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Saint Mark the Evangelist

Saint Mark the Evangelist is honored as the founder and first patriarch of the Coptic Church, a Gospel writer, and a martyr whose commemoration falls on 30 Baramudah.[^1][^2]

Also known as: John Mark · Mark I · Saint Mark the Apostle · Mark the Apostle

Published 10/1/2026Updated 4 revisionsPage history

Identity and sources

Saint Mark the Evangelist, also known as John Mark, is traditionally regarded as the author of the Gospel of Mark and the first patriarch of the Coptic Church.1 The Egyptian Church honors him as its patron saint and commemorates his martyrdom on 30 Baramudah.2

The supplied biographical entry acknowledges the scarcity of historical sources and explicitly presents the Coptic traditional account, drawing on the work of Pope Shenouda III.1

Early life and missionary work

According to that account, Mark was born in Cyrene into a Jewish family that later moved to Jerusalem; his mother, Mary, supported his education in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.3 The narrative describes his missionary journeys with Paul and Barnabas through Antioch and Cyprus, followed by his departure from them at Perga and return to Jerusalem.4

The sources differ concerning his relationship to Jesus: the biographical entry calls him one of the Twelve, while its continuation identifies him with the seventy disciples recognized in Coptic tradition; Papias, quoted in the Gospel entry, states that Mark had neither heard nor followed Jesus, but subsequently followed Peter.156

Mission in Alexandria

Mark’s arrival in Alexandria dates to AD 42 and his martyrdom there to AD 68.7 The traditional conversion narrative centers on Anianus, a cobbler who injured his hand while repairing Mark’s sandal: Mark is said to have healed him, preached to him, and baptized his household.8

As the community grew and opposition increased, Mark ordained Anianus as bishop, together with three presbyters and seven deacons, before leaving Alexandria temporarily.8 On his return, he found that the Christians had established a church at Bucalis beside the eastern harbor; Anianus subsequently succeeded him as patriarch.8

The Gospel

Papias’s testimony, preserved by Eusebius, describes Mark as Peter’s interpreter who accurately recorded what he remembered of the Lord’s words and deeds, though not in systematic order.6 The Coptic biographical account accepts Petrine material in the Gospel but rejects the conclusion that Mark merely transcribed Peter’s dictation.9

The supplied sources also present differing dates of composition: the biography discusses a date around AD 45, whereas its continuation reports a scholarly preference for the sixties of the first century.910

Martyrdom and relics

The martyrdom narrative recounts that a hostile crowd seized Mark while he was leading Easter prayers at Bucalis in AD 68, when Easter coincided with a festival of Serapis.10 It describes his being dragged through Alexandria, imprisoned overnight, and dragged again the following day until he died; Christians then buried him beneath the altar of the Bucalis church.11

The relic account states that his body was taken to Venice in 828.11 It further records that relics were returned to the Coptic Church in 1968 and deposited by Pope Cyril VI in the crypt of the new Cathedral of Saint Mark at Dayr Anba Ruways.12

Veneration and legacy

Mark’s customary iconographic emblem is the winged lion.12 Coptic tradition attributes to him an early eucharistic text transmitted to Anianus and later edited by Cyril the Great; the liturgical entry identifies the Anaphora of Saint Cyril as a recension of the anaphoric portion of the Greek Liturgy of Saint Mark.1314

Tradition also associates Mark with the beginnings of the Catechetical School of Alexandria, while this early nucleus should not be equated with the elaborate institution of later centuries.15

