The hymn suggestions below are either directly about Luke or based on the themes from his/her life and ministry.
About St Luke
Luke, whose name means "bringer of light", is best know as the author of the third Gospel and of the Acts of the Apostles.An early convert from paganism, he was a medical doctor from Antioch in Syria.
Luke was not an apostle, and he never met Jesus in person. But he accompanied Paul on a many of his missionary journeys, and while he was in prison in Rome. So his descriptions of these events, in the book of Acts, is firsthand. According to St. Jerome, Luke died in Greece aged 84, and the church venerates him as a martyr.
Luke's Gospel emphasises mercy and Christ as the salvation of all people, especially of the lowly and the repentant sinner. Because he was a doctor, it also provides a degree of insight into the health issues which affected Jesus and those who he came into contact with, as well as details of Jesus' childhood.
Tradition believes that he was an artist as well as a writer, and that he painted the Blessed Virgin's portrait as well as some of the most beautiful word-pictures of her.
He is the patron saint of artists; bachelors; bookbinders; brewers; butchers; glassworkers; goldsmiths; lacemakers; notaries; painters; physicians; sculptors; stained glass workers; surgeons.
Symbols which have been used to represent him include the Winged ox; winged calf; ox; picture of the Virgin; palette and brushes; phials of medicine; physician's robes; easel; book and pen; hatchet; wooden horse; books of his Gospel and of the Acts; bishop; painting an icon of our Lady.
Readings
First: 2 Timothy 4:10-17B - Paul writers to Timothy about his trials, and notes that Luke is the only one of the disciples still with him.Psalm 145:10-11, 12-13, 17-18 - Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom. / Let all your works give you thanks, O Lord / Making known to men your might / The Lord is just in all his ways
Gospel: Luke 10:1-9 - Jesus sends the 72 disciples out in pairs ahead of him, saying "the harvest is many but the labourers are few" - he tells them to travel light, and accepts whatever welcome they receive.
Free-use hymns
By all your Saints Still StrivingWith verse 2:
For that beloved physician, all praise,
Whose Gospel shows the healer of the nations,
the sharer of our woes.
Thy wine and oil, O Saviour,
and bruised hearts deign to pour,
and with true balm of Gilead
Anoint us evermore.
O God, Whose Will Is Life and Good
Saviour who Didst Healing Give
Thine Arm, O Lord, in Days of Old
Hymns which may still be copyright
Go Tell Everyone - Dale / RichardsHoly and Learned Great Saint Luke
Hymn for St Luke - Marshall (author's page about the hymn)
Saint Luke Beloved Physician - Dudley-Smith
Take it to God in Prayer - Morgan (suitable for less-formal situations - video)
Music selection worksheet
