The Feast of St. Mark

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We know a lot from tradition about St. Mark.

Papias – a disciple of St. John the Apostle – relates that Mark became the interpreter and secretary for Peter, presumably because Peter did not speak Greek well enough to be easily understood.

Mark stood beside Peter and repeated his preaching about the life and teaching of Jesus.

·       Mark, then wrote down accurately the teaching of Peter, very careful not to omit anything or to add anything that was not related by Peter.

·       In the 2nd Century, St. Justin Martyr calls the Gospel of Mark “the Memoirs, the Recollections of Peter.”

·       The Gospel of Mark is really the Gospel of Peter.

·       When you read the Gospel of Mark, realize it’s the testimony of Peter’s personal friendship with Jesus.

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St. Epiphanius testifies that St. Peter sent Mark to establish the Catholic Church in Alexandria, Egypt

·       sometime between 53 and 60 AD

·       Mark was the first Bishop of Alexandria

When he entered the city, his shoe was torn because of the amount he had walked during his preaching. He went to a cobbler in the city, called Anianus, to repair it. While Anianus was repairing the shoe, the awl pierced his finger. Anianus shouted in Greek saying "Eis Theos!" which means "O, one God!" When St. Mark heard these words his heart rejoiced exceedingly. He found it suitable to talk to him about the one God. The apostle took some clay, spat on it, and applied it to Anianus' finger, saying "in the Name of Jesus Christ the Son of God," and the wound healed immediately, as if nothing had happened to it.

Anianus was exceedingly amazed by this miracle that happened in the name of Jesus Christ, and his heart opened to the word of God. The apostle asked him about who was the only God that he cried for when he was injured. Anianus replied "I heard about him, but I do not know him." St. Mark started explaining to him from the beginning, from the creation of heaven and earth all the way to the prophecies that foretold the coming of Christ. Anianus then invited him to go to his house and brought to him his children. The saint preached and baptized them.

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Martyrdom of St. Mark

Easter in the year 68 A.D. coincided with the Egyptian celebration for the feast of the god Syrabis. While Mark was celebrating Mass, a horde of pagans assembled, attacked the church, seized St. Mark, and drug him behind horses through the city streets until he died, receiving the crown of martyrdom. The Christians took his body and buried him in a secret place in this church.

In 828 Venetian merchants in Alexandria

·       learned from the Monk Staurazio and the priest Theodore,

·       custodians of the church in which Mark was buried,

·       that the Arab Governor of Alexandria had decided to take the marble and columns from the Church and use them for a palace he was building, thus destroying the Church and desecrating the remains of St. Mark.

·       To save the relics of St. Mark the merchants smuggled his body out of Alexandria to Venice

It wasn’t going to be easy to take Mark from under the noses of the Muslims

·       But the Muslim faith forbade them from touching pork

·       So the Christians used this to their advantage

·       They smuggled the body of Mark out of Church and Egypt

o   in a container covered with

o   cabbage leaves and pork

·       So the shipment was never searched

·       At the customs post they simply said, “Pig, Pig”

There is a detailed mosaic that tells this story as you enter the Basilica of St. Marks in Venice

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In Acts 13, St. Paul and Barnabas take St. Mark with them on Paul’s First Missionary Journey to Turkey. For an unknown reason, as soon as they reached Turkey, Mark headed back to Jerusalem.

At the outset of Paul’s Second Missionary Journey to Turkey in Acts 15

·       A sharp contention broke out between Paul and Barnabas because Barnabas suggested taking John Mark, but Paul was not in favor of taking along the very man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had refused to share in their work. After a violent quarrel they parted company, and Barnabas sailed off with Mark to Cyprus.

Sometime later Paul and Mark were later reconciled as evidenced by what Paul writes in in Colossians 4:10 and Philemon 24 in which Paul sends greeting from Mark whom Paul calls his “fellow worker.” Furthermore – All three, Paul, Barnabas and Mark became Saints.

There is a great lesson here for us. Good people can experience conflict.

Stones with rough edges become smooth by rubbing against one another with the waves washing over them.

For our rough edges to be rounded off we need two things: the waves of God’s grace and we need the rough stones surrounding us.

When you experience conflict, don’t get angry or despair. Realize God is perfecting both you and the person you are in conflict with.

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We should want to be saints, but we are not saints yet.

·       If we and other Christians don’t act as you expect, don’t despair and give up.

Remember that we all have rough edges. The only way these will become smooth is by rubbing against one another.

Conflict is painful, but it is not necessary a bad thing – in fact, it’s the only way to grow.

Conflict comes from two words – to strike together – to run into one another.

When this occurs – Seek the will of God for yourself, do it and abandon the rest to Providence. Pray, seek counsel from your spiritual director or a wise friend, be fearlessly honest with yourself, whatever it takes to know and do the will of God.  

Abandon the rest to God because you cannot control other people, but you can always do God’s will yourself. And God in His providence will always work things in your favor if you do His will, regardless of how the other person or people act, even if they seek to ruin or kill you. In the end Mark was Martyred. But that was just the doorway to everlasting perfect joy.

Sometimes God in his providence will allow good people to make mistakes in judgment, but God can work this to every person’s benefit, if we are open to whatever God’s will is for us.