ST MARK THE EVANGELIST

St Mark 

He was a cousin of Barnabas and accompanied the apostle Paul on his first missionary journey; later he followed him to Rome. He was a disciple of Peter, and his gospel is told from Peter’s point of view. He is credited with founding the Church in Alexandria. His body was stolen from Alexandria in 828 (though some say that the wrong bones were stolen) and taken to Venice, which adopted him as its patron saint. 

We read a passage in the Gospel of Mark (14:51, 52) 'And a certain young man was following him (Jesus), clothed in a linen sheet over his naked body. And they tried to seize him, but he left the linen sheet and escaped naked'. This incident occurred at the Garden of Gethsemane. Whether this young man was Mark? Many researchers say that the young man escaped naked was Mark only, which clearly shows that Mark was closely associated with Jesus and his last hours in the world. How Mark was able to follow Jesus and his apostles to the Garden of Gethsemane? The chance must be that the Last Supper celebrated by Jesus, was in the house of Mark and he might have followed the apostles and Jesus to the garden. 

He lived in the first century A.D. and is considered as the author of the Gospel of Mark. He wrote the Gospel in Greek before the year 60 A.D. Historians say that Mark wrote what St. Peter preached or told. He was the son of the Jewish father Aristopolos and mother Mary. His house was used by the early Christians for prayer. It appears that after the death of the father of Mark, St. Peter took care of Mark and for this reason only St. Peter once referred to Mark as his son in faith. Mark also functioned as the interpreter to St. Peter in the preaching of St. Peter. St. Peter, when escaped from the jail by a miracle, went only to the house of Mary, the mother of Mark. There is a belief that Mark was one of the servants at the marriage of Cana and poured water that Jesus turned into wine. He was one of the seventy apostles sent out by Jesus Christ (Luke 10:1).He was the founder of the church of Alexandria and also its bishop. 

He also founded the first theological school in Alexandria. Three churches claim to be the direct heir of the original church of Alexandria. They are Coptic Orthodox church of Alexandria, Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria (Eastern Orthodox Church) and Coptic Catholic Church (Western Orthodox Church of Alezandria). He is also honored as the founder of Christianity in Africa. He was associated with St. Paul and St. Barnabas on their missionary work. He was killed by the pagans of Alexandria by placing a rope around his neck and dragged him through the street with a horse, till death, on April 25, 68.His head is now in a church at Alexandria, which is named after him

He is the patron of Barristers and Notaries.