Luke

In the Christian tradition

Luke is the evangelist traditionally identified as the author of the third gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, the physician described in Colossians 4:14, and a companion of Paul on portions of his missionary journeys. The Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican calendars commemorate him on October 18. He is the patron saint of physicians, surgeons, artists (an early tradition holds that he painted the first icon of the Virgin Mary), and butchers.

Luke is the only Gentile author identified by name in the New Testament, the writer who gives us the Gospel of Luke (the longest of the four) and the Acts of the Apostles (the principal narrative source for the early church). His name is mentioned three times in the Pauline letters (Colossians 4:14, identifying him as "the beloved physician"; Philemon 24; 2 Timothy 4:11). The Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican calendars commemorate him on October 18. Iconographic tradition (developed from the sixth century) holds that Luke was the first to paint an icon of the Theotokos; the famed Hodegetria icons of Mary and the infant Jesus are attributed to him in legend. The name has been in continuous Christian use, with particular popularity in modern Catholic and Protestant families.