IT is the great praise and perfection of the Sun (who is the prime and glory of all the Ce­lestial Bodies) that by his constant and indefatigable mo­tion, he does illuminate and re­fresh the several corners of the in­ferior [Page 2]Earth, with his glorious Rays and Beams of Light; and that he never, like the fickle and inconstant Moon, puts on divers Faces. It is Recorded by the Poets, for the perpetual honor and ever­lasting renown of Theseus, That he uncessantly attended Hercules in all his Travels. Nor may we forget that no misfortune nor disaster whatsoever, could unty the Gor­dian Knot of Amity, once knit be­tween Aeneas and his Faithful Achates. Not unlike, the Holy Ghost hath in honor to S. Luke, (whose acts and deeds this day is by the Church wisely set apart to comme­morate) The Holy Ghost (I say) hath in an honorable remembrance of his name, erected this Sacred Monument, even the Text, in which his Christian Valor, his Ʋnparallel'd [Page 3]Constancy, his Mutual Correspondency with S. Paul, whose ( [...]) con­tinual Associate he was, are all in­graven in such Characters, as that neither Time nor Envy will be ever able to obliterate; for [...], &c. Only Luke is with me.

In the words we have Damon and Pythias, two Pythagorean Lovers. Luke and Paul both cemented toge­ther by the Ʋnion of the Spirit, by the Bond of Peace; or rather (if you please) the words are an intire Pro­position, whereof S. Luke is The Subject, S. Paul (who is understood in the Pronoun Me) The Predicate, The Copula that unites both, is Con­stancy, included in the phrase, [...], Only Luke is with me.

We shall begin with the subject S. Luke, as being most proper for this days solemnity.

And here the things most mate­rial, and worthy our observation, are two.

• 1. His Life.
• 2. His Death.

As for his Life, we cannot but in the Map of his History set down

• 1. His Native Countrey.
• 2. Give some account of his o­minous Name.
• 3. Take notice of his honorable Education.
• 4. Of his laudable Profession.
• 5. Of his happy Conversion from Heathenism unto Christiani­ty, with the various occurrences in that his new Evangelical Life.

As to the first, Isidorus confident­ly calculates the place of his Nati­vity to be Syria in Asia. when he writes that (Lucas Evangelista, Natione fuit Syrus) Luke the Evangelist was a Sy­rian, [Page 5] &c. But he is altogether silent in what City or Town this our Evan­gelist did first breathe; whereas Dorotheus (quoted by Theophylact) re­ports him to be born at Antioch, ( [...], &c.) and to this Opinion Theophylact himself is pleased to subscribe in these words, [...], &c. And to the same does S. Jerome give his Judgment. Nor does Irenaeus deny it, when speaking of S. Luke, he thus expresseth himself —Ex Antiochiâ oriundus fuit medicus, &c. By all which we may safely conclude, that Saint Luke was born at Antioch, a City very eminently famous for many things, but especially for three: As

1. Famous for their Loyalty, con­stantly paying their tribute of re­spect, reverence, and homage (justly due [Page 6]by the Laws of God, Nature, and Men) unto their Supream Governors, always ascribing unto their Chief Magi­strate, (whether Emperor or King,) all his titles of Honor, which Divine Providence had conferred upon him; as Johannes Antiochenus acquaints us out of his History, concerning Au­gustus Caesar, who (says he) [...], &c. at Antioch was thus stiled, Caesar, Octavian, Trophaeal, Augustus, the Mighty Emperor, &c. A president sufficient (one would think) for ever to silence and convince those Sectarists who dare rebelliously deny unto our Dread Soveraign, those hono­rable Titles which the Virtues and Prowess of His Noble Ancestors have merited in the Field, and the which God of his special Grace hath bestow­ed upon Him, and affixed as so many radiant Diamonds on His Royal Crown.

2. Famous, for that Christs Corona­tion Day on Earth, was first of all ce­lebrated at Antioch, Acts 11.26. the Disciples were first called Christians at Antioch; whereas before Christs Pro­selytes were commonly known by the appellation of Nazareans and Galileans ( [...], &c. as Suidas, and others, &c.) But afterwards, when the Gospel of Christ began to spred very much, and daily thousands were added to the Church, then, that Believers might the better be discriminated from Jews and Infidels, and that the World might plainly know, who, and what they were; they did at Antioch very so­lemnly, and in a kind of State, pub­lickly assume unto themselves the glorious name of Christians; for so the word [...], Acts 11.26 (which [Page 8]we translate Called) is usually taken in a State sense, even as Kings at their Coronations do use ( [...]) in State to be called and proclaim­ed Kings by their Champions and Heralds at Arms, with all their Ti­tles. Not unlike, at Antioch Christ the King of Heaven and Earth, was so­lemnly and magnificently pro­claimed, Supream Head and Governor of the Christian Church, by Euodius, then Bishop of that place.

3. Famous, in that Antioch was (as by History does appear) the Se­cond City (Jerusalem being the First) which received the happy Govern­ment of Episcopacy; the Constituti­on of which Government is so highly commended, and all due obedience thereunto so necessarily and strongly urged by holy Ignatius, [Page 9]in almost all his Epistles, as that he does little less than Anathematise all those, who by their Schisms and Factions, plot to throw off the Yoke of that kind of Primitive Government, which certainly must be Jure Divino, if any thing, that hath an Apostolical and Primitive Sanction and Practice for its Foundation, can be so.

Hitherto we have travelled in our Discourse to find out S. Lukes Native Countrey.

2. In the next place we are to take cognisance of his Name, the which, if well considered, would afford (had we time) sufficient mat­ter for a large Oration, especially if we call to remembrance that Names are

Either for Indexes to declare the Nature and Essential properties of things; as the three Names of God, [Page 10]Jehovah, [...] Adonai, and Elohim; and so Adam taken from Adamah, his Mo­ther Earth.

Or else other while Names are im­posed to be as so many Remembrancers of eminent Mercies and Deliverances already obtained. Thus Moses, so called from Mashah, [...] signifying his being drawn out of the Water by Pharaohs Daughter.

Or thirdly, Names do oft-times prognosticate the future eminency and worth of the person, and that something extraordinarily remark­able, is to be accomplished by him in the course of his life. Thus Jo­shuah and Jesus, the one foretelling that he should be the Saviour of the People of Israel from their Enemies; the other, that he should be the Blessed Saviour and Redeemer of the World. In like manner Solomon [Page 11](from [...]) a Prince of Peace. Both names, to wit, that of Jesus, and this of Solomon portending, that by the first, sinners should be redeemed and saved from the wrath of God, in and through the Death and Passion, the Mediation and Merit of the Holy Jesu; and by the latter, that the Jews should enjoy Halcyon days of peace and tranquillity under the Reign of King Solomon.

Now it is not very certain, for which of these three Reasons this our Evangelist was named Luke, though we find one of the Fathers to sit down satisfied with the last, he conclu­ding, That God by his wise provi­dence had ordered his name should be [...], thereby signifying that in process of time S. Luke should be­come and Evangelist; and so with the Milk of the Gospel, feed Christs tender [Page 12] Babes, that they might grow thereby; for thus the word Luke signifies ( [...]) Milk, if any credit may be given unto the Authority of Germanus, Archbishop of Constantinople, who giving a Reason why the Four E­vangelists were named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, he thus be­speaks his Reader. [...].

In the third place follows his E­ducation, which was honorable and ingenuous, not at all inferior to S. Pauls, who ( [...]) was brought up at the Feet of Gamaliel; and we read that S. Luke whilest he was in Ludi Literario, the place of improvement amongst his [...] Competitors, beset with Examples, as with so many Objects of Emulati­on, he did no way slacken his pace, but ever remembring the Poets [Page 13]execration against Drones, scil. Occupet extremum scabies, mihi turpe relinqui est, He so husbanded his time, as that like Saul, among the people he soon surmounted his Fellows, and in a short while commenced Master of the Arts and Sciences, and became Professor of the Languages, Hebrew only ex­cepted; for in that Language he vvas either vvholly ignorant, or very much deficient, but superla­tively excellent in the Greek. Lucas Evangelista Natione Syrus, Graeco elo­quio eruditus, quem plerique tradunt Prose­lytum esse, & Hebraeas literas ignorâsse, &c. saith Isidorus. Further, as he vvas an exact Linguist, so he vvas also an acute Philosopher, and might vvell be reckoned (vvere he novv survi­ving) chief among the Virtuosi. We knovv that sometimes a Man of a [Page 14]faithful tenacious memory, though of a very ordinary and shallow judgment, may arrive unto a great perfection in the Tongues, and yet be a meer Ignoramus in Philosophy, which in truth, is the chiefest and most noble part of Learning; for it is Philosophy that rectifies the Judg­ment, improves Reason, regulates the Affections, refines and sublimates the Intellectuals of a Man, as Hierodes of old hath well observed. [...], &c. That S. Luke was so great a Philosopher as the premises speak him to be, we have two sure Foundations to bot­tom our belief on: The first is the testimony of Theophylact, whose words are these. [...], &c. which we may English thus, That Divine Luke, the Physitian, was born at [Page 15] Antioch, and was eminent in Philo­sophy; for who knows not that the Philosophers at first were called [...], and Philosophy it self was (as here by Theophylact) named [...], in which we see S. Luke had arrived unto a full maturity, for he was ( [...]) stiled the Great Philosopher? The other Argument to perswade us in­to a belief of his great experience and knowledge in all kind of litera­ture, especially that of Philosophy, is taken from his practice of Me­dicks, unto the right management of which Art, is necessarily required the highest attainment in Philoso­phy

