The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke was a physician from Antioch, a disciple and traveling-companion of the Apostle Paul, who refers to him as the 'beloved physician.' He wrote not only his Gospel but the Acts of the Apostles, dedicating both to Theophilus, who according to one tradition was the Governor of Achaia, a convert. Much of the Acts of the Apostles is written in the first person, describing his own travels with the St Paul. He lived to an old age and died in Achaia, possibly in Patras. Most ancient authors say that he died as a Martyr.
In some traditions he was believed to be one of the Seventy and thus an eye-witness to Christ's ministry on earth. He is also considered to be the companion of St Cleopas on the Road to Emmaus - both of these traditions are referred to in this Akathist.
A universally-held Church tradition is that St Luke was the first iconographer, and painted an image of the Most Holy Theotokos from life. He is considered the patron of iconographers. Several icons attributed to St Luke himself are still in existence; an article listing these icons can be found here.
His feast-day is on the 18 / 31 October. The akathist hymn to Saint Luke is available below and the entire Akathist Service can also be download as a pdf file:.
Akathist Hymn
to the Holy Apostle
& Evangelist Luke
Kontakion I
O chosen apostle, holy Evangelist Luke, who with the net of thy preaching didst draw forth the souls of many men to salvation and lead them to Christ! Accept these hymns, which are offered to thee with love; and as thou hast boldness before the Lord, free us from all manner of misfortunes, that we may cry to thee:
Rejoice, O holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, twofold adornment of the Church of Christ!
Ikos I
Likening thyself to a winged angel, thou didst soar aloft in the vir-tues and didst attain unto the depths of the mystery of heaven; where-fore, fore, we praise thee with hymns, crying out to thee such things as these:
Rejoice, thou who didst travel from Antioch to Jerusalem and didst come to know the Messiah;
Rejoice, thou who didst convert many to Christ!
Rejoice, divinely inscribed book of mystic treasures;
Rejoice, godly tablet and heavenly mirror!
Rejoice, thou who didst show great zeal in the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ;
Rejoice, thou who didst love the Lord Jesus most sweet with all thy heart!
Rejoice, O holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, twofold adornment of the Church of Christ!
Kontakion II
Beholding the miracles of Christ, 0 all-glorious Luke, with faith thou didst follow Him Who had revealed Himself in the flesh, and as a lover of His glory thou wast beloved of Him, and wast reckoned among the choir of the seventy elect apostles. Ask that such zeal for the glory of God also be given us, that with thee we may cry out to Christ God: Alleluia!
Ikos II
Illumining thy soul with the understanding of the true knowledge of God, O divinely wise Luke, thou didst follow after thy good Teacher, and didst lay up in thy heart the wisdom which issued forth from His mouth. Wherefore, bringing forth fruit an hundredfold like good soil, thou didst enlighten the whole world with the preaching of the Gospel, that thou mightest hear from us such things as these:
Rejoice, heaven declaring to us the glory of God;
Rejoice, day-star announcing to us the Sun of righteousness!
Rejoice, cloud bedewing arid hearts with the water of grace;
Rejoice, well-spring giving drink to thirsty souls with a stream of life!
Rejoice, wondrous guide for those seeking salvation;
Rejoice, thou who dost divinely move the penitent to understanding!
Rejoice, O holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, twofold adornment of the Church of Christ!
Kontakion III
The power of God overshadowed thee, 0 holy Apostle Luke, when thou didst follow after Christ the Lord, traveling with Him through Judah and Galilee, listening to His divine teaching and pondering on His all-glorious miracles. Wherefore, Christ gave to thee, as to His faithful disciple, the power to heal diseases and to expel unclean spirits, that, glorifying His power, all may chant unto Him the hymn of praise: Alleluia!
Ikos III
Having grace on thy lips, 0 blessed Luke, with a tongue of fire thou didst proclaim the honoured Gospel unto us; and we, receiving it with a compunctionate heart, cry out to thee thus:
Rejoice, thou who alone didst record for us the angel's announcement to the all-pure one;
Rejoice, thou who madest known to us the mystery of the nativity of John the Baptist!
Rejoice, thou who hast glorified the tears of the harlot for all the ages;
Rejoice, thou who hast revealed to us the loving-kindness of the heavenly Father in the forgiving of the prodigal son!
