St. Mark the Evangelist: Feast Day, Patronage & Prayers
Feast day: April 25 (Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist)
Patron of: Venice and notaries.
About St. Mark the Evangelist
St. Mark, called John Mark in the Acts of the Apostles, wrote the second and shortest Gospel. His mother's house in Jerusalem was a gathering place for the first Christians, and it was there that St. Peter went after an angel freed him from prison. Mark was a cousin of St. Barnabas and set out with Barnabas and Paul on their first missionary journey, but he turned back partway, and Paul refused to take him on the next journey. Barnabas gave him a second chance, and years later Paul himself wrote that Mark was a valued helper to him.
Early Christian writers tell us that Mark was the interpreter of St. Peter in Rome and that his Gospel preserves Peter's preaching. It is brisk and vivid, full of the word "immediately," and it shows Jesus as the suffering Son of God. Tradition holds that Mark founded the Church of Alexandria in Egypt and was martyred there. In the ninth century his relics were brought to Venice, where the great Basilica of San Marco was built to house them. Mark's story shows that a false start need not be the end.
Prayers to St. Mark the Evangelist on Daily Catholic Prayers
Browse every saint in our Catalog of Saints A–Z.
Comments