The Martyrdom of Saint Mark The Evangelist

[Mary Naeem]

The Martyrdom of Saint Mark The Evangelist

Egyptian Synaxarium 30 Baramoda 
(The Thirtieth Day of the Blessed Month of Baramoudah)
Coptic Synaxarium - Coptic Orthodox Calander
30 Baramoda - Coptic Calendar - Martyr Calendar

30 Bermodah (Baramouda, Baramuda, Baramudah, Paremoude, Farmou) = Miyazia (Miyaza) 30 - Geez (Ge'ez) Calendar – Ethiopian Calendar
(The Thirtieth Day of the Blessed Month of Baramoudah) The Eighth Month

The Martyrdom of the Great Saint Mark, the Apostle The Evangelist of the Land of Egypt

Saint Mark The Evangelist

Ⲙⲁⲣⲕⲟⲥ ⲡⲓⲁ̀ⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲟⲥ - Ⲙⲁⲣⲕⲟⲥ ⲡⲓⲉⲩⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲥⲧⲏⲥ - Ⲙⲁⲣⲕⲟⲥ ⲡⲓⲑⲉⲱ̀ⲣⲓⲙⲟⲥ - Ⲙⲁⲣⲕⲟⲥ ⲡⲓⲙⲁⲣⲧⲩⲣⲟⲥ

Μᾶρκος

The Martyrdom of the Great Saint Mark, the Apostle The Evangelist of the Land of Egypt
On this day, which coincided with the 26th. of April 68 A.D., the great apostle St. Mark, the evangelist of the land of Egypt, was martyred. He was the first Pope of Alexandria and one of the Seventy Apostles.

His name was John, as the Holy Bible says: "He came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying" (Acts 12:12). He was the one that the Lord Christ, to Whom is the glory, meant when He said: "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, The Teacher says, My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples" (Matthew 26:18).

His house was the first Christian church, where they ate the Passover, hid after the death of the Lord Christ, and in its upper room the Holy Spirit came upon them.

This Saint was born in Cyrene (One of the Five Western cities, Pentapolis - in North Africa). His father's name was Aristopolus and his mother's name was Mary. They were Jewish in faith, rich and of great honor. They educated him with the Greek and Hebrew cultures. He was called Mark after they emigrated to Jerusalem, where St. Peter had become a disciple to the Lord Christ. St. Peter was married to the cousin of Aristopolus. Mark visited St. Peter's house often, and from him he learned the Christian teachings.

Once Aristopolus and his son Mark were walking near the Jordan river, close by the desert, they encountered a raving lion and a lioness. It was evident to Aristopolus that it would be his end and the end of his Son, Mark. His compassion for his son compelled him to order him to escape to save himself. Mark answered, "Christ, in whose hands our lives are committed, will not let them prey on us." Saying this, he prayed, "O, Christ, Son of God protect us from the evil of these two beasts and terminate their offspring from this wilderness." Immediately, God granted this prayer, and the two beasts fell dead. His father marvelled and asked his son to tell him about the Lord Christ. He believed in the Lord Christ at the hands of his son who baptized him.

After the ascension of the Lord Christ, he accompanied Paul and Barnabas to preach the Gospel in Antioch, Seleucia, Cyprus, Salamis, and Perga Pamphylia where he left them and returned to Jerusalem. After the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem, he went with Barnabas to Cyprus.

After the departure of Barnabas, with the order of the Lord Christ, St. Mark went to Afrikia, Berka, and the Five Western cities. He preached the Gospel in these parts, and believed on his hands most of its people. From there, he went to Alexandria in the 1st. of Bashans 61 A.D.

When he entered the city, his shoe was torn because of the much walking in preaching and evangelism. He went to a cobbler in the city, called Anianus, to repair it. While he was repairing it the awl pierced his finger. Anianus shouted in Greek saying "EIS THEOS" which means "O, ONE GOD". When St. Mark heard these words his heart rejoiced exceedingly. He found it suitable to talk to him about the One God. The Apostle took some clay, spat on it and applied it to Anianus' finger, saying in the Name of Jesus Christ the Son of God, and the wound healed immediately, as if nothing happened to it.