Rejoice, thou who by the parable of the publican and the Pharisee hast magnified humility and denounced pride;
Rejoice, thou who hast opened paradise to us through the repentance of the noble thief!
Rejoice, O holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, twofold adornment of the Church of Christ!
Kontakion IV
The storm of Jewish rage nailed Christ God to the Cross and smote thee with great grief. But after His resurrection the Lord appeared unto thee when thou wast traveling to Emmaus with Cleopas; and straitway thou didst recognize thy Saviour in the breaking of the bread, and with heart afire didst chant unto Him: Alleluia!
Ikos IV
Having heard of thee, the disciple of grace and faithful companion of the Apostle Paul, we praise thee as the most excellent recorder and most wise narrator of the acts of the apostles of the Saviour, blessing thee thus:
Rejoice, thou who didst behold the ascension of the Lord.
Rejoice, thou who didst share in the Holy Spirit's dread descent in tongues of fire!
Rejoice, thou who didst leave to the Church of Christ an account of the suffering of the Proto-martyr;
Rejoice, thou who hast described God's overtaking the persecutor Saul on the road to Damascus!
Rejoice, thou who hast related the Apostle Paul's fiery preaching of love for the Lord unto all nations;
Rejoice, thou who with Paul didst bear the labours and tribulations of the apostolic struggle!
Rejoice, O holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, twofold adornment of the Church of Christ!
Kontakion V
Chosen as a companion by the divinely traveling Paul, O most blessed Luke, thou didst journey through the East and the West, and did reach Rome, teaching all nations, tribes and peoples to cry out to Christ God: Alleluia!
Ikos V
Seeing the first icon thou didst paint of the Mother of God and the pre-eternal Infant, and mindful of the words of the All-Pure one—"May the grace of Him Who was born of Me, and Mine own grace, be with these icons!"—we kiss them with love and cry out to thee:
Rejoice, thou who didst confirm the veneration of icons by the lips of the All-Pure One;
Rejoice, thou who by this means didst set iconoclasm at nought!
Rejoice, thou who hast adorned the Orthodox Church with holy icons;
Rejoice, thou who hast taught us the art of iconography!
Rejoice, thou who hast left us the image of the All-Pure One;
Rejoice, thou who thereby hast glorified the Mother of God!
Rejoice, O holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, twofold adornment of the Church of Christ!
Kontakion VI
Thou wast shown to be a divinely eloquent preacher, O Luke, apostle of Christ; and casting for reason-endowed fish in the deep of ignorance with the net of thy glad tidings, thou didst pull them in to the knowledge of God; and offering them to Christ God like goodly food thou didst teach them to chant unto Him: Alleluia!
Ikos VI
0 disciple of the Saviour, like a brilliant beacon thou didst shine forth in heathen lands, where, having abolished the falsehood of idolatry, thou didst bring those sitting in darkness into the light of life, and didst teach them to believe in the Trinity. And praising thy labours, we cry out to thee thus:
Rejoice, thou who dost draw the souls of the faithful forth from the abyss of death;
Rejoice, thou who with showers of divine knowledge dost water a world dried up by the burning heat of godlessness!
Rejoice, thou who with divine salt dost dispel the foul stench of unbelief;
Rejoice, thou who, having drained the cup of wisdom, dost teach us to recognize Christ the Saviour!
Rejoice, for thou who in the font of Christ didst heal the sickness of ungodliness;
Rejoice, for with the brilliant rays of thy words thou didst dispel the darkness of delusion!
Rejoice, O holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, twofold adornment of the Church of Christ!
Kontakion VII
Desiring to reveal the great mystery of our salvation, which the Holy Spirit revealed to thee because of thy fiery love for thy divine Teacher, thou didst make the precious Gospel like a well-spring of grace for the whole world, so that, reading it, men might find salvation for their souls until the end of the world, chanting to the all-wondrous Lord the hymn: Alleluia!
Ikos VII
Giving thyself over to a new struggle as an apostle of Christ, thou didst spurn all the joys of this world, that thou mightest obtain Christ, O most wondrous Luke. For, filled with the Holy Spirit, thou didst work great wonders: healing the diseases of men, expelling demons, and illumining the whole world with the light of divine dogmas. Wherefore, honoring these thy labours, with the angels we cry out to thee thus:
Rejoice, thou who didst love Christ more than all else;
Rejoice, thou who throughout the whole world didst glorify His name!
