Origin and Family
Mark, whose fuller name was John Mark, belonged to the apostolic generation and is counted among the Seventy. He was a nephew, or kinsman, of the Apostle Barnabas, the fellow-laborer of Saint Paul.
According to the OCA synaxarion he was born at Jerusalem, where the house of his mother Mary adjoined the Garden of Gethsemane and was used by the disciples as a place of assembly. Other traditions preserved in later sources associate his origins with Cyrene in North Africa; the synaxarion record followed here places his birth at Jerusalem.
Apostolic Labors
Mark was a close companion of the apostles Peter, Paul, and Barnabas. He shared in their missionary journeys, traveling with Barnabas through Cyprus and going to Rome with the Apostle Peter.
It was at Rome, in the years around 62 to 63, that Mark wrote the Gospel that bears his name. The tradition received in the Church holds that his account reflects the preaching of the Apostle Peter, and his Gospel was received as one of the four canonical witnesses to the life and teaching of Christ.
The Church of Alexandria
From Rome Mark traveled to Egypt and established the Church of Alexandria, where he is venerated as founder and first bishop. He is remembered as a principal bringer of the Gospel to Africa.
In Alexandria he founded a Christian catechetical school that in later generations produced renowned teachers of the Church, among them Clement of Alexandria. He also composed a Liturgy for the use of the Alexandrian Christians.
Martyrdom
Mark was seized by pagans in Alexandria while he was serving the Liturgy. According to the synaxarion they beat him, dragged him through the streets, and threw him into prison, and he died commending his spirit into the hands of the Lord.
The OCA synaxarion gives the date of his repose as April 4 in the year 63, while later Coptic tradition places his martyrdom in the year 68. His memory is kept on April 25.
Relics & Shrines
By tradition a church was raised over the relics of Saint Mark in the year 310. In the ninth century his relics were transferred to Venice, where they were enshrined in the basilica named for him, today one of the principal shrines associated with the Evangelist.
Saint Mark remains the patron of the Church of Alexandria, and shrines bearing his name stand both in Venice and in Alexandria.
Veneration & Iconography
In the ancient iconographic tradition the Evangelist Mark is represented by a lion, a symbol expressing the might and royal dignity of Christ. The lion is his emblem as one of the four evangelists.
Mark is commemorated by the Orthodox Church on April 25. As a saint of the apostolic age and the undivided Church, he is honored across the Christian traditions of East and West.
