St. Mark Prayer: St. Mark the Evangelist and His Feast Day

St. Mark wrote the shortest and probably the earliest of the four Gospels, a fast-moving account of the deeds of Jesus that, according to the early Church, preserves the preaching of St. Peter. As a young man he left St. Paul’s first mission halfway through, but he was given a second chance, became, in Paul’s words, “profitable to me for the ministry,” and was a companion of Peter in Rome and the founder of the Church of Alexandria. He is the patron of Venice, of notaries and of Egypt. Below are prayers to St. Mark for a second chance, for preachers and writers and for courage, the opening of his Gospel, and his story.

A prayer to St. Mark

Written for this page:

St. Mark, evangelist and martyr,
you wrote down the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
as you heard it from St. Peter.
Pray for me, that I may know Jesus through his Gospel,
follow him without turning back,
and bear witness to him with courage.
Obtain for me the grace I ask: (name your intention). Amen.

A prayer for a second chance

St. Mark, you once gave up and went home,
yet the Church gave you a second chance and you became a great evangelist.
Pray for (name) and for me when we fail.
Help us to begin again and to become useful in God’s service. Amen.

This prayer was written for this page.

A prayer for preachers, writers and notaries

St. Mark, patron of notaries and writers,
bless all who write, record and proclaim the truth.
Make their words clear, honest and faithful,
and let them serve the Gospel. Amen.

This prayer was written for this page.

The beginning of the Gospel

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaias the prophet: Behold I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare the way before thee.
A voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.

And the command with which his Gospel ends:

And he said to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

The life of St. Mark

Mark is usually identified with John Mark, whose mother Mary owned a house in Jerusalem where the first Christians gathered to pray (Acts 12:12). Some think he was the young man who fled naked from Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested, a detail only Mark’s Gospel records. He set out with his cousin Barnabas and with Paul on the first missionary journey, but turned back at Perga. Paul refused to take him on the next journey, and Mark went to Cyprus with Barnabas. Years later Paul wrote from prison, “Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.”

Mark was also close to St. Peter, who called him “my son.” Early Christian writers, beginning with Papias in the second century, say that Mark wrote down Peter’s preaching about Jesus in Rome. Tradition holds that he later founded the Church of Alexandria in Egypt and died a martyr there. In 828 Venetian merchants brought his relics to Venice, where the Basilica of San Marco was built to house them, and his winged lion became the emblem of the Republic of Venice.

Feast day and patronage

Feast day: April 25. A novena can run from April 16 to 24.
Patron of: Venice, Egypt and the Coptic Church, notaries, and secretaries.
Symbols: a winged lion (his Gospel begins with John the Baptist as “a voice crying in the desert,” like a lion’s roar), a book, and a pen.

Frequently asked questions

When is the feast of St. Mark?

April 25.

Why is St. Mark’s symbol a lion?

Because his Gospel opens with John the Baptist’s voice crying in the wilderness, like a lion roaring in the desert.

Was St. Mark one of the twelve apostles?

No. He was a disciple and companion of Paul, Barnabas and Peter, and wrote his Gospel from Peter’s preaching.

What is St. Mark the patron saint of?

Venice, Egypt, notaries and secretaries.

More prayers

Texts and sources

Scripture: Mark 1:1–3; Mark 16:15; Acts 12:12; 2 Timothy 4:11; 1 Peter 5:13, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
Papias, quoted by Eusebius, Church History III.39.
The prayers were written for this page.