This icon of St. Mark the Evangelist is found at St. Mark Parish in Phoenix. (Ambria Hammel/CATHOLIC SUN)

April 25

According to the Acts of the Apostles, Mark’s mother owned the house where the first Jerusalem Christians prayed and where Peter stayed after his miraculous release from prison (Acts 12:1-19). The New Testament also notes that Mark traveled with Paul and Barnabas on their mission to Antioch and that he was associated with both Paul and Peter in Rome. He may have written his Gospel, based on Peter’s preaching, in Rome. By tradition, he was the martyred bishop of Alexandria, Egypt, with his relics later carried to Venice by Venetian merchants.

He is the patron of St. Mark Parish in Phoenix.