18 October

Today is for St. Luke the writer of the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. The 18th of October is his on the traditional calendar, the Pauline calendar and the Byzantine calendar. St. Luke's is also a "Prayer Book" day in the Anglican communion. There is a short "life" of St. Luke here which also includes a discussion of his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.

There is a tradition that he was a painter. Although people who claim to know about the dating of paintings claim otherwise, several early paintings of the Blessed Virgin Mary carry the tradition that they were painted by St. Luke. Probably the most well-known among western rite Catholics is the icon called Our Lady of Perpetual Help. You can see the icon here along with an explanation of its meaning.