Anianus was exceedingly amazed from this miracle that happened in the Name of Jesus Christ, and his heart opened to the word of God. The Apostle asked him about who was the only God that he cried for when he was injured. Anianus replied "I heard about him, but I do not know him." St. Mark started explaining to him from the beginning, the creation of heaven and earth, the transgression and fall of Adam, the flood, how God sent Moses, who brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, and gave them the Law, the captivity of the children of Israel to Babylon, and the prophecies that foretold the coming of Christ.

Anianus invited him to go to his house and brought to him his children. The Saint preached and baptized them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

When the believers in the Name of Christ increased and the pagan people of the city heard that, they were raged with anger and thought of slaying St. Mark. The faithful advised him to get away for a short while for the sake of the safety of the church and its care. St. Mark ordained St. Anianus a Bishop for Alexandria, three priests and seven deacons. He went to the Five Western Cities, remained there for two years preaching, and ordained bishops, priests, and deacons.

He returned to Alexandria where he found the believers had increased in number, and built a church for them in the place known as Bokalia (The place of cows), east of Alexandria on the sea shore.

It came to pass, when he was celebrating the feast of the Resurrection on the 29th day of Baramudah, year 68 A.D., the same day coincided with the great pagan Celebration for the feast of the god Syrabis, a multitude of them assembled and attacked the church at Bokalia and forced their way in. They seized St. Mark, bound him with a thick rope and dragged him in the roads and streets crying, "Drag the dragon to the place of Cows." They continued dragging him with severe cruelty. His flesh was torn and scattered everywhere, and the ground of the city was covered with his blood. They cast him that night into a dark prison.

The angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him: "O Mark, the good servant, rejoice for your name has been written in the book of life, and you have been counted among the congregation of the saints." The angel disappeared, then the Lord Christ appeared to him, and gave him peace. His soul rejoiced and was glad.

The next morning (30th of Baramudah), the pagans took St. Mark from the prison. They tied his neck with a thick rope and did the same as the day before, dragging him over the rocks and stones. Finally, St. Mark delivered up his pure soul in the hand of God, and received the crown of martyrdom, the apostolic crown, the crown of evangelism, and the crown of virginity.

Nevertheless, St. Mark's death did not satisfy the rage of the pagans and their hatred. They gathered much firewood and prepared an inferno to burn him. A severe storm blew and heavy rains fell. The pagans became frightened, and they fled away in fear.

The believers came and took the holy body, carried it to the church they built at Bokalia, wrapped it up, prayed over him and place it in a coffin. They laid it in a secret place in this church.
The prayers of this great Saint and honorable Evangelist be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.

THE EIGHTH MONTH


Miyazia 30 (May 08)
30 Miyazia (Miyaza) ሚያዝያ - Geez (Ge'ez) Calendar – Ethiopian Calendar = Bermodah (Baramouda, Baramuda, Baramudah, Paremoude, Farmou) 30 - Coptic Calendar – Martyr Calendar

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND

THE HOLY SPIRIT, ONE GOD. AMEN.

On this day Saint Mark the evangelist and apostle, the first of the Archbishops of the city of Alexandria, became a martyr. The name of the father of this holy man was “Aristopolus,” and he was born in Cyrene (One of the Five Western Cities Pentapolis - in North Africa), and his mother’s name was Mary, and she is mentioned in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles.

Now the name of this apostle formerly was “John,” even as saith the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, for [it saith], “The Apostles were praying in the house of Mary, the mother of John, who is called ‘Mark the Apostle’” (Acts xii, 12). And this woman was rich, and she taught her son the Greek, and Hebrew languages. And when he was grown up, he took Barnabas with him into the preaching, when he departed with Saint Paul; and when he saw tribulation come upon them, and scourging, and disgrace in the country of Pamphylia, he forsook them and returned to Jerusalem.