4. And this leads us unto the fourth consideration, which was his laudable Profession, to wit, Physick; an art so noble, so honor­able and ingenuous, as that your [Page 16]present Orator being at a nonplus, pleads an inability to express its just encomiums; and therefore of ne­cessity must pass it by with an & caetera.

But yet that we might not petere principia, it is granted on all hands and backed with the ipse dixit of the holy Scripture, that Luke was (pardon the expression) one of the Colledge of Physitians, for Colos. 4.14. Luke the Physitian salutes you. So that what be­fore he had learned in the Theory, that he now makes good use of in the practice; and truly practice, is the end of most (if not of all) Knowledge. The theoretical part of Learning be­ing lodged only in the Intellect, serves meerly for the information of the Judgment; whereas the practi­cal hath an influence on the whole life, and appears in every individual [Page 17] action, and is sui Communicativa, and so promotes and advances, not only the single persons own good; but also very generously the good of others. Therefore what the Philosopher makes to be the end of Ethicks, S. Luke here makes the same of Physicks, [...]: And the O­rator, Scientia virtutis non facit virum bonum, sed actio secundùm virtutem. The Reason is plain, because Omnis laus virtutis in actione consistit. It is not the knowledge, but the practice of Virtue, that ennobles a Man with the title of Virtuous; for as the Philosopher notes, [...]. None merits the Ap­pellation of Good, but he who does Good; and therefore S. Luke knowing as much, no sooner hath he attained unto a maturity in the Theory, but (that he might lay forth his talent [Page 18]to the best advantage) improves the same by his continual practice, especially of Physick. And this might well be added further to compleat our panegyrick of him, That he was no sowre, crabbed, cruel-hearted Physitian, who to make experiment, will sometimes put a period to their Patients sojourning here on Earth, and send them to Heaven sooner than Nature intend­ed: But he was cloathed with meek­ness, love, candor, and humanity; all which gave him such footing and ground in the hearts and affections of his Patients, that at length he is stiled by way of eminency ( [...]) Luke the Beloved Physitian, Col. 4.14.

5. In the last place, let us take notice of his Conversion unto Christiani­ty, with the various Appendixes of [Page 19]that his new Evangelical Life.

Happy Providence! Saul is Christned Paul; Luke the Physitian, is by the Spirit of Adoption, become S. Luke the Evangelist: He that cured others, is now in mercy cured himself; and of an Heathen, made a Christian: But it is under debate who was the happy instrument in Gods hand, of effecting so glorious a work.

Some (as Epiphanius writes) attri­bute his Conversion immediately unto our Saviour himself, and affirm, That Luke was one of the Seventy Disciples sent forth to Preach; but it is hum­bly conceived, Truth cannot consist with this conjecture, in as much as it is evident, That either S. Luke did not exist in our Saviours time; or if he did, yet that he never had the happiness to see him in the Flesh, nor ever was he an eye-witness un­to [Page 20]to any of his Miracles; the which certainly he would have been, had he been one of the Seventy. But what need we dispute this matter any further, seeing himself hath decided it in the Negative, in his Prologue to Theophilus? S. Luk. 1.1.

Others ascribe his Conversion unto the powerful Ministry of S. Peter, who whilest Bishop of Antioch, had Luke for one (say they) of his Catechu­mens, which were some times adult, as well as young persons, and in­structed him in the Fundamentals of the Christian Faith. Hence it is that S. Basil, Orat. 25. calls Luke the Disciple or Scholar of Peter, [...], &c.

