Among the disciples of Jesus Christ, those apostles who not only preached the teachings of Jesus, but also were the authors of the sacred Christian texts included in the canon of the books of the New Testament, stand out especially. One of these authors was the evangelist Mark.
The apostle and evangelist Mark was one of the 70 apostles. He came from the tribe of Levi, was related to the apostle Barnabas. Mark lived in Jerusalem. Another saint's name is known - John (sometimes the Evangelist is called John Mark).
The apostle Peter became the one who converted Mark to faith in Christ. John-Mark was a companion of the apostles Paul and Barnabas, as well as the apostle Peter, during various missionary trips of the latter.
When Mark was in Rome with the Apostle Peter, local Christians asked them to write a gospel for them. They wanted Mark to expound about Christ what he had heard from the supreme apostle Peter. Mark also witnessed some events in the life of Christ. For example, it is known that this particular young man was the one who escaped from Gethsemane during the time when Christ was taken into custody.
The Apostle Mark wrote the gospel. This constituted the shortest gospel narrative in the canon of the books of the New Testament. The Gospel of Mark contains only 16 chapters.
Evangelist Mark worked hard to preach the Christian faith. So, he preached in Egypt. There he founded one of the remarkable first Churches, which eventually turned into the Alexandrian Patriarchate. In Egypt, the apostle Mark ended the days of his life with a martyrdom.
The pagan Egyptians, seeing the effect of Mark's preaching on the inhabitants, decided to put the saint to death on the feast of their god Serapis. This day coincided with the celebration of Easter. The pagans burst into the temple, founded by Mark, during the service, and grabbed the evangelist and tied his neck with a rope, dragged along the city streets for two days. At the same time, the evangelist was stoned and humiliated in every way. The saint courageously endured all torment with gratitude to God that He honored him to become a witness of faith in the true God. Mark prayed on his lips to the Lord. This event occurred around 68 AD.
The relics of St. Mark are in Venice. They were moved there in 828 on the occasion of the invasion of Egypt by Arabs who profess Islam. The head of the holy apostle is kept in Egypt, in Alexandria. There is an ancient manuscript of the Gospel of Mark, which is written in Egyptian papyrus. Some scholars believe that the apostle Mark himself wrote this manuscript. A particle of the relics of the apostle is also present in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
