Mark the Evangelist
Saint Mark the Evangelist (Greek: Μάρκος; Latin: Mārcus; Coptic: Μαρκοϲ; Hebrew: מרקוס) (century I), also known as Mark the Evangelist, is considered the author of the Gospel of Mark and the founder and first bishop of the Alexandria Church.
Saint Mark in the New Testament and other sources
He is usually identified with John, called Marcos. This character appears several times in the Acts of the Apostles. He is mentioned for the first time in Acts 12:12, when Simon Peter, miraculously freed from prison, takes refuge in the house of Mary, mother of "John, nicknamed Mark." He accompanied Paul of Tarsus and Barnabas on Paul's first journey (Acts 13:5), but was separated from them when they reached Pamphylia, returning to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13, in these verses he is referred to simply as "John"). When Pablo was going to start his second trip, he had a serious dispute with Barnabas about "John, called Marcos": Barnabas wanted him to go with them, but Paul refused, since he had abandoned them on the previous trip. Paul and Barnabas ended up separating, and Mark accompanied the latter on his trip to Cyprus (Acts 15:37-39).
It is not clear if this character, "Juan, called Marcos" it is the same one that is referred to in some epistles attributed to Paul, specifically in 2Timothy 4:11, Colossians 4:10, Philemon 1:24 and in the First Epistle of Peter (1Peter 5:13). In Colossians it is said that he is a cousin of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10), which could explain why he disputed with Paul about Mark.
At the end of the First Epistle of Peter, he refers to "my son Mark". While the Coptic, Catholic and Orthodox churches claim that it is a spiritual son (that is, that Mark had been baptized by Peter) or that Peter was simply very fond of him, several Protestant theologians have no objection to interpreting that it could be a question of a biological child, based on the Greek word "huios", which applies to descendants.
According to the Gospel attributed to him, when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Olives, he was followed by a young man wrapped in a sheet, some having speculated that this young man was John Mark himself.
Tradition says that Mark evangelized as Bishop of Alexandria, in Egypt, where he performed several miracles and established a church and his famous Christian school, appointing a bishop, three priests and seven deacons and died there as a martyr on Easter Monday 25 April 68 (or in 64 according to some sources). It is narrated that seven years before his martyrdom he traveled to Marmarica and Libya.
According to tradition, the Ethiopian Coptic Church has its origins in the preaching of Saint Mark, author of the Second Gospel in the 1st century. , who brought Christianity to Egypt at the time of Emperor Nero.
The Acts of Saint Mark, a writing from the middle of the IV century, states that Saint Mark was dragged through the streets of Alexandria, tied with ropes around his neck. Later they took him to jail and the next day they applied the same martyrdom to him again until he died.
Attribution of the Gospel of Mark
Mark is considered the author of the gospel that bears his name, but since he was not a direct disciple of Jesus, it is assumed that he based his account —always according to tradition— on the teachings of Peter. The earliest author who assigned Mark the authorship of this gospel was Papias of Hierapolis, in the first half of the II century, in a testimony cited by Eusebius of Caesarea.
“And the old man said the following: Mark, who was Peter's interpreter, wrote exactly everything he remembered, but not in order of what the Lord said and did. Because he did not personally hear or follow the Lord, but, as I said, after Peter. He carried out his teachings according to his needs, but not like someone ordering the words of the Lord, more so that Marcos was not at all wrong when he wrote certain things as he had them in his memory. he. Because he put all his efforts into not forgetting anything he heard and not writing anything false ». (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. iii. 39).
Since the II century, Mark was assumed to be the author of this gospel. Although it is impossible to be certain about this, it has been convincingly argued that there is no reason why the early Christians should have attributed the authorship of this gospel to an unknown person who was not a direct disciple of Jesus, rather than to attribute it to one of the apostles.
Relics and grave
In the year 828, the relics attributed to Saint Mark were taken from Alexandria by Italian navigators, who transferred them to Venice, where they are kept in the Basilica of Saint Mark, built expressly to house his remains. The Copts believe that the saint's head was left in Alexandria. Every year, on the 30th day of the month of Babah, the Coptic Church commemorates the consecration of the church of San Marcos, and the appearance of the head of the saint in the Coptic church of San Marcos, in Alexandria, where supposedly his head would still be preserved. head.
However, there is an interesting theory that the body of Saint Mark buried in Venice is not really his, but rather the remains of the famous Macedonian general Alexander the Great.
An ancient mummified body is currently known to come from the center of Alexandria and this corresponds to the IV century, the time when the one where Christianity triumphed over paganism in the city and where Alexander's body mysteriously disappeared. It is, according to the Alexandrian Church, the remains of Saint Mark the Evangelist, the founder of the Christian community of Alexandria. However, ancient Christian writers such as Doroteo, Eutiquio and the author of the Cronicón Pascual claim that the body of Saint Mark was burned by the pagans. An apocryphal document known as "The Acts of Saint Mark," apparently written by an anonymous author in 19th century Alexandria IV, affirms that a miraculous storm frightened the pagans and allowed the Christians to save the body of the saint from the flames. However, this seems to be a fabrication to give credibility to the existence of his tomb. It is possible, therefore, that in the climate of religious turmoil between paganism and Christianity in Alexandria in the IV century, the authorities of the Alexandrian Church chose to assimilate the cult of Alexander with the veneration of Saint Mark and assigned the remains of the latter to him.
