ST. MARK THE EVANGELIST (APRIL 25TH)
St Mark the Evangelist, 1657, by Emmanuel Tzanes, on the Google Art Project By Bp. Joseph Boyd ( Ancient Church of the West ) Introduction St. Mark is an oft overlooked character in Western Christianity. He is believed to have been John Mark, whose mother's house was used as a meeting place for the Apostles. (Acts 12:12) Some traditions assert that he may have been the young disciple mentioned in passing in several places in the Gospel of Mark, who followed Christ after His arrest. (Mark 14:51) He is commonly pictured as a bystander, an inconsequential figure, a mere sidekick of Sts. Paul and Barnabas, but he was also present with St. Peter in Rome before his martyrdom. (Acts 12:25, 13: 5) He is painted as a late-comer to the project of writing the Gospels, dependent on the Gospel of Matthew, which mirrors the same content and often uses the same words and phrases, but in different order, and a “lesser witness” to the Life of Christ. Churches Founded by St....
