Official feasts used to be an important part of the human community. People would gather together to remember something sacred, express their faith and hope for the future, and / or just be together formally, recognizing each other as being part of a shared community. Few things express a desire for shared companionship and social intimacy more than dining together. Sadly, the gathering together for feasting is increasingly a relic of the past – at least here in the West.
It need not be so! Today we will remember the ancient feasts.
THE FEAST OF ST. MArk
This feast is a Christian religious celebration of St. Mark, the Evangelist, author of one of the Four Gospels.
Detail from a window in the parish church of SS Mary and Lambert, Stonham Aspal, Suffolk, with stained glass representing St Mark the Evangelist
Who is St. Mark?
Mark the Evangelist also known as John Mark or Saint Mark, is the person who is traditionally ascribed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark. Modern Bible scholars have concluded that the Gospel of Mark was written by an anonymous author rather than an identifiable historical figure. According to Church tradition, Mark founded the episcopal see of Alexandria, which was one of the five most important sees of early Christianity. His feast day is celebrated on April 25, and his symbol is the winged lion.
Identity
Mark the Evangelist's
symbol is the
winged lion, the
Lion of Saint Mark. Inscription:
PAX TIBI MARCE EVANGELISTA MEVS ('peace be upon you, Mark, my evangelist'). The same lion is also the symbol of
Venice (on illustration).
According to William Lane (1974), an "unbroken tradition" identifies Mark the Evangelist with John Mark, and John Mark as the cousin of Barnabas. However, Hippolytus of Rome, in On the Seventy Apostles, distinguishes Mark the Evangelist (2 Timothy 4:11), John Mark (Acts 12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37), and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10; Philemon 1:24). According to Hippolytus, they all belonged to the "Seventy Disciples" who were sent out by Jesus to disseminate the gospel (Luke 10:1ff.) in Judea.
According to Eusebius of Caesarea, Herod Agrippa I, in his first year of reign over the whole of Judea (AD 41), killed James, son of Zebedee and arrested Peter, planning to kill him after the Passover. Peter was saved miraculously by angels, and escaped out of the realm of Herod (Acts 12:1–19). Peter went to Antioch, then through Asia Minor (visiting the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, as mentioned in 1 Peter 1:1), and arrived in Rome in the second year of Emperor Claudius (AD 42). Somewhere on the way, Peter encountered Mark and took him as travel companion and interpreter. Mark the Evangelist wrote down the sermons of Peter, thus composing the Gospel according to Mark, before he left for Alexandria in the third year of Claudius (AD 43).
According to the Acts 15:39, Mark went to Cyprus with Barnabas after the Council of Jerusalem.
According to tradition, in AD 49, about 16 years after the Ascension of Jesus, Mark travelled to Alexandria and founded the Church of Alexandria, having already been in Egypt for 4-5 years. The Coptic Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, and the Coptic Catholic Church all trace their origins to this original community. Aspects of the Coptic liturgy can be traced back to Mark himself. He became the first bishop of Alexandria and he is honoured as the founder of Christianity in Africa.
According to Eusebius, Mark was succeeded by Anianus as the bishop of Alexandria in the eighth year of Nero (62/63), probably, but not definitely, due to his coming death. Later Coptic tradition says that he was martyred in 68.
Modern Bible scholars (i.e. most critical scholars) have concluded that the Gospel of Mark was written by an anonymous author rather than by Mark. For instance, the author of the Gospel of Mark knew very little about the geography of Palestine (having apparently never visited it), "was very far from being a peasant or a fisherman", was unacquainted with Jewish customs (unlikely for someone from Palestine), and was probably "a Hellenized Jew who lived outside of Palestine". Mitchell Reddish does concede that the name of the author might have been Mark (making the gospel possibly homonymous), but the identity of this Mark is unknown. Similarly, "Francis Moloney suggests the author was someone named Mark, though maybe not any of the Marks mentioned in the New Testament". The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus takes the same approach: the author was named Mark, but scholars are undecided who this Mark was.
The four canonical gospels are anonymous and most researchers agree that none of them was written by eyewitnesses. Some conservative researchers defend their traditional authorship, but for a variety of reasons most scholars have abandoned this theory or support it only tenuously.
Biblical and traditional information
Evidence for Mark the Evangelist's authorship of the Gospel of Mark that bears his name originates with Papias (c. 60 – c. 130 AD). Scholars of the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School are "almost certain" that Papias is referencing John Mark. Modern mainstream Bible scholars find Papias's information difficult to interpret.
The Coptic Church accords with identifying Mark the Evangelist with John Mark, as well as that he was one of the Seventy Disciples sent out by Jesus (Luke 10:1), as Hippolytus confirmed. Coptic tradition also holds that Mark the Evangelist hosted the disciples in his house after Jesus's death, that the resurrected Jesus came to Mark's house (John 20), and that the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples at Pentecost in the same house. Furthermore, Mark is also believed to have been among the servants at the Marriage at Cana who poured out the water that Jesus turned to wine (John 2:1–11).
According to the Coptic tradition, Mark was born in Cyrene, a city in the Pentapolis of North Africa (now Libya). This tradition adds that Mark returned to Pentapolis later in life, after being sent by Paul to Colossae (Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24.) Some, however, think these actually refer to Mark the Cousin of Barnabas), and serving with him in Rome (2 Timothy 4:11); from Pentapolis he made his way to Alexandria. When Mark returned to Alexandria, the pagans of the city resented his efforts to turn the Alexandrians away from the worship of their traditional gods. In AD 68, they placed a rope around his neck and dragged him through the streets until he was dead.
