Mark the Evangelist

Mark the Evangelist
Evangelist, Martyr
Born	1st century AD Cyrene, Pentapolis of North Africa, according to Coptic tradition[1]
Died	26 April 68 A.D.
Honored in	Coptic Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Lutheranism
Major shrine	Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Cairo, Egypt) Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Alexandria, Egypt) Basilica di San Marco (Venice, Italy)
Feast	April 25
Attributes	Lion in the desert; bishop on a throne decorated with lions; man helping Venetian sailors; man holding a book with "pax tibi Marce" written on it; man holding a palm and book; man with a book or scroll accompanied by a winged lion; man with a halter around his neck; man writing or holding his gospel; rescuing Christian slaves from Saracens.
Patronage	Barristers, Venice, Egypt, Mainar and others; see others in.

Mark the Evangelist (Latin: Mārcus; Greek: Μᾶρκος; Coptic: Μαρκοϲ; Hebrew: מרקוס‎) is the traditional author of the Gospel of Mark. He is one of the Seventy Disciples, and the founder of the Church of Alexandria, one of the original three main episcopal sees of Christianity.

According to William Lane (1974), an "unbroken tradition" identifies Mark the Evangelist with John Mark,^[2] and John Mark as the cousin of Barnabas.^[3] An exception is found in Hippolytus of Rome, who in his work On the Seventy Apostles distinguishes Mark the Evangelist (2 Tim 4:11), John Mark (Acts 12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37), and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10; Phlm 1:24).^[4] According to Hippolytus, they all belonged to the "Seventy Disciples" who were sent out by Jesus to saturate Judea with the gospel (Luke 10:1ff.). However, when Jesus explained that his flesh was "real food" and his blood was "real drink", many disciples left him (John 6:44–6:66), presumably including Mark. He was later restored to faith by the apostle Peter; he then became Peter’s interpreter, wrote the Gospel of Mark, founded the church of Africa, and became the bishop of Alexandria.

According to Eusebius of Caesarea (Eccl. Hist. 2.9.1–4), Herod Agrippa I in his first year of reign over the whole Judea (AD 41) killed James, son of Zebedee and arrested Peter, planning to kill him after the Passover. Peter was saved miraculously by angels, and escaped out of the realm of Herod (Acts 12:1–19). Peter went to Antioch, then through Asia Minor (visiting the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, as mentioned in 1 Pet 1:1), and arrived in Rome in the second year of Emperor Claudius (AD 42; Eusebius, Eccl, Hist. 2.14.6). Somewhere on the way, Peter picked up Mark and took him as travel companion and interpreter. Mark the Evangelist wrote down the sermons of Peter, thus composing the Gospel according to Mark (Eccl. Hist. 15–16), before he left for Alexandria in the third year of Claudius (43).^[5]

In AD 49, about 19 years after the Ascension of Jesus, Mark traveled to Alexandria [cf. c. 49 [cf. Acts 15:36–41] and founded the Church of Alexandria, which today is part of the Coptic Orthodox Church.^[6] Aspects of the Coptic liturgy can be traced back to Mark himself. He became the first bishop of Alexandria and he is honored as the founder of Christianity in Africa.^[7]

According to Eusebius (Eccl. Hist. 2.24.1), Mark was succeeded by Annianus as the bishop of Alexandria in the eighth year of Nero (62/63), probably, but not definitely, due to his coming death. Later Coptic tradition says that he was martyred in 68.^{[1][8][9][10][11]} It is believed that on the night when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, Mark had followed him there and when the Temple guards saw him, he ran away and dropped his loincloth.

His feast day is celebrated on April 25, and his symbol is the winged lion.^[12]

Biblical and traditional information

Illumination of St. Mark in the 11th century Trebizond Gospel (Russian State Museum, Saint Petersburg).