References

Sources

  1. 1.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 439)
    MARK, SAINT, one of the Twelve Apostles of Christ, traditionally regarded as author of the Gospel of Mark and first patriarch of the Coptic church (feast day: 30 Baramudah). The meager historical sources on Saint Mark's life have given rise to conflicting accounts about his personality and even about his Gospel. ... Consequently, we have tried in these pages to summarize the work written ex cathedra by Anba SHENOUDA III, pope of Alexandria and 117th patriarch of the See of Saint Mark. ... Mark, also known in scripture as John Mark
  2. 2.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 181)
    Saint Mark, the patron saint of the Egyptian church, is known in ecclesiastical records and in the diptychs as "the beholder of God, the Evangelist Mark, the holy apostle and martyr." The Coptic church commemorates his martyrdom on 30 Baramudah.
  3. 3.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 439)
    Mark, also known in scripture as John Mark, was born in Cyrene, capital of Cyrenaica, in North Africa, some time after the dawn of the first century into a comfortable Jewish family engaged in agriculture. ... Owing to Berber inroads, the family decided to emigrate to Palestine, where they settled at a new home in Jerusalem just about the time when Jesus began to emerge into prominence. Mark's father died shortly afterward, and his mother, Mary, devoted her fortune to obtaining a thorough education for her son. Mark ultimately became very proficient not only in Hebrew but also in Greek and Lat
  4. 4.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 440)
    Because of his youth, Mark chose to start his mission in Asia in the company of the older missionaries Saint PAUL and Saint Barnabas. With them he went to Antioch, then to Seleucia, sailing afterward to Cyprus ... From Paphos, the missionaries sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, Asia Minor, where Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem.
  5. 5.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 440)
    Thus young Mark occupied a place among the disciples, and the Coptic church recognizes him as one of the seventy appointed by Jesus during his life on earth to go and spread the news of the Kingdom of God (Lk. 10:1-12).
  6. 6.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 379)
    The earliest extant reference to the Gospel of Mark was written by Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, in a lost treatise from around 140 and is preserved as a quotation by Eusebius: This also the Elder said: Mark, who became Peter's interpreter, wrote accurately, though not in order, all that he remembered of the things said and done by the Lord. For he had neither heard the Lord nor been one of his followers, but afterward, as I said, he had followed Peter
  7. 7.The Coptic Encyclopedia — Introduction — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 59)
    The establishment of the Coptic church came to pass at the hands of Saint Mark the Evangelist, who became its first patriarch between A.D. 42, the year of his entry into Alexandria, and 68, the year of his martyrdom in the same city.
  8. 8.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 344)
    ANIANUS, the immediate successor as patriarch (68-85) to Saint MARK I the Evangelist and his first convert to the new religion in the region of Alexandria. ... He found a cobbler named Anianus to repair it. While working on the sandal, an awl slipped and pierced Anianus' hand. ... Mark was invited to Anianus' home, where he taught his family the Gospel and baptized them all. ... He ordained Anianus as bishop, together with three presbyters and seven deacons, to watch over the spiritual welfare of the flock during his absence. ... He returned to Alexandria to find that the new faithful had mult
  9. 9.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 443)
    It is sometimes suggested that Peter dictated it to him. ... But this does not imply that Mark only recorded for Peter, his senior in years ... Consequently, this Gospel, like the other Gospels, must have contained eyewitness source material of Petrine origin. ... the Gospel is said to have been known some twelve years after the Crucifixion, which fixes its composition around the year 45
  10. 10.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 444)
    According to modern scholars, however, dating the Gospel of Mark from the sixties of the first century is given priority ... In 68, Easter fell on the same day as the festival of the popular pagan god Serapis. A large group congregated in the temple to Serapis on the occasion and decided to move against the Christians, who, with Mark leading their prayers, were celebrating Easter at their Bucalis church. The mob forced its way into the church and seized the saint
  11. 11.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 445)
    around his neck, and dragged him about the streets. With the connivance of the authorities, Mark was incarcerated for the night. ... On the following day, he was again dragged over the cobbled roads of Alexandria, his body becoming lacerated and his blood covering the ground, until he finally died. ... The Christians stealthily removed the body of the saint and secretly buried him in a grave that they speedily carved in the rock under the altar of the Bucalis church ... The body of Saint Mark had been left at Bucalis, but it was stolen by Venetian pirates in 828 and carried to their city.
  12. 12.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 446)
    In 1968, with the progress of rapprochement between the churches of Rome and Alexandria, the Catholic papacy decided to return the relics of Saint Mark in Venice to the Coptic church. These were ceded to CYRIL VI, who deposited them in a formidable granite casket inside the crypt of the new Cathedral of Saint Mark on the grounds of DAYR ANBA RUWAYS ... He has usually been depicted with his emblem, the winged lion.
  13. 13.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 447)
    First, according to tradition, it is said that Saint Mark composed the first Sunday mass to be recited by the faithful in church, and that he delivered its text to his successor, Anianus.
  14. 14.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 466)
    MARK, LITURGY OF SAINT, a Greek liturgy once used in the Church of Alexandria. A recension of its anaphoric part is found in the EUCHOLOGION of the Coptic church as the Anaphora of Saint CYRIL.
  15. 15.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 448)
    the fifth century, when this patriarch took that inherited text and edited it in the form that has reached us as the Cyrillian mass. ... Saint Mark's second monumental contribution to the church is said to be the foundation of the CATECHETICAL SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA ... It would, of course, be a mistake to see the highly elaborate institution of Christian learning of the third through fifth centuries as deriving directly from the nucleus established by Mark.

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