The picture attached to this post was taken when I climbed the dome at St. Peter's Basilica. The mosaics of the four Evangelists can be seen really well from this level. This is the mosaic of St. Luke. Luke is often pictured with a winged ox or calf. St. Luke is suggested by the ox because it is a sacrificial animal. Luke's Gospel stresses the sacrificial nature of Christ's ministry.
Luke is believed to have been born around the first decade of the first century. He is thought to have been from a Greek or Hellenic Jewish family from Antioch. Scripture scholars believe that Luke was writing for a gentile or mixed gentile and Jewish audience.
Before writing his own account of the life of Jesus, Luke traveled extensively with St. Paul. He writes about this himself in the Acts of the Apostles. He is also mentioned by Paul in some of Paul's letters. Paul refers to him as a physician, so we know that he was a well-educated man.
According to tradition, Luke died at the age of 84 in Boeotia, in Greece. His tomb was located in Thebes until his relics were transferred to Constantinople in 357. His feast day is October 18. He is patron of artists, notaries, bachelors, physicians, goldsmiths, butchers, brewers, and glass workers, among others.
St. Luke, pray for us.
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