The knowledge which the Church possesses of St. Luke, so far as it is of any wide and lasting interest, is comprised in three facts, that he was a physician, that he was the faithful companion of St. Paul, and that he was the author of our third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. In one or more of these characters alone can we summon up his image, when we desire to commemorate with gratitude and honour his share in the work of building up the Apostolic Church. The distinctive lineaments of some among St. Luke's fellow-labourers cannot now be seized with any force or clearness: in his case the fault is our own if his name leaves only a vague impression behind.

And in this place there is less excuse than elsewhere for looking on the periodical honouring of apostles and evangelists as an artificial arrangement, too venerable indeed to disturb, yet not answering to any present needs. In our annual commemorations of those who in various times have rendered services to our academical body, we have a useful help towards remembering that the familiar names of our Church Calendar are the names of benefactors too; benefactors not merely to a single local corporation but to the One Universal Church; yet not the less truly benefactors to ourselves, all as having helped to build the foundation on which we rest and likewise build, some yet more, as speaking directly to us, across the ages, their messages of holy wisdom.