St. Luke, “the most dear physician” and companion of St. Paul, wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, nearly a quarter of the New Testament. His Gospel is the Gospel of mercy: only Luke tells the parables of the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan, and only Luke gives us the Annunciation, the Visitation and the Christmas story of the shepherds and the manger. He is the patron saint of physicians, surgeons and artists. Below are prayers to St. Luke for doctors and nurses, for healing, and for painters and writers, the Scripture in which he speaks for himself, and his story.
A prayer to St. Luke
Written for this page:
St. Luke, beloved physician and evangelist,
you wrote down the good news of God’s mercy
and the story of Jesus’ birth from the heart of his Mother.
Pray for me, that I may know Jesus more deeply,
show mercy to the poor and the sinner,
and rejoice in the Holy Spirit.
Obtain for me the grace I ask: (name your intention). Amen.
A prayer for doctors and nurses
St. Luke, patron of physicians,
bless all doctors, nurses, surgeons and medical students,
especially (name).
Give them knowledge, skill and steady hands,
compassion for every patient,
and the humility to remember that God is the true healer. Amen.
This prayer was written for this page. See also the St. John of God prayer and the patron saints of healing.
A prayer for healing
St. Luke, you told how Jesus healed the sick and forgave sinners.
Pray for (name), who needs healing in body or soul.
Ask the divine Physician to touch him (her) with his power and his peace. Amen.
This prayer was written for this page. See the Catholic prayer for healing.
A prayer for artists and writers
An ancient tradition says Luke painted the first icons of the Virgin Mary, and he is the patron of painters and artists.
St. Luke, painter and writer,
bless all who create beauty with paint, words, music and stone.
May their work reflect the beauty of God and lead others to him. Amen.
This prayer was written for this page.
St. Luke in his own words
Luke begins his Gospel by explaining why he wrote it:
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a narration of the things that have been accomplished among us;
According as they have delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word:
It seemed good to me also, having diligently attained to all things from the beginning, to write to thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
That thou mayest know the verity of those words in which thou hast been instructed.
St. Paul mentions him in his letters:
Luke, the most dear physician, saluteth you: and Demas.
The life of St. Luke
Luke was a Gentile, probably a Greek-speaking physician from Antioch in Syria, according to early tradition. He was not one of the Twelve and did not know Jesus during his earthly life, but he became a disciple and a close companion of St. Paul. In several passages of the Acts of the Apostles the story suddenly shifts to “we,” suggesting that Luke was traveling with Paul; he stayed with him during his imprisonment in Rome (“only Luke is with me,” Paul wrote near the end of his life).
Luke wrote his Gospel and the Acts for a Christian named Theophilus, “having diligently attained to all things from the beginning.” His Gospel gives special attention to the poor, to women, to prayer, to the Holy Spirit and to the mercy of God. Only Luke preserves the Magnificat, the Benedictus and the Nunc dimittis, the canticles the Church sings every day. According to ancient tradition he died at an old age in Greece. His relics are venerated in Padua, in Italy.
Feast day and patronage
- Feast day: October 18. A novena can run from October 9 to 17.
- Patron of: physicians, surgeons, nurses, artists and painters, and notaries.
- Symbols: an ox (one of the four living creatures of Ezechiel and the Apocalypse, because his Gospel begins with the sacrifice of Zachary in the Temple), a book, and an icon of Mary.
Frequently asked questions
When is the feast of St. Luke?
October 18.
What is St. Luke the patron saint of?
Physicians, surgeons, nurses and artists.
Why is St. Luke’s symbol an ox?
The ox is an animal of sacrifice, and his Gospel opens with the priest Zachary offering sacrifice in the Temple.
Did St. Luke know Jesus?
Not during Jesus’ earthly life, as far as we know. He learned the Gospel from eyewitnesses and, tradition says, from the Virgin Mary herself.
More prayers
- St. Mark prayer
- St. Matthew prayer
- St. Paul prayer
- Prayer for the sick
- Prayers to popular saints
- Saint feast days
Texts and sources
- Scripture: Luke 1:1–4; Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- The prayers were written for this page.