When the Apostles returned to Jerusalem, and held converse together concerning the reception of the Gentiles into the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and considered how God had worked signs and wonders by their hands, he was sorry, and repented, because he was one of them. And he sought to go with them, but Saint Paul did not wish to take him because he had forsaken them, but he took Barnabas, and Saint Mark went to Saint Peter in the city of Rome, and became his disciple. And there he wrote for himself his Gospel, and Saint Peter interpreted (or, translated) it, and preached it in Rome; and after this he walked in the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the commandments of the holy apostles in the city of Alexandria, and he preached therein the preaching of the Holy Gospel. And he also preached in the country of Africa, and Berka, and Pentapolis [the Five Western cities in North Africa].

As he was coming to the city of Alexandria, the latchet of his sandal broke off from his foot, and when he reached the gates thereof he found a certain sandal-maker there, and the saint gave him his sandal to repair. As he was sewing the sandal, the awl pierced his finger, and blood ran down from it, and he said in the Greek language, “Estaas,” which is, being interpreted, “one God”. And Saint Mark said unto him, “Dost thou know God?” And he said unto him, “Certainly not. We utter His Name only, but we do not know Him.” And Saint Mark began to talk to him about the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, and how the transgression of our father Adam took place, and of the coming of the Flood, and how God sent Moses, who brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, and gave them the Law, and how the children of Israel were carried captives to the city of Babylon from Jerusalem, and how our Lord Jesus Christ became man, and how the prophets foretold His coming. And then the saint spat in the dust, and smeared it on the hands of the sandal-maker and he was healed straightway.

Now the name of the sandal-maker was “Anianus,” and he took Saint Mark to his house and he brought to him his sons and kinsfolk, and Saint Mark the apostle admonished them all, and taught them, and baptized them with Christian baptism in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. And when the believers on our Lord Jesus Christ increased, and the men of the city heard the report of Saint Mark, they gathered together, and wished to kill them.

And Saint Mark appointed Anianus archbishop, and he made his sons priests and deacons, and he went out to the city of Berka and to Pentapolis and preached in them, and strengthened the people in the Faith. And he remained with them two years, and he appointed bishops, and priests, and deacons over them, and then he returned to the city of Alexandria where the believers had increased in number.

And he built a church in a place, which is known as the “Field of Bulls,” on the shore of the sea; and the infidels sought for Saint Mark to kill him. And he visited Pentapolis very frequently, and when he came back he entered the city of Alexandria secretly.

One year he returned from Pentapolis and came into the church on the day of the festival of the Resurrection, which took place on the nineteenth day of the month of Miyazya, and all the people were round about him. And the infidels came into the church, and threw cords round the neck of Saint Mark, and dragged him about through the city, and they said also, “Let us drag him to the church in the ‘Field of the Bulls.’” And the blood of the saint was in every street of the city, and the district round about it, and the ends thereof.

When the night came, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared unto him in the form which He had when He was with the Apostles, and He gave him [the kiss of] peace, and strengthened him, and made a covenant with him, saying, “Behold, thou art the equal of thy brethren the Apostles”; and his soul rejoiced and was glad. And on the following day they put cords about his neck, and dragged him through the villages, and at the end of the day he delivered up his soul; and the infidels lighted a large fire and threw his body into it.

And by the good pleasure of our Lord Jesus Christ there came darkness, and a cold wind, and the sun hid his light, and there was lightning and thunder and rain and hail, and the infidels fled before them. And certain believing men came and took the body of Saint Mark, which was whole and had suffered no injury, and they wrapped it up for burial in fine cloths, and laid it in a secret place. Salutation to Mark, whose body was crowned with lightning, and rain, and hail.

Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen.