The Lives of the Saints through 100 Masterpieces

Mark

The Lives of the Saints 154 Mark April 25 He was not one of the original 12 disciples of Christ. Still, some say that Mark was present at the Mount of Olives on the night of the Lord’s arrest, specifically that it was he who ran away naked, escaping from the hands of his pursuers by leaving the cloth that covered him behind. After the Resurrection, tradition has it that Mark accompanied Saint Peter to Rome and there composed his Gospel under the supervision of Saint Peter, perhaps even taking down the apostle’s own words. The first pope then sent him to evangelize Alexandria. His first miracle upon arrival was healing the hand of the cobbler Anianus, who had injured himself when repairing the evangelist’s shoe. This cure brought about the conversion of Anianus, who eventually succeeded Mark as bishop of Alexandria. Shortly afterward, the evangelist was martyred, but his body was preserved from burning by a miraculous rainfall. In 468 (another tradition dates it to 829), Venetian merchants obtained his relics and brought them to their city, which provided the saint with the opportunity to work a profusion of miracles even more astonishing than those performed during his lifetime. He even saved a Muslim sailor who, in the distress of a shipwreck, promised Saint Mark that he would convert to Christianity should he be saved. However, the man subsequently forgot his vow, which prompted Saint Mark to appear to him and remind him of his promise . This time, the sailor went to Venice to be baptized, taking Mark for his Christian name. Tintoretto (alias, Jacopo Robusti) (1518–1594) Saint Mark Saves the Shipwrecked Muslim Confraternity of St. Mark, Venice ...