, p. 306. [back]

Note 5. Luke i. 2. [back]

Note 6. L. 4, contr. Marcion, c. 2. [back]

Note 7. Acts xvi. 8–10. [back]

Note 8. St. Iren. 3, c. 14. [back]

Note 9. Col. iv. 14. [back]

Note 10. Philem. v. 24. [back]

Note 11. Rom. xvi. 21. [back]

Note 12. Rom. ii. 16. [back]

Note 13. L. 4. contra Marcion, c. 5. [back]

Note 14. Luke xvii. 17–20, and 1 Cor. xi. 23–25. [back]

Note 15. Luke xxiv. 34, and 1 Cor. xv. 5. [back]

Note 16. St. Hieron. Proleg. in Matt. et. S. Greg. Naz. Carm. 33. [back]

Note 17. 2 Cor. viii. 18, 19. [back]

Note 18. Baron. in Annal. t. 1, ad an. 55, ed. nov. Luccens. [back]

Note 19. Roma Subterr. l. 3, c. 41, Lorinus in Acta Apost. [back]

Note 20. St. Hieron. Catal. Vir. Illustr. c. 7. [back]

Note 21. 2 Tim. iv. 11. [back]

Note 22. St. Epiph. hær. 51. [back]

Note 23. St. Hippolytus in MS. Bodleianæ Bibl. ap. Milles in Præf. in Luc. p. 120. [back]

Note 24. Mabil. Ann. t. 3, p. 414. [back]

Note 25. Naz. or. 3. [back]

Note 26. Paulin. ep. 12, p. 155. [back]

Note 27. S. Gaud. Serm. 17. [back]

Note 28. De Vir. Illustr. c. 7. [back]

Note 29. St. Hieron. Ib. Philostorg. Idat. in Chron. Theodor Lector, p. 567. [back]

Note 30. Serm. 17. [back]

Note 31. S. Paulin. ep. 24 et 12. [back]

Note 32. Eus. Vit. Constant. l. 4, c. 58. [back]

Note 33. Socrates, Hist. Eccl. [back]

Note 34. See Procop. de Ædif. Justiniani; also Mr. Ball, On the Antiquities of Constantinople, App. to Gyllius, p. 45. [back]

Note 35. Baron. ad an. 586, n. 25. [back]

Note 36. Palæographia Græca, l. 1, pp. 22, 23. [back]

Note 37. Ib. l. 7, p. 456. [back]

Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73).  Volume X: October. The Lives of the Saints.  1866.

SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/10/181.html

Maestro de Villahermosa  (1362–1396). San Lucas recibiendo de la Virgen su Verónica, circa 1370, tempera on wood, 71 x 45, Museu de Belles Arts de València

Weninger’s Lives of the Saints – Saint Luke, Evangelist

Article

Among the holy men whom the Almighty chose to write the Gospel, or the history of the life and death, the teachings and miracles of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, was Saint Luke, the third of those who are called Evangelists. He is represented with an ox near him, according to the mysterious revelation made to the Prophet Ezekiel; because he begins his Gospel with the revelation of what happened to Zachary in the Temple, where oxen, sheep and other animals were offered, according to the Old Covenant, in sacrifice to the Almighty. Saint Luke is said to have been born at Antioch, in Syria, and his occupation, in his youth, was the study of the liberal arts, especially rhetoric, physic, sculpture and painting. It is believed that Saint Paul himself instructed him in the Christian faith; hence, Saint Jerome calls him a spiritual son of that holy Apostle. It is quite certain that he accompanied Saint Paul in the many and laborious travels which the holy Apostle undertook to convert the infidels. Hence he had a part in all the labors, dangers, hardships and persecutions which the Apostle endured. This, however, caused him to be most warmly beloved and highly esteemed by Saint Paul, who mentions him in several of his epistles, and among other praises, calls him an Apostle.

At the desire of Saint Paul, Luke wrote the Gospel in Greek, as the Apostle was at that time preaching to the Greeks, and also, because this language was very much disseminated. Saint Luke relates, in his Gospel, much that is but slightly mentioned by the other Evangelists, for instance, the mystery of the Annunciation and the Incarnation of Christ: from which the holy Fathers conclude that he must have been on very friendly terms, not only with the Apostles, but also with the Divine Mother, as she could give him the best information concerning these mysteries. Another reason is, that Saint Luke lived in chastity, and earnestly endeavored to guard and preserve this virtue. The commentators of Holy Writ have also observed, that Saint Luke, more than the other Evangelists, gives sinners the hope of divine mercy, and encourages them to repentance, as is seen in the parable of the Prodigal Son, so lovingly received by his father, as also in that of the Good Shepherd, who with great solicitude sought the lost sheep, and brought it back to the fold; again in the history of the sinner who so mercifully receives pardon: in the Samaritan who cares so kindly for the wounded traveller; but above all, in the wonderful conversion of the thief crucified with Christ, to whom, when he had humbly and penitentially begged to be remembered, our kind Saviour promised Paradise. Saint Anselm gives the reason for this in the following words:

“Luke was at first a physician of the body; hence it is that he speaks more than the other Evangelist, of the mercy of our Saviour, who heals and frees men from diseases of the soul.” Besides the Gospel, Saint Luke also wrote a book on the labors of the Apostles, which is called the Acts of the Apostles. In it he first relates the ascension of Christ and the coming of the Holy Ghost; and after this what and where the Apostles preached, the miracles they wrought, and the sufferings they endured for Christ’s sake. He further describes the life of the first Christians, and the martyrdom of Saint Stephen and Saint James. He then relates the conversion of Saint Paul, the labors and sufferings of this holy Apostle, which no one could know better than Saint Luke, who was his constant companion. During the two years of Saint Paul’s imprisonment at Caesarea, Luke aided him in every manner; he also accompanied him to Rome, when Saint Paul had appealed to the emperor. At Rome, where the holy Apostle was again imprisoned for two years, Saint Luke left him not, and allowed no persecution to separate him from his beloved master. When Saint Paul was set at liberty, Saint Luke accompanied him as before, wherever the unwearied Apostle preached the Gospel. Saint Epiphanius relates, that, after the death of the two Apostles, Peter and Paul, Saint Luke preached the Gospel of Christ in Italy, France, Dalmatia and Macedonia, with apostolic zeal. The Greeks assure us that he did the same in Egypt, Thebais and Lybia, and that he had great success in converting the infidels. It is easy to conceive what hardships, dangers and persecutions the holy Evangelist must have suffered in these many wearisome travels and in consequence of his zealous preaching. Yet he was never discontented, never desponding, but always cheerful; because he always thought of Him for whom he labored and suffered, and of the recompense that was awaiting him. Saint Jerome writes that the Saint continued his apostolic labors until he had reached his 84th year. Saint Gregory of Nazianzum, Saint Paulinus and Saint Gaudentius maintain that he ended his life by martyrdom. Nicephorus writes that the heathens hung him to an olive-tree, and that thus he died a martyr. It is certain that his life, full of cares and hardships, was a continued martyrdom, the severity of which he increased by severe fasting and other penances. Hence the Church says of him, in the prayer which she offers up today at Holy Mass, that he bore the mortification of the cross ceaselessly in his body, for the love and honor of Christ. He ended his glorious labors and sufferings at Patras in Achaia. His holy relics, with those of Saint Andrew were brought to Constantinople at the time of Constantine the Great. Long afterwards, they were removed to Pavia; but the head had, some time before, been taken by Gregory the Great to Rome, and placed in Saint Peter’s Church. There is a tradition that Saint Luke painted several likenesses of Christ and the Blessed Virgin, and left them to the Christians to comfort them. To this day several pictures of the Blessed Virgin are shown, which are supposed to be his works. One of these is at Rome, in the Church of Saint Mary Major, and another is at Loretto; both of these are venerated by the whole Christian world.

Fresque de Saint Luc, Église Notre-Dame-du-Sou de Saint-Paul 

Practical Considerations

• How usefully and beneficially did Saint Luke employ his pencil, his chisel, his pen, and his tongue – the tongue to preach the word of Christ, the pen to narrate the Lord’s life and death, the pencil and chisel to make so many edifying likenesses of Jesus and Mary. Happy those who follow him in the good use of their limbs and the art they have learned! Unhappy, however, those who make their pencil and chisel instruments for pictures which give scandal to others; and who use their pen for sensational, slanderous, or otherwise sinful books and writings; who with their tongues, utter lying, slanderous, unchaste or other sinful speeches, and who greedily stretch out their hands to forbidden objects. The same may be said of those who offend God with eyes, ears, lips, feet or other limbs, and thus misuse members which God, in His mercy, gave them only for good. O how much pain such ungrateful beings will suffer in these members, which they now use only as instruments of wickedness! I call them, not without reason, ungrateful beings; for, I ask you, from whom has man his eyes, ears, tongue, hand, and feet? From none but God, the Lord, who gave them out of the abundance of His mercy. This is a great grace, and if you wish to come to the full knowledge of it, look at those who possess not these members, or have not the use of them; at those who are blind, deaf, dumb or lame. How miserable they are! Hence by giving these members to man, and the full use of them, God has surely shown great kindness to him; and man ought to be duly grateful. If man, however, misuses these members to offend God, he commits a horrible deed of ingratitude. He is not worthy to have the use of his limbs; for, as Saint Bernard says: “He is not worthy to live, who will not live for Thee, O Jesus!” So is he unworthy to have tongue, ears, hands, or feet, who uses them as means to offend the Majesty of God. Are you one of this kind of men? Ask your conscience, and correct, while time is left to you, what you have done wrong.

• Saint Luke bore always the mortification of the Cross in his body. He was always cheerful in his work and in his sufferings; never weary or desponding. The love of Christ, and the hope of an eternal reward made everything light and easy to him. If you love Christ with your whole heart, and think frequently on the future recompense, I am confident that you will not become weary at your work, that you will not despond while suffering. Therefore, in future, think often how your Lord suffered for you, and how great a reward He has promised you for your labors and sufferings. “When I see my Lord and God laden with suffering and pain/* says Saint Bernard, “it becomes impossible for me not to bear with an easy mind and a cheerful countenance, every evil that assails me.” Saint Augustine writes: “If you consider the reward which will be given to you, all that you have to endure will be but trifling.” You will be astonished that so great a recompense is given for so little work; for, in truth, to gain eternal rest, one should perform a long work, and earn eternal joys by long suffering. As, however, the Al- mighty requires of us only a short work and a short suffering, who dares to complain or murmur? Should we not much rather work and suffer cheerfully? Let us work then, as long as we live, and suffer all that God sees fit to send us.

MLA Citation

Father Francis Xavier Weninger, DD, SJ. “Saint Luke, Evangelist”. Lives of the Saints, 1876. CatholicSaints.Info. 11 May 2018. Web. 19 October 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-luke-evangelist/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-luke-evangelist/

Theodoric of Prague, Luke the Evangelist, collection of the National Gallery Prague, National Gallery Prague

Golden Legend – Life of Saint Luke

Here followeth of Saint Luke the Evangelist, and first of his name.

Luke is as much to say as arising or enhancing himself. Or Luke is said of light, he was raising himself from the love of the world, and enhancing into the love of God. And he was also light of the world, for he enlumined the universal world by holy predication, and hereof saith Saint Matthew, Mathei quinto: Ye be the light of the world. The light of the world is the sun, and that light hath height in his seat or siege. And hereof saith Ecclesiasticus the twenty-sixth chapter: The sun rising in the world is in the right high things of God, he hath delight in beholding. And as it is said Ecclesiastes undecimo: The light of the sun is sweet, and it is delightable to the eyes to see the sun. He hath swiftness in his moving as it is said in the Second Book of Esdras the fourth chapter. The earth is great and the heaven is high and the course of the sun is swift, and hath profit in effect, for after the philosopher, man engendereth man, and the sun. And thus Luke had highness by the love of things celestial, delectable by sweet conversation, swiftness by fervent predication and utility, and profit by conscription and writing of his doctrine.

