SAINT LUKE THE EVANGELIST
October 18
from The Golden Legend¹


Luke is interpreted one who rises or lifts himself; or it comes from lux, light. For Luke rose above the love of the world, and himself to the love of God. He was also the light of the world for he shed light upon the whole world, as we read in Matthew: 'You are the light of the world.' The light of the world is sun, which is sublime in its place, agreeable in aspect, swift in its movement, and beneficent in its effect. Thus Luke was sublime by contemplation of heavenly things, agreeable by his gentle conversation, swift in his fervent preaching, and beneficent in the writing of his Gospel.

Luke was a Syrian, and a native of Antioch. By profession he was a physician, and some say that he was one of the seventy-two disciples of the Lord. But since Jerome says that he as a disciple of the apostles, and not of the Lord, and the Gloss says that he came to the faith after the Lord's Resurrection, it is rather to be held that he was not one of the seventy-two. So great was the perfection of his life that he excellently ordered in relation to God, to his neighbor, to himself, and to his assigned task. In token of this fourfold ordering, he is described as having four faces, namely those of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle; for each of the animals seen by Ezechiel had four faces and four wings. That we may better understand this, let us imagine a face on each side of the block, namely on the forward side of the face of a man, to the right the face of a lion, to the left the face of an ox, and to the rear the face of an eagle. Yet, since the eagle's neck is long, the face of the eagle is said to have been over all four. Moreover, each of the animals had four wings, for since we picture the animal as square, and in a square there are four angles, each of the angles had a wing. According to the saints, these four animals signified the four evangelists, since each of them had four faces in writing of the humanity, the Passion, the Resurrection, and the divinity of Christ. By way of appropriation, however, one face is attributed to each of the writers. According to Jerome, Matthew is figured in the man, because he dwelt chiefly upon the humanity of Christ; Luke is the ox, because he dealt with Christ's priesthood; Mark is the lion, because he wrote of the Resurrection, for it is said that the lion cubs lie as if dead for three days, and then are awakened by the lion's roaring; and John is the eagle, since he flew higher than the others, in writing of the divinity of Christ.

Now by these four faces in which Luke, like the other evangelists, is figured, the fourfold ordering of his life is shown forth. By the man's face it is shown that he was rightly ordered in relation to his neighbor; for he instructed his neighbor by reason, attracted him by kindness, and succored him with generosity, man being a rational, tame, and liberal animal. By the eagle's face it is shown that he was rightly ordered in relation to God, because in him the eye of understanding was turned to God by contemplation, the beak of appetite was sharpened unto Him by meditation, and old age was cast off by newness of life. For the eagle is sharp-sighted, since it can look into the sun without blinking, and can see little fishes in sea from a great height. Moreover, he has a very sharp beak to better to seize his prey, and he sharpens it upon a stone, and thus renders it apter for eating. Furthermore, when the eagle is burnt by the sun and plunges with a rush into the water, he casts off his old age, and the heat of the sun removes the film from his eyes and lightens his feathers. By the lion's face it is shown that Luke was rightly ordered in relation to himself, because he was noble by the uprightness of his life, and crafty in avoiding the traps of his enemies, and suffered in his compassion for the afflicted; and the lion is a noble animal, being the king of beasts, is crafty, since when he flees he sweeps away his tracks with his tail, and also suffers from the quartan fever. Moreover, Luke was continent in his way of life, since, according to Jerome, he had neither wife nor child. By the face of the ox or the bullock it is shown that he was well ordered in relation to his assigned task, which was to write the Gospel; for he proceeded slowly, beginning with the birth of the Precursor and the Nativity and childhood of Christ, and advancing little by little to the final consummation; he proceeded with discernment, because, writing after the first two evangelists, he supplied what they had omitted, and omitted what they had sufficiently set forth; and he lingered over the Temple and the sacrifice, as appears in the beginning, the middle and the end of his Gospel. And in like wise, the ox is a slow and lingering animal, and has cleft hooves, by which is understood the discretion of those who offer sacrifice.

That he was admirably destined and prepared to write the Gospel is further shown from his Gospel itself, which is sustained by truth, replete with benefits, adorned with beauty, and confirmed the authority of many.

Firstly, it is sustained by truth. There is a threefold truth, namely that of life, that of justice, and that of doctrine. Truth of life consists in fitting the action to the word, truth of justice in fitting the sentence to the case, and truth of doctrine in the agreement of the idea with the thing. Luke's Gospel is sustained by this threefold truth, because his Gospel teaches it, and shows that Christ had it in Himself and taught it to others.

Secondly, this Gospel is replete with benefits; whence he that wrote it was a physician, to signify that he has set before us a most healthful medicine that cures diseases, namely penance, which cures all spiritual ills. There is the medicine which improves one's well-being, namely the observance of the counsels, which makes man better and more perfect. There is the medicine which preserves one from sickness, namely the avoidance of sinful occasions and of evil associations. And Luke shows us in his Gospel that the heavenly Physician set all these medicines before us.

Thirdly, this Gospel is adorned with beauty. If one would have beauty and grace in his sayings, three things are necessary, as Augustine says; he must please, he must be clear, and me must move. To please, he must speak elegantly; to be clear, he must speak openly; and to move, he must speak with fervor. Luke had these three qualities in his writing and his preaching.

Fourthly, in his Gospel is confirmed by the authority of many. It was ordained by the father, corroborated by the Son, and inspired by the Holy Ghost. The prophet Ezechiel announced it beforehand, as we saw above. It was disclosed by the Blessed Virgin, who kept all things, pondering them in her heart, in order to disclose them to the sacred writers at a later time. For it is believed that the evangelists consulted her about many things, and that she gave them sure knowledge. And this is thought regarding Luke especially, who had recourse to her as to the Ark of the Testament, particularly concerning those things which she alone knew, such as the Annunciation and the birth of Christ, and suchlike; for Luke alone has written of these things. Again, Luke's Gospel was notified to him by the apostles; for he was not with Christ in all His acts and miracles, and so he wrote his Gospel according to that which the apostles, who had witnessed all these things, related to him, as he says in the prologue. Lastly his Gospel was wondrously approved by Saint Paul, who cited it to confirm his own teachings. Hence Jerome says, in his book Of Illustrious Men: 'Some are of opinion that whenever Paul, in his epistles, says "according to my gospel," he refers to Luke's writing.

We read in the History of Antioch that at a time when the Christians of Antioch had abandoned themselves to vice, they were besieged by a horde of the Turks, and were beset with hunger and all sorts of afflictions. But when they had repented and were fully converted to the Lord, there appeared to a holy man who was praying in the church of Saint Mary of Tripoli a stranger who was shining of aspect, and clothed in white garments. The stranger said that he was Saint Luke, and had come from Antioch, whither the Lord had invoked the hosts of Heaven and the apostles and the martyrs, that they might do battle for His pilgrims. Thus encouraged, the Christians straightaway put the Turks to rout.


1. From: The Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine, trans. and adapted by Ryan, Granger and Helmut Ripperger. (Arno Press: Longmans, Green & Co) 1941. pp. 623-627.