Mark the Evangelist

Tradition calls him John Mark, a Libyan who traveled in the apostolic circle and set down the earliest written account of Jesus' ministry. That Gospel — terse, urgent, built for oral delivery — became the template Matthew and Luke would later expand. The early church assigned him to Alexandria, where he's said to have established the episcopal see that would anchor Christian thought for centuries. Modern scholars remain split: some dismiss the attribution outright, others argue over which Mark fits the bill, a few hold the traditional line. His feast falls on April 25, his symbol the winged li…