Of Saint Luke Evangelist.

Luke was of the nation of Syria, and Antiochian by art of medicine, and after some he was one of seventy-two disciples of our Lord. Saint Jerome saith that he was disciple of the apostles and not of our Lord, and the gloss upon the twenty-fifth chapter of the Book of Exodus signifieth that he joined not to our Lord when he preached, but he came to the faith after his resurrection. But it is more to be holden that he was none of the seventy-two disciples, though some hold opinion that he was one. But he was of right great perfection of life, and much well ordained as toward God, and as touching his neighbour, as touching himself, and as touching his office. And in sign of these four manners of ordinances he was described to have four faces, that is to wit, the face of a man, the face of a lion, the face of an ox and the face of an eagle, and each of these beasts had four faces and four wings, as it is said in Ezechiel the first chapter. And because it may the better be seen, let us imagine some beast that hath his head four square, and in every square a face, so that the face of a man be tofore, and on the right side the face of the lion, and on the left side the face of the ox, and behind the face of the eagle, and because that the face of the eagle appeared above the other for the length of the neck, therefore it is said that this face was above, and each of these four had four pens. For when every beast was quadrate as we may imagine, in a quadrate be four corners, and every corner was a pen. By these four beasts, after that saints say, be signified the four evangelists, of whom each of them had four faces in writing, that is to wit, of humanity, of the passion, of the resurrection, and of the divinity. How be it these things be singularly to singular, for after Saint Jerome, Matthew is signified in the man, for he was singularly moved to speak of the humanity of our Lord. Luke was figured in the ox, for he devised about the priesthood of .Jesu Christ. Mark was figured in the lion, for he wrote more clearly of the resurrection. For as some say, the fawns of the lion be as they were dead unto the third day, but by the braying of the lion they been raised at the third day, and therefore he began in the cry of predication. John is figured as an eagle, which fleeth highest of the four, for he wrote of the divinity of Jesu Christ. For in him be written four things. He was a man born of the virgin, he was an ox in his passion, a lion in his resurrection, and an eagle in his ascension. And by these four faces it is well showed that Luke was rightfully ordained in these four manners. For by the face of a man it is showed that he was rightfully ordained as touching his neighbour, how he ought by reason teach him, draw him by debonairly, and nourish him by liberality, for a man is a beast reasonable, debonair, and liberal. By the face of an eagle it is showed that he was rightfully ordained as touching God, for in him the eye of understanding beheld God by contemplation, and the eye of his desire was to him by thought or effect, and old age was put away by new conversation. The eagle is of sharp sight, so that he beholdeth well, without moving of his eye, the ray of the sun, and when he is marvellous high in the air he seeth well the small fishes in the sea. He hath also his beak much crooked, so that he is let to take his meat, he sharpeth it and whetteth it against a stone, and maketh it convenable to the usage of his feeding. And when he is roasted by the hot sun, he throweth himself down by great force into a fountain, and taketh away his old age by the heat of the sun, and changeth his feathers, and taketh away the darkness of his eyes. By the face of the lion it is showed how he was ordained as touching himself. For he had noblesse by honesty of manners and holy conversation, he had subtlety for to eschew the Iying in wait for his enemies, and he had sufferance for to have pity on them that were tormented by affliction. The lion is a noble beast, for he is king of beasts. He is subtle, he defaceth his traces and steps with his tail when he fleeth, so that he shall not be found; he is suffering, for he suffereth the quartan. By the face of an ox it is showed how he was ordained as touching his office, that was to write the gospel. For he proceeded morally, that is to say by morality, that he began from the nativity and childhood of Jesu Christ, and so proceeded little and little unto his last consummation. He began discreetly, and that was after other two evangelists, that if they had left any thing he should write it, and that which they had suffciently said he should leave. He was well mannered, that is to say well learned and induced in the sacrifices and works of the temple, as it appeareth in the beginning, in the middle, and in the end. The ox is a moral beast and hath his foot cloven, by which is discretion understood, and it is a beast sacrificeable. And truly, how that Luke was ordained in the four things, it is better showed in the ordinance of his life. First, as touching his ordinance unto God. After Saint Bernard, he was ordained in three manners, that is by affection and desire, by thought and intention. The affection ought to be holy, the thought clean, and intention rightful. He had the affection holy, for he was full of the Holy Ghost, like as Jerome saith in his prologue upon Luke: He went into Bethany full of the Holy Ghost. Secondly, he had a clean thought, for he was a virgin both in body and mind, in which is noted cleanness of thought. Thirdly, he had rightful intention, for in all things that he did he sought the honour of God. And of these two last things it is said in the prologue upon the Acts of the Apostles: He was without sin and abode in virginity, and this is touching the cleanness of thought. He loved best to serve our Lord, that is to the honour of our Lord, this is as touching the rightful intention. Fourthly, he was ordained as touching his neighbour. We be ordained to our neighbour when we do that we ought to do. After Richard of S.Victor, there be three things that we owe to our neighbour, that is our power, our knowledge, and our wild, and let the fourth be put to, that is all that we may do. Our power in helping him, our knowledge in counselling him, our will in his desires, and our deeds in services. As touching to these four, Saint Luke was ordained, for he gave first to his neighbour his power in aiding and obsequies, and that appeareth by that he was joined to Paul in his tribulations and would not depart from him, but was helping him in his preachings, like as it is written in the second epistle of Paul in the fourth chapter to Timothy, saying: Luke is only with me. In that he saith, only with me, it signifieth that he was a helper, as that he gave to him comfort and aid, and in that he said only, it signifieth that he joined to him firmly. And he said in the eighth chapter to the II Corinthians: He is not alone, but he is ordained of the churches to be fellow of our pilgrimage. Secondly, he gave his knowledge to his neighbour in counsels. He gave then his knowledge to his neighbour when he wrote to his neighbours the doctrine of the apostles, and of the gospel that he knew. And hereof he beareth himself witness in his prologue; saying: It is mine advice, and I assent, good Theophilus, to write to thee, right well of the beginning by order, so that thou know the truth of the words of which thou art taught. And it appeareth well that he gave his knowledge in counsels to his neighbours, by the words that Jerome saith in his prologue, that is to wit, that his words be medicine unto a sick soul. Thirdly, he gave his will unto the desires of his neighbour, and that appeareth by that, that he desireth that they should have health perdurable, like as Paul saith to the Colossians: Luke the leech saluteth you; that is to say, Think ye to have health perdurable, for he desireth it to you. Fourthly, he gave to his neighbour his deed in their services. And it appeareth by that that he supposed that our Lord had been a strange man, and he received him into his house and did to him all the service of charity, for he was fellow to Cleophas when they went to Emmaus, as some say. And Gregory saith in his Morals, that Ambrose saith it was another, of whom he nameth the name. Thirdly, he was well ordained as touching himself. And after Saint Bernard, three things there be that ordain a man right well as touching himself, and maketh him holy, that is to live soberly, and rightful labour, and a debonair wit. And after Saint Bernard each of these three is divided into three, that is, to live soberly, if we live companionably, continently, and humbly. Rightful work is, if he be rightful, discreet, and fruitful. Rightful by good intention, discreet by measure, and fruitful by edification. The wit is debonair, when our faith feeleth God to be sovereign good, so that by his puissance we believe that our infirmity be holpen by his power, our ignorance be corrected by his wisdom, and that our wickedness be defaced by his bounty. And thus saith Bernard: In all these things was Saint Luke well ordained. He had, first, sober living in treble manner, for he lived continently. For as Saint Jerome witnesseth of him in the prologue upon Luke, he had never wife ne children. He lived companionably, and that is signified of him, where it is said of him and Cleophas in the opinion aforesaid: Two disciples went that same day, etc. Fellowship is signified in that he saith, two disciples, that is to say, well mannered. Thirdly he lived humbly, of which humility is showed of that he expressed the name of his fellow Cleophas and spake not of his own name. And after the opinion of some, Luke named not his name for meekness. Secondly, he had rightful work and deed, and his work was rightful by intention, and that is signified in his collect where it is said: Qui crucis mortificationem jugiter in corpore suo pro tui nominis amore portavit: he bare in his body mortification of his flesh for the love of thy name. He was discreet by temperance, and therefore he was figured in the form of an ox, which hath the foot cloven, by which the virtue of discretion is expressed; he was also fruitful by edification; he was so fruitful to his neighbours that he was holden most dear of all men, wherefore, Ad Colossenses quarto, he was called of the apostle most dearest: Luke the leech saluteth you. Thirdly, he had a meek wit, for he believed and confessed in his gospel, God to be sovereignly mighty, sovereignly wise, and sovereignly good. Of the two first, it is said in the fourth chapter: They all were abashed in his doctrine, for the word of him was in his power. And of the third, it appeareth in the eighteenth chapter, where he saith: There is none good but God alone. Fourthly, and last, he was right well ordained as touching his office, the which was to write the gospel, and in this appeareth that he was ordained because that the said gospel is ennoblished with much truth, it is full of much profit, it is embellished with much honesty and authorised by great authority. It is first ennoblished with much truth. For there be three truths, that is of life, of righteousness, and of doctrine. Truth of life is concordance of the hand to the tongue, truth of righteousness is concordance of the sentence to the cause, and truth of doctrine is concordance of the thing to the understanding, and the gospel is ennoblished by this treble verity and this treble verity is showed in the gospel. For Luke showeth that Jesu Christ had in him this treble verity, and that he taught it to others, and showeth that God had this truth by the witness of his adversaries. And that saith he in the twenty seventh chapter: Master, we know well that thou art true, and teachest and sayest rightfully that is the verity of the doctrine, but thou teachest in truth the way of God, that is the truth of life, for good life is the way of God. Secondly, he showeth in his gospel that Jesu Christ taught this treble truth. First, he taught the truth of life, the which is in keeping the commandments of God, whereof it is said: Thou shalt love thy Lord God, do that and thou shalt live. And when a Pharisee demanded our Lord: What shall I do for to possess the everlasting life? He said: Knowest thou not the commandments? Thou shalt not slay, thou shalt do no theft, ne thou shalt do no adultery? Secondly, there is taught the verity of doctrine, wherefore he said to some that perverted this truth, the eleventh chapter: Woe be to you Pharisees, that tithe the people, et cetera, and pass over the judgment and charity of God. Also in the same: Woe be to you wise men of law, which have taken the key of science. Thirdly, is taught the truth of righteousness, where it is said: Yield ye that longeth to the emperor, and that ye owe to God, to God. And he saith the nineteenth chapter: They that be my enemies and will not that I reign upon them, bring them hither and slay them tofore me. And he saith in the thirteenth chapter, where he speaketh of the doom, that he shall say to them that be reproved: Depart from me, ye that have done wickedness. Secondly, his gospel is full of much profit, whereof Paul and himself write that he was a leech or a physician, wherefore in his gospel it is signified that he made ready for us medicine most profitable. There is treble medicine, curing, preserving, and amending. And this treble medicine showeth Saint Luke in his gospel that, the leech celestial hath made ready. The medicine curing is that which cureth the malady, and that is penance, which taketh away all maladies spiritual. And this medicine saith he that the celestial leech hath made ready for us when he saith: Heal ye them that be contrite of heart, and preach ye to the caitiffs the remission of sins. And in the fifth chapter he saith: I am not come to call the just and true men, but the sinners to penance. The medicine amending is that which encreaseth health, and that is the observation of counsel, for good counsel maketh a man better and more perfect. This medicine showeth us the heavenly leech when he saith in the eighteenth chapter: Sell all that ever thou hast and give to poor men. The medicine preservative is that which preserveth from falling, and this is the eschewing of the occasions to sin, and from evil company. And this medicine showeth to us the heavenly leech when he saith in the twelfth chapter: Keep you from the meat of the Pharisees, and there he teacheth us to eschew the company of shrews and evil men. Or it may be said that the said gospel is replenished with much profit, because that all virtue is contained therein.

