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What is a 'patron' saint?
Recently, the popes have named patron saints but patrons can be chosen by other individuals or groups as well. Patron saints are often chosen today because an interest, talent, or event in their lives overlaps with the special area.
For example, Francis of Assisi loved nature and so he is patron of ecologists. Francis de Sales was a writer and so he is patron of journalists and writers. Clare of Assisi was named patron of television because one Christmas when she was too ill to leave her bed she saw and heard Christmas Mass -- even though it was taking place miles away.
Angels can also be named as patron saints.A patron saint can help us when we follow the example of that saint's life and when we ask for that saint's intercessory prayers to God.
Mark the Evangelist, Our Patron
Paul and Barnabas took him along on the first missionary journey, but for some reason Mark returned alone to Jerusalem. It is evident, from Paul's refusal to let Mark accompany him on the second journey despite Barnabas's insistence, that Mark had displeased Paul. Later, Paul asks Mark to visit him in prison so we may assume the trouble did not last long.
The oldest and the shortest of the four Gospels, the Gospel of Mark emphasizes Jesus' rejection by humanity while being God's triumphant envoy. Probably written for Gentile converts in Rome—after the death of Peter and Paul sometime between A.D. 60 and 70—Mark's Gospel is the gradual manifestation of a "scandal": a crucified Messiah.
Evidently a friend of Mark (Peter called him "my son"), Peter is only one of the Gospel sources, others being the Church in Jerusalem (Jewish roots) and the Church at Antioch (largely Gentile).
Like one other Gospel writer, Luke, Mark was not one of the 12
apostles. We cannot be certain whether he knew Jesus
Others hold Mark to be the first bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Venice, famous for the Piazza San Marco, claims Mark as its patron saint; the large basilica there is believed to contain his remains.
A winged lion is Mark's symbol. The lion derives from Mark's description of John the Baptist as a "voice of one crying out in the desert" (Mark 1:3), which artists compared to a roaring lion. The wings come from the application of Ezekiel's vision of four winged creatures (Ezekiel, chapter one) to the evangelists. >top |
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© St. Mark's Episcopal Church. All rights reserved. Episcopal clip art and information used by permission. |
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Patron
saints are chosen as special protectors or guardians over areas of
life. These areas can include occupations, illnesses, churches,
countries, causes -- anything that is important to us. The earliest
records show that people and churches were named after apostles and
martyrs as early as the fourth century. 
Most
of what we know about Mark comes directly from the New Testament. He
is usually identified with the Mark of Acts 12:12. (When Peter
escaped from prison, he went to the home of Mark's mother.) 
personally.
Some scholars feel that the evangelist is speaking of himself when
describing the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane: "Now a young man
followed him wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body. They
seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked" (Mark
14:51-52).