Orthodox Saint Mark. Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark. Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark icons
Biography
According to legend, he founded the Church in Egypt and was the first bishop in Alexandria. Here he laid the foundation for a Christian school. Preaching the Gospel, he traveled to Libya, Nektopolis, and visited the interior of Africa. Visited the Apostle Paul in Rome, where he was in prison. According to legend, here the Apostle Mark wrote the Gospel for the pagan believers. Ancient church writers testify that the Gospel of Mark is a brief record of the sermon and stories of the Apostle Peter. Returning to Alexandria, Mark strengthened the believers, opposing the pagans, which aroused their hatred. Saint Mark, foreseeing his end, hastened to leave behind successors - Bishop Ananias, whose sore hand he healed, and three presbyters. Soon the pagans attacked him during worship, beat him, dragged him through the streets of the city and threw him into prison. At night the Savior appeared to him and encouraged him. The next morning, a crowd of pagans again barbarously dragged the Apostle Mark to the judgment seat, but on the way the holy evangelist died with the words: “Into Your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit”. It was April 25, 68 (according to another version - 63 years).
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel belonging to him and bearing his name (the second in the four Gospels) was unanimously recognized in ancient times as authentic and was considered a reproduction of what he heard from the Apostle Peter as his teacher. In the words of Blessed Jerome, “ when compiling this Gospel, Peter spoke, Mark wrote" Regarding the origin of the Gospel of Mark, recent criticism has put forward several theories: according to one (Baur, Hilgenfeld, etc.) it constitutes a reworking of the original fragmentary records or documents, according to another (De Wette, Bleek, Delitzsch) - a compilation of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. These theories do not stand up to criticism, since the first is based on the misunderstood expression of Papias outaxei, and the second goes against the tradition that the Gospel of Mark was written before the Gospel of Luke. The very liveliness, picturesqueness and originality of the narrative, compiled according to a unique plan, speaks in favor of the fact that the Gospel of Mark is original, and not the fruit of a later compilation.
The Gospel of Mark, by all indications, was intended for pagan Christians and especially for Roman Christians, as can be seen from the absence of references to the Old Testament and, in general, such places that would be especially interesting for Jews, for example, genealogies so beloved by Jews, indications of the meaning Mosaic Law, etc. On the contrary, in the Gospel there are many such explanations that were completely unnecessary for the Jews, but necessary for the pagans (for example, a remark about the custom of the Jews to wash their hands before eating - VII, 8 and 4). The indication of the purpose of Christ for the whole world, as well as the remark that the temple should be a place of prayer for all nations (XI, 17) - all this clearly indicates that the Gospel was intended for converts from the pagans. One of the central themes in the Gospel of Mark is the theme of the power of God: the Lord does what is impossible for people. The Apostle Mark often dwells on the deeds and words of the Savior, in which his Divine omnipotence is especially manifested. The place where the Gospel was written is considered to be Alexandria or Rome, which explains the Latin words often used in it (lat. legion, lat. speculator and so on.; V, 9; VI, 27, etc.).
St. Mark's Basilica in Venice
Construction of the cathedral was begun by Doge Giustiniano Partecipazio in 829 and completed in 832 by his brother Doge Giovanni Partecipazio. Construction of the modern basilica began in 1063 under Doge Domenico Contarini. In 1071, in the still unfinished cathedral, Doge Selvo was elevated to the post of Doge, under whom the first cycle of creating the mosaic decoration of the basilica began in 1071-1084. The consecration of the temple took place in 1094 under Doge Vital Falier.
Days of remembrance, veneration and patronage
- In the Orthodox Church: April 25 (May 8), January 4 (17), on the days of the Council of the Apostles from seventy: September 27 (October 10) and October 30 (November 12).
- In the Catholic Church: April 25.
- January 31 in Venice (day of transfer of relics)
- In Protestant churches (Evangelicals, Anglicans): April 25.
He is considered the patron saint of Egyptian Christians, the city of Venice (Italy) and the island of Reichenau (Germany), where part of the relics of the apostle is kept.
see also
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Passage characterizing the Apostle Mark
“After all, this is our Tikhon,” said the esaul.- He! they are!
“What a rogue,” Denisov said.
- He will go away! - Esaul said, narrowing his eyes.
The man they called Tikhon, running up to the river, splashed into it so that splashes flew, and, hiding for a moment, all black from the water, he got out on all fours and ran on. The French running after him stopped.
“Well, he’s clever,” said the esaul.
- What a beast! – Denisov said with the same expression of annoyance. - And what has he been doing so far?
- Who is this? – Petya asked.
- This is our plastun. I sent him to take the tongue.
“Oh, yes,” Petya said from Denisov’s first word, nodding his head as if he understood everything, although he absolutely did not understand a single word.
Tikhon Shcherbaty was one of the most necessary people in the party. He was a man from Pokrovskoye near Gzhat. When, at the beginning of his actions, Denisov came to Pokrovskoye and, as always, calling the headman, asked what they knew about the French, the headman answered, as all the headmen answered, as if defending themselves, that they didn’t know anything, to know they don't know. But when Denisov explained to them that his goal was to beat the French, and when he asked if the French had wandered in, the headman said that there were definitely marauders, but that in their village only one Tishka Shcherbaty was involved in these matters. Denisov ordered Tikhon to be called to him and, praising him for his activities, said a few words in front of the headman about the loyalty to the Tsar and the Fatherland and the hatred of the French that the sons of the Fatherland should observe.
“We don’t do anything bad to the French,” said Tikhon, apparently timid at Denisov’s words. “That’s the only way we fooled around with the guys.” They must have beaten about two dozen Miroders, otherwise we didn’t do anything bad... - The next day, when Denisov, completely forgetting about this guy, left Pokrovsky, he was informed that Tikhon had attached himself to the party and asked to be left with it. Denisov ordered to leave him.
Tikhon, who at first corrected the menial work of laying fires, delivering water, skinning horses, etc., soon showed greater willingness and ability for guerrilla warfare. He went out at night to hunt for prey and each time brought with him French clothes and weapons, and when he was ordered, he also brought prisoners. Denisov dismissed Tikhon from work, began to take him with him on travels and enrolled him in the Cossacks.
Tikhon did not like to ride and always walked, never falling behind the cavalry. His weapons were a blunderbuss, which he wore more for fun, a pike and an ax, which he wielded like a wolf wields his teeth, equally easily picking out fleas from his fur and biting through thick bones. Tikhon equally faithfully, with all his might, split logs with an ax and, taking the ax by the butt, used it to cut out thin pegs and cut out spoons. In Denisov's party, Tikhon occupied his special, exclusive place. When it was necessary to do something especially difficult and disgusting - turn a cart over in the mud with your shoulder, pull a horse out of a swamp by the tail, skin it, climb into the very middle of the French, walk fifty miles a day - everyone pointed, laughing, at Tikhon.