Evidence for Mark the Evangelist's authorship of the Gospel that bears his name originates with Papias.^[13][14] According to D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris, it is "almost certain" that Papias is referring to John Mark.^[15] However, some have argued that identifying Mark the Evangelist with John Mark and Mark the Cousin of Barnabas has led to the downgrading of the character of Barnabas from truly a "Son of Comfort" to one who favored his blood relative over principles.^[16]

The identification of Mark the Evangelist with John Mark led to identifying him as the man who carried water to the house where the Last Supper took place (Mark 14:13),^[17] or as the young man who ran away naked when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:51–52).^[18]

The martyrdom of Saint Mark. Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry (Musée Condé, Chantilly).

The Coptic Church holds the tradition of identifying Mark the Evangelist with John Mark, and holds that he was one of the Seventy Disciples sent out by Christ (Luke 10:1), as is confirmed by the list of Hippolytus.^[19] It also believes that Mark the Evangelist is the one who hosted the disciples in his house after the death of Jesus, into whose house the resurrected Jesus Christ came (John 20), and into whose house the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples at Pentecost.^[19]

Mark is also believed to be one of the servants at the Marriage at Cana who poured out the water that Jesus turned to wine (John 2:1–11).^[19] These traditions have no solid proof either from the New Testament or from Church history.

According to the Coptic church, Saint Mark was born in Cyrene, a city in the Pentapolis of North Africa (now Libya). This tradition adds that he returned to Pentapolis later in life, after being sent by Saint Paul to Colossae (Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24; these actually refer to Mark the Cousin of Barnabas), and serving with him in Rome (2 Tim 4:11); from Pentapolis he made his way to Alexandria.^[20][21] When Mark returned to Alexandria, the pagans of the city resented his efforts to turn the Alexandrians away from the worship of their traditional gods.^{[citation needed]} In AD 68 they placed a rope around his neck and dragged him through the streets until he was dead.^[22]

Relics of St. Mark

St. Mark by Donatello (Orsanmichele, Florence).

In 828, relics believed to be the body of St. Mark were stolen from Alexandria by Venetian merchants and taken to Venice.^[23] A mosaic in St Mark's Basilica depicts sailors covering the relics with a layer of pork and cabbage leaves. Since Muslims are not permitted to touch pork, this was done to prevent the guards from inspecting the ship's cargo too closely.^[24] “History records no more shameless example of body snatching...” as John Julius Norwich put it. The possession of a truly important relic could have serious political consequences. When the body of St Mark came to Venice, the previous patron saint of the city, St Theodore, was demoted. The Doge of the day began to build a splendid church to contain the relics next to his palace, the original San Marco. With an evangelist on its territory, Venice acquired a status almost equal to that of Rome itself.^[25]

In 1063, during the construction of a new basilica in Venice, St. Mark's relics could not be found. However, according to tradition, in 1094 the saint himself revealed the location of his remains by extending an arm from a pillar.^[26] The newfound remains were placed in a sarcophagus in the basilica.^[23]

Copts believe that the head of St. Mark remains in a church named after him in Alexandria, and parts of his relics are in St. Mark's Cairo's Cathedral. The rest of his relics are in the San Marco Cathedral in Venice, Italy.^[1] Every year, on the 30th day of the month of Paopi, the Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates the commemoration of the consecration of the church of St. Mark, and the appearance of the head of the saint in the city of Alexandria. This takes place inside St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria, where the saint's head is preserved.

In June 1968, Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria sent an official delegation to Rome to receive a relic of St. Mark from Pope Paul VI. The delegation consisted of ten metropolitans and bishops, seven of whom were Coptic and three Ethiopian, and three prominent Coptic lay leaders.

The relic was said to be a small piece of bone that had been given to the Roman pope by Giovanni Cardinal Urbani, Patriarch of Venice. Pope Paul, in an address to the delegation, said that the rest of the relics of the saint remained in Venice.

The delegation received the relic on June 22, 1968. The next day, the delegation celebrated a pontifical liturgy in the Church of Saint Athanasius the Apostolic in Rome. The metropolitans, bishops, and priests of the delegation all served in the liturgy. Members of the Roman papal delegation, Copts who lived in Rome, newspaper and news agency reporters, and many foreign dignitaries attended the liturgy.

