Tuesday, October 30, 2012
From Our Students: A Reflection on St Luke
Dear Students and Friends,
On occasion we share student work that can be enjoyed by all. In this category is the reflection below, written by our student, Staci. She talks about the Troparion and Kontakion of St Luke. Enjoy!
The Troparion and Kontakion of St. Luke are each short hymns to the Saint and the
contributions he has made in the service of God. I looked up troparion and kontakion to see if there was any direction to be gleaned from that, but they each are basically “short hymns,” although the Kontakion actually is part of a much longer and more complex hymn, evidently.
Each of them start with the phrase, “Let us praise” which tells us that they were written by other people about St. Luke. So we see in the first phrase of each the impact that St. Luke had because people are affected by him, remember him, and most importantly, are able to see the works of God through him. Additionally, in the first line of each there is a reference to his “godly” or “holy” nature, of course allowing us to see why Luke is to be praised, but also praising the works of God acting within this person.
We further see this manifestation of God’s works in Luke in the Troparion, where he is referred to as “recorder of the joyous Gospel of Christ”, “scribe of the Acts of the Apostles”, and a “physician.” As a recorder and scribe, Luke writes down what others have done (either Christ or the Apostles) and then as a physician he heals physical suffering, but in both cases Luke helps others live better lives. Additionally, we see this in the Kontakion as Luke is described as a “true preacher” and an “orator of ineffable mysteries” and “the star of the church.” Again, all of these aspects of why the Church remembers and praises St. Luke have to do with interactions with other people.
So, St. Luke is remembered for being a person who helps bring others closer to God, helping us to know God’s word through the Gospel he wrote and by spreading both physical and spiritual healing.
Thank you, Staci, for allowing us to share your writing!