“What the hell is he doing, you big gelding,” they said about him.
Once, the Frenchman whom Tikhon was taking shot at him with a pistol and hit him in the flesh of his back. This wound, for which Tikhon was treated only with vodka, internally and externally, was the subject of the funniest jokes in the entire detachment and jokes to which Tikhon willingly succumbed.
- What, brother, won’t you? Is Ali crooked? - the Cossacks laughed at him, and Tikhon, deliberately crouching and making faces, pretending that he was angry, scolded the French with the most ridiculous curses. This incident had only the influence on Tikhon that after his wound he rarely brought prisoners.
Tikhon was the most useful and brave man in the party. No one else discovered cases of attack, no one else took him and beat the French; and as a result of this, he was the jester of all the Cossacks and hussars and he himself willingly succumbed to this rank. Now Tikhon was sent by Denisov, at night, to Shamshevo in order to take the tongue. But, either because he was not satisfied with just the Frenchman, or because he slept through the night, during the day he climbed into the bushes, into the very middle of the French and, as Denisov saw from Mount Denisov, was discovered by them.
After talking a little more time with the esaul about tomorrow's attack, which now, looking at the proximity of the French, Denisov seemed to have finally decided, he turned his horse and rode back.
“Well, damn, now let’s go dry off,” he said to Petya.
Approaching the forest guardhouse, Denisov stopped, peering into the forest. Through the forest, between the trees, a man in a jacket, bast shoes and a Kazan hat, with a gun over his shoulder and an ax in his belt, walked with long, light steps on long legs, with long, dangling arms. Seeing Denisov, this man hastily threw something into the bush and, taking off his wet hat with its drooping brim, approached the boss. It was Tikhon. His face, pitted with smallpox and wrinkles, with small, narrow eyes, shone with self-satisfied gaiety. He raised his head high and, as if holding back laughter, stared at Denisov.
“Well, where did it fall?” Denisov said.
- Where had you been? “I followed the French,” Tikhon answered boldly and hastily in a hoarse but melodious bass.
- Why did you climb during the day? Cattle! Well, didn't you take it?..
“I took it,” said Tikhon.
- Where is he?
“Yes, I took him first at dawn,” Tikhon continued, moving his flat legs turned out wider in his bast shoes, “and took him into the forest.” I see it's not okay. I think, let me go and get another more careful one.
“Look, you scoundrel, that’s how it is,” Denisov said to the esaul. - Why didn’t you do this?
“Why should we lead him,” Tikhon interrupted hastily and angrily, “he’s not fit.” Don't I know which ones you need?
- What a beast!.. Well?..
“I went after someone else,” Tikhon continued, “I crawled into the forest in this manner, and lay down.” – Tikhon suddenly and flexibly lay down on his belly, imagining in their faces how he did it. “One and catch up,” he continued. “I’ll rob him in this manner.” – Tikhon quickly and easily jumped up. “Let’s go, I say, to the colonel.” How loud he will be. And there are four of them here. They rushed at me with skewers. “I hit them with an ax in this manner: why are you, Christ is with you,” Tikhon cried, waving his arms and frowning menacingly, sticking out his chest.
“We saw from the mountain how you asked a line through the puddles,” said the esaul, narrowing his shining eyes.
Petya really wanted to laugh, but he saw that everyone was holding back from laughing. He quickly moved his eyes from Tikhon’s face to the faces of the esaul and Denisov, not understanding what it all meant.
“Don’t even imagine it,” Denisov said, coughing angrily. “Why didn’t he do it?”
Tikhon began to scratch his back with one hand, his head with the other, and suddenly his whole face stretched into a shining, stupid smile, revealing a missing tooth (for which he was nicknamed Shcherbaty). Denisov smiled, and Petya burst into cheerful laughter, which Tikhon himself joined in.
“Yes, it’s completely wrong,” said Tikhon. “The clothes he’s wearing are bad, so where should we take him?” Yes, and a rude man, your honor. Why, he says, I myself am the son of Anaral, I won’t go, he says.
- What a brute! - Denisov said. - I need to ask...
“Yes, I asked him,” said Tikhon. - He says: I don’t know him well. There are many of ours, he says, but all of them are bad; only, he says, one name. “If you’re fine,” he says, “you’ll take everyone,” Tikhon concluded, looking cheerfully and decisively into Denisov’s eyes.
“Here, I’ll pour in a hundred gogs, and you’ll do the same,” Denisov said sternly.
“Why be angry,” said Tikhon, “well, I haven’t seen your French?” Just let it get dark, I’ll bring whatever you want, at least three.
“Well, let’s go,” Denisov said, and he rode all the way to the guardhouse, frowning angrily and silently.
Tikhon came from behind, and Petya heard the Cossacks laughing with him and at him about some boots that he had thrown into a bush.
When the laughter that had taken over him at Tikhon’s words and smile passed, and Petya realized for a moment that this Tikhon had killed a man, he felt embarrassed. He looked back at the captive drummer, and something pierced his heart. But this awkwardness lasted only for a moment. He felt the need to raise his head higher, cheer up and ask the esaul with a significant look about tomorrow's enterprise, so as not to be unworthy of the society in which he was.
The sent officer met Denisov on the road with the news that Dolokhov himself would arrive now and that everything was fine on his part.
Denisov suddenly became cheerful and called Petya over to him.
“Well, tell me about yourself,” he said.
When Petya left Moscow, leaving his relatives, he joined his regiment and soon after that he was taken as an orderly to the general who commanded a large detachment. From the time of his promotion to officer, and especially from his entry into the active army, where he participated in the Battle of Vyazemsky, Petya was in a constantly happily excited state of joy at the fact that he was great, and in a constantly enthusiastic haste not to miss any case of real heroism . He was very happy with what he saw and experienced in the army, but at the same time it seemed to him that where he was not, that was where the most real, heroic things were now happening. And he was in a hurry to get to where he was not.
When on October 21 his general expressed a desire to send someone to Denisov’s detachment, Petya so pitifully asked to send him that the general could not refuse. But, sending him, the general, remembering Petya’s crazy act in the battle of Vyazemsky, where Petya, instead of going along the road to where he was sent, galloped in a chain under the fire of the French and shot there twice from his pistol, - sending him, the general namely, he forbade Petya to participate in any of Denisov’s actions. This made Petya blush and became confused when Denisov asked if he could stay. Before leaving for the edge of the forest, Petya believed that he needed to strictly fulfill his duty and return immediately. But when he saw the French, saw Tikhon, learned that they would certainly attack that night, he, with the speed of transitions of young people from one glance to another, decided with himself that his general, whom he had hitherto greatly respected, was rubbish, the German that Denisov is a hero, and Esaul is a hero, and that Tikhon is a hero, and that he would be ashamed to leave them in difficult times.