For an interesting video regarding the basilica built to house the relics of St. Mark, and some of the art therein (art which tells the story of how St. Mark's body was secretly moved from Alexandria to Venice), I direct you to the following:
How is the Feast Day of St. Mark celebrated?
via wiki
Sardinia
In Tresnuraghes, a small village in Sardinia (Italy), a traditional Sardinian feast is held. Local shepherd families in this predominantly pastoral community offer sheep and oversee cooking them in a gesture of thanks to Providence. Other families offer bread as thanksgiving or for favors desired. Hundreds of people, mostly from said village, but a large number of other people as well, eat and drink to satiation together.
Venice
The Feast of Saint Mark (Italian: Festa di san Marco), also known as the rosebud festival (Venetian: festa del bócoło), is a festival in Venice held on 25 April celebrating Venice's patron saint, Saint Mark. On this day, men traditionally give a single rosebud to the women they love.
According to legend, the tradition originated in the 8th century, when a man of low social standing is said to have fallen in love with a noblewoman from Venice. In order to win her father's approval, he became involved in a distant war. He was mortally wounded in battle, but managed to pluck a rose from a nearby rosebush for his loved one. A companion was entrusted with returning the blood-stained rose to his lover.
Lithuania
In Lithuania, St. Mark is considered the guardian of earth and harvests. There was a ban on eating meat in order to have a good harvest. People avoided "touching the earth", i.e. no plowing or digging, to give the earth a rest before the upcoming hard work of planting and harvest.
Mexico
This festivity is celebrated in the city of Aguascalientes, Mexico on the same date. It gives name to one of the most celebrated festivities, the Saint Mark National Fair (Spanish: Feria Nacional de San Marcos) which runs generally for three weeks around this date.
What do you eat to celebrate the Feast Day of St. Mark?
St. Mark is the Patron Saint of Barristers, Venice, Egypt, Copts, Mainar, Podgorica Pangil, and Laguna and his Gospel is associated with the symbol of a winged lion. I think a tradition-steep or creative person has a lot of options from which to choose.
If you to make something shaped like a winged lion, a barrister, a winged lion barrister, or something to honor one of the places for which he is a Patron Saint, I would definitely love to see it. I am drawn to his backstory in North Africa, though, and the Church he presided over in Alexandria. I am also drawn to desserts. So how about an Egyptian dessert?
Egyptian Baklava Recipe With Homemade Syrup
Ingredients
- FOR THE BAKLAVA
- 16 oz package of Fillo Dough
- 2 sticks butter (about 1 cup)
- ½ cup shredded coconut
- ¼ cup walnuts
- ¼ cup pecans
- 1/3 cup almonds
- ½ cup pistachios
- FOR THE SYRUP
- 3 cups sugar
- 3 cups water
- ½ lemon, squeezed for juice
Directions
- TO MAKE THE SYRUP
- Place the sugar, water and lemon juice in a pot on the stovetop. Mix well
- Turn heat to medium-high and allow the mixture to boil
- Boil until the mixture has a thick, "honey-like" consistency
- Remove from heat and set aside until ready to use
- TO MAKE THE BAKLAVA
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Grind the pistachios in a food processor. Set aside until ready to use
- Next, grind the almonds, pecans, walnuts and coconut together in the food processor. Set aside for now
- Melt the butter completely in the microwave (should take about 1-2 minutes)
- Spread about three tablespoons of butter on the bottom of a 17 x 11 inch pan
- Roll out the fillo dough on a flat surface
- Take about 2-3 sheets of the fillo dough and place them flat in the pan. Using a brush (or your hands) spread butter evenly over the top fillo sheet
- Grab 2-3 more sheets of fillo dough and place them over the layer you just buttered. Repeat the buttering of the top layer again using a brush or your hands
- Repeat this step until you've gone through slightly more than half of the fillo dough package. This will be the bottom layer of your baklava. Save the rest of the fillo dough for later
- Next, cover the fillo dough you last buttered with the crushed nut mixture you processed earlier (the walnut, almond, coconut, pecan mixture only – NOT the pistachio mixture)
- Make sure the nut mixture is spread evenly
- Now, you'll repeat steps 7-8 again to complete the top layers of your baklava. Again, just place 2-3 sheets of fillo dough over the crushed nut mixture and brush with butter, repeating until you have finished all the remaining fillo dough
- Cover the topmost layer of the baklava generously with butter
- Using a serrated knife, cut the baklava into even 2 x 2 squares
- Pour any remaining butter over the top so that it seeps through the cracks of the cuts you made
- Place in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes (bake time may vary depending on oven, Baklava should be a light golden brown when done)
- Once done baking, remove from oven and immediately pour the syrup you prepared earlier all over the baklava. Make sure to cover generously and evenly
- Lastly, sprinkle the crushed pistachios on each individual Baklava square
What is a prayer you might say to celebrate the Feast Day of St. Mark?
via mycatholicprayers.com
Prayer to St. Mark
O Glorious St Mark,
through the grace of God
our Father, you became
a great Evangelist, preaching
the Good News of Christ.
May you help us to know Him
well, so that we may
faithfully live our lives
as followers of Christ.
When is the Feast Day of St. Mark celebrated?
The Feast Day of St. Mark is celebrated on 25 April.
I hope everyone who celebrates has a wonderful day!
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