Q: I was asked by a religious in one of their houses where I celebrated the Mass for St. Luke’s Day why I had not mentioned he was a martyr…he seems NOT to be listed as a martyr but it seems “may” have been, ergo red vestments in case…though red is specified for evangelists, not so for John.
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A: Yeah, the tradition is that Luke did not die a martyr, but he gets the vestment color of evangelists who did. I suspect the vestment for John is white to make the more biblically based (but still unsubstantiated) point that he alone of the Twelve did NOT die a martyr.