Mark is one of the seventy apostles. Those who preached Christianity in the 1st century. The biography of Evangelist Mark includes many travels related to missionary work. The life of the saint is known from the texts of the New Testament and the testimonies of ancient writers. The saint was present at the arrest of Christ and will transfer memories of this to the pages of his Gospel.
Painting by artist Valentin de Boulogne “The Apostle Mark”, 17th century
Matthew, Luke, Mark, John are the holy evangelists whose books were included in the New Testament. Preaching Christianity, everyone except John suffered martyrdom. Saint Matthew is considered the author of the first Gospel.
The biography of Evangelist Mark includes many travels related to missionary work. Apostle Luke was the first icon painter. Saint John wrote five books for the New Testament.
The son of Paul and Mary, the future apostle Mark, was born in Cyrene (modern Libya). Soon after his birth, the family moved to Jerusalem. Upon his birth, he received the double name John-Mark. John is a Hebrew name, Mark is a Latin name.
The apostle came from a family of priests, from the tribe of Levi. He was born into a wealthy family, which provided the saint with a good education. He studied Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
In Jerusalem, Mark's mother, Mary, becomes one of the first followers of Jesus Christ. Christians who believed in Him gathered in her house, so Mark joined the community of Jesus as a young man. There is a legend that the Last Supper itself took place in the house of Mark’s mother.
Later, when the apostle writes the Gospel, in the story of the arrest of Christ he will mention one young man. According to legend, Mark is believed to be describing himself.
“One young man, wrapped in a veil over his naked body, followed Him; and the soldiers seized him. But he left the veil and ran away from them naked.”
Pavel Popov, “Taking Christ into custody.” A naked youth running away from guards - seventeen-year-old Apostle Mark 
Apostle Barnabas, uncle and closest friend of Saint Mark. We preached Christianity together for several years 
The Apostle Peter was Mark's teacher. During his missionary work in Rome, Mark was his translator and assistant in the formation of the Christian community
In Rome, Peter and Mark found an already existing Christian community. The Apostle Peter multiplied the Roman church with his word and miracles, and Mark became his right hand. Mark acted as an interpreter between Peter, who spoke little Greek, and his listeners.
Saint Mark carried out his missionary work among the Jewish diaspora in Rome, which numbered about 45 thousand people.
It was in Rome, according to many, that Mark wrote the Gospel for the pagans and those who believed in Him. Church writers of the time testify that the Gospel of Mark is a record of Peter's stories. Peter himself will confirm the accuracy and truthfulness of the book compiled by Mark and approve it for reading in the churches.
In Alexandria the saint founded a church and became the first bishop of Alexandria. In this city, the apostle compiled the rite of the Liturgy for Christians and actually created the church hierarchy. In Alexandria, he founded a school, from which such famous church fathers as Gregory the Wonderworker, Clement of Alexandria, St. Dionysius and others subsequently emerged.
Clement of Alexandria was educated at a Christian school founded by St. Mark After the evangelist Mark laid the foundations of the church, many Egyptians abandoned paganism and embraced Christianity, which caused concern in Rome.
Mark is the first bishop and first martyr of the Alexandrian Church.
On April 25, 68, the holiday of Holy Easter coincided with the celebration in honor of the Egyptian god Serapis. On this day, the pagans seized Mark in the temple during worship, beat him and threw him into prison.
The next day, a rope was tied around the saint’s neck, and the other end was tied to a bull. The animal was driven through the streets all day. The wounded Mark was dragged along the ground behind him. By evening, all the streets of the city were covered in the blood of the apostle. Then he was untied and put back in prison.
In the 4th century AD. A church was built over the tomb of St. Mark.
Gospel of St. Mark
Mark, Luke, Matthew, John are the holy evangelists whose books were included in the New Testament. Preaching Christianity, everyone except John suffered martyrdom.
The Gospel of Mark is the second book of the New Testament. But some contemporaries believe that the Gospel of Mark was the first of the canonical Gospels and became the basis for writing the good news of Luke and Matthew.
The Gospel was written around the 60-70s.
The Holy Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four. It is divided into 2 parts and consists of 16 chapters. It was written in Greek and in a colloquial style. The first eight chapters show stories of Christ's miracles to prove that he is the son of God.
For this reason, the lion was chosen as the symbol of St. Mark. The lion rises above other animals, just as Jesus Christ is presented in the Gospel of Mark as omnipotent and royal.
Apostle Mark and his symbol - the royal lion. This is exactly how Mark described Jesus in his Gospel: omnipotent and all-powerful. There are two versions of the place of writing - Rome and Alexandria.
Back in 200, Clement of Alexandria declared that the apostle’s good news was written in Rome. There are a number of factors that confirm his words:
- Mark is the only evangelist who uses several typical Roman words in Greek.
- The apostle uses Latin words and expressions that were used in Rome.
- The Gospel of Mark contains no details of Jewish life.
- Uses the Roman time system.
- The Gospel is written in Greek to reach the largest possible audience. At that time, Greek was considered an international language.
In the Gospel of Mark, more attention is paid to the actions of Christ, and not to his speeches. The resurrection of Christ and the meeting with the disciples in Galilee are written with special feeling.
- Evidence that Jesus Christ is the son of God.
- Strengthening the faith of newly converted Christians and instructing them.
- Attracting new followers to the Christian faith.
But also for the first generations of Christians it was important not only to show the divine level of Christ, but also to insist that he was a man, otherwise his suffering was ridiculous. In the second part of the Gospel, Mark describes the words of Jesus explaining the need for atonement for human sins by death on the cross.
St. Mark's Basilica in Venice
In 828, Egypt is ruled by Muslim Arabs who destroy Christian temples to build mosques. Venetian merchants took upon themselves the mission to save the holy relics from desecration and transport them to their homeland. In Aquileia, Mark was especially revered as the founder of the Christian community.
According to legend, the merchants took the sacred relic, carried it to their ship and covered it with pork carcasses. The Muslims who checked the goods disdained to touch them. So the relics of the saint were transported to the Adriatic, to the Cathedral of St. Mark. Previously, the saint’s relics were kept in the lower part of the temple; now they rest in a stone sarcophagus in the altar of the cathedral.
St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice on the main and only square of the city From that time on, Apostle Mark and Venice were inseparable. The Lion of Mark became the state symbol of Venice; it adorns the city flag. Since that time, the Apostle Mark and Venice have been inseparable. The Lion of Mark has become the state symbol of Venice; it adorns the city flag.
