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On October 18, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of Saint Luke, the Evangelist.  He was the author of the third book of the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament.  Saint Luke was a Greek doctor and is the patron Saint of artists, craftspeople, doctors and surgeons.  Stories say he was an artist and his Gospel writings inspired many artists' work.   


This was the first year I thought of making a snack to celebrate this special feast day. I ended up making very simple Artist Palette Cookies which was inspired from Catholic Cuisine.

To make the cookies I used:
Oreos
M&Ms
Pretzel sticks (with a small amount of peanut butter to stick the sprinkle on the end of pretzel)
Sprinkles (I used Wilton Rainbow Chip Crunch, specifically the dark purple sprinkles to make it look like the end of the pretzel stick "brush")

On the morning of Saint Luke's feast day I set out the cookies, page about Saint Luke from Saints and Angels book (that I read from often with our feast day celebrations), Saint Luke peg doll and statues of Saint Luke on our kitchen table.   I painted the Saint Luke peg doll for the peg doll exchange I participated in awhile ago and by doing so I learned that Saint Luke's symbol is a winged ox because  "in the Gospel of St. Luke, the priestly and sacrificial work of Jesus is emphasized. The ox represents the sacrificial aspect of Jesus’ ministry and the wings remind us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to travel throughout the world."

 
There is so much to learn about the Catholic faith and the Saints' lives.  I'm enjoying learning more about Saint Luke each year alongside my children.  This year I discovered 18 Ways to Celebrate Saint Luke from Better Than Eden that lists other beautiful and fun ways to celebrate this great holy hero and role model.

I also enjoyed reading about Our Lady of Czestochowa and Saint Luke from Shower of Roses. I had no idea that Saint Luke is traditionally known to have painted the original icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, also known as the "Black Madonna".

I put the Our Lady of Czestochowa Shining Light Doll on my wish list to add to our other Shining Light Dolls that we already own: Saint Nicholas, St. Teresa of Calcutta, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Fatima and St. Theresa of Lisieux. 

This day is also my son's "Name Day" because he was due on Saint Luke's feast day, but he arrived on October 19.   So Saint Luke holds a special place in our family's heart.  We celebrated our son's 15th birthday on October 19th and he didn't want me to make one of my homemade birthday cakes.  Instead, he requested a box cake and can icing and some gummy worms.  I used the sprinkles from the Saint Luke cookies to make a "15" on his cake.  :)


Saint Luke, pray for us!