Mark. The evangelist (also called Marcus). "John, whose surname was Mark." Son of Mary, a woman of piety, who lived in Jerusalem, at whose house the disciples occasionally assembled for prayer, and cousin to Barnabas. He accompanied the apostle Paul and Barnabas to Antioch, Cyprus, and Perga in Pamphylia; returned to Jerusalem, and went afterwards to Cyprus and thence to Rome. Ecclesiastical tradition speaks of a missionary expedition of Mark to Egypt and the west of Africa, of his suffering martyrdom about the year 62 or 66 (the Coptic Church still considers him its founder and first bishop), and of the transmission of his corpse to Venice, which city was chosen him for its patron saint. It is said that he wrote at Rome the gospel which bears his name.

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