Flag of Venice with the symbol of St. Mark - the lion 4 Christian churches dedicated to the Apostle Mark
BasilicadiSanMarco. St. Mark's Cathedral, Venice. Built in 829-832 
Orthodox Church of St. Mark in Belgrade. Erected in 1931-1940 
Catholic Church of St. Mark in Zagreb. Standing since the 13th century 
Church of St. Mark in Milan. The first mention of it dates back to 1254 Interesting facts from the life of the apostle
- Saint Mark was present at the festival in Cana of Galilee when Jesus Christ turned water into wine;
Jesus turns water into wine - John-Mark is 15 years younger than Jesus Christ;
- According to legend, after the apostle suffered martyrdom, the pagans wanted to burn his body. When a fire was lit for this, an earthquake occurred and everything went dark; The pagans fled in fear, after which the Christians were able to bury Mark in a stone tomb;
- The icon of St. Mark protects the family from discord and strengthens marital relationships.
Icon of St. Mark, Russia, 19th century. one of the four evangelists, apostle of the seventy
short biography
Mark(Hebrew מרקוס, Greek Μάρκος) - one of the four evangelists, an apostle of the seventy. He was Jewish by origin, but as a young man he joined the community of disciples of Jesus Christ, since his mother Mary was one of the followers of Christ, and believers in Him gathered in her family’s house (Acts 12:12). In some images, the symbol of St. Mark is a winged lion.
Biography
Born in Cyrene, nephew (according to other translations - cousin) of the Apostle Barnabas (Col. 4:10). According to another version, Evangelist Mark was born in Jerusalem.
Mark was a disciple of the Apostle Peter. In 1 Peter he is referred to as “Mark my son” (1 Peter 5:13). According to legend, on the night of Christ’s capture in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Apostle Mark followed him, wrapped in a cloak, and ran away from the soldiers who grabbed him (Mark 14:51-52).
According to legend, he founded the Church in Egypt and was the first bishop in Alexandria. Here he laid the foundation for a Christian school. Preaching the Gospel, he traveled to Libya, Nectopolis, and visited the interior of Africa. Visited the Apostle Paul in Rome, where he was in prison. According to legend, here the Apostle Mark wrote the Gospel for the pagan believers. Ancient church writers testify that the Gospel of Mark is a brief record of the sermon and stories of the Apostle Peter. Returning to Alexandria, Mark strengthened the believers, opposing the pagans, which aroused their hatred. Saint Mark, foreseeing his end, hastened to leave behind successors - Bishop Ananias, whose sick hand he healed, and three presbyters. Soon the pagans attacked him during worship, beat him, dragged him through the streets of the city and threw him into prison. At night the Savior appeared to him and encouraged him. The next morning, a crowd of pagans again barbarously dragged the Apostle Mark to the judgment seat, but on the way the holy evangelist died with the words: “Into Your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit”. It was April 25, 68 (according to another version - 63 years).
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel belonging to him and bearing his name (the second in the four Gospels) was unanimously recognized in ancient times as authentic and was considered a reproduction of what he heard from the Apostle Peter as his teacher. In the words of Blessed Jerome, “ when compiling this Gospel, Peter spoke, Mark wrote" Regarding the origin of the Gospel of Mark, recent criticism has put forward several theories: according to one (Baur, Hilgenfeld, etc.) it constitutes a reworking of the original fragmentary records or documents, according to another (De Wette, Bleek, Delitzsch) it is a compilation of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. These theories do not stand up to criticism, since the first is based on the misunderstood expression of Papias outaxei, and the second goes against the tradition that the Gospel of Mark was written before the Gospel of Luke. The very liveliness, picturesqueness and originality of the narrative, compiled according to a unique plan, speaks in favor of the fact that the Gospel of Mark is original, and not the fruit of a later compilation.
According to the version set forth by Sventsitskaya, on the contrary, the Gospel of Mark was used in writing the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, which took the text of Mark as a basis: “Researchers of the New Testament gospels, noting the similarities of the first three, suggest that the Gospel of Mark was the earliest of them, and in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, in addition to Mark, some other source was used, which is not a coherent story about the life of Jesus, but a collection of his sayings.”
The Gospel of Mark, by all indications, was intended for pagan Christians and especially for Roman Christians, as can be seen from the absence of references to the Old Testament and, in general, such places that would be especially interesting for Jews, for example, genealogies so beloved by Jews, indications of the meaning Mosaic Law, etc. On the contrary, in the Gospel there are many such explanations that were completely unnecessary for the Jews, but necessary for the pagans (for example, a remark about the custom of the Jews to wash their hands before eating - VII, 8 and 4). The indication of the purpose of Christ for the whole world, as well as the remark that the temple should be a place of prayer for all nations (XI, 17) - all this clearly indicates that the Gospel was intended for converts from the pagans. One of the central themes in the Gospel of Mark is the theme of the power of God: the Lord does what is impossible for people. The Apostle Mark often dwells on the deeds and words of the Savior, in which his Divine omnipotence is especially manifested. The place where the Gospel was written is considered to be Alexandria or Rome, which explains the Latin words often used in it (Latin legion, Latin speculator, etc.; V, 9; VI, 27, etc.).
The basilica was built to house the relics of the Apostle Mark, which were brought from Alexandria to Venice on January 31, 829. The relics were brought by the Venetian merchants Buono and Rustico, who in 828, arriving in Alexandria, learned that Muslims had begun to destroy Christian churches to build mosques. Since legend connects the preaching of Christianity in the cities of the Venetian lagoon with the Apostle Mark, the merchants decided to save the relics of the saint from desecration and bring them to their city. To transfer the relic to the ship, the traders resorted to a trick: the body of the evangelist was placed in a large basket and covered with pork carcasses, which the Saracens could not touch even during customs inspection. For greater reliability, the basket was hidden in the folds of the sails of one of the ships (the mosaics of the presbytery and one of the lunettes of the central facade are dedicated to the events associated with the transfer of the relics). After the transfer of the relics to the city, the Apostle Mark replaced Saint Theodore as the heavenly patron of Venice, and the symbol of the city became the sign of this evangelist - a winged lion.
Theft of the relics of the Apostle Mark from Alexandria
(mosaic of the presbytery of the Cathedral of San Marco, 11th century)
Construction of the cathedral was begun by Doge Giustiniano Partecipazio in 829 and completed in 832 by his brother Doge Giovanni Partecipazio. Construction of the modern basilica began in 1063 under Doge Domenico Contarini. In 1071, Domenico Selvo was elevated to the post of Doge in the still unfinished cathedral, under whom the first cycle of creating the mosaic decoration of the basilica began in 1071-1084. The consecration of the temple took place in 1094 under Doge Vital Falier.
