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Happy feast day to St. Mark’s 400 families in Phoenix (30th St./north of Van Buren) and St. Mark parishioners and staff worldwide!

PARISH FACTS:

• Established March 2, 1946, three-and-a-half years before the Diocese of Phoenix was born. Its third pastor — in a line of Franciscan priests — acquired, dismantled and reassembled a POW army barracks building that became the temporary church in 1947.
• Parish buildings have been at multiple sites just south and east of downtown. It finally settled on 13 acres at its present location.
• Sisters of the Precious Blood opened a school in September 1959. It closed May 30, 1983 due to financial difficulties.

Feast day: April 25

SAINT FACTS:

• Wrote the oldest and the shortest of the gospels, according to AmericanCatholic.org. It “emphasizes Jesus’ rejection by humanity while being God’s triumphant envoy.” The gospel presents “the gradual manifestation of a ‘scandal’: a crucified Messiah.”
• Symbolized by a winged lion. It’s derived 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, AmericanCatholic says.
• Patronage includes stained glass workers, prisoners, notaries and lawyers
• Venice, famous for the Piazza San Marco, claims Mark as its patron saint, the website says; the large basilica there is believed to contain his remains.
• A poignant comment from AmericanCatholic:

Mark fulfilled in his life what every Christian is called to do: proclaim to all people the Good News that is the source of salvation. In particular, Mark’s way was by writing. Others may proclaim the Good News by music, drama, poetry or by teaching children around a family table.