And hereof saith Saint Ambrose: Luke compriseth in his gospel all the virtues of wisdom in history, he enseigned the nativity when he showed the incarnation of our Lord to have been made of the Holy Ghost. But David enseigned natural wisdom when he said: Send out the Holy Ghost, and they shall be created, and when he enseigned darkness made in the time of the passion of Jesu Christ, and trembling of the earth, and the sun had withdrawn her light and rays. And he taught morality when he taught manners in his blessedness. He taught reasonable things when he said: He that is true in little things, he is true in great things. And without this treble wisdom, the mystery of the Trinity, ne of our faith, may not be, that is to wit, wisdom natural, reasonable, and moral. And this is that Saint Ambrose saith. Thirdly, his gospel is embellished and made fair with much honesty, so that the style and manner of speaking is much honest and fair. And three things be convenient to this, that some men hold in his dictes honesty and beauty, the which Saint Austin teacheth, that is to wit, that it please, that it appear and move. That it please, he ought to speak ornately; that it appear, that he ought to speak appertly; that it move, that he speak fervently. And this manner had Lucas in writing and in preaching. Of the two first it is said in the eighth chapter of the II Corinthians: We sent with him a brother, the gloss Barnabas or Luke, of whom the praising is in all churches of the gospel. In this that he said the praising of him, is signified that he spake ornately; in this that he said in all churches, it is signified that he spake appertly. And that he spake fervently it appeared when he said: Was not then our heart burning within us in the love of Jesu when he spake with us in the way? Fourthly, his gospel is authorised by authority of many saints. What marvel was it though it were authorised of many, when it was authorised first of the Father? whereof Saint Jerome saith in the thirty-first chapter: Lo, the days shall come, our Lord saith: I shall make a new covenant with the house of Israel and of Judah, not after the covenant that I made with their fathers, but this shall be the covenant, saith our Lord: I shall give my law into the bowels of them. And he speaketh plainly to the letter of doctrine of the Gospel. Secondly, it is enforced of the Son, for he saith in the same gospel, the one-and-twentieth chapter: Heaven and earth shall pass and my word shall not perish. Thirdly, he is inspired of the Holy Ghost, whereof Saint Jerome saith in his prologue upon Luke: He wrote this gospel in the parts of Achaia by the admonishment of the Holy Ghost. Fourthly, he was tofore figured of the angels, for he was prefigured of the same angel of whom the apostle saith in the fourteenth chapter of the Apocalypse: I saw the angel flying by the midst of heaven, and had the gospel perdurable. This is said perdurable, for it is made perdurable, that is, of Jesu Christ. Fifthly, the gospel was pronounced of the prophets, that Ezechiel the prophet pronounced tofore this gospel, when he said that one of these beasts should have the face of an ox, wherefore the gospel of Saint Luke is signified as it is said tofore. And when Ezechiel said in the second chapter that he had seen the book that was written without and within, in which was written the lamentation song, by this book is understood the gospel of Luke that is written within for to hide the mystery of profoundness, and without for the showing of the history. In which also be contained the lamentation of the passion, the joy of the resurrection, and the woe of the eternal damnation as it appeareth the eleventh chapter, where many woes be put. Sixthly, the gospel was showed of the virgin. For the blessed Virgin Mary kept and heled diligently all these things in her heart, as it is said, Luce secundo, to the end that she should afterward show them to the writers, as the gloss saith, that all things that were done and said of our Lord Jesu Christ she knew and retained them in her mind. So that when she was required of the writers or of thee preachers of the incarnatio and of all other things, she might express the sufficiently, like as it was done and were in deed. Wherefore Saint Bernard assigned the reason why the angel of our Lord showed to the blessed Virgin the conceiving of Elizabeth. The conceiving of Elizabeth was showed to Mary because of the coming, now of our Saviour, and now of his messenger that came tofore him. The cause why she retained the ordinance of these things was because that she might the better show to writers and preachers the truth of the gospel. This is she that fully from the beginning was instructed of the celestial mysteries, and it is to be believed that the evangelists enquired of her many things, and she certified them truly. And specially that the blessed Luke had recourse to her like as to the ark of the Testament, and was certified of her many things, and especially of such things as appertained to her, as of the salutation of the angel Gabriel, of the nativity of Jesu Christ, and of such other things as Luke speaketh only. Seventhly, the gospel was showed of the apostles. For Luke had not been with Christ in all his acts and miracles, therefore he wrote his gospel after that the apostles that had been present showed and reported to him, like as he showeth in his prologue, saying: Like as they that had seen him from the beginning, and had been ministers with him and heard his words, informed and told to me. And because it is accustomed in double manner to bear witness, it is of things seen and of things heard Therefore saith Saint Austin: Our Lord would have two witnesses of things seen, they were John and Matthew, and two of things heard, and they were Mark and Luke. And because that the witness of things seen be more firm and more certain than of things heard, therefore saith Saint Austin: The two gospels that be of things seen be set first and last, and the others, that be of hearing, be set in the middle, like as they were the stronger and more certain of, and by the other twain. Eighthly, this gospel is marvellously approved of Saint Paul, when he bringeth the gospel of Luke to the confirmation of his sayings and dictes, whereof Saint Jerome saith in the Book of Noble Men, that some men have suspicion that always when Saint Paul saith in his epistles: Secundum Evangelium meum, that is, after my gospel, that is signified the volume of Luke. And he approved his gospel when he wrote of him (Secundo ad Corintheos octavo): Of whom the laud and praising is in the gospel in all the church. It is read in the history of Antioch that the christian men were besieged of a great multitude of Turks, and did to them many mischiefs, and were tormented with hunger and ill hap. But when they were plainly converted to our Lord by penance, a man full of clearness in white vestment appeared to a man that woke tn the church of our Lady at Tripoli, and when he demanded him who he was, he said that he was Luke that came from Antioch, where our Lord had assembled the chivalry of heaven and his apostles for to fight for his pilgrims against the Turks. Then the christian men enhardened themselves and discomfited all the host of the Turks.

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/golden-legend-life-of-saint-luke/

Robert Campin  (1375/1379–1444), Triptyque de saint Luc.

Saint Luke, The Patron Saint of the Worshipful Company of Painters, otherwise Painter-Stainers, by Walter Hayward Pitman

Introduction

Dedicated by Special Permission to the Master, Wardens, and Court of Assistants of the Worshipful Company of Painters, otherwise Painter-Stainers.

In presenting An Account of the Life and Works of Saint Luke to by brother Liverymen of the Painter-Stainer’s Company, I desire to ask their kind forbearance for venturing to undertake such a task. I can claim to possess no special qualifications for it; the subject, indeed, is one that does not permit of original information, but only of research and enquiry. Saint Luke being the patron saint of the Company, personally I was desirous of being acquainted with reasons which would justify us in claiming for our profession the high honour of Saint Luke’s attachment, and also of learning some details concerning those pictures which are claimed as his handiwork. Believing that the results of an investigation would also be a matter of interest to the members of the Company generally, I have pleasure in asking their perusal of the following pages. Though I have not been able to discover any novel facts, the compilation of this monograph in leisure, has enabled me amply to verify the words of Sir Frederick Leighton (P.R.A. and a Liveryman of our Company) when proposing at a recent Royal Academy Banquet, “The Interests of Science and of Literature.” He said,

“In letters, no province, perhaps, exercises wider fascination than that of biography. Men turn ever with unslaked curiosity to the inspiring record of the lives of those who have been prominent among their fellows.”

I am anxious to express my obligations and sincere acknowledgments to

Sir Edward Thornton, K.C.B., late Her Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador to the Sublime Porte

Sir F W Burton, National Gallery

The Rev Canon Curtis, Constantinople

The Rev Sabine Baring-Gould, M.A.

Charles Browne, Esq., M.A., Lincoln’s Inn

Athelstan Riley, Esq., M.A., F.R.G.S.

Charles Welch, Esq., The Library, Guildhall.

George C. Williamson, Esq., F. R. Hist. Soc., etc.,

and Others, who have most kindly mentioned works of reference, and have suggested various sources of information.

– Walter Hayward Pitman, Easter, 1889

Saint Luke

The name of Saint Luke is only three times mentioned in the New Testament –

Colossians 4:14

2nd Timothy 4:11

Philemon 24

He must not be confounded with Lucius (Romans 16:21), whom Saint Paul the Apostle calls his kinsman.

Saint Luke is recognized and accepted as an Evangelist, a Physician, and a Painter. His “praise is in the Gospel throughout all the churches.” (2nd Corinthians 8:18) He is renowned in Art – the handmaid of Religion. Holy Scripture, to which one naturally turns for information, tells us of his works as an evangelist – a little of his position as a physician – but nothing of his capability as a painter. Legend and tradition, nevertheless, largely supply and fill up details – especially as to the last-mentioned talent. It is unfortunate that many of the statements made in the patristic literature are at variance with one another, and with earlier documents, etc., thus rendering them confusing and often greatly conflicting. Combining, however, all sources of information, it is possible to learn something of the life and work of Saint Luke, to whom the Church, and indeed all men, owe so great a debt of gratitude.

On the testimony of Eusebius and Saint Jerome, Saint Luke was born in Antioch, the metropolis of Syria. Its delightful situation, its beautiful climate, its extent, its population and its commerce, rendered it famous; it was not less celebrated for its learning and wisdom. It is interesting to remember that at Antioch men were first called “Christians.” Saint Luke was most probably not of Jewish parentage; Saint Paul in his Epistle to the Colossians, separates the names of his fellow labourers who are “of the circumcision” from the names of others who follow. Saint Luke is among these latter. (Colossians 4:14)

Saint Jerome mentions that Saint Luke was more conversant with Greek than Hebrew, and this also may lead to the inference that he was a Gentile. His family or condition of life cannot be exactly stated. From his name Luca (which is a contraction of Lucanus, and the full form appears in some early manuscripts), one may gather that he was Italian (Lucanian) descent.

Of his early days and training we have no record, though it appears clear that he was equipped with what we should now call a “liberal education,” and that he was acquainted with the best Greek classical authors. His writing are in the purest Greek, and are evidence of his finished erudition. He was essentially a man of letters and skilled in composition.

Saint Luke, in his writings, describes in detail Jewish rules, feasts, fasts, and the like. This has led to the idea that he (being a Gentile as has been already mentioned) was first of all converted to Judaism.

Saint Epiphanius makes Saint Luke to have been a disciple of our Lord – one of the seventy. The portion of Holy Scripture selected to the Gospels on Saint Luke’s day, Luke 10:1, tends to confirm this, and he alone makes special mention of their mission. It is also asserted that he was one of the two who journeyed to Emmaus with the Risen Saviour. Certain it is that he alone records the particulars of that wonderful journey, when the hearts of the two companions “burned” while He talked with them by the way. (Luke 24:32) These suggestions are, however, inconsistent, and at variance with Tertullian and the Muratorian fragment, and are only conjectural, for we have Saint Luke’s own testimony, in the preface to his Gospel, that he wrote from information conveyed to him by those who “from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word.” (Luke 1:2) Saint Luke therefore wrote not from his own observation (except say from the early days of the Church), and thus we may fairly conclude that he, like Saint Mark, became a Christian only after our Lord’s Ascension into Heaven. The Muratorian fragment says distinctly that Saint Luke did not see the Lord in the flesh. Some ascribe to Saint Paul the credit of Saint Luke’s conversion, and fix the place of it at Antioch; but others consider this improbable since Saint Paul nowhere calls him the “son”, as he frequently does his converts.

We may well be content to render to God all Praise for giving to the Church such a faithful and diligent “son” as Saint Luke proved himself to be.

