Saint Mark

Saint Mark (lived 1st century ad), the reputed author of the Gospel According to Mark. Born John Mark, his life can be reconstructed in part from incidental facts in the New Testament. He is frequently identified with Mark the son of Mary, a householder of Jerusalem, at whose home the early Christians held meetings in the days of persecution (see Acts 12:12). His Roman surname (Marcus) and his relationship to Saint Barnabas, a Cyprian (see Colossians 4:10) suggest that he was a Gentile. Saint Peter called him “son” (see 1 Peter 5:13), an appellation indicating the strong personal bond between them.

Mark was probably converted to Christianity under Peter's ministry in Jerusalem and thereafter acted as Peter's interpreter because the apostle had little knowledge of Greek. He went with his cousin Barnabas and Saint Paul to Antioch in Pisidia from Jerusalem, but he left them at Perga in southern Asia Minor and returned to Jerusalem (see Acts 12:25, 13:5). He accompanied Barnabas to Cyprus in about ad50, but Paul was unwilling to take him on another journey. Nothing is known about Mark's activities during the next ten years, but during Paul's first Roman captivity, about ad60, Mark was in Rome preparing to leave for Asia Minor. They became reconciled, so that five years later Paul wrote to Saint Timothy, who was probably then at Ephesus, asking that he bring Mark to him (see 2 Timothy 4:11).

According to tradition, Mark wrote his Gospel in Rome, basing it on Peter's teachings. It is supposed that he last worked at Alexandria. Mark is a patron saint of notaries. His feast day is April 25.