In a TV series named Mystery Files episode Alexander the Great aired in 2011 on National Geographic Channel in the UK, 21st century historians believe that Alexander the Great's body was unintentionally stolen from Alexandria in Egypt by a pair of Venetian merchants, taken to Venice, mistakenly renamed and venerated as St. Mark the Evangelist in Basilica di San Marco (Venice, Italy).^[27][28][29]

See also

• Baucalis
• Feast of Saint Mark
• Gospel of John
• Gospel of Luke
• Gospel of Mark
• Gospel of Matthew
• John the Evangelist
• Luke the Evangelist
• Matthew the Evangelist

References

Specific

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint Mark.

• The Life, Miracles and Martyrdom of St. Mark the Evangelist of Jesus Christ
• H.B. Swete, 'St. Mark in the New Testament'
• H.B. Swete, 'St. Mark in Early Tradition'
• St. Mark the Apostle, Evangelist, and Preacher of the Christian Faith in Africa
•  A. J. Schem (1879). "Mark, Saint". The American Cyclopædia. 

• Apostle Mark the Evangelist of the Seventy Orthodox icon and synaxarion
• santiebeati
• saints.sqpn

v t e Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark Patriarchs prior to the Chalcedonian schism (43–451) Mark I (Founder) Anianus Avilius Kedronos Primus Justus Eumenius Marcianus Celadion Agrippinus Julian Demetrius I Heracles Dionysius Maximus Theonas Peter I Achillas Alexander I Athanasius I Peter II Timothy I Theophilus I Cyril I Dioscorus I Coptic Orthodox Popes & Patriarchs (451–present) Timothy II Peter III Athanasius II John I John II Dioscorus II Timothy III Theodosius I Peter IV Damian Anastasius Andronicus Benjamin I Agathon John III Isaac Simeon I Alexander II Cosmas I Theodore Michael I Mina I John IV Mark II James Simeon II Joseph I Michael II Cosmas II Shenouda I Michael III Gabriel I Cosmas III Macarius I Theophilus II (AKA Theophanes) Mina II Abraham Philotheos Zacharias Shenouda II Christodolos Cyril II Michael IV Macarius II Gabriel II Michael V John V Mark III John VI Cyril III Athanasius III John VII Gabriel III John VII Theodosius III John VIII John IX Benjamin II Peter V Mark IV John X Gabriel IV Matthew I Gabriel V John XI Matthew II Gabriel VI Michael VI John XII John XIII Gabriel VII John XIV Gabriel VIII Mark V John XV Matthew III Mark VI Matthew IV John XVI Peter VI John XVII Mark VII John XVIII Mark VIII Peter VII Cyril IV Demetrius II Cyril V John XIX Macarius III Joseph II Cyril VI Shenouda III Tawadros II (Current) Greek Orthodox Patriarchs (451–present) Proterius Timothy II Timothy III John I Peter III Athanasius II John II John III Dioscorus II Timothy IV Theodosius I Paul Zoilus Apollinarius John IV Eulogius Theodore I John V George I Cyrus Peter IV Peter V Peter VI Cosmas I Politianus Eustatius Christopher I Sophronius I Michael I Michael II Christodoulos Eutychius Sophronius II Isaac Job Elias I Arsenius Theophilus II George II Leontius Alexander II John VI Cyril II Sabbas Sophronius III Elias II Eleutherius Mark III Nicholas I Gregory I Nicholas II Athanasius III Gregory II Gregory III Niphon Mark IV Nicholas III Gregory IV Nicholas IV Athanasius IV Mark V Philotheus Mark VI Gregory V Joachim I Silvester Meletius Pegas Cyril III Gerasimus I Metrophanes Nicephorus Joannicius Paisius Parthenius I Gerasimus II Samuel Cosmas II Cosmas III Matthew Cyprian Gerasimus III Parthenius II Theophilus III Hierotheus I Artemius Hierotheus II Callinicus Jacob Nicanor Sophronius IV Photius Meletius II Nicholas V Christopher II Nicholas VI Parthenius III Peter VII Theodore II (Current) Category Commons

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