Physician

Saint Paul speaks of Saint Luke as the “beloved physician.” (Colossians 4:14) That he was taught the science of medicine does not support the inference that he was of high birth or fortune since the practice and science of medicine in Saint Luke’s day was often managed by slaves who were educated and trained in its mysteries. Great personages had their slaves instructed in medicine; hence some have conceived that Saint Luke was of humble birth, and that possibly he had lived with some noble family in the capacity of physician until he obtained his freedom. We have evidence of his medical knowledge by his correct use of medical terms, and because he describes diseases as only a physician world, e.g., when mentioning in his Gospel the woman having an issue of blood (Luke 8:43), and in the Acts of the apostles the cure of the father of Publius at Melita (Acts 28:8).

The language employed in the latter example is distinctly descriptive, if not technical. Saint Jerome tells us that Saint Luke was very imminent in his profession as a physician. Eminence is not to be obtained in a day; thus, it may have been that Saint Luke followed his calling all his life, exercising it in whatever place he may have happened to be at the time. A curious and interesting coincidence is that when Saint Luke is first mentioned as being in company with Saint Paul, it is immediately after a sojourn of the latter in Galatia (Acts 16:6,10), due to severe bodily sickness (Galatians 4:13). Indeed, this illness of Saint Paul may have necessitated the calling in or medical skill, and may thus have been the cause of their first meeting.

It has also been surmised that Saint Luke was a medical attendant on board one of the ancient vessels; they were not rapid in their movements, and some, not infrequently, were very large, thus requiring a considerable staff, and, as a consequence, probably “carrying a surgeon,” as we now say. The ship “of Alexandria,” in which the journey to Rome was made, is supposed to have been some 1200 tons burden. Saint Luke certainly displays, in the Acts of the Apostles, considerable knowledge of nautical matters, and it may have been acquired in circumstances such as we have hinted. Or again, Philippi and Troas, we know, were his headquarters for some time. His constant journeys, to and fro, between these places would make him well acquainted with the points of the coast en route, and, probably, being a man of keen perception and interest, with navigation generally. His familiarity with nautical phraseology and idioms is specially shown in his descriptions of Saint Paul’s shipwreck and voyage to Rome (Acts 17). He gives, as it were, the log-book: “We sailed under Cyprus because the winds were contrary.” As it was then autumn, and violent northwest windows prevailing in the Archipelago, this course was obligatory; they could not take the open sea, outside the island, as the vessel having Saint Paul on board was able to do in the voyage from Miletus to Tyre. “Sailing was not dangerous.” Navigation amongst the ancients ceased from October to March, owning to the prevalence of storms. The dark and rainy weather his the sun and stars, which were, before the invention of the compass, the mariner’s only guide. Saint Luke describes the coast and its dangers: the soft “south wind”; what was done to preserve the ship; the soundings that were repeatedly made, and so on. All this affords irresistible proof of his cognizance of navigation.

Evangelist

Acts 16:8,10,11 give us the first gleam of information respecting Saint Luke’s evangelistic work. The change of the pronoun from the third person (verse 8.) to the first person (verses 10, 11), which here occurs, permits the belief that the writer of the Acts of the Apostles (and he, it is generally accepted, we Saint Luke) became Saint Paul’s companion in the latter’s journeyings. When Saint Paul sailed from Troas in 51, soon afterwards Saint Barnabas left him, Saint Luke accompanied the former into Macedonia, travelling with him to Philippi, the chief city of that part. Philippi is remarkable in that the Gospel was preached there by an Apostle for the first time within the continent of Europe. Saint Luke appears to have been left behind at Philippi, and Saint Paul resumed his journey without him. Before he was able again to visit Philippi, seven years elapsed. During this period Saint Luke, it is conjectured, followed his calling as a physician and also diligently worked as a “physician of the soul,” delivering his testimony to the truth of the Resurrection, preaching the Gospel message in the surrounding country, cultivating and nurturing the “good seed” sown by the Apostle, and stimulating the faith and hope of the converts. About the year 56, Saint Luke, “the brother whose praise is in the Gospel throughout all the churches,” (2nd Corinthians 8:18) accompanied Titus, Bishop of Crete, to Corinth. Could Saint Paul give a greater commendation, or a more honourable introduction that the words, “the brother whose praise is in the Gospel throughout the churches” would convey? We may be sure that Saint Luke was not unworthy of them.

Saint Paul and Saint Luke departed from Philippi together in 58, it being the former’s third missionary journey. Henceforward the two were inseparable. Passing through Troas, Assos, Mitylene, Chios, Samos, and Trogyllium, in due course, they arrived in Miletus, the old capital of Ionia. Here they tarried in order that Saint Paul might meet the Elders from Ephesus, which was about 28 miles to the north. From Miletus Saint Paul and his companions sailed, by way of Cos and Rhodes, to Patara, where Apollo was worshipped as his sister Diana was at Ephesus. At Patara the travellers, changing ship (Acts 21:2), crossed the open sea, straight for Tyre, “discovering Cyprus” on the left hand. This is really a nautical expression signifying to see land, to being land to view, just as sailors in our day say “making” land.

At Tyre, Saint Paul was warned by the word of Prophecy of his approaching dangers and trials; however, he feared nothing, but persisted in continuing his journey to Jerusalem. Saint Luke, his faithful fellow-labourer, also remained earnest and steadfast in his devotion. They journeyed together from Tyre to Ptolemais. From this point the journey was no double made by land, and the travellers (Saint Luke and Saint Paul) duly arrived in Caesarea. Here the house of Philip, the Deacon Evangelist, afforded a hospitable welcome; after abiding with his family for some days, they continued their journey and arrived at Jerusalem in good time for the Feast.

In Jerusalem, Saint Paul had several “hair-breadth” escapes from serious and menacing dangers. He was made a prisoner, and after much enquiry, was sent to Caesarea to be adjudged by Felix, the Governor. Twice was Saint Paul brought before Felix, and each time was he remanded. He remained a prisoner for two years. Saint Luke continued with him as his constant attendant and help, during all this trying and depressing period. It would seem that Saint Luke’s highest ambition was to share with the great Apostle to the Gentiles all the fatigues and perils to which the latter was subjected. Saint Luke was possibly of some medical assistance to him, for it is not improbable that Saint Paul’s health was somewhat impaired by his confinement.

Felix’s term of office having expired, Festuc succeeded to his rank. Saint Paul was arraigned before him, as well. After bearing a great testimony to the Truth, Saint Paul finally appealed to Caesar and claimed his rights as a Roman citizen. From Caesarea, therefore, Saint Paul was sent with other state prisoners in proper care and custody to Rome (Acts 27:1). Saint Luke was still his companion, for he says, “And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy,” etc. He participated in all the anxious and hazardous events of that journey; he endured and survived the terrible shipwreck at Melia. As he writes, “And so it came to pass that they escaped all safe to land.” (Acts 27:44)

After many other perils and deprivations, the company arrived in Rome. Here Saint Paul was a prisoner for two years. His confinement was imperative and close; though he was permitted to live in a house that he hired for the purpose, his life was, it may be said, dependent on a word from the Emperor. It is generally agreed that Saint Paul was acquitted at the termination of this time, though no information is vouchsafed in the Acts of the Apostles, and that he afterwards resumed his labours in the Gospel. Saint Luke did not forsake the Apostle on his release but continued diligent in his service during his subsequent visitations of the churches in Crete, Colosse, Ephesus, Corinth, etc. Saint Paul was afterwards (we know now how, where or even when) again arrested and imprisoned at Rome. This was more severe probably than the former imprisonment, though with him he had some three or four companions as well as his ever-zealous adherent, Saint Luke. How grieved he must have been by the departure and loss of these brethren, and the more especially at the cause of their falling away! Writing at this time to Timothy, he says “For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed to Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia; only Luke is with me.” Saint Luke alone was constant at all times and in every place through his master’s afflictions. He was to him, indeed, “faithful unto death.”

We may here mention that there is a tradition which asserts that Saint Paul, before his second imprisonment, travelled into Spain and even as far west as Britain. If this be corrected, Saint Luke, being his companion, must also have visited the island. It is noteworthy that when Saint Augustine of Canterbury came to evangelize and convert the inhabitants of Saxon England, he found on his arrival that already the name of Christ was known, and that men acknowledged and worshipped the only true God. It may be that Saint Luke was an instrument in bringing this result.

Writings

It is generally accepted that Saint Luke was the author of the Gospel which bears his name, and also of the Acts of the Apostles. Some suppose these two books are but two parts of one volume. (Even those who assign the greater part of the Actsto a much later date think that the sections referring to the missionary journeys of Saint Paul may be extracts from an original diary of a companion of Saint Paul, and that his companion may have been Saint Luke. Luke was at considerable pains to obtain the best possible information; doubtless from those person who were present at, and interested in, those scenes which are recorded. Saint Luke, in the course of his travels with Saint Paul, would come into contact here and there with several who could materially assist him in this respect. As regards the Gospel, we may be sure the Blessed Virgin was a willing informant as to many of the important details connected with the Annunciation, with the Mystery of the Incarnation, and the subsequent events and occurrences recorded. Most probably, Saint Paul was his informant as to the numerous incidents narrated in the Acts of the Apostles, especially in the opening chapters, concerning the subjects matter of which no one could be more cognizant or better acquainted. It is well, nevertheless, that we do not forget that it was under the direction and influence of the Holy Ghost that Saint Luke’s writing were accomplished, and without. His assistance, without His living Spirit, nothing was written. For want of this guidance by the Holy Spirit, the compositions of the “many” authors to whom Saint Luke refers in his preface (Luke 1:1) were failures. The Gospel according to Saint Luke was most probably written when he was with the Apostle Paul in the latter’s two years’ imprisonment at Caesarea, though it was not published till at least 63 or 64 AD. The Gospels of Saint Matthew and Saint Mark had already been written, and Saint Luke appears anxious to supply some things which they omitted to narrate. Authorities, however, differ as to this question of date. Dr E A Abbott, after dealing very minutely with the point, states as a clear inference that Saint Luke compiled his Gospel certainly after 70, and actually about the year 80 at the earliest.

A French writer has described Saint Luke’s Gospel as the most beautiful book that has ever been written, thus endorsing, if it were necessary, the opinion of the late Charles Dickens concerning the New Testament as a while. He declared it to be the best book that ever was, or will be, known in the world. Saint Luke portrays Christ specially as the Universal Saviour – the Saviour not of a chosen people only, but of all men – the Light to lighten the Gentiles, as well as the Glory of His people Israel. To Saint Luke’s Gospel we owe the record of many most gracious acts performed, and words of the deepest intent spoken, by our Blessed Lord. When uniting from day to day, and from week to week, with the Church in her services of prayer and thanksgiving, we are perhaps unmindful of the fact that it is from Saint Luke’s Gospel we cull the Benedictus, the Magnificat anima mea, the Gloria in Excelsis, and the name Nunc Dimittis. Keble, in the Christian year, apostrophizing Saint Luke, says

Thou hast an ear for angels’ songs,
A breath the Gospel trump to fill,
And taught by thee the Church prolongs
Her hymns of high thanksgiving still.

Saint Luke alone tell us of the birth of Saint John the Baptist – how the glad tidings of the birth of Christ were announced to the humble shepherds in the fields – of his Presentation in the Temple – of the early testimony of Simeon and Anna concerning him – and of His audience, when twelve years old, with the doctors. Again, it is from Saint Luke’s Gospel that we learn the practical lessons enforced by the Good Samaritan, by Dives and Lazarus, the Pharisee and the Publican, and last, though not least, by the record portraying the Prodigal Son.

How many a soul with guilt oppressed
Has learned to hear the joyful found
In that sweet tale of sin confessed,
The Father’s love, the lost and found!

The tenderness and mercy of Jesus is indicated in the following incidents, which Saint Luke alone records, viz –

The raising to life of the son of the Widow of Nain.

The cure of the women with the issue of blood.

The cleansing of the ten lepers.

The promise to the penitent thief: “To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.”

