St Mark the Deaf is the patron of the OCDA. His feast day is celebrated on January 2nd. The Synaxarion informs us that  "St Mark the Deaf was an ascetic that lived a venerable life and died in peace." The hymnography ascribed to him informs us of the following:

"Mark did not hear an earthly word, 

And before he left the earth, his earthly ears were extracted." 

In Rethymno, Crete there exists the only church dedicated to St Mark the Deaf, not only in Greece but in the entire world. It is located on the grounds of the Holy Monastery of Saint George Aersaniou. Through the prayers of St Mark the Deaf, may our Orthodox community come together and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!