Tuesday, Oct. 15, is the Feast of St. Theresa of Avila. Theresa was a Carmelite nun, who led a renewal of the Carmelite Order, along with St. John of the Cross. She wrote a number of books that have become major works of spiritual theology, that are classics, and which are widely read even today. She has been declared a Doctor of the Church, signifying the importance of her writings and teachings.

St. Luke, the author of the third Gospel, was not one of the Twelve Apostles. He may have been part of the Seventy-Two that are referred to in the Gospels, but most scholars believe that he was a later convert to Christianity, who never met Jesus. He was a close companion with both St. Peter and St. Paul, from whom he would have learned the stories and teachings of Jesus. In Luke’s Infancy Narrative, he writes from the perspective of the Blessed Mother (St. Matthew writes from the perspective of St. Joseph). Because of that, many believe that he knew our Blessed Mother and learned some of the details from her directly.
   
We celebrate the Feast of St. Luke on Friday, Oct. 18.

Sts. John de Brebeuf and Isaac Jogues, and their companions, were French Jesuit missionaries serving in Canada. They were martyred between 1642 and 1649, by members of the Iroquois and Mohawk tribes. Their collective feast day is Saturday, Oct. 19.