We may here refer to Mrs Jameson’s delightful work, Legends of the Madonna. Referring to the tradition that Saint Luke was a painter, she reminds us how Saint Luke was early regarded as the great authority with respect to the few Scriptural particulars relating to the life and character of the Virgin Mary. In this figurative sense he may be said to have painted that portrait of her which has since been received as the perfect type of womanhood. saint Luke’s Gospel displays her character, her true and trustful humility at the time of the Annunciation, her decision and prudence in visiting her elder relative – Elizabeth. It also gives proof of her intellectual power in the unequalled Magnificat of her truly maternal devotion to her Son throughout His ministry on earth, as well as the fortitude and faith with which she stood by Him when dying on the Cross.

Longfellow, in his Golden Legend, also praises the Blessed Virgin as an

Example of all womanhood,
So mild, so merciful, so strong, so good,
So patient, peaceful, loyal, loving, pure.

It was about the year 73 when Saint Luke completed the writing of the Acts of the Apostles, and this period was coincident with the release of Saint Paul from imprisonment in Rome. Ancient writings and monuments belonging to the Church of Santa Maria in Via Lata in that city inform us that this church was erected upon the spot where Saint Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles. They contain an authentic statement of the “wonderful works of God” in planting and developing His Church, of the miracles by which He confirmed His purpose in her, and “of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach,” concluding with the statement of the martyrdom of the great Apostle to the Gentiles. Very valuable indeed to the Church is this inspired record.

Death

After the martyrdom of Saint Paul the doings of Saint Luke, his beloved companion, are most obscure. Saint Epiphanius says he preached in Italy, Gaul, Dalmatia, and Macedon. Saint Gregory of Nazianzus makes Achaia the theatre of his preaching, while Saint Oecumenius says Africa, and a later legend mentions Enns, in Austria.

In an addition to the Treatise of Eminent Men by Saint Jerome, we read that Saint Luke never married. Saint Hippolytus says Saint Luke was crucified at Eloea, in the Peloponnesus, near Achaia. Saint Gregory of Nazianzus assures us that he went to God by martyrdom. Saint Nicephorus specifies that he was hanged on an olive tree. The African Martyrology of the fifth century gives him the title of Evangelist and Martyr. Gaudentius, Bishop of Brescia in the fifth century, speaks of Saint Luke as a martyr, and says that he suffered at Patra, in Achaia, and in company with, it is supposed, Saint Andrew. Elias of Crete, in the eighth century, denies that Saint Luke was a martyr. Elsewhere it is stated, or implied, that he died an ordinary death, either in Bithynia, or at Thebes, in Boeotia: “Thebes primum fepultae”. The Venerable Bede and others say that “he suffered much for the faith, and died very old in Bithynia”; of course this does not permit the inference that he shed his blood. The Greek traditions represent him as dying in peace, and his death was thus figured on the ancient doors of San Paolo at Rome. Saint Luke, at the time of his death, was about eighty-four years of age.

By order of the Emperor Constantine, the body of Saint Luke was translated in 357 from Patra to Constantinople, and deposited in the Church of the Apostles in that city, along with the bodies of Saint Andrew and Saint Timothy. On this occasion some distribution of relics of Saint Luke was made. This magnificent Church of the Apostles was erected by Constantine the Great, whose body, in a chest of gold, was deposited in the porch. The burial-place of Saint Luke, however, would seem to have been soon forgotten, for when excavations for some new foundations were made, by order of Justinian, the workmen discovered three coffins or chests of wood, wherein, as the inscriptions proved, the bodies of Saints Luke, Andrew, and Timothy were interred. Subsequent tradition asserts that the remains were afterwards conveyed to Italy. More than one whole body of Saint Luke was stated to exist: e.g., one in the Minorite Monastery of Saint Job at Venice, and another in the Benedictine Church of Saint Giustina at Padua. In the fifteenth century Pope Pius II commanded Cardinal Bessarion to decide in a violent controversy between these two monasteries, for each claimed to possess the perfect relics of the Evangelist.

Baronius mentions that the head of Saint Luke was brought by Saint Gregory from Constantinople to Rome, and laid in the Church of his Monastery of Saint Andrew. Other “relics” are stated to exist, and may be enumerated as follows –

at Saint Peter’s, Rome

the head

at Valence

part of the head

at Liessy, in Hainault

part of the head

the Royal Chapel at Barcelona, Spain

an arm

at Saint Epina

another arm

at Prajano, near Naples, in Saint Luke’s Church

an arm and a knee

at the great Lavra on Mount Athos

part of a hand

at Valentia (exhibited on Easter Monday)

two fingers of the left hand

at Mechlin

a tooth

at Saint Oviedo, in Austria, also at Tournai, etc.

some bones

Requiescat in Pace

Saint Luke’s day

The martyrologies and calendars, for the most part, agree in fixing Saint Luke’s festival on 18 October, though other days are indicated – 13 October, 21 September, 26 September, and 27 November. A doubt is expressed whether October 18 should be regarded as the anniversary of his birth – or of the translation of his remains to Constantinople. The Roman Martyrology, under the day 18 October, states, “Natalis beati Lucae Evangelistae, qui multa passus pro Christi nomine Spiritu Sancto plenus obiit in Bithynia, cujus ossa Constantinoplum translata sunt et inde Patavium delata.” The same Martyrology commemorates the translation of his relics to Constantinople on 9 May. Many saints’ days have been appropriated and fixed with reference to the anniversary of the first consecration of a church made in their honour. This is the case with Michaelmas Day. Michael the Archangel’s day is really 8 May. September 29 possesses its distinctive name simply because it is the anniversary of the day on which a church was ever first dedicated to Michael. The church, which boasts this privilege, was built on Mount Gargano in Apulia, Italy, and was formally consecrated on 29 September, which day has since been recognized as the festival, and is much better known than 8 May.

Emblem

The ox or calf – one of the four “living creatures” mentioned in that great vision of the Prophet Ezekiel – and also one of the four living “beasts” mentioned in the Book of the Revelations, has ever been appropriated in Christian Art to Saint Luke. Various are the surmises as to the first cause of this appropriation; there is, however, some consensus of opinion. The ox is indicative of patience, of non-obtrusion, and of sacrifice. Possibly the emblem of the ox was applicable to Saint Luke because, in his Gospel, he mainly portrays those things which relate to Christ’s priestly office; he exhibits His patient, personal endurance, His humility, and non-complaining sufferings – culminating in the all-sufficient sacrifice of Himself upon the Cross for us men and for our salvation.

Devotional figures of Saint Luke in his character of Evangelist generally represent him with his Gospel and with the attendant ox, winged or unwinged. The Greek painters represent him as a young man with crisped hair and a little beard, holding in one hand the portrait of the Blessed Virgin, and in the other his Gospel. In the Academy of Saint Luke in Rome is a painting ascribed to Raphael; Saint Luke is kneeling on a footstool before an easel, and in this attitude is painting a portrait of the Virgin, who appears before him, with the infant Jesus in her arms, out of heaven and sustained by clouds. In the Munich Gallery is a painting accredited as the work of Van Eyck; the Virgin is seated under a rich Gothic canopy, and holds in her lap the Child Jesus. Saint Luke, kneeling on one knee, is painting her “vera icon”. In the Vienna Gallery are pictures embodying the same idea. Carlo Maratti represents Saint Luke as presenting to the Virgin the portrait he has painted of her. In an engraving by Lucas V Leyden, Saint Luke is seated on the back of the ox in the act of writing. He wears a hood like an old professor; the book rests against the horns of the animal, the inkstand depends from the bough of a tree. In the west window of the Court Room at Painters’ Hall, is a little panel of stained glass representing Saint Luke; while in the Hall itself, in the northeast angel, is a large oil painting which shows him engaged in writing.

Painter

So far we have sketched the career and work of Saint Luke as an Evangelist and a Physician; the next point for consideration is his repute as a Painter. That he was thus skilful and proficient rests almost entirely on tradition.

These traditional accounts obtained such currency and force that with the development of art, Saint Luke had come to be regarded as a patron saint of painters. Being thus esteemed, it seems only natural that academies of art, on their foundation, should be placed under his immediate and particular protection, and that their chapels mould be dedicated in honour of his name; over the altars therein he has been represented as engaged in the pious avocation of painting portraits of the Blessed Virgin. The same belief, without doubt, caused Saint Luke to be selected as the Patron Saint of the Worshipful Company of Painters, otherwise Painter-Stainers. When this selection took place, or even when the Company itself was originally founded, it is impossible to say. The Charter granted to the Company by King James II recites, “The art and mystery of Paynters is an ancient art or mystery, and had time out of mind been an ancient Company and Fellowship in the City of London.” The Guilds, in most early days, were institutions of local self-help; they bound all classes together in care for the needy, and for objects of common welfare, but not necessarily for trading purposes. They always inculcated the observance and practice of Religion, Justice, and Morality.

Their quasi-religious character is evident from the mode of their formation, in the choice of a patron saint, by the appointment of chaplains, and in the attendance of the members at the worship of the Church before the feasts and other business. As all Liverymen of the Painter-Stainers’ Company know, it is on Saint Luke’s Day that they annually meet, according to “ancient custom” at the hall in Little Trinity Lane, and proceed thence to Divine service at the parish church, afterwards returning to the hall for the annual election of Master and other officers, and for the subsequent “feast.”

This selection of Saint Luke as the patron saint of the Company is, we think, a happy one, quite apart from the tradition which represents him as a painter. We have already seen that unremitting attention to, and faithful care of, Saint Paul, even in adverse circumstances, was one of his chief characteristics. When in most sore straits, at the mercy of others, and unable to protect himself, Saint Luke was his mainstay, being ever at his side, whether in perils on land, or on the seas. Towards the end of his life all others deserted him. His cup of trial and of sorrow would indeed have overflown if he had been neglected or forsaken by Saint Luke, as he was by his fellows. The Painters’ Company is distinguished by a similar characteristic. Though poor in its corporate capacity, it is renowned for its benevolence, its liberality and charity – giving annual pensions, and the like, to old decayed and lame painters, also to those who are blind, and this without distinction of sex or trade. In this unobtrusive path the Company follows the bright example of its patron saint, not only being ever mindful of and tending to the wants of others – the poor, the lame, and the blind – but also it affords this monetary help to them continually and unceasingly. We have some knowledge of the blessing and comfort which has been brought to many a distant home by the pensions granted by the Company.

It has been well said that tradition is “Poetic, patriotic, and religious: it is anything but historical or critical” This is very true in reference to the tradition that Saint Luke was a painter. As we have already seen, Saint Luke was well educated and versed in classical knowledge. He was brought up in a great centre of the then civilized world where the arts were not uncultivated. Is it too improbable to suggest that Saint Luke may also have received some instruction, and have attained some proficiency, in the art of Painting? We know that the origin of the art was not by any means contemporaneous with the advent of Christianity, though the degree of excellence then attained was but the efforts of an art undeveloped and in its infancy – if we may judge, for instance, from the examples in the dark shadows of the catacombs, or from such of the antique paintings as have come down to us in the decoration of Assyrian, Egyptian, and Pompeian edifices.

Another negative argument in favour of the tradition should be mentioned. We know that painting and all other imitation of the human form was strictly forbidden among the Jews, and even artists themselves have been excluded from Jewish provinces. We have already seen that Saint Luke was most probably a Gentile; and if this contention be correct, then there is something more than consistency in claiming him as a Painter, especially at a time when the arts were in a high and flourishing state.