Saint Mark was an apostle from the age of seventy, a disciple of Christ, an eyewitness and participant in some events in the life of the Savior. He writes about himself in the Gospel that when the Jews with swords and stakes came to take Jesus and all those who were with Him left Him and fled, one young man (it was the Evangelist Mark himself), wrapped in a veil, followed Jesus until the soldiers grabbed that young man. But he escaped from them and ran into his house.
The house of the future evangelist Mark was located right in the Garden of Gethsemane, and his family owned the garden. After the Ascension of the Lord into heaven, during the persecution of Christians, this house served as a place of prayer meetings for the faithful and a refuge for some of the apostles. It was then that Mark became especially closely acquainted with the holy Apostle Peter and, having become his spiritual son, was honored with the greatest gifts from the Lord. With the blessing and under the guidance of the supreme apostle, the saint wrote the “Gospel of Mark” and therefore began to be called an evangelist.
He worked hard in preaching Christ to the pagans, accompanied the apostles Barnabas and Paul, preached in Jerusalem and Antioch, in Cyprus and in great Rome, where he wrote the Gospel. Having passed through many other cities, Saint Mark, at the direction of Peter, went to Egypt and there founded the Church of Christ, becoming the first Patriarch of Alexandria. Then he had to travel again to different countries and again preach in Rome. There he witnessed the martyrdom of both his teachers, the great and supreme apostles Peter and Paul, for Christ.
After this, Saint Mark went to Egypt again. He founded the famous Catechetical School in Alexandria, in which many famous and holy theologians were later educated. He was also in the countries of Africa, enlightening the hearts of the pagans with Divine teaching and performing great miracles among them, healing the sick, cleansing lepers and driving out evil spirits from the possessed. He destroyed demonic temples with a word and overthrew idols. And thousands of people, convinced by visible miracles, the gracious word and pure life of the apostle, believed in Christ and were baptized in His name.
But the more the light of Christ spread, the more indignant the pagans were with Saint Mark and, choosing a convenient time, attacked him, beat him and threw him into prison. At midnight, an angel of the Lord appeared to the apostle, strengthened him for the feat of martyrdom and informed him of his impending bliss in heaven, and then the Lord Himself consoled the saint with His visit. The next morning, a frantic crowd of pagans pulled the apostle out of prison and began to drag him through the streets of the city. Unable to bear such torment, he soon died, thanking God, and gave up his ghost with the words: “Into Your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit!”
Saint Mark, a Jew by birth, came from the tribe of Levi, from a priestly tribe, and originally lived in Jerusalem. In Hebrew, Mark was called John; His name, Mark, is Latin. He added this name to the Hebrew 1 later before leaving for a foreign country, when he and the Apostle Peter went to preach the Gospel in the capital of the then world - Rome. According to the tradition accepted by the Orthodox Church, in agreement with the testimony of some ancient writers, 2 he was one of the seventy disciples of the Lord and, therefore, he himself was an eyewitness to some events in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the narration of the Evangelist Mark himself about the betrayal of our Lord Jesus Christ to death in the city of Gethsemane 3, mention is made of a certain young man who, while all the disciples of the Lord left Him, alone followed the Divine Prisoner, wrapped in linen over his naked body, but was captured soldiers, left the linen in their hands, and fled naked from them (Mark 14:51-52). The youth's attire 4 showed that he came out suddenly at night in response to the noise of the people, no doubt from the house to which the helicopter belonged. Even in ancient times, there was a legend that the said young man was Mark himself, and that the heliport of Gethsemane belonged to the family from which Mark came. The Book of the Acts of the Apostles testifies that the mother of the Evangelist Mark, Mary, had her own house in Jerusalem 5, in which the Apostle Peter found refuge after his miraculous rescue from prison by an Angel (Acts 12:1-12). After the Lord’s ascension into heaven, during the persecution of Christians, this house served as a place of prayer meetings for many Jerusalem believers and a place of refuge for some of the Apostles. Thus, Saint Mark, in his mother’s house, had the opportunity to constantly be in communication with Christians, participating in their prayer meetings, and to get closer to the Apostles themselves. He entered into especially close communication with the Apostle Peter, who had a kind of fatherly love and affection for him, as can be seen from the words of the Apostle Peter himself, who in his letter calls Mark his son, saying: “The Church of Babylon, chosen like you, and Mark my son, greet you.”(1 Peter 5:13). Saint Mark's uncle was Saint Apostle Barnabas 6, a Levite by origin, originally from the island of Cyprus. Through him, Saint Mark became known to another supreme Apostle - Saint Paul, when this latter, after his miraculous conversion to faith in Christ (Acts 9), first arrived in Jerusalem 7.Having entered into close communication with these two supreme Apostles - Peter and Paul, withSaint Mark became the closest collaborator and executor of the commands entrusted to him by one or the other of these great Apostles.
Around 44 or 45 years after the Nativity of Christ, a great disaster befell the Christians of Jerusalem. At the sight of the proliferation of Christians in Jerusalem, the malice of the enemies of Christ's faith - the Jews - reached its highest degree. Fueled by hatred of Christians, the Jews attacked their homes and mercilessly plundered all their property, so that Christians had to endure great famine. Hearing about such a plight of the brothers in Christ, the Antiochian Christians immediately came to their aid and, having made a collection among themselves, personally instructed Barnabas and Paul, who were in Antioch at that time, to deliver relief to the Christians in Jerusalem. Arriving in Jerusalem and fulfilling the assignment of the Antiochian Christians, Barnabas and Paul returned to Antioch and this time took Mark with them (Acts 12:25). From that time on, Mark, having become a collaborator with Barnabas and Paul, took upon himself the great feat of Apostolic labors in preaching the gospel of the faith of Christ to Jews and pagans. Together with Paul and Barnabas, Saint Mark took part in their first Apostolic journey from Antioch, as their closest assistant for preaching the Gospel 8. Together with Paul and Barnabas, Mark was in the seaside city of Seleucia 9, from here he sailed to the island of Cyprus and walked it from east to west from Salamis to Paphos. Here in Paphos, Mark was an eyewitness to the miraculous defeat by blindness, according to the word of the Apostle Paul, the sorcerer of the Jewish Barius, named Elimas, who tried to turn away the proconsul Sergius from faith in the Lord, who called Barnabas and Paul to listen to the word of God (Acts 13: 6-12). But having arrived in the city of Perga 10, Mark left the Apostle Paul and Barnabas and returned to Jerusalem to his mother’s house. Upon arrival in Jerusalem, Mark joined the Apostle Peter and soon went with him on an Apostolic journey to preach the Gospel to Rome. At this time there were already believers in Christ in Rome. The Book of the Acts of the Apostles testifies that between the eyewitnesses of the extraordinary change that took place in the Apostles after the descent of the Holy Spirit on them and the listeners of the first sermon of the Apostle Peter about Christ the Savior 11 were Jews and proselytes who came from Rome, that is, pagans converted to Judaism (Acts 2 :10-41). These people, upon their return to Rome, undoubtedly brought their faith in Christ there and communicated it to others there. There is no doubt that even after this, many Jews who lived in Rome in large numbers, visiting Jerusalem annually on holidays, already filled with the teachings of the Gospel, and hearing there preaching about Christ, returned to Rome as Christians. Finally, many Christians came to Rome, as the capital of the world, from everywhere on civil and other matters and helped to increase the number of believers in Christ there. The Holy Apostle Peter, through his preaching and miracles, with the assistance of St. Mark, further spread and established the Church of Christ in Rome, converting many people to Christ, both Jews and pagans. Hearing the holy words of the Gospel preaching from the lips of the Apostles and burning with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Roman Christians were not satisfied with the oral preaching of the Apostles about Jesus Christ alone, but wished to have a written monument of the teachings orally taught to them. They approached the companion of the Apostle Peter, Saint Mark, and with prayer asked him to write down all the holy words that he and Peter told them about Christ the Lord, and to leave them this holy scripture as a monument. Mark fulfilled the good desire of the Roman Christians and wrote his Gospel for them, in which 12, outlining the events from the life of the Lord Jesus Christ during His stay on earth, he accurately wrote down, as much as he remembered, what the Lord taught and did, carefully taking care at the same time, so as not to miss something from what was heard, or not to change it. Mark gave what he had written to the Apostle Peter for review, and Saint Peter, by his testimony, confirmed the truth of the Gospel written by Mark and approved it for reading in churches 13. Therefore, the Gospel of Mark was accepted by all churches without any contradiction, as Apostolic Scripture, inspired by God 14.
