Origins and Formation
The Early Church Fathers and the historian Eusebius identify Luke as a native of Antioch in Roman Syria. He is generally understood to have been a Greek-speaking gentile, evidenced in part by Paul's distinguishing him from "those of the circumcision," though some scholars consider him a possible Hellenized Jew.
Luke was trained as a physician, enlightened in the Greek medical arts. Paul calls him "the most dear physician" in the Epistle to the Colossians, and his medical training has been read in the specialized terminology that recurs through his writings; some scholars have suggested he may have studied at the medical school in Tarsus.
In the Orthodox tradition Luke is numbered among the Seventy Apostles, learning of Christ, traveling to Palestine, and accepting the faith during Christ's earthly ministry.
Companion of the Apostle Paul
Luke became a devoted traveling companion of the Apostle Paul. The Book of Acts records that he joined Paul at Troas (Acts 16:10, near Acts 16:8) and crossed with him into Macedonia, accompanying him through Jerusalem, his imprisonment at Caesarea, and the voyage to Rome.
When Paul's coworkers had forsaken him, Luke remained: by the testimony of Paul's final epistle to Timothy, only Luke was still with him.
The Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles
The Early Church Fathers ascribed to Luke the authorship of both the Gospel that bears his name and the Acts of the Apostles, the two dedicated to Theophilus and together comprising about 27.5% of the New Testament — the largest single-author contribution.
By church tradition Luke composed his Gospel around 62–63 AD in Rome under Paul's guidance, carefully investigating the facts and drawing on oral tradition and on accounts said to come from the Virgin Mary herself. He authored Acts in the same period, documenting the works of the apostles following Christ's Ascension. An ancient tradition traceable to Julius Africanus instead places the writing of his Gospel in Achaia.
Luke as Icon Painter
Christian tradition, attested from roughly the eighth century, holds that Luke was the first icon painter, said to have painted images of the Virgin Mary and Child — particularly the Hodegetria image at Constantinople — and also icons of the Apostles Peter and Paul.
By a tradition preserved in the Orthodox Church, the Mother of God blessed these images, saying, "Let the grace of Him Who was born of Me and My mercy be with these Icons." A medieval tradition likewise attributes to Luke a portrait of the Virgin in Rome's basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, traceable to AD 847.
Death
By tradition Luke died at the age of 84. Accounts of his death vary by source: some place his repose in Boeotia, others report he suffered martyrdom in Thebes — reportedly hanged from an olive tree, though this is disputed — while an ancient tradition from Julius Africanus has him dying in Bithynia, "filled with the Holy Ghost," having remained unmarried.
Relics & Shrines
Luke's tomb was located in Thebes, and his relics were transferred to Constantinople in the year 357 — Saint Jerome dating the translation to the twentieth year of the reign of Constantius, alongside relics of the Apostle Andrew from Achaia.
His remains are now divided among several sites: the body rests in the Abbey of Santa Giustina in Padua, the skull in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, and a rib at his tomb in the Holy Church of Luke the Evangelist in Thebes. By one account the relics reached Padua around the time of the 1204 Crusade.
In 2001, scientific analysis, including DNA testing, was undertaken to examine the authenticity of the Padua remains, after which a portion was returned to his tomb in the Orthodox cathedral at Thebes.
