St Luke the Evangelist
Luke the Evangelist is one of the Four Evangelists and authors of Jesus Christ Gospels. Luke was born in Antioch in Syria. In the New Testament, Luke is mentioned as a doctor, although he is thought to have been both a physician and a disciple of Paul.
Luke died at age 84 in Boeotia, his tomb was located in Thebes (Greece), from whence his relics were transferred first to Constantinople, later to Padua.
In traditional paintings, St. Luke is often accompanied by an ox or bull, usually having wings. This is his Evangelic symbol. The relics of St. Luke are so divided: the body, in the Abbey of Santa Giustina in Padua; the head, in the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague; a rib, at his tomb in Thebes.
Feast Day: 18th October
St Timothy
Born at Lystra, Lycaenia, Timothy was the son of a Greek father and Eunice, a converted Jewess. He joined St. Paul when Paul preached at Lystra replacing Barnabas, and became Paul’s close friend and confidant. Paul allowed him to be circumcised to placate the Jews, since he was the son of a Jewess, and he then accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey. When Paul was forced to flee Berea because of the enmity of the Jews there, Timothy remained, but after a time was sent to Thessalonica to report on the condition of the Christians there and to encourage them under persecution, a report that led to Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians when he joined Timothy at Corinth. Timothy and Erastus were sent to Macedonia in 58, went to Corinth to remind the Corinthians of Paul’s teaching, and then accompanied Paul into Macedonia and Achaia. Timothy was probably with Paul when the Apostle was imprisoned at Caesarea and then Rome, and was himself imprisoned but then freed. According to tradition, he went to Ephesus, became its first bishop, and was stoned to death there when he opposed the pagan festival of Katagogian in honor of Diana. Paul wrote two letters to Timothy, one written about 65 from Macedonia and the second from Rome while he was in prison awaiting execution. His feast day is January 26.
Saint Timothy’s Final resting place: Termoli Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Termoli, in the province of Campobasso, central Italy. The dedication is to the Purification of the Virgin Mary, but is commonly ascribed to Saints Bassus and Timothy, patrons of the city. It is the seat of the Bishop of Termoli-Larino.
Feast Day: 26th January