After his labors in Rome, Saint Mark, at the command of the Apostle Peter, went to preach the Gospel to the city of Aquileia, located on the northern shore of the Adriatic Sea. In this rich city, called the second Rome 15, Mark founded a church; Moreover, he visited other places along the Adriatic Sea with the preaching of the Gospel, establishing churches of God everywhere. After this, Saint Mark, by order of the Apostle Peter, went to Egypt to preach the Gospel. This was, as Eutyches, Patriarch of Alexandria testifies, in the ninth year of the reign of Claudius 16. In Egypt, a pagan country adjacent to Palestine, since the time of Alexander the Great 17 and the Egyptian king Ptolemy Lagus 18 there have been a lot of Jews. They inhabited entire cities here, had their own synagogues, their own Sanhedrin, even a temple 19 like the Temple of Jerusalem, as well as priests and Levites according to the Law of Moses. Here in Egypt, by order of King Ptolemy Philadelphus 20, the books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament were translated from Hebrew into Greek, through which the Divine revelation about the salvation of the human race became accessible to the pagans themselves. Here, in the memory of the people, that significant fall of the idols of one Egyptian temple was still vivid, which accompanied, according to the testimony of the Church Fathers, the arrival of the holy family with the Infant Jesus, who fled from the hands of the cruel Herod. Finally, it could even be that in this country there were witnesses to the miraculous descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, who brought the seeds of Christ’s teaching here too. All this greatly prepared the inhabitants of Egypt to accept Christian teachings and promised great success for the preaching of Saint Mark. And indeed, when Mark, the first of the Apostles arriving in Egypt, began preaching the Gospel, proclaiming to people freedom from the devil 21, then at the very beginning of his preaching 22 a great many husbands and wives believed in Christ. In Alexandria itself, the main city of Egypt, Saint Mark founded a church and was its first bishop.
Here Saint Mark worked hard in the feat of enlightening with the light of Christ's faith both Jews and pagans, who had hitherto been in the darkness of idolatry. Having then improved the churches in Alexandria and the cities adjacent to it by ordaining bishops and other clergy to them, Saint Mark then left the Egyptian country. Where he went from here and whether he was in Jerusalem at the Apostolic Council 23 is unknown. But when the Apostle Paul, before setting off on his second Apostolic journey 24, was with Barnabas in Antioch, then, as the book of the Acts of the Apostles testifies, here Saint Mark also met with them and from here, together with his uncle Barnabas, he went to his homeland in Cyprus (Acts 15 :36-40). Having worked together with Barnabas for some time in the exploit of the gospel of Christ, Mark another time went to Egypt, where at the same time or a little later the Apostle Peter arrived. Preaching the gospel in different countries of Egypt and establishing churches in them, the Apostles at this time, among other things, laid the foundation of the Church of Christ in the Egyptian city of Babylon, from where Peter wrote his first conciliar letter to the Christians of Asia Minor (1 Peter 5:13). Saint Mark stayed in Egypt until the eighth year of the reign of Nero 25.
Subsequently, Saint Mark again united with the Apostle Paul and became one of his collaborators. During the stay of the Apostle Paul in prison in Rome 26, Saint Mark, along with some other persons, shared the evangelistic labors of this Apostle. In his letter to the Colossians, written from Rome at this time, the Apostle Paul calls Mark one of his few co-workers for the Kingdom of God, who were a consolation for him at this time (Colossians 4:10-11). As can be seen from the same letter to the Colossians, Mark, by order of the Apostle Paul, went from Rome to Asia Minor, to the Phrygian city of Colossae (Colossians 2:8-18), to counteract the false teachers who were seducing the Colossian Christians 27 . Where Saint Mark spent the next few years is unknown. But by the time close to the days of the death of the Apostle Paul (2 Tim. 4:11), Saint Mark was in Asia Minor, precisely in the city of Ephesus, in the fatherland of Saint Timpheus, bishop of the Ephesian Church. At this time, the Apostle Paul, who was in prison for the second time in Rome, wrote a letter to Timothy, in which he, summoning Timothy to Rome to his aid, instructed him to “bring with him Mark, as well, as he is useful in the service” 28 . Here in Rome, Saint Mark witnessed the martyrdom for Christ of both of his teachers, the great and supreme Apostles of Christ Peter and Paul, who at the same time suffered for Christ in Rome; Paul, as having the right of a Roman citizen, was beheaded by the sword, and Peter was crucified on the cross.
After the death of his great teachers - the Apostles Peter and Paul, the holy Evangelist Mark again went to Egypt to improve the church he founded. He worked a lot in the feat of preaching the faith of Christ in Alexandria itself. Alexandria, the capital of Egypt, was the center of Greek learning. There was a famous book depository here, pagan science flourished here; For her sake, people flocked here from everywhere, so that the city was crowded with scientists, philosophers, rhetoricians and poets. Even the Jews, who lived in large numbers in Alexandria, were carried away by pagan learning. To strengthen the faith of Christ and in order to counteract the learned pagans and Jews, Saint Mark laid the foundation of a Christian catechetical school in Alexandria. In subsequent times, this school became the center of Christian education and became famous for the fact that famous teachers of the Church came out of it, such as Panten, Clement, and some of the Fathers of the Church, such as Dionysius of Alexandria, Gregory the Wonderworker and others.