It just so happens that this same body was taken out of Alexandria, presumably with the cooperation of the local clergy, after the city had fallen under Arab rule. In 828 two merchants managed to get the richly scented mummy out of the city without being discovered by port officials, and sailed with it to its hometown, Venice. The mummy rests for centuries in a crypt located under the church built by the Venetians for this purpose, the Basilica of San Marcos.
A scientific study of these remains could reveal the secret of their origin. Radiocarbon dating could establish whether the body is old enough to match Alexander's. It would also be possible to reconstruct his facial features from his skull, and inspect his bones for signs of Alexander's multiple wounds, particularly the arrow shot he received in the chest, which is said to have inserted itself into his skull. breastbone.
Iconography
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Saint Mark is associated with the lion because his Gospel begins talking about the desert, and the lion was considered the king of the desert and because his Gospel begins talking about the Jordan River and around it there were many beasts, including the lion. It is also said that he is the lion because in the Gospel he begins speaking of John the Baptist as & # 34; Voice that cries out in the desert & # 34; , a voice that would be like that of a lion.
The Catholic Church celebrates her feast day on April 25.
Sponsorships
Nicaragua
Saint Mark the Evangelist is the patron saint of San Marcos, Nicaragua.
Spain
In the Madrid town of San Martín de la Vega, their patronage is celebrated. He is also patron of Mainar, a municipality in the province of Zaragoza, Castro del Río municipality in the province of Córdoba, Corcubión municipality in the province of La Coruña, Turón municipality in the Alpujarra Granadina, Algarra municipality in the province of Cuenca, Icod de los Vinos y Tegueste, both on the island of Tenerife and in Chalamera, a pilgrimage is made to the hermitage of Santa María in honor of him, he is also the patron saint of Canena in the province of Jaén and of Méntrida in the province of Toledo.
Guatemala
By Government Agreement of May 16, 1934, the main fair of the departmental capital of the department of San Marcos, known as the Departmental Spring Fair, is held from April 22 to 28; the main day being the 25th, the date on which the Catholic Church commemorates San Marcos Evangelista, patron saint of the municipality and department.[citation required]
Mexico
The San Marcos National Fair is celebrated in his honor. This happens in the city of Aguascalientes, in the state of the same name.
He is the patron saint of the city of Paraíso, in the state of Tabasco.
He is the patron saint of the Municipality of Balancán, in the state of Tabasco.
He is also worshiped in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, in the state of Chiapas.
In Baja California Sur (Gulf of California) is the Isla De SAN Marcos, holding the patron saint festivities on April 25, in the activities there is the traditional dance and coronation of the Queen, its famous fishing tournament, as well such as sporting events in the same town.
Venice
Saint Mark has been the patron saint of Venice since 828, replacing Saint Theodore. The story goes that two merchants, Buono Tribuno da Malomocco and Rustico da Torcello stole his relics from his Alexandrian tomb in Egypt and hid them in a load of pork so that the Muslim guards would not discover it. When they arrived in Venice, they donated it to the Doge Giustiniano Partecipazio who would place them in the castle. Immediately began to build a sanctuary modeled on the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles in Constantinople, which was consecrated in the year 832. A century later it was destroyed in 976 by fire during the insurrection of Doge Candian IV. The old church of San Teodoro presented a typology of a Greek cross plan inscribed in the central space. This type of plan was widespread in the East during the VII century, such as the churches of the Dormition of Nicaea, San Nicola di Mira, the church of the Virgin of Haks and various examples in Armenia. The remains of the old church seem to have been included in the new San Marcos built between 1063 and 1094.
Peru
The Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM) is a public university located in the city of Lima, Peru. It is the first, most important and most representative educational institution in the country. At the continental level, it is the first officially founded and the oldest university in America —being the one with the longest continuous operation since its foundation. It had its beginnings in the general studies that were offered in the cloisters of the convent of the Rosary of the Order of Santo Domingo -current Basilica and Convent of Santo Domingo- around 1548. Its official foundation was gestated by Fray Tomás de San Martín and materialized on May 12, 1551 with the decree of Emperor Carlos I of Spain and V of the Holy Roman Germanic Empire, in 1571 it acquired the pontifical degree granted by Pope Pius V with which it ended up being named as "Royal and Pontifical University of the City of the Kings of Lima". recognized by the Spanish Crown as the first university in America officially founded by Royal Decree.
By September 6, 1574, in the second location of the university —the church of San Marcelo—, the official name of the university had already been chosen by lottery. The choices were the four Catholic evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Peruvian writer Ricardo Palma relates precisely in one of the stories of his Peruvian Traditions, eighth series (1896), entitled The patronage of San Marcos how the institution acquired its current name and the evangelist as his patron—plus, by extension, the Lion of Saint Mark as his mascot.
It is referred to as "Universidad de Lima" between 1551 and 1821, during the Viceroyalty. In the times of emancipation, it acquired a main role by illustrating several of the leading leaders of the independence of Peru. After the proclamation of independence and during the republic, it colloquially maintained its denomination as "University of Lima" until 1946, when its current name and denomination as a national university became official.
| Predecessor: - | Bishop of Alexandria 43? - 63 | Successor: Aniano |
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