St Luke the Evangelist from a Book of Hours belonging to Anne of Brittany.
Happy St Luke's Day!
Yes, today, 18th October, is the feast of St Luke the Evangelist, one of the four authors of the canonical Gospels of Jesus Christ and the author of the Acts of the Apostles.
It is a feast day that would have been remembered in Tudor times.
St Luke is the patron saint of artists, physicians and surgeons, brewers, notaries, students and butchers, and is often depicted in paintings with an ox or calf (sometimes winged) which are seen as symbols of sacrifice, referring to Christ's sacrifice for mankind.
I find it so interesting how many of these saints’ feast days were celebrated. It really boggles my mind. Guess I really don’t understand the medieval world.
It’s not just the medieval world, they’re still celebrated in many countries around the world. Every day, on Facebook, our local bar owner shares which saint’s day it is, and each village has its own saint. Our saints are celebrated in January with processions and a fiesta. We have public holidays for some feast days still.