Taking care of the organization of church services, Saint Mark compiled the order of the liturgy and handed it over to the Christians of the Alexandrian church. This order of liturgy was preserved for a long time in this church and in subsequent centuries. In the worship of Egyptian Christians (Copts), some prayers attributed to the Evangelist Mark have been preserved to this day.
Having improved the Alexandrian church, the holy Evangelist Mark, in his concern for preaching Christ’s teaching, did not abandon with his attention and zeal the inhabitants of other cities and localities of Egypt, but as a strong and valiant ascetic, Mark, led by the Spirit of God, hurried with all zeal and zeal to preach everywhere Christ's teachings. He visited many interior countries of Africa, and was in Libya, Marmorica, Cyrenaica and Pentapolis. All these countries were mired in the darkness of pagan idolatry. Throughout the cities and villages and at crossroads, idols were built, in which idols were placed and in which sorcery, prophecy and sorcery were performed. Passing through these cities and villages preaching the Gospel, Saint Mark enlightened the hearts of people who were in the darkness and darkness of idolatry with the light of Divine teaching, while at the same time performing great miracles among them. With one word of Divine grace, he healed the sick, cleansed lepers, and cast out unclean and fierce spirits. And his preaching, accompanied by great and wondrous miracles, was a tremendous success. Idols fell, idols were overthrown and broken, people were cleansed and enlightened, baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Under the Evangelist Mark, churches of God were established everywhere, and the Church of Christ flourished in the Egyptian countries. Under the influence of the holy words of the sermon of the Evangelist Mark and under the influence of the high purity and holiness of the virtuous life of himself, the Egyptian Christians, under the influence of Divine grace, in their exploits to achieve salvation showed so much purity and height of perfection that their lives, filled with the holiness of Christian virtue, served the subject of great surprise and praise from even the pagans and unbelieving Jews. Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, and Nikephoros (Xanthopulos), church historians, preserved in their books the testimony of a certain Philo, a Jewish philosopher, who, praising the virtuous life of Egyptian Christians, says:
They (i.e. Christians) abandon all concern for temporary riches and do not care about their estates, not considering anything on earth to be theirs, dear to them. Some of them, abandoning all concern for everyday things, leave the cities and settle in secluded places and gardens, avoiding being with people who disagree with them in life, so as not to have obstacles in virtue from them. They consider abstinence and mortification of the flesh to be the foundation on which alone a good life can be built. Not one of them eats or drinks before evening, and some do not start eating until the fourth day. Others, experienced in the interpretation and understanding of Divine Scripture, being filled with a thirst for knowledge and feeding on the spiritual food of thought of God, spending time in the study of Scripture, forget about bodily food until the sixth day. None of them drinks wine, and they all do not eat meat, adding only salt and hyssop to bread and water. Among them live women who have raised themselves in a virtuous life and have become so accustomed to it that they remain virgins until old age. But they preserve virginity not under compulsion, but out of free will, excited by jealousy and love for wisdom, which forces them to renounce bodily pleasures and strive to acquire not mortal, but immortal offspring, which only a soul that loves and strives for God can give birth to. . The Holy Scriptures are explained by them allegorically, through the discovery of implied and hidden meaning and secrets; for Scripture, in their opinion, is like a living being: verbal expressions constitute its visible body, and the thought and secret hidden under these expressions constitute its invisible soul. They get up early to praise God and pray, to sing and listen to the word of God - separately men and separately women. Some of them fast continuously for seven weeks. The seventh day is held in great veneration. In preparation for it and other holidays, they lie down to rest on the bare ground. The divine service is performed by priests and deacons, over whom the bishop rules.
Such a fragrant garden of Christ was planted and cultivated by the holy Evangelist Mark through his much painful labors in the countries of Egypt; there he was also the first bishop, having a holy throne in Alexandria, where he suffered a painful death, being the first martyr of the Alexandrian church.
Blessed Simeon Metaphrastus 30 tells the following about the suffering and martyrdom of Saint Mark. Saint Mark, during his stay in Kyrenia - the city of Pentapolis, where he worked in the exploits of the gospel of Christ's teaching and the structure of the Church of Christ, received a command from the Holy Spirit to go from there to preach the Gospel to Alexandria of Fariti 31. Obedient to the commands of the Holy Spirit, Mark hastened with all zeal to a new feat. Having informed the brethren of the Lord’s command to go to Alexandria, after a farewell meal with the Christians, encouraged by their blessing, he sailed from Kyrenia to Alexandria. On the second day he reached Alexandria and, leaving the ship, came to a certain place called Mendion. Here, at the entrance to the city gates, his sandals fell in half, which the saint took as a good omen. Seeing a shoemaker immediately repairing old shoes, the saint gave him his sandal to repair. The shoemaker, while repairing his sandal, accidentally pierced his left hand with his tool and, crying out in pain, called on the name of God.
Hearing this exclamation, the Apostle rejoiced in spirit, seeing in this an indication that the Lord would arrange a prosperous path for him. The wound on the shoemaker’s hand was very painful, and blood flowed profusely from it. Saint Mark, spitting on the ground, made clay and, anointing his wound, said:
In the name of Jesus Christ, who lives forever, be healthy.
And immediately the shoemaker’s wound closed and his hand became healthy. The shoemaker, seeing such strength in the man standing before him and the effect of his words, as well as the purity and holiness of life in his gaze, turned to him with a request, saying:
I beg you, man of God, come into my house and stay with me, your servant, even for a day, in order to share a meal with me, because you have shown mercy for me today.
The Apostle, joyfully agreeing to his request, said:
May the Lord give you the bread of life, the bread of heaven.
And that man immediately took the Apostle and brought him into his house with great joy. Entering the house, Saint Mark said:
May the blessing of the Lord be here! Let us pray, brothers, to God.
And everyone together made a prayer to God. When, after prayer, they sat down to eat, the shoemaker, kindly starting the conversation, asked the saint:
Father! who are you? And where does such power come from in your word?
Saint Mark replied:
I am a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The man said:
I would like to see this Son of God.
Saint Mark replied:
I'll show it to you!
And he began to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and explain from the prophets what was predicted by them about our Lord. The man, listening to his sermon, said:
I have never heard the Scripture that you explain to me; I heard only from the Iliad, the Odyssey and from what the Egyptian youths study.