But the third opinion seems to be the truest, and it is that of Ter­tullian, in his Fourth Book against Marcion; which Heretick endeavor­ed [Page 21]to invalidate the Gospel of Saint Luke: There our Author maintains, That Luke was after our Saviour, and most of the Apostles, Certè tantò poste­rior, quantò posterioris Apostoli sectator Pauli sine dubio, &c. Tertul. in Mar­cion. And in the following words he intitles Paul to be Illuminator Lucae, The Converter of Luke; for so Pam­melius interprets that phrase, and se­conds it with this reason, Quòd fidei lumen Lucae insinuerat, &c. because Paul instrumentally had conveyed the light of Faith, and sound Religi­on, into the dark and blind under­standing of Luke, who before was alienated from the Life of God, by reason of that Cimmerian darkness, ignorance and spiritual blindness that was in him naturally; but now by the safe convoy of S. Pauls Do­ctrine, he is entred into the mar­vellous [Page 22]Liberty of the Children of God. So then you may now be­hold S. Luke as a Tree transplanted by Gods own hand into a better Soyl; and therefore let us go and see what Fruit he brings forth. Is he a barren fruitless Fig-tree? Veri­ly, no such matter; for, Plantae tran­slatio est plantae perfectio, according to the Herbalists Maxim. This our new Convert is as full of Christian works as of words; do we but narrowly observe him, and we shall ever find him, Remis incumbentem, diligent in the practice of Religion: As he pro­fesseth Christ, so he lives Christ. He is not like some late Enthusiasts, who talk much of Religion, and have their mouths full of Divine, Seraphick Dis­courses; but they are (vox & praeterea nihil) only an empty sound, little or nothing of Works of Charity, and true [Page 23]Piety appearing in the whole cur­rent of their lives. Such as these are the Trees full of Blossoms with­out Fruit, that are reserved to cursing. These are they who pre­tend to a newer Light, than is re­vealed in the Gospel; and to a new way of greater purity and sanctity than ever yet was found out: But in their lives and actions, are as full of black spots as others. These are they, who, as so many Drones, in the Hive of Gods Church, only buz and make a noise, but bring in no Honey, nor bring forth any Fruit meet for re­pentance; no ways beautifying and adorning the Gospel, which they profess, with holy circumspect lives and conversations. Such as these open the mouths of Turks and Pagans to blaspheme, and scandalize Chri­stianity it self.

But, God be praised, it is otherwise with our Evangelist S. Luke; for no sooner does he know his duty, but does it, and adds double diligence to work out his salvation with fear and trembling. We no where read that he ever was idle; for whilest an Heathen he spent the Golden Sands of his fleeting time in doing good to the Bodies of Men; and when a Christian, he is not come to a quietus est; nor does he sue for a Writ of Ease, but moving in an high­er sphere, doubles his diligence, and spends his precious minutes in do­ing good, not only to the Bodies, but also to the Souls of Men: So that with the one hand, like the charitable and tender-hearted Sa­maritan, he pours Oyl into the wounds of the distressed Levites; and with the other, he applies the Balm of Gilead, and many rich Evan­gelical [Page 25]Salvoes to the Plague-sores of Mens hearts. He does not vainly boast of his Faith, as the Gnosticks of old, saying, I have Faith, but demon­strates the same by his good Works; for he well knows, that although good Works are not a sufficient ground for Confidence, nor a sure foun­dation for Faith; yet they are cer­tain evidences of it. As S. Jam. 2.18. I will shew thee my faith by my works. And S. Bernard, Bona opera sunt spei quae­dam seminaria, charitatis incentiva, non fiduciae fundamenta, &c. Comfort may be increased by good works, though not built upon them; they do manifest an interest in Christ, though not merit any. Clemens A­lexandrinus hath noted well that, [...], &c. By grace we are saved, but not without good works; and therefore S. Luke does wisely [Page 26]joyn Faith and Works together; for Works without Faith are of no value, and Faith without Works, is dead being alone, S. Jam. 2.20. He is well advised, that happiness is not intailed upon the knowledge of our Masters will, but on the do­ing of the same. If ye know these things, happy are ye, if ye do them, S. Joh. 13.17. Herein he directly treads in those blessed steps, and walks in that narrow path of holiness which his Sa­viour had chalked out for him. And as Christ, so he, was famous for works of Piety, and true Charity; nay, to raise our encomium of him a little high­er, This our Evangelist had by his holy exemplary life in his Christian station, acquired unto himself such renown and honor, as that his fame ecchoed throughout the Christian World: Witness Ignatius in his Epistle [Page 27]unto the Ephesians, [...], &c.

Further note we, that S. Luke spent his time after his Conversion chiefly in

• 1. The Ministry.
• 2. Or in Writing.

