Prayers for the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist
St. Luke wrote the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, and St. Paul calls him "Luke the most dear physician" (Colossians 4:14). It is to Luke that we owe the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Magnificat, the Christmas story, and the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. An ancient tradition also says he painted the Virgin Mary, which is why he is patron of artists as well as of physicians and surgeons.
His feast is October 18. The prayers below are the collect and postcommunion of his Mass in the older Roman Missal. Today is a good day to pray for doctors, nurses, and all who care for the sick, and to read a chapter of his Gospel.
The Prayer
Let us pray. Let Thy holy Evangelist Luke intercede for us, we beseech Thee, O Lord: he who, for the honour of Thy Name, ever bore in his body the mortification of the Cross. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen. Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that what we have received from Thy holy altar may, by the prayers of blessed Luke Thine Evangelist, sanctify our souls, and so safeguard us from danger. Through our Lord. Amen.
St. Luke, beloved physician and evangelist, pray for us.
Sources: Collect and Postcommunion of St. Luke (Oct. 18) from The Roman Missal Adapted to the Use of the Laity (London, c. 1920 edition); Colossians 4:14, Douay-Rheims Bible. Public domain.
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