Celebrate St. Luke's Feast Day with Art, Music, and Poetry

If you're looking to include some art, music, and poetry in your observance of St. Luke's feast day, then I have some ideas for you.

Since our family's next AMP Club meeting happens to fall on St. Luke's feast day, and St. Luke is my son's name day, I have decided to marry feast day inspiration with our usual and AMP meeting activities, so we can observe the feast day with friends.

As I often do, I am sharing our saint-inspired AMP plans here in case you, too, would like to celebrate the liturgical year through the riches of art, music, and poetry.

Invite Children to Share What They Know about St. Luke

{Some links which follow may be affiliate links.}

St. Luke the Evangelists images, peg dolls, Figgies & Jammies "books", a reading about St. Luke, a candle, and perhaps another treat can make a wonderful invitation to welcome children to the feast day celebration.

Once everyone has gathered, looking at the symbols painted on the doll, the edible books, etc., ask children to share what they know about St. Luke.


Share about St. Luke

If you have time, after children share what they know about St. Luke, perhaps watch a few different Youtube biographies about St. Luke online, taking notes which can be used in a poem lately.

Or, read the brief St. Luke iography which can be found free online at Loyola Press and is excerpted from Voices of the Saints.


St. Luke Art Appreciation

St. Luke Painting the Virgin; source: Wikipedia

Offer children, or pairs or trios of children, different images of St. Luke(as pictured in this section) and encourage the children to study the image they receive or 30-60 seconds.  Then, to turn it over and recall what they can from the image in terms of "art words" and what was actually depicted.

A Painting by Hermen Rode; source: Wikimedia Commons

Chat about the things they note and, then, lay all of the images out side by side. Challenge the children to discover something that is the same about each of the images: Each has an ox in it!

St Luke the Apostle and Evangelist; source: Wikimedia Commons

Ask if anyone knows why St. Luke is often depicted with or by the symbol of a winged ox. Point out, as is explained on Catholic Culture, that:

The ox, recognized as the animal of sacrifice, was applied to St. Luke because his Gospel emphasizes the atonement made by Christ's sacrifice of himself on the Cross.

St. Luke Displaying a Painting of the Virgin; source: Wikimedia Commons 

Detail, as explained on Catholic Exchange:

Oxen were used in temple sacrifices. For instance, when the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem, an ox and a fatling were sacrificed every six steps (2 Sm 6). St. Luke begins his Gospel with the announcement of the birth of St. John the Baptizer to his father, the priest Zechariah, who was offering sacrifice in the Temple (Lk 1). St. Luke also includes the parable of the Prodigal Son, in which the fatted calf is slaughtered, not only to celebrate the younger son’s return, but also to foreshadow the joy we must have in receiving reconciliation through our most merciful Savior who as Priest offered Himself in sacrifice to forgive our sins. Therefore, the winged ox reminds us of the priestly character of our Lord and His sacrifice for our redemption.

St. Luke Painting the Madonna; source: Wikimedia Commons

Then, take specific note of all the different oxen in the images - their placement, the way they are painted, etc.

St. Luke Painting the Virgin Mary; source: Wikimedia Commons

The Ox (or, Rather, Cattle) Music Appreciation 

Connecting to the idea of Luke's symbol being a flying ox, ask children if they think any classical music has ever been composed about an ox, or cattle.

Of course! There is actually a piece called "Pictures at an Exhibition" with a portion of it called "Bydlo" (The Cattle) which was composed by Mussorgsky in 1874 and, later, redone by other composers. (An audio of the piece can be found here.)

Play The Cattle for the children and ask them to try to imagine a scene.

Discuss how the piece was inspired by "a Polish cart on enormous wheels, drawn by oxen."

Listen for how it begins fortissimo (ff) (loudly), suggesting that the lumbering oxcart's journey begins in the listener's foreground. 

Then, listen for how it reaches a climax (con tutta forza), followed by a diminuendo (decrease in loudness) to a final pianississimo (ppp) (quieter playing), suggesting the oxcart receding into the distance.

Have students name the instrument the piece was played on: a piano!

Then, without showing the Youtube video above, just listening to it, see if children can guess what the main instrument the piece is being played with in it: string instruments like cellos. (Perhaps, recall how the piano is also a string instrument, but crosses over to being percussion instrument.)

Finally, play the Ravel version of the same piece.  Have children listen for a different depiction of where the ox cart begins and goes to. See, if they notice how in the Rael version, you can hear the cart come from a distance, get closer, then go away.

Share and Write Letter Poetry

Ask children what they might say if they had a chance to talk to the oxcart man?  To the ox itself? To one of the composers? To Mama Mary and the Child Jesus? To St. Luke?

As how God talks to us. As about one way we know His Will and Word - the Bible, the inspired word of God, a sort of "letter" to God's people.Read about what inspired Luke to write his Gospel and, then, suggest that instead of waiting to get to Heaven to ask St. Luke about writing the Gospel, we could compose our thoughts now into a Letter Poem - or we could write a letter poem to anyone else.

Recall the different types of poetry we have studied before, such as Persona Poems, Direct Address Poems, Haiku, and more, and then explain that a Letter Poem is a letter we write in a poetic form.

Source: Amazon

Read about Letter Poems in Poetry from A to Z and suggest that we each write a letter poem - perhaps a thank you letter as a poem - to someone we know who St Luke is patron to - artists, bachelors, bookbinders, brewers, butchers, glassworkers, goldsmiths, lacemakers, notaries, painters, physicians, sculptors, stained glass workers, and surgeons - or to St. Luke, Mama Mary, the Child Jesus, or even an oxcart man.

Begin drafting quick writes of such poetry, and, after five minutes, share poetry with one another.

Create Art

Finally, create some art.

You might model artworks after the art examined during the picture study.

You might draw an ox with wings.

You might create images of the Blessed Virgin Mother and the Baby Jesus.

Or, you could do a completely different art project, such  as Simplicity by Creating a Masterpiece, but challenge children to somehow add a symbol of St. Luke into their finished work.

Symbols include a winged ox, a winged calf, an ox, a picture of the Virgin, a palette and brushes, vials of medicine, physician's robes, an easel, a book and pen, hatchet, a wooden horse, books of his Gospel and of the Acts, a bishop, or someone painting an icon of our Lady.

More Feasting, Fun, and Learning with St. Luke

You might also consider adding other. St. Luke day fun, learning, and food to your day:

Rock Art and More

Planning a St. Luke's Feast Day Resource Round Up

I'd love to hear about how you celebrate St. Luke's feast day. Please do pop back to comment here or on our Facebook page to let me know. 

 Lord God, who chose Saint Luke to reveal by his preaching and writings the mystery of your love for the poor, grant that those who already glory in your name may persevere as one heart and one soul and that all nations may merit to see your salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

~The Collect

 St. Luke the Evangelist, pray for us!