April 25 + Saint Mark the Evangelist

Mark is the author of the second Gospel and the patron saint of notaries. He wrote the Gospel in Greek for the Gentile converts to Christianity. Tradition holds that the Romans asked Mark to record the teachings of St. Peter about Jesus.

Mark traveled with St. Paul and St. Barnabas, who was Mark's cousin, on their missionary journey through Cyprus. Mark founded the Church in Alexandria. Sometimes called John Mark in the New Testament, both Mark and his mother, Mary, were highly esteemed in the early Church, and his mother's house in Jerusalem served as a meeting place for Christians.

Mark’s Gospel is a lasting treasure for all believers. He wrote his Gospel to help people know that Jesus was the Son of God who suffered and died to save us from sin and death. When we read Mark’s Gospel, we learn that to be a follower of Jesus, we, too, must be willing to make sacrifices, to “take up our cross and follow Jesus." Mark’s Gospel tells us about Jesus’ royalty as God’s Son and his writings remind us to share the Good News about Jesus with others.

The symbol for Mark is a lion. That is because his Gospel begins with the story of John the Baptist, a “voice crying in the wilderness” like the roaring of a lion.