St. Mark was the author of the second canonical Gospel, a companion of St. Paul during his missionary journeys and an associate to St. Peter in Rome. Practical capacity seems to have been his distinctive excellence.

His full name was John Mark and his mother's name was Mary. St. Peter was a familiar visitor at their house which soon became a center of Christian life. They would meet again years later in Rome and Peter's words show how close was the spiritual tie between the elder and the younger man. Their closeness was such that Mark wrote his Gospel under the influence of Peter's preaching, and acted as St. Peter's interpreter due to the apostle's imperfect mastery of Greek.

Tradition has filled the lack of information concerning his last years - that he was the founder of the church of Alexandria, that he was its bishop and that he was the author of the local type of liturgy.

As to his last days and death nothing is really known. It is just possible that Alexandria was his final sphere of work and that he died and was buried there crowned by the glory of martyrdom, the trophy he won for bearing witness to Jesus Christ.

Much later, St. Mark's body was removed from Alexandria and was brought to Venice, the Italian City of which he became the patron saint. The church built in his honor in one of those remarkable buildings ever designed by the man.