Mark the Evangelist

**St. Mark the Evangelist** was a disciple of the apostle Paul and later of Peter. According to the Christian tradition, he is believed to be the author of the Gospel according to Mark.

## Biography

### Birth

He was born in Palestine or Cyprus around the year 20 AD. Little or nothing is known about his youth and his family. The only thing about his family that we know is that he was a cousin of Barnabas aka Joseph of Cyprus (this shows that most probably he was a Jew of Levitical lineageand) and that his mother was a widow called "Mary" (not to be confused with Jesus' mother) that lived near Jerusalem.

### Activities

In the Bible it is reported that Mark was in Babylon, in the Cairo area, in Egypt. From the Acts of the Apostles we learn that he left with Paul and his cousin for Antioch. He is referred to as Paul's helper when he preached in Salamis, Cyprus. Later, the same book tells us that he abandoned Paul, perhaps frightened by the tremendous fatigue of the apostle's movements or by the growing hostility he encountered. Following his defection with Paul, Mark and his cousin left for Cyprus in 52 AD. In the Acts of the Apostles, these are the last indications on the evangelist. Later, Paul had to forget these disagreements as Mark finds himself alongside the apostle in Rome in 62-64 AD. A few years later he is found in the company of Peter, who mentions him in his first letter as indicated above. This demonstrates his great activity in the 50s not only in Cyprus. Perhaps he had returned to the East before the persecution unleashed by Nero in 64 AD, but Paul in 66 AD took him back with him. Tradition has it that Mark was sent by Peter to the upper Adriatic metropolis of Aquileia - the capital of the Venetia et Histria Region - to take care of the evangelization of the north-east area.

### Aftermath

After Peter's death in Rome, there is no more certain information about Mark. Tradition wants him to be an evangelizer in Egypt and founder of the church of Alexandria, of which he would have been the first bishop.

### Death

There is no certain information on where, how and when Marco died. Eusebius claims that his death occurred in Alexandria, Egypt, where he was killed by having his body dragged around the city.

## Description

In Christian iconography, Mark is represented in 2 ways:

* A thin white man in his 30s relatively short with short, slightly curly dark brown hair and a thick, unkempt beard.
* A thin white man in his first 70s relatively short with with gray or white hair present only on the sides and and a long, unkempt beard.

However, there are various things that unite the various representations of Mark, such as:

* He is represented holding a book or scroll with the words "Pax tibi Marce" on it.

* He is often accompanied by a winged lion and ,more rarely, he also holds a palm tree;

* He is depicted while he is rescuing Venetian sailors (his patronages).

* He is depicted as bishop on a throne decorated with lions.

* He is depicted freeing Christian slaves from the Saracens.

## In the Mandela Catalogue

The main protagonist of vol. 1 and fulcrum of the entire series, Mark Heathcliff, it has as its name a reference to the evangelist.

## Trivia

* His symbol is the winged lion.
* His day of commemoration is the 25th April.