Feast of St. Mark, April 25

St. Mark is symbolized as a winged lion because his gospel starts out:

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [the Son of God]

The Preaching of John the Baptist. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;

he will prepare your way.

A voice of one crying out in the desert:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make straight his paths.’”

Like a lion, I guess. But then in Revelations you get to see thee four winged creatures:,

 "In front of the throne was something that resembled a sea of glass like crystal In the center and around the throne, there were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back. The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf, the third had a face like that of a human being, and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight. The four living creatures, each of them with six wings"

So a lion with wings it is. St. mark's remains were buried in Alexandria, Egypt until some Venetian merchants stole them and shipped them to Venice - but not before covering them with pork and cabbage leaves to keep the Muslims from finding them.