Rejoice, thou who wast a witness to the wondrous miracles of Christ;
Rejoice, thou who hast lovingly related them to us!
Rejoice, thou who didst endure reproach for the sake of the Lord;
Rejoice, thou who didst receive from him the power to heal!
Rejoice, O holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, twofold adornment of the Church of Christ!
Kontakion VIII
Looking upon thy tireless journeys, we see that, traversing Thebes, Libya, Egypt and the Upper Thebaid, thou didst preach Christ everywhere, causing the Christian Church to grow and teaching repentance unto all. And having recognized Christ, those enlightened by thee chant unto Him: Alleluia!
Ikos VIII
All the tribes of the earth praise thee, O Apostle Luke, for thou wast one of the four pillars of the Gospel whereon Christ founded His Church and established it so that the gates of hades would not prevail against it. And now all the children of the Christian Church glorify thee together, crying out:
Rejoice, thou who by thy Holy Gospel hast taught us to love the Lord;
Rejoice, thou who hast adorned the Christian Church with thy words!
Rejoice, thou who didst plant the seed of Orthodoxy among us;
Rejoice, thou who hast gladdened the Lord with these fruits!
Rejoice, thou who hast strengthened us in virtue;
Rejoice, thou who hast taught us to endure for Christ!
Rejoice, O holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, twofold adornment of the Church of Christ!
Kontakion IX
All mortals await with trembling the dread Second Coming of Christ to earth. And when thou also shalt sit with the Master on a high throne to judge the whole world, O saint, entreat His goodness, that He have mercy on us, and not condemn us to everlasting damnation, but that we be vouchsafed to chant to Him with all the saints: Alleluia!
Ikos IX
Human orators are at a loss how to hymn thy struggles and miracles, O most praised Luke; yet mercifully accept these our meager and crudely crafted hymns which are offered as praise unto thee,
that with faith and love we may cry out to thee such things as these:
Rejoice, thou who art praised and glorified from the East even unto the West;
Rejoice, thou who wast greatly beloved of the Apostle Paul!
Rejoice, thou who didst share in the labours of Paul;
Rejoice, wondrous receptacle of the mysteries of Christ!
Rejoice, companion of the choirs of the angels;
Rejoice, thou who didst heal the infirmities of men!
Rejoice, O holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, twofold adornment of the Church of Christ!
Kontakion X
We have inherited from thee the pledge of salvation, the Orthodox Faith, O Luke, apostle of Christ; wherefore, we beseech thee: Preserve us, thy children, from all heresies and ecclesial divisions by thy prayerful intercession before God, and help us to abide unshaken in Orthodoxy unto the end of our days, that we may chant to God with faith: Alleluia!
Ikos X
Thou hast been set in the habitations of paradise by the King of heaven, O blessed Luke, that thy zeal for the keeping of the law of God might be imparted also unto us, His unworthy servants, that we may ready ourselves for the struggles of doing good Christian works and for the confession of our Orthodox Faith. For this we entreat thee and cry:
Rejoice, all-radiant star, pointing all to the Sun of righteousness;
Rejoice, inextinguishable lamp, unceasingly burning in prayer before the throne of the Lord of glory!
Rejoice, beauty of the Church of Christ;
Rejoice, fragrant myrrh pouring forth streams of healing upon us!
Rejoice, thou who didst receive from Christ gifts of the grace of the Holy Spirit;
Rejoice,thou who didst receive from Him the authority to loose and to bind!
Rejoice, O holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, twofold adornment of the Church of Christ!
Kontakion XI
Offering hymnody to the All-Holy Trinity on high with all the saints, O all-praised Luke, thou bendest down to the earth, to look upon the place of thy struggles and journeys, and by thy supplications helpest all who honour thy holy memory with faith, and who for thy sake chant unto God the hymn: Alleluia!
Ikos XI
Thou hast been revealed to the faithful as a light-giving beacon of the three-Sunned Light, O holy Apostle Luke, invisibly illumining us all on the path of our earthly sojourn, that we not fall into the snares of our enemy, the devil, but may remain unharmed by all his wiles, and that we may with a pure heart be vouchsafed to cry out to thee:
Rejoice, good shepherd of the reason-endowed flock of Christ;
Rejoice, thou who dost not permit the soul-destroying wolf to ravage thy rational flock!
