As you know, the holy gospel consists of four books, the authors of which are the holy evangelists - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The history of the church also knows other works that claim to have gospel truth, but only these are recognized by the church and are considered canonical. Others are called apocrypha and are not recognized. The author of the second of the canonical books is the holy Apostle Mark, one of the seventy apostles. Our story is about him.
Who are the apostles
First of all, it is necessary to give some explanations about who the apostles are, and why in some cases their number is estimated at twelve, and in others - seventy. From the New Testament, we know that Jesus Christ called twelve to serve Him. These were the simplest people, uneducated and hard-working to get their bread. Together with them, he announced the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God and cast out demons. The word "gospel" is translated from Greek as "good news." That is the main task of these twelve people - the companions of Christ - and was to bring this good news to people. It was they who began to be called the twelve apostles. All are named by name in the Gospel.
Seventy Closest Companions of Christ
But the number of those to whom the gift of apostolic service was revealed by the grace of God was not limited to twelve. The Holy Evangelist Luke tells us that Jesus Christ, in addition to the twelve apostles mentioned above, also called other seventy faithful ministers. He sent them two at a time to those cities and villages in which he himself intended to come. The Savior endowed them with many miraculous abilities. Having done good deeds with their help, it was easier for the apostles to instill faith in the hearts of ordinary people, more inclined to perceive miracles than the words of a preacher.
These are the seventy apostles — the messengers of the kingdom of God — who include the Evangelist Mark. Their list, which can be seen in the Orthodox Month, was compiled in the 5th-6th centuries, that is, five hundred years after the events described, and some scholars are inclined to admit inaccuracies that crept into it. However, there are names among them that are not in doubt. These are primarily the evangelists of Luke and Mark.
Young follower of Jesus
The Apostle Mark, also called John, was born and spent his youth in Jerusalem. Very little is known about this period of his earthly life. We can only say with confidence that the future evangelist was the nephew of another faithful follower of Christian doctrine - the holy apostle Barnabas, one of the seventy preachers of divine truth. It is known from the book “Acts of the Apostles” that after the Ascension of the Lord in the house of his mother, the apostles and their followers constantly gathered for joint prayers.
It is enough to recall the episode when the holy Apostle Peter, freed from the Herodic prison, is sent to the house of Mark's mother. He finds there a gathering of like-minded people. Even a servant named Roda, recognizing in the night guest knocking on the gate, the closest companion and disciple of Christ, could not restrain her joy and rushed into the house to inform those present about his miraculous deliverance.
In his gospel, which he wrote in Rome in 62, the apostle Mark mentions himself only anonymously in one of the episodes of the narrative. It is generally accepted that he was the young man who, wrapped in a cloak, followed Jesus on the night of his arrest, and fled from the soldiers who tried to capture him. It was he, breaking free from them and leaving his clothes in their hands, who hid naked in the darkness of night. Obviously, he found salvation in the house of his mother, who, as we know, adjoined the Gethsemane garden.
Gospel sermon in Crete
It is known that the apostle and evangelist Mark carried his ministry side by side with the apostles Peter, Paul and Barnabas. With Paul and Barnabas, he traveled to Crete, while visiting Seleucia. Preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, they traveled all this island from east to west, converting many of its inhabitants to the true faith. Filled with the grace of God, holy evangelists performed miracles. For example, the “Acts of the Apostles” tells us that the Apostle Paul, by the power bestowed upon him from above, sent blindness to the false prophet and magician Variusus, who prevented the conversion of the new faith of the proconsul Sergey Paul.
Journey to the shores of the Nile
When at the end of the work in Crete the apostle Mark returned to Jerusalem, he was soon waiting for a new journey. Together with his closest mentor - Chief Apostle Peter - he went to Rome. In the “eternal city” the teacher ordered him to follow on to Egypt, which was drowned in those days in the darkness of paganism. Fulfilling the will of Peter, the apostle and evangelist Mark directed his way to the banks of the Nile. Here he became the founder of a new church, which was destined to play an important role in the history of Christianity. It was among the sultry deserts that the future monasticism arose and developed. Here, in extremely difficult conditions for survival, a school of asceticism was created in practice.
In his travels, the Apostle Mark will return to Egypt more than once. This will happen soon after, having met with the Apostle Paul in Antioch, he, together with his uncle, the Apostle Barnabas, will visit Cyprus. During this second trip to the banks of the Nile, Mark, together with the Apostle Peter, will continue the work he started and become the founder of Christian communities in many cities of the country.
