The Day of St. Luke, the Evangelist

Today we commemorate St. Luke, the beloved Physician and the author of the third Gospel and of Acts. The readings appointed for the day are Isaiah 35:5-8; 2 Timothy 4:5-18; and Luke 10:1-9. According to tradition, St. Luke was one of the 72 the Lord sent out. He is also believed to have been a painter and to have made the first images of the Blessed Mother holding the Child Jesus. His Gospel contains information he could have received only from the Virgin Mother herself.

For that belov'd physician
All praise, whose Gospel shows
The Healer of the nations,
The One who share our woes.
Your wine and oil, O Savior,
Upon our spirits pour,
And with true balm of Gilead
Anoint us evermore. LSB 518:26

Almighty God, who calledst Saint Luke the physician to be an Evangelist and physician of the soul: heal, we beseech Thee, all the diseases of our souls, by the wholesome medicine of Thy Word; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. (Brotherhood Prayer Book)