Order of Carmelites

Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist

Today, October 18, is the feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist.

Born to pagan Greek parents, and possibly a slave, Luke was one of the earliest converts to Christianity. Luke was a physician who studied in Antioch and Tarsus. Some accounts mention that the evangelist may have been a ship‘s doctor.

He met Saint Paul the Apostle at Troas. Together they evangelized Greece and Rome. He was there for the shipwreck and other perils of the voyage to Rome, and stayed in Rome for Paul‘s two years of in prison. He 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. He also penned a history of the early Church in the Acts of the Apostles.