Saint Augustine says expressly that there existed in his time no authentic portrait of the Virgin. Such a statement as this rather proves to our mind that there were disputes concerning rival portraits. The point of discussion may have been the query whether or not Saint Luke was the author of any or all of them, though we may infer from Saint Augustine’s words that their claim for authenticity could not, in his opinion, be substantiated. Again, in early Christian days sculpture, having been so much identified with idolatry and idolatrous practices, was, for some centuries at least, quite unused and discarded by the Church. Afterwards painting obtained and occupied a foremost position. As the geographical limits of the Church expanded, the inherent necessity arose for some mode of keeping the leading doctrines of the Church more continually and prominently before the converts to the New Faith than could possibly be done by mere oral or individual instruction. Painting afforded a means, and many and many examples of this use of it may be found in the Catacombs of Rome. The art of painting thus became, as it were, the coadjutor of the Church in her teaching. In connection with this point there exists a legend. Saint Luke’s artistic powers, so it is said, were of much advantage to him in propagating his work as an Evangelist. He carried with him everywhere two portraits – his own handiwork. One depicted our Saviour, and the other the Blessed Virgin. By the aid of them he converted many of the heathen; not only did they perform great miracles, but all who looked at those bright and benign faces – which possessed a striking resemblance to each others – were stirred to admiration and devotion. The sense of sight being as important as the sense of hearing, it would have formed a valuable adjunct to Saint Luke’s teaching and preaching, if he were able to produce to his hearers a representation depicting those persons of whom he had been speaking.

The Greek section of the Church accepts the tradition without hesitation. Side by side with this fact it is worthy of note that she only recognises and permits those paintings which are believed to be of holy or miraculous origin, rejecting all known to be the products of human Art. This early strictness is not now so generally observed, for the works of human hands have been introduced, but only so far as they are faithful imitations of the ancient models; they are required to be authenticated and exact copies. Paintings of the Virgin Mary copied from the “original by Saint Luke,” which tradition declares to be genuine, are admitted as orthodox objects of adoration. Mr Athelstan Riley, in his exceedingly interesting and descriptive work, Athos mentions a picture by Saint Luke in the Protaton, the chief Church of Caryes. The monks, who accompanied him on the occasion of his visit, showed the greatest reverence to the picture by “innumerable prostrations. It had an immense number of candles before it, and a canopy like an umbrella over it.” The Greek Church is immobile in her faith; she knows no deviation from, and permits no development of, her doctrine. May not the same absolute steadfastness be observable in this particular tradition that Saint Luke was a painter? May it not be that the legends narrated in reference to the origin and miraculous powers of the older Greek pictures have been handed down from the earliest centuries untouched and unsullied, so that to-day they are identical with those common and in repute in the days when the Empress Helena took precautions for the preservation of such works. Certain it is that the Greek is the most ancient section of the Church. The traditions and doctrines taught by her, we would by no means ruthlessly cast aside, or treat as valueless her teaching in this respect. By modern Greeks and Ruffians, the picture per se is held in great reverence. At the street corners, in every home, in every shop, even on the steamboats, is the “picture” to be seen with candles or lamps burning before it.

Some writers of eminence do not accept the tradition. As for example, the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould (and probably we have now living no greater authority on cognate subjects) feels considerable doubt in endorsing the statement that Saint Luke was a painter. However, even if such doubts could be strengthened by further investigation or research, the fact abides that there are now extant pictures, in various parts of the world, claimed to be his handiwork; that these are few in number increases to our mind the probability of their authenticity.

The existence of the tradition in Western Europe cannot be traced back to a very early century. It possibly came in after the First Crusade, and was accepted at that period along with many other Oriental traditions then imported. If it had been of earlier origin, or had existed prior to the Iconoclastic controversy, it would doubtless have been an important factor and have been of much argumentative value in those quarrels, which raged so fiercely during the eighth and ninth centuries. Some think that the tradition may have originated in the real existence of a Greek painter named Luca: a saint, too, he may have been, for the Greeks have a whole calendar of canonized artists, painters, poets, and musicians. This Greek San Luca may have been a painter of those Madonnas imported into the West by merchants and pilgrims; and the West, knowing but one Saint Luke, would easily confound the painter and the Evangelist. The first reliable authorities are the Menalogium of Basil the Younger, (published in 980?), and Symeon Metaphrastes, who also belongs to the tenth century. The various authors quoted by F. Gretzer in his dissertation on this subject speak much of Saint Luke excelling in the art of painting, and of his leaving many pictures of Christ and of the Blessed Virgin. These statements find preconfirmation just after the Council of Ephesus (431). Theodorus Lector, who lived in 518, records that the Empress Eudocia sent from Jerusalem to her sister-in-law, Pulcheria, at Constantinople, a picture of the Blessed Virgin, painted by Saint Luke. Pulcheria placed it in the church of Hodegorum, which she built in Constantinople. It was at that time regarded as of very high antiquity, and supposed to have been painted from the life; it was held in the greatest veneration; its ultimate fate is unfortunately not known with certainty. Some say it is identical with the picture now held in high honour in the Chapel of the Madonna in Saint Mark’s, Venice, Italy. Further, a very ancient inscription was found in a vault near the Church of Santa Maria in Via Lata in Rome, in which it is said of a Picture of the Blessed Virgin discovered there, “Una ex VII a Luca depictis.” In this same Church one is still shown a little Chapel in which, “as it hath been handed down from the first ages,” Saint Luke the Evangelist “wrote, and painted the effigy of the Virgin-Mother of God.” The accuracy of the tradition was not disputed or questioned until 1776. In that year D. M. Manni published in Florence his treatise “Dell’ Errore che persiste di attribuirsi le Pitture al Santo Evangelista” and thus he has the distinction (if it be one) of being the first to query Saint Luke’s claim to be regarded as a painter.

The argument may be summarized. We are shown a picture by loving and reverential hands; its great age is apparent; its history is delineated by a faithful heart. “It is the work of Saint Luke the Evangelist.” This is the statement. We may, of course, deny the assertion of fact, if we wish, but it is almost impossible to prove its inaccuracy. Instead, therefore, of doubting or questioning, we prefer to accept the statement made, since it embodies the belief of many a faithful child of God, and is also the teaching of a grand section of the One Church. It has been said, we think well said, “A bushel of superstition is better than a grain of infidelity.”

We have always been interested in relics. Some demand a very wide range of faith to accept, since much sight of them is denied: as, for instance, the relic in the Chapelle de S. Sang at Bruges, yet that is one which we could not repudiate altogether. Again, we have seen, in Saint Ursula’s Church in Cologne, Germany, a lovely specimen of alabaster, which is asserted, distinctly, to be one of the “Water-pots” used at the marriage feast of Cana in Galilee. Certain it is that the present location of the vessel has been undisturbed for some seven hundred years, and that it is of unquestionable antiquity. We may doubt the statement made by the custos, if we choose, yet he makes it fully persuaded of the truth of his assertion. Therefore, as the matter is not of vital import, we freely accept what we cannot disprove. On such grounds as these we confess to accepting the tradition that Saint Luke was a painter as well as the unquestioned fact that he was an evangelist and a physician.

The Pictures

In the centuries prior to the Iconoclastic persecution, there appears to have existed a great number of pictures of a rude and archaic type, traditionally reported to have been painted by Saint Luke. Of these some, no doubt, were early lost through pagan barbarism, Mahometan fury, and even Christian intolerance. An interesting letter of Epiphanius to John, Bishop of Jerusalem, is preserved by Saint Jerome. He writes,

On my journey through Anablata, a village in Palestine, I found a curtain at the door of the Church, on which was painted a figure of Christ or some saint, I forget which. As I saw it was the image of a man, which is against the command of the Scriptures, I tore it down and gave it to the Church authorities, with the advice to use it as a winding-sheet for the next poor person who might have occasion for one, and bury it.

Many other pictures undeniably fell a prey to the zeal of the Iconoclasts, and these whether found in churches, monasteries, or belonging to individuals. Greater havoc could not well have been effected. The authorities under the Emperor Leo III and his successors not only destroyed every picture they could obtain, but also persecuted the possessors of these treasures, especially those who would not give them up. Sacred art was thus bereft of many of its finest examples. It is in Italy alone that important remains of sacred art, previous to this period, can now be seen, and this may be accounted for by the fact that the possessors of those sacred pictures travelled from the East to Rome, where freedom from persecution was then enjoyed. The second Council of Nice, under the Empress Irene, in 787, condemned the Iconoclasts, and after some further delay the use of sacred pictures in churches was restored, and in later times sculptured imagery also. The Greek section of the Church, however, to this day still retains the older order, and only allows pictures, and the flatter their surface the more orthodox.

List of Pictures

Rome

The Basilica of Saint John Lateran

Here, in the elegant Chapel, at the summit of the Santa Scala, called the “Sancta Sanctorum” and formerly the private Chapel of the Popes, is a painting of the Saviour, attributed to Saint Luke. It is 5 feet 8 inches in height, and tradition affirms it to be an exact likeness of our Lord at the age of twelve years.

The Basilica of Saint Maria Maggiore

The Chapel of the Borghese family is remarkable for the magnificence of its architecture and decorations. The altar-piece is formed of fluted columns, or bands, of oriental jasper; it is celebrated also for the miraculous painting of the Madonna and Child, attributed to Saint Luke; it is pronounced to be his work in the copy of a Papal Bull attached to one of the walls. It is affirmed to be the same painting which Gregory the Great carried in procession to stay the plague that devastated Rome in 590.

The Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedino

The picture of the Virgin in the Tribune is attributed to Saint Luke, and is a good specimen of early art. It bears a Greek inscription, and is said to have been secured by the Greeks when they fled from Constantinople. Though dark in colour, it has been described as yet most lovely; both the Mother and Child are full of grace and refined expression. It is interesting to remember that this Church was intended for the use of the Greek exiles, who were driven from the East by the Iconoclasts. Thus there appears a connection and, so to speak, a propriety, in this Church possessing a painting “by Saint Luke.”

The Church of Santa Maria in Via Lata

This church, near the Doria Palace, also boasts a picture. The church is said to occupy the site of the house where Saint Paul lodged with the centurion.

The Church of Santa Maria di Ara Caeli

This church contains a miracle-working wooden figure of the Infant Saviour, the Santissimo Bambino, whose powers for curing the sick have given it extraordinary popularity. The legend says that it was carved by a Franciscan pilgrim out of a tree which grew on the Mount of Olives, and that it was painted by Saint Luke while the pilgrim was sleeping over his work. The Bambino is extremely rich in gems and jewellery; it is held even now in much sanctity in cases of severe sickness; at one time it was said to receive more fees than any physician in Rome. We believe that this Church possesses a picture of the Madonna, in the Byzantine style, painted on a panel of cypress, which is also attributed to Saint Luke.

Church of Saints Dominico e Sisto

The following inscription is engraved on a tablet –

Here at the high altar is preserved that image of the most blessed Mary, which, being delineated by Saint Luke the Evangelist, received its colours and form divinely,” etc.

The Vatican – The Bibliotheca

A Greek cloth picture here is given, according to the traditions, as the work of the evangelist Saint Luke. It depicts the face of our Blessed Lord surrounded by a gold and jewelled mounting (horseshoe shape) in the form of a nimbus. Independent of the tradition, a credible and apparently authenticated history refers it to a period about the middle of the third century. It is executed in a thick water-colour, or tempera pigment, on a panel of cypress wood, now nearly decayed. The features are more made out and more marked in character than is generally to be observed in the “cloth” pictures.

Venice

Saint Mark’s

In the north transept is the Chapel of the Madonna, and it contains the most popular altar in Venice. The reason for this is that it possesses an “old Greek pciture” which is asserted to have been painted by Saint Luke. It was brought from Constantinople by the blind old Doge, Enrico Dandoro, when he besieged and took that city in 1204. It is held “somma venerazione” – religious services are performed before it almost without cessation. According to the Venetians, it is identical with the picture of Pulcheria.