1. First in doing the work of an Evangelist, giving himself wholly to the fulfilling that his Ministery which he had received. Though by the way we cannot forget his mo­dest unwillingness at the first, to take upon him so great, so weighty an office, as is the Ministerial Function: Such was his Christian humility, and self-denial, as that he was hardly per­swaded to put his hand to Gods Plough. But yet let none think that this his aversness did spring from a desire to live in idleness, and to make provision for the flesh, to ful­fil [Page 28]the lusts thereof; for he was not ig­norant, that the sloathful servant was to be beaten with many stripes; but rather impute it unto an holy jealousie of his own insufficiency, which, without doubt, was the on­ly obstacle and remora in his way to holy Orders. The same unwillingness we read in Isidorus, to have been in S. Mark before his Ordination.

Nor secondly, may we (with­out injury to his pious memory) pass by his uncessant pains-taking and diligence in the Ministery: For after once his clouds of fear were dissipated, his doubts resolved, and his spirit animated and steeled with courage, he enters the list, he fights the Lords Battles (more Ro­mano) undauntedly; and overlook­ing all worldly concerns, as of less moment, he makes the Preaching [Page 29]of the Gospel to be his [...] his chiefest concernment.

And thirdly, most remarkable is his constancy. Neither the frowns of adversity, nor the smiles of fortune, nor any Syrenical charms or allure­ments of prosperity, could ever draw or court him off from his duty. He is not like Lots Wife, that he should look back; nor to Demas, that he should, through an inordinate love of the World, forsake Paul, whose Son he was in the Faith. No, though all had forsaken him, yet not Luke, for, Only Luke is with me.

In the Verses antecedent to the Text, is laid down the apostasie and back-sliding of some who professed Christianity, and in particular, of De­mas, who had forsaken Paul, being [...], More a lover of Money, than of God. And as for [Page 30] Titus, the necessitous affairs of the Church had caused him to hoise Sail, and steer his Course unto Dalmatia: The like Summons had Crescens into Galatia, or rather Gallia, [...], as Epiphanius supposeth. So that only Luke is Pauls constant associate and companion, forsaking all others, he adheres close to Paul, Omnia postponens, Apostolum semper se­cutus est, saith S. Ambrose. And the Translator of Saint Jerome into Greek, affirms, That ( [...]) Luke attended Paul in all his voyages, until they both safely ar­rived at Rome, the then Metropolis of the World; and whilest Paul so­journed at Rome (being detained there as a prisoner) it is very pro­bable (as may be gathered out of Epiphanius) that S. Luke left him there for a while, and travelled with Cres­cens [Page 31]into France, where (our Author says) he did make his chief resi­dence, [...], and there Preached the Gospel: But Gregory Nazianzen, allotting unto every Apostle and Evangelist his several and proper Diocess, gives unto Luke Achaia; [...]. But these things are disputable, and therefore let us return back to Rome, where whilest S. Luke was re­sident, he spends part of his time in Writing; for being commanded either by Peter or Paul, or rather (as Chemnitius believes) by both, he compiles the History of our Saviour, which is called The Gospel of Luke; and another Book, intituled, The Acts of the Holy Apostles. Both he wrote in opposition unto those two grand Hereticks and Forgers of Falsities, scil. Merinthus and Cerin­thus; [Page 32]which latter held Christs King­dom to be Earthly, and full of car­nal pleasures, consisting in ( [...]) Meats, Drinks, and the like, after the mode of the Turkish and Mahometan Terrestrial Kingdom; yea, he was so notori­ously wicked, as that S. John seeing him come into the Bath when he was bathing, hastily ran out, fear­ing lest he should tempt Providence, to cause the Roof to fall down up­on him, or the Earth to open and swallow him up, in case he should presume to stay and be in the same place with such an Heretick and Blas­phemer, as then Cerinthus was account­ed. Against these two (Cerinthus and Merinthus) it is said, that Saint Luke wrote, that so the Gospel, in its purity and verity might be transmitted down to posterity; whereas, had [Page 33]Saint, Luke lived in silence, the Chri­stian World would have been impo­sed upon, and a false Gospel ushered in by these Hereticks, instead of the true one, as appears by a story S. Jerome quotes out of Tertullian, in his Catalogue of Ecclesiastick Writers, which is too long to be repeated here.

