ST. LUKE – PATRON OF ARTIST

This window is centered on the image of St Luke as he is writing his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. Luke the Evangelist (Greek: Loukas) is said by tradition to be the author of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, the third and fifth books of the New Testament. Saint Luke was born of Greek origin in the city of Antioch. In Catholicism, he is patron saint of physicians. Surgeons, and artists and his feast day is October 18. His earliest notice is in Paul's Epistle to Philemon, verse 24.... He is also mentioned in Colossians 4:14 and 2 Timothy 4:11, two works commonly ascribed to Paul, and where Paul mentions him as a physician.

Luke became a disciple of St. Paul. Some manuscripts add that Luke died "in Thebes, the capital of Boeotia". All of these facts support the conclusion that Luke was associated with Paul. Later tradition elaborates on these few facts. Epiphanius states that Luke was one of the Seventy (Panarion 51.11), and John Chrysostom indicates at one point that the "brother" Paul mentioned in 2 Corinthians 8:18 is either Luke or Barnabas. J. Wenham asserts that Luke was "one of the Seventy, the Emmaus disciple, Lucius of Cyrene and Paul's kinsman."

Another Christian tradition states that he was the first iconographer, and painted pictures of the Virgin Mary and of Peter and Paul. Thus late medieval guilds of St Luke in the cities of Flanders, or the Accademia di San Luca ("Academy of St Luke") in Rome, imitated in many other European cities during the 16th century, gathered together and protected painters. Tradition also has support from the Saint Thomas Christians of India who claim to still have one of the Theotokos icons that St Luke painted and Thomas brought to India..

In the central ancient icon, St. Luke is portrayed as a Greek man living in the first century in classical Greek clothes and setting. He has just finished painting an icon of Mary with the Child Jesus. Above him is a dove surrounded by tongues of fire, which represents The Holy Spirit with his gifts and fruits and as the divine inspiration of the icon. Surrounding the Holy spirit in the top outer frame are seven fire like winged shapes that represents the seven spirits of God that surrounds his throne in the book of Revelation. Continuing in the frame are twenty bright blue circles that represent the Mysteries of the rosary, which is a contemplative prayer on the life of Jesus and Mary. Below and to the left the central icon is an oval that contains seven small bright yellow circles that represent the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord. These gifts were given to St. Luke in superabundant measure as an author of scripture and the first iconographer.