Rejoice, thou who in the net of thy preaching didst catch all the ends of the earth;
Rejoice, thou who by thy supplications dost further our salvation!
Rejoice, fire-breathing mouth of the Holy Spirit;
Rejoice, dove of the ark of Noah, who hast brought us the glad tidings of Christ as a branch!
Rejoice, O holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, twofold adornment of the Church of Christ!
Kontakion XII
Great grace and healing poured forth from thy tomb, and it imparted cures to the faithful who had recourse to it. And the Emperor Constantius, son of Constantine the Great, learning of thy healing relics, transferred thy beloved remains to the Imperial City, where a eunuch of the imperial chamber, having received healing, together with others chanted to God the hymn: Alleluia!
Ikos XII
Hymning thy pangs and labours, O apostle of the Saviour, we honour thy holy and ever-glorious memory which, perfuming us spiritually, delighteth and gladdeneth our souls; for the sweat and toils wherein thou didst labour in spreading the glad tidings of Christ were truly shown to be fragrant myrrh in the sight of God. And crafting our praises, we cry out to thee with joy:
Rejoice, inexhaustible fountain of the wisdom of God;
Rejoice, all-wise fisher and husbandman of the Saviour!
Rejoice, sword cutting down the blasphemies of the heretics;
Rejoice, thou who didst plumb the depths of the mysteries of God!
Rejoice, thou who wast informed of the Second Coming by the angels of God;
Rejoice, unashamed mediator before our all-pure Mistress!
Rejoice, O holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, twofold adornment of the Church of Christ!
Kontakion XIII
O holy and most lauded Luke, apostle and evangelist of Christ! Accept this, our meager hymn of supplication offered in praise of thee, and entreat our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, that He deliver us from everlasting torment and vouchsafe us the ineffable joy of the saints, that with them we may unceasingly chant to God in three Hypostases: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
This Kontakion is recited thrice, whereupon Ikos I and Kontakion I are repeated:
Ikos I
Likening thyself to a winged angel, thou didst soar aloft in the vir-tues and didst attain unto the depths of the mystery of heaven; where-fore we praise thee with hymns, crying out to thee such things as these:
Rejoice, thou who didst travel from Antioch to Jerusalem and didst come to know the Messiah;
Rejoice, thou who didst convert many to Christ!
Rejoice, divinely inscribed book of mystic treasures;
Rejoice, godly tablet and heavenly mirror!
Rejoice, thou who didst show great zeal in the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ;
Rejoice, thou who didst love the Lord Jesus most sweet with all thy heart!
Rejoice, O holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, twofold adornment of the Church of Christ!
Kontakion I
O chosen apostle, holy Evangelist Luke, who with the net of thy preaching didst draw forth the souls of many men to salvation and lead them to Christ! Accept these hymns, which are offered to thee with love; and as thou hast boldness before the Lord, free us from all manner of misfortunes, that we may cry to thee:
Rejoice, O holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, twofold adornment of the Church of Christ!
Prayer to the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke
O all-holy and most lauded Apostle and Evangelist Luke, earthly angel and heavenly man! With faith and love we fall down before thy holy icon and thy precious relics, and we beseech thee with tears: Forget not us, thy children, whom thou hast gathered together, O divinely wise one. Depart from us never, but with thy tireless intercession protect us from the evil wiles of the enemy. Put down the uprising of our passions, and strengthen our weakness amid spiritual warfare and struggles. Dispel from our hearts all despondency and sinful grief, and beseech the Lord to grant us consolation amid our sorrows. Preserve, O divinely wise one, this holy city [town/village/monastery] from all want, from fire and the sword, from deadly contagion and from all evil. Hearken, O merciful apostle, to everyone who approacheth thee with faith and imploreth thy gracious aid. Be thou a defender for orphans, consolation for the sorrowful, a healer for the sick, strengthening for the weak, a guardian for travelers, a pilot for those at sea; and at the dread hour of our death stand before us as one who fendeth off the dark visages of the demons and strengthen our hope of salvation: that having finished our earthly course in peace and repentance, we may attain unto the havens of everlasting joy, that with thee we may glorify the most holy name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages
Amen.
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