Feast Day: April 25
Patron of notaries.
The second Gospel was written by St. Mark, who is sometimes referred to as John Mark in the New Testament. Both Mark and his mother, Mary, were well respected in the early Church. Mary’s house served as a meeting place for Christians in Jerusalem.
Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas (Mark’s cousin) on their missionary journey through the island of Cyprus. He later accompanied Barnabas alone and we are told that he was in Rome with apostles Peter and Paul. Mark is also attributed with founding the Church in Alexandria, one of the original four main sees of Christianity.
It is believed that Mark wrote the second Gospel while in Rome, sometime before the year 60 A.D. Originally written in Greek to be more easily read by Gentiles converting to Christianity, it is commonly believed that Mark was requested by the Romans to document the teachings of Peter. Saint Mark’s feast day is April 25 and he is the patron saint of notaries.
The winged lion is the symbol of St. Mark and comes from his description of John the Baptist’s voice “crying out in the wilderness” upon hearing the Word of God (Mark 1:3). His voice is said to have sounded like that of a roaring lion. This lion symbolism also appears in a vision of the Prophet Ezekiel where four winged creatures represent the four evangelists (Ezekiel 1:10). Matthew is depicted as a human, Mark as a lion, Luke as a bull, and John as an eagle.