Biography He was born John in the Roman province of Cyrenaica. Its faculties of Hellenistic earned him the name of Marcus.
It is one of the first apostles converted to Christianity and the evangelism of the Roman Empire by the Apostle Peter. According to Papias of Hierapolis , he was the interpreter of Peter.
He became the disciple of the Apostle Evangelist Paul of Tarsus, which he followed with his uncle Barnabas in Paul's first trip to Asia Minor. But before he left with Paul and Barnabas to evangelize the island of Cyprus. Barnaby is in fact of Cypriot origin. At Paphos , the capital of the island, they converted the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus. Saul, who now takes the name of Paul, became the leader of the mission instead of Barnabas, and decides to leave Cyprus for the city of Perga in Asia Minor. evangelize Cyprus Marc wanted to stay, nothing is said about the subject ( cf. Acts 13, 13). On the road to Perge, he opposed Paul and set off for Jerusalem. Five years later around the early 50's , Marc find Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. A Barnabas who would take his nephew into the mission, Paul opposes a refusal: this time Mark and Barnabas left for ministry to Cyprus, while Paul leaves for Asia Minor with Silas. This is only a decade later (circa 62 ) find that Marc Paul then a prisoner in Rome. Marc became the disciple, secretary and inseparable companion of the apostle Peter, with whom he evangelized the Jews of Judea. It then directs the Jewish communities of Rome. Paul appointed him since his "collaborator". It is the interpreter in Latin of Peter and he participates in the apostolic thereof. He preaches and converts the pagans of Rome, explains the Jewish culture , translates the written biblical Aramaic and Hebrew into Latin and wrote the second Gospel at the dictation of memories of Peter around the year 65 during the captivity and the martyrdom of Paul by the Roman authorities.
The translation of the body of St. Mark, thirteenth century, Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice
He left Italy to return to evangelize in Pentapolis and Egypt where he founded the Church of Alexandria , where he became the first bishop.
He was captured and tortured by the idolaters angered his many conversions and died a martyr of Christianity in 67. His relics were kept in a small chapel in the small fishing port of Vukol close to Alexandria where he suffered martyrdom.
In 828 , the city of Venice in Italy , which then as patron saint Theodore , is seeking a new powerful heavenly protector that can compete with Rome and its patron saint the apostle Peter. Two Venetian merchants manage to steal their relics in the little chapel where she is since his death.
It should be noted that Mark had come to evangelize the Veneto region in the first century by boat had sunk in the lagoon which was about to give birth in 452 to the Serenissima. An angel appeared and would have then told him these words: "Peace be upon thee Mark my evangelist, here you will find rest."
The relics stolen, we will then build specially for the occasion the Basilica San Marco , to house these relics, which the Catholic church at that time lent powers divine. St. Mark becomes the patron saint of the city with the lion as symbol ( Tetramorph ), just as the angel for St. Matthew , the eagle for St. John and the bull for St. Luke.
St. Mark's is celebrated every year on April 25.
The canonical Gospel of Mark
The alleged secret Gospel of Mark
A letter from Clement of Alexandria who was allegedly discovered by Morton Smith in 1958 and has published in 1973 Finally d others think, and most likely, we would be dealing with a clever trick .
St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church and
St. Mark the Evangelist is the first Primate of the Orthodox Coptic Church of Alexandria. His relics were returned to Egypt and now rest under the altar of the cathedral bearing his name in Cairo. His most famous successors are St. Athanasius the Apostolic or Saint Cyril the Great.
The Lion of St. Mark
Saint Marc is symbolized by a lion from one of the first verses of his gospel :
"A voice crying in the wilderness ... "
- 1.3 Mc
The four evangelists are represented as allegorical of tetramorph : the angel for St. Matthew , the eagle for St. John , the bull for St. Luke and the lion for St. Mark. This representation is inspired by a vision of the prophet of the Old Testament Ezekiel and the description of the four living creatures of the Apocalypse according to St. John.
The lion symbolizing St. Mark is usually winged, which distinguishes it from the lion of St. Jerome .
It should be noted that the Lion of St. Mark, was the emblem of the Republic of Venice.
Representation in the Arts
For painters
Tintoretto, The discovery of the body of St. Mark, v. 1562
Notes and References
- Morton Smith, Clement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark, Cambridge (Mass.), 1973: text editing, The Secret Gospel. The Discovery and Interpretation of the Secret Gospel According to Mark, NY, 1973: study of the text ..
- Jean-Daniel Kaestli, secret Gospel of Mark, in apocryphal Christian writings, t. I, 1997, Gallimard, coll. "Pliade," p. 57-59. Text translated from Greek: p. 63-69.
- The introduction of the Pleiade edition of reports on the growing doubt that exists about the authenticity of the discovery by Morton Smith, who died without ever having to show anyone the manuscript he says he discovered.
- Coptipedia RebeuCopte particular article in "Our Church"
- Gaston Duchet Suchaux-Michel Pastoureau, The Bible and the saints, iconography Guide, Flammarion, Paris, 1990.
See also
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