St. Mark, the Evangelist also known as John Mark is traditionally ascribed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark.

Mark is the Latin word Mars meaning consecrated to God.

He was born in Cyrene in 12 AD and he died on 25th April 068AD in Alexandria Egypt. He was one of four namely Mathew, Luke, and John.

He accounts mainly for his vital role in spreading the Gospel as a missionary during the early church.

He is also the founder of the Episcopal SEE of Alexandria which was one of the five most important SEES of early Christians.

Marks’s Gospel was written first and it’s the shortest description of Jesus’ Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. His writings helped both Mathew and Luke to write more about his narration.

Mark began a prominent role in the life of the Church by becoming a traveling companion to the apostles Paul and Barnabas.

St. Mark the evangelist has a symbol of a winged lion. According to the legend, while taking refuge from a storm in the city of Venice, St. Mark was saved from this storm by a vision of a winged lion.

St. Mark was a follower of Jesus Christ even though he was in his teens when Jesus Christ was preaching in Jerusalem.

He may have listened to the teachings on many occasions but after the death of Jesus, he became a witness to His Resurrection and began to spread the word of God. St. Mark traveled along with St. Paul in distant places and became a witness to the preaching of St. Paul and wrote about it.

He was martyred in Alexandria Egypt.

He was the first Pope of Alexandria and one of the Seventy Apostles.

His death came about by tying a rope around his neck and dragging him through the streets until he was declared dead. There are many Churches and Cathedrals throughout the world dedicated to his name.

We celebrate his feast on 25th April.

Rosarito Coelho