Mark was one of the four evangelists. He was not a soldier or a philosopher. His pen was his companion, as well as the memory of a Friend who had changed the world. Mark had once walked beside Peter the Apostle, recording his stories, watching his tears, hearing his witness. And before that, he had known Jesus—perhaps only briefly, perhaps from a distance—but enough to believe. Mark traveled to Alexandria to spread the Gospel to a land that worshipped gods of stone and gold. At first, he preached to a few, telling the story of a carpenter from Nazareth who healed the sick, calmed the storm, and rose from the dead. “He is the Son of God,” Mark said. “And I have written it, so the world will know.” And he had. In the flickering light of oil lamps, Mark wrote what we now call the Gospel of Mark—the first, shortest, and most urgent of the four Gospels. His words raced with power and purpose, like the roar of a lion in the desert: “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…” His Gospel spread. People gathered. The Church in Alexandria was born. But not everyone welcomed his message. One night, as Mark prayed, a mob seized him. They dragged him through the streets, his body bruised and bleeding. Still, he whispered prayers, forgiving them as Jesus had. On April 25, he died a martyr. But the voice of the lion could not be silenced. His Gospel lived on, roaring across continents and centuries. St. Mark is honored as the evangelist who gave us one of the four Gospels, and as the founder of the Church in Africa. His symbol is the lion—bold, swift, and courageous—just like his faith.