Florence

The Church “Santissma Annunziata”

In the chapel of the “Annunciation” is the miraculous fresco representing this far-reaching event in the history of mankind. The painter was Pietro Cavalliere, or a certain Bartolomeo. It is a disputed point which of the two is the real author, but tradition says that he, while musing and meditating on the perfections of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and feeling also how inefficient his powers were to represent her features worthily, fell asleep. On awaking he found that the head of the Virgin had been wonderfully completed during his slumbers by Saint Luke, or by angels who had descended from heaven for the purpose. Though this relic has been frequently restored, no one has presumed to touch the features of the Virgin, which are marvellously sweet and beautiful. It is concealed by a veil, on which is painted a head of the Redeemer; around it, continually alight, are forty-two lamps of silver. A copy of the fresco, by Carlo Dolce, is in the Pitti Palace.

Genoa

Church of San Bartolomeo

In the sacristy of the church is a picture claimed to be by Saint Luke. It is enclosed in a silver shrine, on which is depicted in relief a long list of miracles which it has performed. Other traditions there are, which vary on the question of authorship; the evidence, however, of its high antiquity is singularly conclusive. Eusebius quotes ecclesiastical writings then extant to show that this picture was known to exist in the Royal Library at Edessa, in the middle of the second century, and it was then considered an undoubted work of the apostolic age. Moses Caronere, an Armenian of the fourth century, also mentions it as in his possession in his capacity as keeper of the royal archives at Edessa. His authority, on this account, can scarcely be questioned. The German critic, Schroeder, does not hesitate to style him an author “optimae notae et indubitatae fidei”. Again, in the same century, Saint Ephrem, deacon of the Church in Edessa, makes mention of it. Eusebius, on his own authority, speaks of it as existing in his time. The historian Evagrius, in the sixth century, mentions it as performing many wonders in his day. The picture remained in its place in the Royal Library at Edessa till the Genoese, in the middle of the tenth century, removed it to its present locality in the Church of San Bartolomeo.

Padua, Italy

Church of San Giustiana

In a subterranean chapel behind the altar in the north transept is a sepulchral urn erected by Gualportino Mussato in 1316, in which are preserved the reputed remains of Saint Luke. A small chapel, opening out of the right transept, contains a miraculous image of the Virgin, supposed to have been brought from Constantinople by Saint Urius, where it narrowly escaped the flames raised to destroy it by the Iconoclast Emperor Constantinus in the eighth century.

Moscow, Russia

The Cathedral of the Assumption in the Kremlin

A picture on the Iconostasis – that of the Holy Virgin of Vladimir – is pointed out as having been painted by Saint Luke. It came originally from Constantinople, and it was brought to Moscow from Kief in 1155. It is one of the most ancient icons in Russia, and it is painted on a composition of wax. The jewels with which the picture is adorned are valued at £45,000, an emerald among the number alone being worth £10,000. The icon is in good preservation.

Constantinople

The Patriarchal Church of Saint Qeorge

This church in the Phanar, or Greek quarter, also contains, as we have been told, a picture ascribed to Saint Luke, though we have endeavoured, in vain, to obtain some detail concerning it. An authority very kindly tells us of a picture of the Blessed Virgin, which Saint Luke is said to have painted. It was carried from time to time, to and fro, between the Monastery of the Chora and the Monastery of the Hodegetria, near the mouth of the Golden Horn. It was conveyed in procession to the walls of the city in times of siege, or other public troubles. It is said to have been cut into shreds by the Janissaries when Constantinople was taken in 1453. In spite of this account of the destruction of this gem, it was spoken of some few years back as being then in existence. “The Guardian,” of 30 November 1870 states that there had been

submitted to the view of Her Majesty and the Prince of Wales some unique and interesting works of early Chrislian art; one of these is a picture called the Marie Hodegedrin, or the Virgin and Child, alleged to be painted by Saint Luke “the Evangelist. The authenticity of the work is said to be vouched for by certain inscriptions in Chaldaic.

Mount Athos

Philotheou

The Catholicon here contains a remarkable picture of the Blessed Virgin, perhaps the finest specimen of the Byzantine school on Athos. The Mother is represented in the act of kissing the Child, whose arm hangs down naturally. It is attributed to the great Evangelist painter, and is called the Glykophilousa, or the Sweetly-kissing One. It was thrown into the sea at the time of the Iconoclasts, and being wafted to Athos was brought ashore by the Fathers. In the place where it landed a spring gushed forth, and this spring still exists. The icon is placed against the northeast pillar which supports the dome. Mr Athelstan Riley tells us that the size of this picture is about four feet by two feet (not larger), and it is in good preservation, the figure and face being distinct.

The Church of the Monastery of Saint Dionysus

In this church, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, is a paracclesi of the Panaghia containing a picture ascribed to Saint Luke. It is quite small, and now utterly ruined, both the form and the colour of the picture being much obliterated.

Protaton

In this chief church of Caryes, on the north side, under the arch of the north transept, is a picture also attributed to Saint Luke. It is in good preservation, and is in size about four feet by two feet.

England

We had hoped, from the outset, to find England possessing a painting by Saint Luke, and consequently were charmed to read in an old book, entitled “A Six Weeks Tour through the Southern Counties of England and Wales” published in 1769, the following description of one of the pictures in the dining-room at Wilton House, the seat of the Earls of Pembroke –

“Saint Luke. Virgin and our Saviour. You will be surprised to find Saint Luke in a catalogue of painters; but the house-keeper tells you, with a very grave face, there are writings in the Library which prove it; but it is too good for Palestine or Judea; it is very fine.”

The present Earl of Pembroke, however, does not agree with the opinion above quoted, and courteously tells us that he knows of no writings which can be held to substantiate the accuracy of the statement.

Carver

Saint Luke’s talents were not confined apparently to one branch of art. He would seem to have been a carver as well as a painter. In Spain there are a number of images of the Virgin ascribed to Saint Luke. Antonio Ponz is surprised at the number of them. Nearly all are very dark in colour, “black, but comely” (Song of Solomon 1:3).

Spain

Esparraguena

In the parish church is a miraculous image of the Virgin. Volumes have been written on this graven image, and the miracles it has worked. The image was made by Saint Luke, and brought to Barcelona, so the tradition runs, by Saint Peter the Apostle in the year 50. It is rudely carved in dark wood; the Virgin holds the Child in her lap. “None” we are told, “can dare to look at it long” and the monks, in dressing and undressing it, always avert their eyes.

Guadalupe

In the church here is another image of the Virgin carved by Saint Luke. Though now despoiled of its silver throne, the silver angels, the eighty silver lamps, the gold, jewels, and other rich surroundings, it has always had a great renown. That conquering vandal, Victor, left the image, though he robbed its valuable surroundings. It may be that he feared its sanctity.

Afterword

We have been most anxious to compile a complete and descriptive list of all the pictures now existing that are attributed to Saint Luke, but to accomplish this has been found exceedingly difficult. In the preceding enumeration we do not presume by any means to give a perfect list, and indeed we shall be much indebted to any one who can supply information respecting others.

– Walter Hayward Pitman

Prayer

According to the old rules, before mixing his colours, the painter was directed to fall on his knees, and recite the following prayer. – Athos, page 275

Lord Jesus Christ, Our God, who wast endowed with a Divine and incomprehensible nature, Who didst take a body in the womb of the Virgin Mary for the salvation of mankind, and didst deign to limn the sacred character of Thy immortal Face, and to impress it upon a holy veil, which served to cure the jickness of the satrap Abgarus and to enlighten his soul with the knowledge of the True God; Thou Who didst illuminate with Thy Holy Spirit Thy Divine Apostle and Evangelist Luke, that he might represent the beauty of Thy most pure Mother, who carried Thee, a tiny Infant, in her arms and said, “The Grace of Him Who is born of me is poured out upon men!” Do Thou, Divine Master of all that exists, do Thou enlighten and direct the foul and heart and spirit of Thy servant {name}; guide his hands that he may be enabled worthily and perfectly to represent Thy image, that of Thy most holy Mother, and those of all the Saints for the glory, the joy, and the embellishment of Thy most holy Church. Pardon the sins of all those who shall venerate these icons, and of those who, piously casting themselves on their knees before them, shall render honour to the models which are in the heavens. Save them, I beseech Thee, from every evil influence, and instruct them by good counsels, through the intercessions of Thy most holy Mother, of the illustrious Apostle and Evangelist, Saint Luke, and of all They Saints. Amen.

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-luke-the-patron-saint-of-the-worshipful-company-of-painters-otherwise-painter-stainers-by-walter-hayward-pitman/

Guercino  (1591–1666). Saint Luc, circa 1652, 220.9 x 180.3, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

San Luca Evangelista

18 ottobre

Antiochia di Siria - Roma (?) - Primo secolo dopo Cristo

Figlio di pagani, Luca appartiene alla seconda generazione cristiana. Compagno e collaboratore di san Paolo, che lo chiama «il caro medico», è soprattutto l’autore del terzo Vangelo e degli Atti degli Apostoli. Al suo Vangelo premette due capitoli nei quali racconta la nascita e l’infanzia di Gesù. In essi risalta la figura di Maria, la «serva del Signore, benedetta fra tutte le donne». Il cuore dell’opera, invece, è costituito da una serie di capitoli che riportano la predicazione da Gesù tenuta nel viaggio ideale che lo porta dalla Galilea a Gerusalemme. Anche gli Atti degli Apostoli descrivono un viaggio: la progressione gloriosa del Vangelo da Gerusalemme all’Asia Minore, alla Grecia fino a Roma.

Protagonisti di questa impresa esaltante sono Pietro e Paolo. A un livello superiore il vero protagonista è lo Spirito Santo, che a Pentecoste scende sugli Apostoli e li guida nell’annuncio del Vangelo agli Ebrei e ai pagani. Da osservatore attento, Luca conosce le debolezze della comunità cristiana così come ha preso atto che la venuta del Signore non è imminente. Dischiude dunque l’orizzonte storico della comunità cristiana, destinata a crescere e a moltiplicarsi per la diffusione del Vangelo. Secondo la tradizione, Luca morì martire a Patrasso in Grecia.

Patronato: Artisti, Pittori, Scultori, Medici, Chirurghi

Etimologia: Luca = nativo della Lucania, dal latino

Emblema: Bue

Martirologio Romano: Festa di san Luca, Evangelista, che, secondo la tradizione, nato ad Antiochia da famiglia pagana e medico di professione, si convertì alla fede in Cristo. Divenuto compagno carissimo di san Paolo Apostolo, sistemò con cura nel Vangelo tutte le opere e gli insegnamenti di Gesù, divenendo scriba della mansuetudine di Cristo, e narrò negli Atti degli Apostoli gli inizi della vita della Chiesa fino al primo soggiorno di Paolo a Roma.

I medici-chirurghi sono cristianamente sotto la protezione dei Santi Cosma e Damiano, i martiri guaritori anargiri vissuti nel III secolo e attivi gratuitamente in Siria. Anche altri santi “minori “ sono invocati, specialmente per alcune branche specialistiche come l’oculistica e l’odontoiatria. Ma il principe patrono della categoria è, senza ombra di dubbio, San Luca evangelista, che una lunga tradizione vuole originario di Antiochia, tanto da essere denominato “il medico antiocheno”.

  Come è noto, tale importante città, che corrisponde all’attuale Antakia nella Turchia sudorientale, fu fondata quale capitale del regno di Siria nel 301 a.C.; vi fiorì una numerosa colonia giudaica e fu poi sede di una delle più antiche comunità cristiane. Luca, il cui nome è probabilmente abbreviazione di Lucano, vi nacque come pagano, ma diventò proselita o quanto meno simpatizzante della religione ebraica.

  Egli non era discepolo di Gesù di Nazaret; si convertì dopo, pur non figurando nemmeno come uno dei primitivi settantadue discepoli. Diventò membro della comunità cristiana antiochena, probabilmente verso l’anno 40. Fu poi compagno di San Paolo (Tarso, inizio I° secolo/ forse 8 d.C.-Roma, 67 ca.) in alcuni suoi viaggi. Lo si trova con l’apostolo delle genti a Filippi, Gerusalemme e Roma. Sostanzialmente suo discepolo, condivise la visione universale paolina della nuova religione e, allorché decise di scrivere le proprie opere, lo fece soprattutto per le comunità evangelizzate da Paolo, ossia in genere per convertiti dal paganesimo. Si incontrò tuttavia anche con San Giacomo il Minore, capo della Chiesa di Gerusalemme, con San Pietro, più a lungo con San Barnaba e forse con San Marco. 

