St. Mark the Evangelist – April 25 I A Man with Holy Zeal and Holy Glow

St. Mark was born in the city of Cyrene in Pentapolis, in the western part of present Libya, (North Africa) in the border with Egypt. Mark the Evangelist (Latin: Mārcus) 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 four main episcopal sees of Christianity (Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome).

St. Mark was born of Jewish parents Aristopolos and Mary, three years after the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. His original Hebrew name was John, but he is remembered by the Roman name of Mark, a name given to him after his acceptance of Christianity, Mark the Evangelist (2 Tim 4: 11), John Mark (Acts 12: 12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37). Shortly after the birth of St Mark, his parents moved to Palestine, due to the barbaric Berber attacks that hit their town and property. They settled in Cana, Galilee, close to Jerusalem. After a few years Mark’s father died and St Peter, took care of Mark, which explains why St Peter refers to him as his ‘son’.  St. Barnabas was his cousin and St. Peter was his father’s cousin. Apparently, he received good education, thus conversant in both Greek and Latin in addition to Hebrew.  

His family was highly religious and in close relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. His socially prominent family was among the first to recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah. His mother Mary, was deeply devoted to Jesus, was owner of the Cenacle or ‘upper room’ which served as the meeting place for the first Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 12: 12). His mother Mary played an important part in the early days of the Church in Jerusalem. She turned her more than adequate house into a headquarters for the New Faith.

Her Upper Room became the First Christian Church in the world.

1. The venue of the Last Supper, where the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, washed the feet of disciples, instituted the Holy Eucharist (Mk 14: 12-26), and Jesus gave us the New Covenant.
2. The place where the Lord appeared to the disciples, twice after His Resurrection.
3. It was in this house, the disciples selected St Matthias.
4. In this house, the disciples waited, praying and received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2: 1) and place where many were gathered in one accord in prayer and supplication (Acts 12: 12).
5. This sanctified dwelling was the house that Peter turned after being released from Herod’s prison by an angel of the Lord.
6. St. Mark’s mother opened her doors to all comers, and it is generally accepted that hers was the house to which the disciples went, the ‘Upper Room’ the holiest house in the world, where they gathered after the Ascension and Pentecost Day.  
7. The upper room also proved to be the place of various meetings and miracles which strengthened and emboldened the faith of early Christians, and it is the site of a significant and transformative event in the early church.

Church Traditions state that Mary, St. Mark’s mother, was admirer of Jesus Christ and followed Him everywhere and that St. Mark was one of the attendants who served at the feast in Cana of Galilee at which Jesus Christ turned the water into wine. He is also speculated as the man with a water jug at whose house the disciples were to prepare the Passover (Mk. 14: 13-14) and the man fleeing naked from the Garden of Gethsemane (Mk. 14: 51-52).  

As such, the house of Mary was transformed into a Church since the services that were held there, although not the elaborate liturgies that were to come later, were held for the express purpose of worshiping Jesus Christ, the Son of God. St. Mark knew the great joy of worshipping the living Jesus and of sharing the responsibility of introducing him to a spiritually darkened world, acting in concert with the most venerated men in Christianity — the disciples and apostles of the Master.  

St. Mark accompanied St. Peter on his missionary journeys inside Jerusalem and Judea and he accompanied St. Paul and St. Barnabas on their first missionary journey to Antioch, Cyprus, and Asia Minor. He, for some reason or another he left them and returned home (Acts 13: 13). On their second trip, St. Paul refused to take him along because he left them on the previous mission; for this reason, St. Barnabas was separated from St. Paul and went to Cyprus with his cousin St. Mark (Acts 15: 36-41). There, he departed in the Lord and St. Mark buried him. Afterwards, St. Paul needed St. Mark with him and they both preached in Colossae (Col 4: 10), Rome (Phil 24: 2 Tim 4: 11) and perhaps in Venice.

His famous story with lion, as related to us by Severus Ebn-El-Mokafa:
Once a lion and lioness appeared to John Mark and his father Aristopolos (Apostoli), while they were traveling in Jordan. The father was very scared and begged his son to escape, while he awaited his fate. John Mark assured his father that Jesus Christ would save them and began to pray. The two beasts fell dead and as a result of this miracle, the father believed in Christ.

In AD 49, about 19 years after the Ascension of Jesus, Mark traveled to Alexandria (Acts 15: 36-41) and founded the Church of Alexandria, which today is part of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Aspects of the Coptic liturgy can be traced back to Mark himself. The Coptic Orthodox Church use on special feast days and the liturgies of St. James, St. Basil, and St. John Chrysostom are based on it. St. Mark was a broad-minded Apostle. His ministry was quite productive and covered large field of activities. These include, preaching in Egypt, Pentapolis, Judea, Asia Minor, and Italy during which time he ordained bishops, priests, and deacons and establishing the “School of Alexandria” which defended Christianity against philosophical school of Alexandria and conceived many great Fathers. St. Mark preached the word of Christ in many areas, where his commanding oratory won converts in such great numbers.

The Coptic Church or the Church of Alexandria is called “Sees of St. Mark. He became the first bishop of Alexandria and he is honored as the founder of Christianity in Africa. During the reign of Tiberius, St. Mark’s fiery preaching won him not only respect, but the envious wrath of pagan dissenters who harassed him at every turn without once diminishing his enthusiasm or shortening his stride for Jesus Christ. It was during this crusading period in Alexandria that St. Mark found time to compose the Gospel which is part of the New Testament and which reflects his firm resolve and quiet courage.

St Mark had holy zeal and holy glow that was stronger than all the oppositions that he encountered during his time. This was an influential reason why Christianity grew in Egypt. When St Mark came to Egypt, he found himself in a country being governed by idolatry and the powerful Roman state that practiced barbaric methods to destroy Christianity. His incessant preaching brought him equally incessant harassment which finally erupted into hostility that made good the threats on his life. St. Mark was en route to his Cathedral of Alexandria, in the year 68 AD, the Feast of Resurrection, the furious heathen mob and frenzied mob of idol worshipers that had gathered in the Serapis temple at Alexandria, descended on the Christians who were celebrating the Glorious Resurrection at Baucalis. He was set upon by a who pelted the holy man with rocks, tied to a horse and dragged him through the streets of Alexandria, for nearly two full days, until his body was torn into pieces to be cast into a cell where he died for Christ of his wounds.

At nightfall, the saint was thrown into prison, where he was cheered by the vision of an angel, strengthening him saying, “Now your hour has come O Mark, the good minister, to receive your recompense. Be encouraged, for your name has been written in the book of life.” When the angel disappeared, St. Mark thanked God for sending His angel to him. Suddenly, the Savior Himself appeared and said to him, “Peace be to you Mark, my disciple and evangelist!” His bloody flesh was torn, and it was their intention to cremate his remains, but the wind blew, and the rain fell in torrents and the populaces disperse. Christians stole his body and secretly buried him in a grave that they had engraved on a rock under the altar of the Church.

In his lifetime he evangelized the word of Christ not only in writing but by traveling great distances as a Christian missionary alongside Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas.

May the Holy Spirit fill us and guide us as He filled the Apostles and guided them to preach to the world and spread the gospel. Let’s pray and hope that we, as St Mark, struggle for an inner holy zeal: for a true and strong faith. To God be all glory now and forever. May the Lord live in our hearts always. Amen.