Feast of Saint Luke , the Evangelist

Today the Catholic Church celebrates St. Luke described as the beloved physician by St. Paul. The book of Luke is one of the four gospels, which tell of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ .
His gospel above all others focuses on the merciful kindness of Jesus to the poor, the afflicted and sinners. Some believe that his attention to detail as a result of his physician's training no doubt impacted the detailed completeness of his account. He reports on Jesus' birth and childhood in a way that has led scholars to the conclusion that he was in direct communication with Mary as he wrote his gospel. "His mother stored up all these things in her heart."(Lk 2:51) In fact Saint Luke wrote more about Mary than anyone else in the Bible. Tradition holds that Luke learnt these stories from Mary herself while scholars believe that he wrote his gospel account for a Gentile audience and thus places the events of Jesus' nativity in the context of world history by beginning with the mention of the census decreed by Caesar Augustus.
Luke traveled with Paul as he spread the Good News of Jesus Christ along the roads and ports of the Roman Empire. Even when Paul was thrown in prison, Luke stuck by him when few would.
It is from Saint Luke that we get the stories of the Three Wise Men, the Prodigal Son, the Road to Emmaus, the Annunciation (where the angel Gabriel visits Mary) and many others.
Our beloved Saint Luke died at the age of 84. Jerome says he died in the Holy Spirit in Bithynia, now known as northern Turkey. A thousand years later when the Turks made war on his hometown of Antioch, a man in white appeared to those praying in the church of St Mary of Tripoli. They say it was Luke. This gave the Christians the strength to hold out against the Turks.
Therefore let us faithfully and devoutly pray :

Almighty God, who didst inspire Thy servant Luke the physician to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of Thy Son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ : Graciously continue in Thy Church the like love and power to heal, to the praise and glory of Thy Name; through the same Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.