Saint Mark's Day.
The
Collect.
O ALMIGHTY
God, who hast instructed thy holy Church with the heavenly doctrine of thy
Evangelist Saint Mark; Give us grace, that, being not like children carried
away with every blast of vain doctrine, we may be established in the truth of
thy holy Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Mark is
generally identified with the "John, whose surname is Mark," son of
the Mary to whose house St. Peter repaired after his deliverance from prison (Acts
xii. 12), and nephew of Barnabas. He was "minister" to
St. Paul and St. Barnabas in part of their first missionary journey; but left
them at Perga, and was therefore on the second journey rejected by St. Paul
(with the effect of quarrel with St. Barnabas), and subsequently became
companion to St. Barnabas in Cyprus (Acts
xiii. 4, 13; xv. 36-39). Afterwards he is named by St. Peter (1 Pet.
v. 13) as "Marcus, my son," and it is clear from Col.
iv. 10, Philemon
24,
and 2 Tim.
iv. 11, that he was gradually restored to St. Paul's confidence,
and sent for to minister to him in his last imprisonment. Early and trustworthy
tradition declares him the amanuensis of St. Peter in his Gospel; other
tradition, less assured, makes him bishop of Alexandria and martyr there. --
April 25th.
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