Mark the Evangelist

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 separation helped bring along the creation of the Gospel of Mark. 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 Pope of Alexandria by both the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Greek Church of Alexandria, 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 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^{[2] [3]}.

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)^[4]; the young man who ran away naked when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:51-52)^[5]; 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).

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.

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 68 they tied him to several horses and dragged him through the streets until he was dead.

Fate of his remains

In 828, relics believed to be the body of St. Mark was stolen from Alexandria by two Venetian merchants 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 Cathedral 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.^[6] The newfound remains were placed in a sarcophagus in the basilica. [2]

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Illumination representing St. Mark in the 11th century Trebizond Gospel.

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

• Collège Saint Marc, Alexandria
• Gospel of Mark
• Gospel of John
• Gospel of Matthew
• Gospel of Luke
• John the Evangelist
• Luke the Evangelist
• Matthew the Evangelist

References

1. ^ Suscopts
2. ^ Harrington, Daniel J. (1990), "The Gospel According to Mark", in Brown, Raymond E.; Fitzmyer, Joseph A. & Murphy, Roland E., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, pp. 596, ISBN 0-13-614934-0
3. ^ University of Navarre (1999), The Navarre Bible: Saint Mark’s Gospel (2nd ed.), Dublin: Four Court’s Press, pp. 55, ISBN 1-85182-092-2
4. ^ 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
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Okey, Thomas (1904). Venice and Its Story. London: J. M. Dent & Co.. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Mark the Evangelist

• H.B. Swete, 'St. Mark in the New Testament'

• H.B. Swete, 'St. Mark in Early Tradition'
• St. Mark's detailed biography by H.H. Pope Shenouda III
• St. Mark the Apostle, Evangelist, and Preacher of the Christian Faith in Africa
• History of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt which was founded by Saint Mark
• The return of St. Mark Relics from Italy (June 1968 - zipped RealVideo)
• St. Mark's New Cathedral, Abbassyia, Cairo, Egypt (inaugurated in 1968)
• Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908
• Saint Mark Coptic Orthodox Church : Los Angeles, CA
• Saint Mark Coptic Orthodox Church : Heliopolis
• St. Mark Anglican Church : Portland, OR

ar:مرقس

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