Founding of the Babylonian church and journey to Rome
He has the honor of becoming one of the founders of the Holy Christian Church in ancient Babylon, so often mentioned in scripture. The apostle Peter traveling with him sent a letter from Babylon to the Asia Minor brothers in Christ. His text is included in the Epistles of the Apostles. It shows how lovingly Peter speaks of him as his spiritual son.
When the news came from Rome that the apostle Paul was imprisoned and threatened over his life, the future evangelist was in Ephesus, where the local church was led by one of the brightest followers of Christian doctrine - Saint Timothy. This happened in the year 64, during the reign of Emperor Nero. The apostle Mark immediately rushed to Rome, but could not help Paul.
Creation of a Christian school in Alexandria
Seeing the futility of his further stay there, he once again goes to Egypt and in Alexandria establishes a religious school that has raised such pillars of Christianity as Clement of Alexandria, Saint Dionysius, Grigory the Miracle Worker and a number of other church fathers. Here he created one of the most outstanding liturgical works - the rite of the Liturgy for Christians of Alexandria.
From the capital of ancient Egypt, the apostle goes to the depths of the African continent. He preaches the gospel to the people of Libya and Nectopolis. During these wanderings in the recently abandoned Alexandria, unrest occurred due to the intensification of paganism in his fight against Christianity, and, at the behest of the Holy Spirit, Mark returns.
The end of the earthly life of the Apostle Mark
Upon returning to Alexandria, he performs the miraculous healing of the local shoemaker, in whose house he settled. This becomes known to the inhabitants of the city and attracts new supporters to Christianity, and also excites rage in the pagans. They decide to kill the Apostle Mark. The wicked attacked him during the service, and threw the battered man into prison. When the next day the distraught pomp attracted him through the streets of the city, the holy apostle died, having betrayed his soul into the hands of God.
Having committed their atrocities, the perpetrators of his death tried to burn the body of the righteous, but at the same time daylight suddenly faded and a terrible earthquake struck the city under the thunder. The pagans fled in horror, and the Christians of the city buried their teacher in a stone tomb. The memory of this event is celebrated by the church on April 25. On this day, according to tradition, the lines of the Gospel and Akathist are read to the Apostle Mark.
The veneration of the holy evangelist Mark
Having completed his earthly journey in 63, for his services he became one of the most revered saints in the Christian world. The greatness of the apostle Mark is performed four times a year. In addition to the date already mentioned on April 25, it is September 27 and October 30. Also, it should also include the day when all seventy apostles of Christ are commemorated - January 4. In the days of remembrance in the temples a prayer is read to the apostle Mark. In it, believers ask the holy evangelist to beg the Lord to send them the forgiveness of all sins, aggravating souls and burdening conscience.
Apostle Mark - patron of the family
In the Orthodox tradition, the apostle Mark is the patron saint of the family hearth. Therefore, it is customary in cases of any contention and strife in the family to prayerfully contact him, asking for his help and intercession. It should be noted that such requests are relevant to all four evangelists. Through prayers in front of their honest images, each of them will help people in whose families a cooling of feelings has come, and whose marriage relationship is on the verge of breaking.
It should be noted that the worship of Christian saints has as its starting point the cult of the apostles. This is no coincidence. The Savior himself prayed for them God the Father at the Last Supper. Among them is the apostle Mark. The icon with its image (or fresco), along with the icons of the other evangelists, is an indispensable attribute of the Orthodox church.
Each of the four evangelists corresponds to its symbolic image, taken from the images of the Revelation of John the Theologian. Matthew is depicted as an angel, Luke as a bull, John as an eagle, and Mark as a lion. Leo symbolizes energy, strength and fearlessness in the struggle for the ideals of Christianity.
The Akathist to the Apostle Mark, like all Akathists, includes, in addition to the Ikos, which are the laudatory offerings of the saint, also kontakas. They in the appropriate literary and poetic form contain a description of the life and merits of the person to whom he is dedicated. This is undoubtedly a good tradition, since even people who are not disposed to reading the lives of the saints, but who find themselves in the church on the day of reading an akathist, can see examples of high service to God. For almost two millennia, one such example has been the life of the holy apostle and evangelist Mark.