April 25 St. MARK, Evangelist

St. Mark was a native of the North Africa county of Libya. He was born in the city of Cyrene in Pentapolis, The western part of Libya, west of the border of Egypt. St. Mark was born of Jewish parents three years after the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.     St. Mark’s parents, Aristopolos his father and Mary his mother, migrated to Palestine shortly after the birth of St. Mark because of the Berber attacks on their town and property. They settled in Cana of Galilee not far form Jerusalem. A few years later St. Mark's father died and St. Peter, who was married to a relative of St. Mark's father took care of St. Mark and considered him a son: "The Church that is in Babylon, elected together with you, salutes you and so does Marcus {Mark} my son"; (1 Peter 5:13). St. Peter saw to it that St. Mark got a good education. St. Mark studied law and the classics.     Church Traditions state that Mary, St. Mark's mother, was admirer of Jesus Christ and followed Him everywhere and that St. Mark was one of the attendants who served at the feast in Cana of Galilee at which Jesus Christ turned the water into wine (John 2:1-11).     He is the author of the earliest Gospel to be written (it was written in Greek.

IN THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2008