04/25/2025
Saint Mark the Evangelist
Saint Mark, the author of the Second Gospel of Our Lord, is the same as “John Mark.” It is said that the Christ and His apostles ate the Last Supper in his home. St. Mark was from Jerusalem, he was the companion of the Apostle Paul in his travels, and the special disciple of the Apostle Peter.
He was mentioned many times in the Acts of the Apostles, and he was one of the “Seventy Disciples” who were sent out by Jesus to disseminate the gospel.
When Peter was preaching the word of the Lord in Rome, the faithful asked his disciple Mark to write down the gospel his teacher had given them. He wrote to them the Gospel known by his name around the forty-sixth AD, as he received it from the mouth of his teacher and directed it to the gentiles in the Greek language.
After St. Peter assigned his disciple Mark a Bishop on the city of Jbeil, he went to Egypt, where he preached the gospel in several cities until the Holy Spirit led him to the Church of Alexandria. He was the first bishop of Alexandria Church. Through his preaching, he guided many people to believe in Christ. Mark is said to have founded the Church of Alexandria, one of the most important episcopal which has seen the early Christianity.
Saint Mark established in Alexandria a school in which many scholars, rabbis and martyrs learned, among them Saint Athanasius, Basilius, and Gregory of Nazianzus.
And when the idolaters saw what St. Mark had been doing and how he succeeded in restoring pagans to faith in Christ, they were angry and conspired to destroy him. While he was celebrating the sacraments on a glorious Easter Sunday, they fastened and tied him with ropes and dragged him into the streets of the city, saying “To pull the bull into the barn.” His body was torn, and the rocks were stained with his blood, and he thanked God who made his people share in his sufferings.
Then they sent him to prison … In the middle of the night the angel of the Lord came to comfort and encourage him, and Christ appeared to him to strengthen and congratulate him with the crown of martyrdom and glory. And on the morrow, they continued to abuse him until his pure spirit overflowed and lodged at the numbness of bliss. This was on April 25, the year 68 of Christ. The historic Byblos church, which tradition says; it is from the time of the Apostles and was repaired by the Crusaders, is named after St. John Mark. His feast day is celebrated on April 25, and his symbol is the winged lion.