Then Saint Mark, continuing his sermon about Christ, showed him with all clarity that the wisdom of this age is “riot” 32 before God. That man believed in everything that Saint Mark told him, and, seeing his miracles, he himself was baptized and his whole house was baptized with him, and with them a great multitude of people from that area were baptized. The man's name was Ananias. The number of believers there multiplied day by day. Then the leaders of the city, hearing that a certain Galilean who had come to them was blaspheming their gods and forbidding them to sacrifice to them, sought to kill Saint Mark and gathered for a meeting on how to capture him. Saint Mark, having learned about this decision of theirs, hastened to appoint Ananias and three presbyters as bishop for the believers - Maleon (or Malchus), Savin, Kerdon, seven deacons and eleven clergy for church services and, fleeing from there, came again to Pentapolis. Having stayed here for two years, establishing the brethren who were there and installing bishops, presbyters and clergy in the surrounding countries and cities, St. Mark returned again to Alexandria. Here he found the brethren increasing in number and prospering in the grace and faith of the Lord. There was already a Christian temple in Alexandria, built near the sea on a place called “Vukul” 33. At the sight of the temple, Saint Mark rejoiced and, kneeling, glorified God. Saint Mark stayed in Alexandria for quite a long time. The Christians of that church multiplied in number and, strengthening in their faith, openly reproached the Greeks for idolatry. The Hellenic mayors, having learned about Saint Mark’s stay in their city and hearing that he performed great miracles: he healed the sick, restored hearing to the deaf, gave sight to the blind, were inflamed with hatred and envy against him, and looked for him. Not finding him for a long time, they, gathering in their pagan temples, gnashed their teeth and angrily exclaimed:
Oh, what trouble this sorcerer and sorcerer causes us!
The blessed holiday of Easter was approaching. And so on April 24, on the day of the bright Resurrection of Christ, which this time coincided with the pagan holiday in honor of Serapis, the pagans found an opportunity to capture Saint Mark. The Holy Evangelist performed Divine service on this day. The wicked pagans saw this as an opportunity and, having gathered in a large crowd on the occasion of their holiday, suddenly attacked the church. They grabbed Saint Mark, tied him with ropes and, dragging him through the streets and outskirts of the city, shouted:
Let us lead this ox into the ox-shed, that is, into the ox-shed.
Saint Mark, enduring torment, thanked the Lord, saying:
I thank You, Lord Jesus Christ, that You have made me worthy to endure this suffering for Your name.
The saint was dragged along the ground, strewn with sharp stones, so that his body, tormented by the stones, was covered with wounds, and the blood flowing abundantly from them stained the entire path. The wicked pagans, tormented in this way, threw him into prison, and, when evening came, they gathered for advice on what kind of death to put him to death. At midnight, an Angel of the Lord appeared to the Apostle-martyr and strengthened him for the feat of martyrdom with the notification of his impending bliss in heaven; then the Lord Jesus Christ Himself appeared to him, comforting him with His appearance. The next morning, a frantic crowd of pagans took the Apostle out of prison and dragged him through the streets of the city. The saint could not bear such torment and soon died, thanking God, praying to Him and saying:
Into Your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit! 34
The insatiable anger of the pagans was not satisfied with the death of the Apostle: they decided to burn his body. The fire had already been lit, when suddenly sudden darkness, terrible thunder, an earthquake, rain and hail scattered the crowd of wicked people, and the rain extinguished the fire. Pious Christians, reverently taking the body of the saint, buried him in a stone coffin at the place of their prayer meetings.
A church was built over the relics of St. Mark in 310, and they remained in Alexandria until the 9th century. In the first half of this century, 35 when the rule of the Mohammedan Arabs and the Monophysite heresy completely weakened Orthodoxy in Egypt, the relics of the holy Evangelist were transferred to Venice, near which (in Aquileia) he labored for some time in preaching the Gospel: there they rest to this day in a magnificent temple dedicated to his name. A very ancient manuscript of the Gospel of Mark is kept here, written on thin Egyptian papyrus, according to legend, by the hand of the Evangelist himself 36.
1 According to the custom of the Jews of that time.
2 Origen, presbyter of Alexandria, 3rd century, Saint Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus, 4th century. and others.
3 Vertograd - garden.
4 Linen wrapped over a naked body.
5 There is a tradition that Easter was celebrated by the Lord Jesus Christ in the house of Mark’s mother, Mary.
6 His memory is June 11th.
7 Around the year 39 or 40 after the Nativity of Christ.
8 In 44 or 45.
9 On the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
10 In Asia Minor.
11 Of whom about 3,000 men were baptized.
12 As Papias testifies.
13 In his Gospel, Evangelist Mark primarily describes the actions of the Savior, especially miraculous ones, which had a greater influence on the minds of the pagans than teaching.
14 The time of its writing falls approximately on the 46th year of the Birth of Christ.
15 Because the Roman emperors loved to live in it.
16 Around 49 AD.
17 Reigned from 334-324. BC
18 324-284 BC
19 Near the town of Iliopoda.
20 Around 271 BC.
21 Just as Moses once proclaimed here to the children of Israel deliverance from the heavy yoke of Pharaoh.
22 As the historian Eusebius testifies.
23 Around 60 or 51 AD.
24 From 52 to 55 years old.
25 Reigned from 54 to 68.
26 From 61 to 63 AD.
27 Around '67.
28 Contemporary of St. Apostles.
29 Bitter grass.
30 Church writer of the 9th century.
31 Alexandria was called Faritian because the small city of Pharos was annexed to it, where there was a large high pillar on which ships were lit at night, a fire to indicate the way to the harbour, arriving by sea.
32 Riotousness is madness, foolishness (Cf. 1 Cor. 1:18-22).
33 Vukul, i.e. place for feeding oxen, from Greek. words - bull.
34 Saint Mark died during the reign of Nero, around 68 AD.
35 In 828.
36 From Mark, the Holy Gospel, according to the Charter of the Orthodox Church, except for special cases, is read at the liurgy from 11 to 17 weeks after Pentecost, then from 29 to 34, excluding Saturdays and Sundays, and on Saturdays and Sundays of Holy Pentecost, except Sundays of the first week . On the icons the Evangelist Mark is depicted together with a lion. A note was made about this image at the beginning of the Gospel of Mark. His Gospel begins with the story of the appearance of John the Baptist, who, with his preaching about repentance and the approach of the Kingdom of God, filled the Judean desert, was the voice of one crying in the desert, and in this respect was likened to a lion living and roaring in the desert. The Patriarchs of Alexandria, who rightly honor Saint Mark as the founder and patron of their church and the first Patriarch of Alexandria, in their epistles teach a blessing with these words: “may there be the blessing of the Lord Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos and Saint Mark the Evangelist,” and on their seal they have an image of a winged lion holding Gospel.
