Posted on 10/19/2001 7:06:38 AM PDT by marshmallow
PADUA, Italy, OCT. 17, 2001 (Zenit.org).- The remains in an ancient lead coffin may indeed be those of St. Luke, as long believed, according to a new DNA analysis. Dr. Guido Barbujani, a population geneticist at the University of Ferrara, Italy, had extracted DNA from a tooth in the coffin, the New York Times reported. Barbujani concluded that the DNA was characteristic of people living near the region of Antioch, on the eastern Mediterranean, where Luke is said to have been born. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the tooth belonged to someone who died between A.D. 72 and A.D. 416, the Times said.
A report by Barbujani and colleagues appeared Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. The Evangelist, according to ancient sources, was a physician who was born in Antioch and died at 84 in about A.D. 150 in the Greek city of Thebes. The coffin with his remains was taken to Constantinople in 338 and later moved to Padua, Italy.
Barbujani and his colleagues speculate that the coffin may have been sent out of Constantinople for safekeeping, either during the reign of the pagan Emperor Julian, or during the iconoclast period of the eighth century, when many religious objects were destroyed. The coffin is known to have been in Padua at least since 1177. It was placed in a marble sarcophagus and kept in the Basilica of Santa Giustina.
It was last opened in 1562 and seems to have been somewhat ignored until October 1992. At that time, the bishop of Padua, Antonio Mattiazzo, received a letter from Hieronymos, the Orthodox metropolitan of Thebes, asking that part of the relics to be donated to the site of Luke´s tomb in Thebes. Bishop Mattiazzo, according to an article in November 2000 in Traces, a Catholic journal, decided to investigate the relics under the leadership of Dr. Vito Terribile Viel Marin, a Univeristy of Padua pathologist. In 1998 the 400-year-old seals were removed from the lead coffin, and the study began.
The dimensions of the coffin exactly fit the tomb in Thebes considered to be Luke´s. In the coffin was a skeleton, but not the skull.
Barbujani and his colleagues say the body seems to have decomposed in the coffin because of matching insect marks on the lead and the pelvis, which has fused to the lead.
The spread in the radiocarbon dating indicates at least two possibilities. One is that the body is that of Luke or a man who died at the same time, the other is that for some reason, a new body was put in the coffin in Constantinople around 300. To help distinguish between the two, Barbujani, an expert on the genetics of European populations, analyzed fragments of DNA from the tooth, a canine, found on the floor of the coffin, and sought to compare them with likely living representatives of the ancient populations of Antioch and of Constantinople. An Antioch match would suggest the body could be Luke´s.
Since the population of Antioch now includes many Kurds, Barbujani sampled the DNA of Syrians from nearby Aleppo. In place of the inhabitants of ancient Constantinople, now Istanbul, he tested Greeks from Attica and Crete. The DNA from the Padua tooth, a type inherited only through the mother´s line, turned out to resemble Syrian DNA more than Greek DNA.
"Our data tell us the body is absolutely compatible with a Syrian origin," he said. "But I am aware of the limitations of the DNA data, and though a broad spectrum of ages is possible, the most likely is 300 A.D." Hence both possibilities should remain open, he said. The head of the body was removed by the Emperor Charles IV in 1354 and taken from Padua to Prague, where it rests in the Cathedral of St. Vitus, in the Prague Castle.
"There were officially two heads of St. Luke, one at Prague and one in Rome," Barbujani said. At Bishop Mattiazzo´s request, the Prague skull was brought to Padua and found to fit perfectly to the topmost neck bone. The tooth, found on the floor of the coffin, also fit into the right socket in the jawbone. Though many relics turn out to be forgeries, the Padua body seems more likely than most to be what it is claimed to be, although exact proof is lacking.
Of course, if his head wasn't logged on, this is all moot anyway.
Leave 'em buried, I say.
Saint Luke, the Evangelist
Feast Day
October 18th
Lanceloot Blondeel
Saint Luke Painting the Virgin's Portrait
1545 -- Oil on canvas
Groeninge Museum, Bruges
Saint Luke , born of a pagan family, was a convert to the faith. He was a companion of Saint Paul, who called him "the beloved physician" (Col. 4:14), and Luke's Gospel was written in accordance with Paul's preaching. He accompanied the Apostle Paul on two of his missionary journeys, and was with Paul in Rome when the Emperor Nero imprisoned Paul. Luke also wrote the account of the early days of the Church, Acts of the Apostles. According to tradition, Luke was also an artist who painted the likeness of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Tradition assigns Luke the emblem of the Ox, from Revelation 4:7, the description of the four winged creatures who are thought to represent the Four Evangelists -- the others are Matthew (Man), Mark (Lion), and John (Eagle).
Collect
Father, you chose Luke the Evangelist to reveal by preaching and writing the mystery of your love for the poor.
Unite in one heart and spirit all who glory in your name, and let all nations come to see your salvation.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Scripture Readings
First Reading: II Timothy 4:10-17
For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you; for he is very useful in serving me. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will requite him for his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first defense no one took my part; all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength to proclaim the message fully, that all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.
Gospel Reading: Luke 10:1-9
After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come. And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!' And if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages; do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you; heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'
Thank you for this. St. Luke has been one of my favorite saints since reading “Dear and Glorious Physician” many years ago.
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