What is the best gift for a physician, scholar or artist? A Saint Luke statue will be perfect as he is the patron saint for these.
Saint Luke the Evangelist was the author both of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. He is mentioned in Saint Paul’s letters as a dear companion and as a physician. He was possibly a Greek Gentile, for the Gospel of Luke contains a number of references to Gentile believers. Luke joined the Apostle Paul at Troas about the year 51. He accompanied him on his missionary journey through Macedonia. He later went with him to Jerusalem. When Saint Paul was imprisoned in Rome about 61 Luke joined him.
Luke’s gospel speaks about justice for the poor, especially in the Beatitudes when he writes ‘Blessed are the poor.’ He is the only gospel writer to mention the story of the Annunciation, Visitation, Presentation and Jesus’ disappearance in Jerusalem when he was a boy.
Scholars are not sure how Saint Luke died. An old tradition says he was decapitated by Emperor Nero for the faith. Another states that he died of old age in Greece. He is often depicted in art with his symbol, a winged bull, or painting a portrait of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He was supposed to have made several portraits of the Mother of God, though this seems unlikely. He is the patron of physicians and artists. His feast is on October 18. He is the patron saint of physicians.
