Mark the Evangelist (מרקוס, Greek: Μάρκος) (1st
century) is traditionally believed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark and a
companion of Peter. He also accompanied Paul and
Barnabas in Paul's first journey. After a sharp dispute, Barnabas separated from Paul, taking
Mark to Cyprus (Acts 15:36-40).Ironically, this speration helped bring along the creation of the
Gospel of Luke. Later Paul calls upon the services of Mark, the kinsman of Barnabas, and Mark is named as Paul's fellow worker.
He is also believed to be the first patriarch of Alexandria by both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the
Coptic Orthodox Church, and thus the founder of Christianity in Africa. His evangelistic symbol is the
lion.
Biblical and traditional information
Traditionally the Pentapolis of North Africa is believed to be where Saint Mark was born
and he returned to Pentapolis after preaching with Saint Paul in Colosse (Col 4:10) and Rome (Phil 24; 2 Tim 4:11) ; from Pentapolis he made
his way to Alexandria.[1]
Though it is possible that some uses of the name "Mark" in the New Testament refer to
different people, it is also possible that they are one and the same person. In this interpretation, the John Mark in
Acts 12:12, 25, 15:37, mentioned simply as John in Acts 13:5, 13:13 and as Mark in
Acts 15:39, is the same person as the Mark mentioned in Colossians 4:10, 2 Timothy 4:11,
Philemon 1:24 and 1 Peter 5:13. Mark of the
Pauline Epistles is specified as a cousin of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10); this would explain Barnabas' special attachment to the
Mark of Acts over whom he disputed with Paul(Acts 15:37-40). Mark's mother was a prominent member of the earliest group of
Christians in Jerusalem; it was to her house
that Peter turned on his release from prison. The house was a meeting-place for the brethren, "many" of whom were praying there
on the night Peter arrived from prison (Acts 12:12-17). Evidence for Mark's authorship of the Gospel that bears his name
originates with Papias.
A number of traditions have built up around Mark, though none can be verified from the New Testament. It is suggested that
Mark was one of the servants at the Marriage at Cana who poured out the water that
Jesus turned to wine (John 2:1-11). Mark is also said to have been one of the Seventy
Apostles sent out by Christ (Luke 10); the servant who carried water to the house where the Last Supper took place (Mark 14:13)[2]; the young man who ran away naked when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:51-52)[3]; and the one who hosted the disciples in his house after the death of Jesus, and
into whose house the resurrected Jesus Christ came (John 20). These connections are considered by most to be mere conjecture.
In Egypt, Mark the Evangelist is said to have performed many miracles, and established a church
there, appointing a bishop (Anianus of Alexandria), three priests, and seven
deacons.
The martyrdom of Saint Mark
When Mark returned to Alexandria, the people there are said to have resented his efforts to turn them away from the worship of
their traditional Egyptian gods. In AD 67 they killed him, and tried to burn his body. Afterwards, the Christians in Alexandria
removed his unburned body from the ashes, wrapped it and then buried it in the north easterly part of the church they had
built.
Fate of his remains
In 828, relics believed to be the body of St. Mark were stolen from Alexandria by Italian sailors and were taken to Venice, where the
Byzantine St. Theodore had previously been
the patron saint. A basilica was built there to house the
relics. There is a mosaic on this Venetian basilica showing how the sailors covered the body relics with a layer of pork. Since
Muslims are not allowed to touch pork, this action was done to prevent Muslim intervention in the relics removal.
Copts believe that the head of the saint remained in Alexandria. Every year, on the 30th day of
the month of Babah, 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 Church in Alexandria, where the saint's head is preserved.
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.[4] The newfound remains were placed in a sarcophagus in the basilica. [2]
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 St.
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 the book "The Lost Tomb of Alexander", historian Andrew Chugg argues that the relics of St. Mark in Venice are actually
those of Alexander the Great. Few historians, however, accept this claim.
See also
References
- ^ Suscopts
- ^
University of Navarre (1999), The
Navarre Bible: Saint Mark’s Gospel (2nd ed.), Dublin: Four Court’s Press, pp. 172, ISBN 1-85182-092-2
- ^
University of Navarre (1999), The
Navarre Bible: Saint Mark’s Gospel (2nd ed.), Dublin: Four Court’s Press, pp. 179, ISBN 1-85182-092-2
- ^ Okey,
Thomas (1904). Venice and Its Story. London: J. M. Dent & Co..
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