Mark

Mark was born of Jewish parents of the tribe of Levi. He is supposed to have been converted to Christianity by Peter, whom he served as an amanuensis, and under whose inspection he wrote his Gospel in the Greek language. Mark was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria, at the great solemnity of Serapis their idol, ending his life under their merciless hands. Dr Taylor Marshall has written about the apostle Mark as follows: Saint Mark, the author of the Second Gospel of Our Lord is the same as “John Mark” who led to identifying him as the man who carried water to the house where the Last Supper took place (Mark 14:13). He may also have been the young man who ran away naked when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:51-52).

Saint Hippolytus states that Saint Mark was one of the Seventy Disciples sent out by Christ (Luke 10:1). The Cenacle was owned by the mother of Saint Mark. The Cenacle is the place of the Last Supper, the first resurrection appearance of Christ to the Apostles and the descent of the Holy Ghost on Pentecost.

According to tradition, Saint Mark was born in Cyrene in North Africa (modern day Libya). Saint Mark returned to Pentapolis later in life, after being sent by Saint Paul to Colossae (Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24 refer to Mark the Cousin of Barnabas), and serving with him in Rome (2 Tim 4:11); from Pentapolis he made his way to Alexandria where he became the first bishop of Alexandria. To this day, the Patriarch of Alexandria is the “Successor of Saint Mark”. When Mark returned to Alexandria, the idolators of the city resented his efforts to turn the Alexandrians away from the worship of their traditional gods. In AD 68 they placed a rope around his neck and dragged him through the streets until he was dead. His relics were kept in Egypt until they were transferred to Venice where they are venerated till this day.