Among the seventy apostles of Jesus Christ, St. Luke stands out. He is the author of one of the Gospels, as well as the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles. Like other disciples of Christ, Luke labored in preaching the gospel to the masses.
The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke was from Antioch. He had Greek roots. He was a skilled physician and at the same time was a good painter. At first Luke was a pagan, and then he adopted the Jewish faith. After the public preaching of Christ, Luke converted to Christianity.
Hearing the preaching of Jesus Christ, Luke became a follower of Jesus. The Lord numbered Luke among the seventy apostles. Luke was the apostle Paul's helper after the latter converted to Christ. Luke was with the supreme apostle and in the capital of the empire - Rome, when Paul was imprisoned and then killed.
Saint Luke wrote the Gospel for a certain Theophilus, who is believed to have been a noble Roman, as well as the book "Acts of the Apostles", in which he described the initial state of believers and the spread of the Church of Christ mainly through the works of the holy apostles Peter and Paul.
The Holy Apostle Luke was made bishop in Thessaloniki. He painted several images of the Most Holy Theotokos. The icons painted by the Apostle Luke include, for example, the image of the Vladimir Mother of God, as well as several others.
The Apostle Luke died a martyr's death in Thebes (Patras) at the age of 85. The Evangelist Luke is depicted with a calf in iconography. This is symbolic, because the apostle begins his Gospel with the story of the birth of the Forerunner of Christ John from the priest Zechariah, among whose duties it was to sacrifice, among other animals, calves. Also, this symbolic animal characterizes the fact that the apostle in his gospel presented Christ as God who gave his life for the salvation of people. This symbolizes the atoning sacrifice of the Savior.
