Dear Beloved,

The annual commemoration and feast of Saint Mark the Apostle and Evangelist falls on April 25, and in years like ours when the 25th is a Sunday we transfer Saint Mark’s day to Monday. Sundays are perpetual feasts of our Lord and have priority in the liturgical life of the Church.

Of the many dozens of brief hagiographies available on The Orthodox Church in America’s webpage, theirs for Saint Mark is worth reading on full. Here’s a portion:

“Known also as John Mark (Acts 12:12), he was one of the Seventy Apostles, and was also a nephew of Saint Barnabas, fellow missionary with Saint Paul. He was born at Jerusalem. The house of his mother Mary adjoined the Garden of Gethsemane.

“As Church Tradition relates, on the night that Christ was betrayed Mark followed after Him, wrapped only in a linen cloth. He was seized by soldiers, and fled away naked, leaving the cloth behind (Mark 14:51-52). After the Ascension of the Lord, the house of his mother Mary became a place where Christians gathered, and a place of lodging for some of the Apostles (Acts 12:12).

“Saint Mark was a very close companion of the Apostles Peter and Paul (June 29) and Barnabas. Saint Mark was at Seleucia with Paul and Barnabas, and from there he set off to the island of Cyprus, and he traversed the whole of it from east to west. In the city of Paphos, Saint Mark witnessed the blinding of the sorcerer Elymas by Saint Paul (Acts 13:6-12).

“After working with the Apostle Paul, Saint Mark returned to Jerusalem, and then went to Rome with the Apostle Peter. From there, he set out for Egypt, where he established a local Church.”

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Mark ministered to Peter in Rome after his arrest, and was to him a son (1 Peter 5:13). He remained by Peter's side until his martyrdom sometime between 64-68 CE. Mark’s gospel is the earliest of the canonical four, written from Rome. An early father of the Church, Papias of Egypt, wrote that Mark was Peter’s "interpreter,” and that he wrote down ("but not in order") the stories that he had heard Peter tell in his preaching about the life and teachings of Jesus. He wrote his gospel for Gentile Christians to commend the transforming advent of Christ in the world and every heart:

"The was of the Lord must be prepared within the heart; for great and spacious is the heart of humanity, as if it were a whole world. But see its greatness, not in bodily quantity, but in the power of the mind which enables it to encompass so great a knowledge of the truth. Prepare, therefore, in your hearts the way of the Lord, by a worthy manner of life. Keep straight the path of your life, so that the words of the Lord may enter in without hindrance." (Origen d. 253)

Today we celebrate the memory of Saint Mark the Apostle and Evangelist and glory in the grace of Christ that calls us each by name to be light-bearers in our generations.

In Christ,
Fr. Peter

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Hymn for Apostles at Matins, by Saint Ambrose (d. 397)

1. For the eternal gifts of Christ,
for the glory of the apostles and
their palms, let us sing hymns
with joyful minds.

2. These are the princes of the
Church, triumphant leaders of war,
warriors of the court of heaven, true
lights of the world.

3. The true faith of the saints, the
unconquered hope of the faithful,
the perfect love of Christ overcome
the tyrant of the world.

4. In these the glory of the Father
and Son triumphs; in these is the
will of the Holy Ghost; by them
heaven is filled with joy.

5. To the Father, to the Son, to thee,
Holy Spirit, as it was, be always
glory in every age.

Fr Peter Helman