St Mark

St Mark (1st century ad), the reputed author of the second Gospel. Born John Mark, his life can be reconstructed from incidental facts in the New Testament. He was 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). That he was a Hellenist is confirmed by his Roman surname (Marcus) and his relationship to St Barnabas, a Cyprian (see Colossians 4:10). St 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 St Paul to Antioch in Pisidia from Jerusalem but 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 ad 50, 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 in about ad 60, Mark was in Rome preparing to leave for Asia Minor. They became reconciled, so that five years later Paul wrote to St 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; he may have been organizer and first bishop of the Alexandrian Church. Mark is a patron saint of notaries. His feast day is April 25.