  La qualifica di medico attribuita a Luca viene confermata, secondo gli studiosi, dall’esame interno delle sue opere. La sua cultura e la preparazione specifica erano sicuramente note tra le comunità di cui faceva parte; potrebbe addirittura avere curato la Madre del Signore. Certamente la sua cultura generale e la sua esperienza degli uomini erano piuttosto notevoli. Prove ne siano lo stile e l’uso della lingua greca nonché la struttura stessa dei suoi scritti: il terzo Vangelo e gli Atti degli Apostoli. La data di composizione degli Atti viene fatta risalire agli anni 63-64, quella del Vangelo ad un anno o due prima. Luca coltivava anche l’arte e la letteratura. Un’antica tradizione lo vuole addirittura autore di alcune “Madonne” che si venerano ancora ai nostri giorni, come in Santa Maria Maggiore a Roma.

  Egli è il solo evangelista a dilungarsi sull’infanzia di Gesù ed a narrare episodi della vita della Madonna che gli altri tre non hanno riferito. Le fonti della sua narrazione furono i racconti dei discepoli e delle donne che vissero al seguito di Gesù; quasi sicuramente i Vangeli di Matteo e di Marco, che lui conosceva. Con la precisione cronologica e spesso geografica con la quale riferì delle vicende del Vangelo, così egli, insieme a tanta passione, raccontò negli Atti i primi passi della comunità cristiana dopo la Pentecoste.

  Per alcuni studiosi Luca avrebbe scritto parecchio nella regione della Beozia, regione dell’antica Grecia confinante a sud con il golfo di Corinto e l’Attica. Tale regione fu sede di regni importanti come quello di Tebe. Per i Greci addirittura l’evangelista sarebbe morto in quei luoghi all’età di ottantaquattro anni, senza essersi mai sposato e senza avere avuto figli. Per altri invece egli sarebbe morto in Bitinia, regione nord-occidentale dell’odierna Turchia.

  Per la verità nulla di certo si sa della vita di Luca dopo la morte di San Paolo. Addirittura non si conosce sicuramente se egli abbia terminato la propria esistenza terrena con una morte naturale oppure come martire appeso ad un olivo. Ovviamente ignoto è il luogo della prima sepoltura. Vi sono tre città soprattutto che si appellano ad una tradizione di traslazione del corpo dell’evangelista: Costantinopoli, Padova e Venezia. Sono città quindi intorno alle quali e dalle quali si diffuse il suo culto. Recentissimi studi avrebbero dimostrato che sue sono le spoglie mortali, eccezione fatta per il capo, conservate a Padova nella basilica benedettina di Santa Giustina. In tale città veneta sarebbero giunte per sottrarle alla distruzione degli iconoclasti e là già nel XIV secolo fu per loro costruita una cappella ed un’Arca, detta appunto di San Luca.

  II simbolo di San Luca evangelista è il vitello, animale sacrificale. II 18 ottobre viene celebrata nella Chiesa universale la sua solennità, la solennità di Colui che Dante ha definito lo “scriba della mansuetudine di Cristo” per il predominio, nel suo Vangelo, di immagini di mitezza, di gioia e di amore.

Autore: Mario Benatti

SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/21800

Hermen Rode  (1430–1504). St. Luke's Altar, St.-Annen-Museum, left wing, 1484, 45 x 57, St. Anne's Museum Quarter, Lübeck

Den hellige evangelisten Lukas (~9 f.Kr-~75?)

Minnedag: 18. oktober

Skytshelgen for Bologna, Padova og Reutlingen; for leger, kirurger, slaktere, malere, artister, billedhoggere, glassmalere, glassarbeidere, bryggere, gullsmeder, bokbindere, dommere og syere; for kveget og været, for den kristne kunsten

Den hellige Lukas ble født før Kristi fødsel og var ikke jøde, siden den hellige apostelen Paulus ikke nevner ham blant jødene i Kol 4,10-11. I følge den berømte kirkehistorikeren Eusebius av Caesarea (ca 260-340) og den hellige Hieronymus var Lukas greker, muligens født i en ansett familie i Antiokia ved Orontes i Syria (i dag Antakya i Tyrkia). Navnet Lukas er trolig utledet fra latin Lucius eller Lucanus. Paulus omtaler ham som «vår elskede Lukas, legen» (Kol 4,14). Opprinnelig var han hedning og traff aldri Jesus, men han ble døpt rundt år 43 i Antiokia (Apg 2,20). Rundt år 50/51 sluttet han seg til Paulus i Troas, og fulgte ham siden på hans misjonsreiser. Visse deler av Apostlenes gjerninger er skrevet i vi-form, og dette tolkes som at Lukas var med Paulus på den andre og tredje misjonsreisen og reisen til Roma, hvor de led skipbrudd på Malta.

Mellom den andre og tredje misjonsreisen var Lukas i Filippi og ledet kirken der til rundt 57. Han fulgte også Paulus til Roma, og i sine brev nevner apostelen tre ganger Lukas' tilstedeværelse i byen, idet han skriver til den hellige Timotheos: «Lukas er min eneste ledsager» (Tim 4,11). Noen mener at den Lukas som Paulus nevner, er en annen enn han som skrev evangeliet og apostelgjerningene, og det er interessant at Paulus ingen steder refererer til Lukas som en forfatter.

Det er uklart hva som skjedde med Lukas etter at Paulus led martyrdøden. En tradisjon hevder at han reiste til Antiokia og ledet den kristne menigheten der til sin død, mens andre forteller at han skal ha virket i Akaia på Peloponnes i Hellas og der skrevet sitt evangelium (og Apostlenes gjerninger?). Det er mulig at han besøkte den hellige Jomfru Maria i Jerusalem før han skrev sitt evangelium, men dette er nok bare en from antakelse. Men i alle fall er det i hans evangelium vi finner historien om Jomfrufødselen, fortalt med følsomhet og detaljrikdom fra Marias synsvinkel (Luk 1-2). Hans evangelium inneholder også noen av de mest gripende lignelsene, som de om den gode samaritan og den bortkomne sønnen, og Kristi ord på korset til kvinnene i Jerusalem og den gode røveren.

Alt dette understreker Kristi medfølelse, og sammen med Lukas' vektlegging på fattigdom, bønn og rene hjerter, kan det ha bidratt til hans evangeliums spesielle appell til hedningene (ikke-jødene). For Lukasevangeliet er skrevet av en ikke-jødisk kristen til ikke-jøder om verdens Frelser. Kvinnene har en mer fremtredende plass i Lukas' evangelium enn i de andre, for eksempel Maria, den hellige Elisabeth, enken i Nain og kvinnen som var en synderinne. Det kan godt ha vært Paulus som betrodde den lærde Lukas å skrive et evangelium; noen kilder sier også at han var den første som leste det. Lukas brukte de eksisterende evangeliene etter de hellige evangeliene Markus og Matteus da han skrev sitt eget. Man merker legen Lukas i fortellingen om Jesu helbredelser. Det er også hos Lukas vi finner de tre nytestamentlige lovsangene Benedictus, Magnificat og Nunc dimittis.

Apostlenes gjerninger er skrevet i Roma, enten under Paulus' fengselsopphold eller like etter hans død i 67, og forteller om den tidlige Kirkens vekst under Den Hellige Ånd fra Oppstandelsen til rundt 63. Der viser Lukas seg som en bemerkelsesverdig nøyaktig observatør, opptatt av å trekke de nødvendige forbindelseslinjene mellom kristen og verdslig historie. Mange av hans detaljer har blitt overbevisende bekreftet av moderne arkeologer. Det er imidlertid et mysterium hvorfor Apostlenes gjerninger ender så brått og ikke inneholder noe om Peters og Paulus' død i Roma, for de fleste forskere mener at boken er skrevet mellom 70 og 85.

Lukas viste seg som en kunstner med ord, og det er kanskje årsaken til tradisjonen fra 500-tallet om at han var maler og lagde minst ett ikon av Den hellige Jomfru. Det påstås at flere bevarte bysantinske madonnaer skal være skapt av ham, for eksempel det eldgamle nådebildet Salus populi Romani i basilikaen Santa Maria Maggiore i Roma, men de aktuelle maleriene er nok av langt senere dato. Det forhindret ham ikke for å bli skytshelgen for kunstnere i tillegg til leger og kirurger.

Noen legender hevder at Lukas var en av Jesu 70 (72) disipler (Luk 10,1), og han står som nr. 3 på biskop Dorotheus av Tyrus liste over «Jesu Sytti disipler» i henhold til Den ortodokse kirkes tradisjon. Han hevdes også å være en av de to som Kristus viste seg for på veien til Emmaus (Luk 24,13-35). Dette er romantiske anakronismer, men det er ikke usannsynlig at han var en disippel av Paulus. En skribent fra slutten av 100-tallet sier at Lukas var ugift og døde en fredelig død rundt år 75 (?) i Hellas, 84 år gammel, «fylt av Den Hellige Ånd»; noen sier som biskop av Theben (i dag Thivai). Den hellige Gregor av Nazianz (d. 390) skriver at Lukas angivelig skal ha lidd martyrdøden i Patras, men dette er tvilsomt.

Den 3. mars 357 ble Lukas' relikvier overført fra Theben i Boetia (Boiotia) nord for Korint til Konstantinopel og bisatt i den nybygde Apostelkirken der av keiser Konstantius II (337-61). Noen relikvier oppbevares også i en alabastsarkofag i kirken Santa Giustina i Padova, gravkirken for den hellige Justina. Dit har de sannsynligvis kommet etter Konstantinopels fall. Den hellige Lukas. Fra katedralen i Fiesole

Den hellige teologen Ireneus sammenlignet hver av de Esekiels fire bevingede vesener (Esek 1,5f og 10,14; jf Åp 4,7-8) med de fire evangelistene: Menneske (Matteus, for hans evangelium begynner med det menneskelige: Jesu stamtre). Løve (Markus, for hans evangelium begynner med Johannes Døperen, som levde i ørkenen: Løvens røst). Okse (Lukas, for hans evangelium begynner med Sakarias' offer i tempelet; oksen som offerdyr). Ørn (Johannes, for hans evangelium begynner «ovenfra»).

Lukas' symbol er en okse med vinger, og det har gjort at han har blitt skytshelgen for slaktere. I kunsten vises han ofte med Jomfruen eller mens han holder sin bok, kledd i legefrakk. Han avbildes også mens han maler et ikon av Jomfru Maria. En tidlig kristen mosaikk fra 300-tallet med en avbildning av evangelisten finnes i basilikaen San Vitale i Ravenna.

Lukas' minnedag er 18. oktober. I følge Hieronymus' martyrologium ble festen feiret på denne dato i de bysantinske og syriske kirkene, og den ble innført i vest på 800-tallet. I vest feires en translasjonsdag den 9. mai og i øst en minnedag for translasjon av bein og klær den 20. juni. Hans navn står i Martyrologium Romanum.

SOURCE : http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/lukas

Simone Cantarini  (1612–1648), Der heilige Lukas malt die Madonna, circa 1648, 112 x 91

Voir aussi : Saint Thomas d'Aquin. Catena Aurea. Explications sur L'Évangile de Saint Luc :

http://livres-mystiques.com/partieTEXTES/Stthomas/Aurealuc/table.html

http://spiral.univ-lyon1.fr/files_m/M4337/WEB/St%20Luc%20M%C3%A9decin%20P.pdf

http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rhr_0035-1423_1992_num_209_2_1607

https://www.christianiconography.info/luke.html