Moreover, it is worth our no­ting, that, if S. Luke had desisted from writing, then many excellent truths necessary to be known, would have been concealed, such as Peters miraculous Releasment out of Pri­son, by the assistance of an Angel: As also the Generation of John the Baptist; the Angels Advent unto the Virgin Mary; Elizabeths and Saint Maries Hymns; the Angels appearing to the Shepherds; the Doxology of the Heavenly Host; [Page 34] Anna and Symeons Testimony of Christ; the Parable of Dives and Lazarus; of the Publican Zacheus; the Crooked Woman; of the Ten Lepers: As also of the Pharisee and Publican going up to pray; and of the unjust Judge, who feared neither God nor Man. Et alia multa sunt quae inveniri pos­sunt à solo Lucâ dieta esse, &c. Irenaeus adversus Haereses. Nor is this the only commendation of S. Luke, That he hath thus communicated more to Posterity, than the rest of the Evange­lists; but also we may add one Flower more to the Garland of his praise, to wit, this, That he hath not only done all well, but also all so excellently, as that (Res gestas non narrare, quàm suis coloribus depictas om­nium oculis praeponere videtur) he hath so exactly delineated, and (as it were) to the life painted out the [Page 35] History of our Saviour, and the Acts of the Apostles; as that (Apud multos Picto­ris nomen obtinuit) by many he was called The Painter. From whence some did phancy, that the Images of our Blessed Saviour, and of the Virgin Mary, were by S. Luke first Limned and Painted out; the which two said Images, some superstitious per­sons pretend to have kept unto the days of Irenaeus.

Hitherto we have beheld this Bright Planet running his race tho­rough the Christian Orb, illumina­ting the dark corners of the Heathen World with those Beams of Evangelical Light which he had borrowed from the great Luminary of Heaven and Earth, even from Jesus Christ, the Fountain of Light. Hitherto we have seen him shine gloriously, even as the Sun in his full Meridian.

But now to show the mutability of all created Beings, this shining Planet is at length totally eclipsed by the interposition of the Opace, Dark Body of Death. And no won­der; for when a Man hath labored hard all day, and finished his work, it is but reasonable that at night he should go to rest.

And this leads us to speak a word of his Death, which was

• 1. Timely.
• 2. Natural.

1. Timely, for when the Sun had run his Annual course, Four­score and four times over his hoary­head (as S. Jerome reports) he then, and not before, is mowed down by the impartial Sythe of Death, and as a Sheaf of Corn fully ripened, richly laden, he is carried by the Harvest-Men (the Good Angels) into Christs Barn.

2. Secondly, As his Death was timely in good old age, so it was kindly and natural, not violent. Nothing but the multitude of years (a burden too heavy for spent and fainting Nature) bows down his aged head. He is not carried up to Heaven in the Fiery Chariot of Martyrdom, but rather the old cracked Vessel of his Body, springing a Leak, suffers Ship­wrack, and is lost in the midst of an Ocean of Humors incident unto Old Age, where as his ever Blessed Soul (the Passenger within) swims safe through the Waves and Billows of this trouble­some VVorld, unto the happy Land of Canaan, and is lodged in Abrahams bosome for evermore.

And what now remains, but that we attend the Corps of this decea­sed Saint unto his Grave, which is in Ephesus; for there he was buried. [Page 38] [...], as Theophylact informs us. But S. Jerome makes A­chaia, and Isidorus Bythinia, to be the Stage on which Death acted this Tragedy, and cut asunder the Thred of his Life. Whether this or that opinion be truest, we will no longer dispute, only in this we are assured that they all agree, to wit, That S. Luke was twice Interred, and had two honorable Funerals: The first was immediately after his Death; the second was in the time of Constantine, who in the twenti­eth year of His Reign, did out of honor to S. Luke, take up his Bones, together with the Bones of the A­postle S. Andrew and Timothy, and caused them to be carried (as were Josephs unto Canaan, so theirs) unto Constantinople; [...], &c. Where [Page 39] [...] nobly Interred them, and then left them to rest until the last Trumpet shall sound, and summon all Flesh to appear at Gods Tribunal, where shall be rendred unto every Man according unto the works of his own hands.

And now that we may be healed of all our Spiritual Diseases, and so live on Earth, as that we may hereafter live in Glory; and there with S. Luke, and the whole Quire of Heaven, sing forth to all Eternity, the Hallelujahs and Praises of our Creator; let us de­voutly pray in the words of our Church, and say,

Almighty God! who calledst S. Luke the Physitian, whose praise is in the Gospel, to be a Physitian of the Soul; May it please Thee by the wholesome Medicines [Page 40]of his Doctri [...] [...] of our Souls, through th [...] [...] Christ our Lord. Amen.

Gloria Deo.