Saints of this Day April 25  Séptimo Kaléndas Maji
Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!
(Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
The saints are a “cloud of witnesses over our head”,
showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.
Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary

Mary's Divine Motherhood
Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).
Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.
Needless to say, Our Lady is the mother of humankind and she particularly favors mothers and those who live and care for their families and children, as she lived in close union with her Son and husband.  Mary's love is the love of a mother for us her children and the love of Jesus' mother for her Son. It's the pure love which brought up the Savior of the World and which now points us, her children, towards Him. The way to God is through Jesus (cf Jn 14:6) and His mother wants to lead us by the hand to her Son, where we will find eternal peace and joy.  It is through the love of Jesus that we experience complete joy. "I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete. This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you" (Jn 15:11-12).
See http://www.maryslove.com/html/links.html

Alexandríæ natális beáti Marci Evangelístæ.  Hic, discípulus et intérpres Apóstoli Petri, rogátus Romæ a frátribus scripsit Evangélium, quo assúmpto, perréxit in Ægyptum, primúsque Alexandríæ Christum annúntians, constítuit Ecclésiam; ac póstea, pro fide Christi tentus, fúnibus vinctus et per saxa raptátus, gráviter afflíctus est; deínde, reclúsus in cárcere, primo angélica visitatióne confortátus est, et demum, ipso Dómino sibi apparénte, ad cæléstia regna vocátus, octávo Nerónis anno.
    At Alexandria, the birthday of St. Mark the Evangelist, disciple and interpreter of the apostle St. Peter.  He wrote his gospel at the request of the faithful at Rome, and taking it with him, proceeded to Egypt and founded a church at Alexandria, where he was the first to preach Christ.  Afterwards, being arrested for the faith, he was bound, dragged over stones, and endured great afflictions.  Finally he was confined to prison, where, being comforted by the visit of an angel, and even by an apparition of our Lord himself, he was called to the heavenly kingdom in the eighth year of the reign of Nero.

74 ST MARK, EVANGELIST (c. A.D.)
    FOR our knowledge of the personal history of St Mark, the author of the second gospel, we are dependent more or less upon conjecture. It is generally believed that he must be identical with the “John surnamed Mark” of Acts xii 12 and 25, and that the Mary whose house in Jerusalem was a kind of rendezvous for the apostles was consequently his mother. From Col. iv 10 we learn that Mark was a kinsman of St Barnabas who, as stated in Acts iv 36, was a Levite and a Cypriot, and from this it is not unlikely that St Mark was of a levitical family himself.
    When Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch, after leaving in Jerusalem the alms they had brought, they took John surnamed Mark with them, and in their apostolic mission at Salamis in Cyprus, Mark helped them in their ministry (Acts xiii 5), but when they were at Perga in Pamphylia he left and returned to Jerusalem (Acts xiii 13). St Paul seems consequently to have suspected Mark of a certain instability, and later, when preparing for a visitation of the churches in Cilicia and the rest of Asia Minor, he refused to include John Mark, though Barnabas desired his company. The difference of opinion ended in Barnabas separating from St Paul and going with Mark again to Cyprus. None the less when Paul was undergoing his first captivity in Rome, Mark was with him and a help to him (Col. iv 10). Also in his second Roman captivity, shortly before his martyrdom, St Paul writes to Timothy, then at Ephesus, enjoining him to “take Mark and bring him with thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry”.

  On the other hand tradition testifies strongly in the sense that the author of the second gospel was intimately associated with St Peter.  Clement of Alexandria (as reported by Eusebius), Irenaeus and Papias speak of St Mark as the interpreter or mouthpiece of St Peter, though Papias declares that Mark had not heard the Lord and had not been His disciple. In spite of this last utterance, many commentators incline to the view that the young man (Mark xiv 51) who followed our Lord after His arrest was no other than Mark himself. What is certain is that St Peter, writing from Rome (I Peter v 13), speaks “my son Mark” who apparently was there with him. We can hardly doubt that this was the evangelist, and there is at any rate nothing which conclusively shows that this young man is a different person from the “John surnamed Mark” of the Acts.
    Turning to more uncertain documents, we have in the first place to note a curiously sober narrative—sober in the sense that the miraculous element is very restrained and the local knowledge exceptional—which purports to have been written by the same John Mark to give an account of that second visit of Barnabas and himself to Cyprus, which ended in the martyrdom of the former, here assigned to A.D. 53. It is noteworthy that the compiler of this apocryphal “passion” had apparently no idea that Mark was himself the author of the second gospel, for great prominence is given to the possession by Barnabas of a record of our Lord’s sayings and doings which he had obtained from St Matthew. This seems an unlikely detail to be invented and put in the mouth of one who was himself known to be one of the four evangelists. On the other hand the concluding passage represents Mark as sailing for Alexandria and there devoting himself to the work of teaching others “what he had learned from the apostles of Christ”.

That St Mark lived for some years in Alexandria and became bishop of that see is an ancient tradition, though his connection with their native city is not mentioned either by Clement of Alexandria or by Origen. Eusebius, however, records it, and so also does the ancient Latin preface to the vulgate of St Mark’s Gospel. This last notice, referring to some personal deformity of the evangelist, mentioned also at an earlier date by Hippolytus, suggests that it was a mutilation self-inflicted to prevent his ordination to the priesthood of which he deemed himself unworthy. But while it is quite probable that St Mark did end his days as bishop of Alexandria, we can put no confidence in the “acts” of his supposed martyrdom. These are briefly summarized in the notice which still stands in the Roman Martyrology:
“At Alexandria, the birthday of St Mark the Evangelist, who was the disciple and interpreter of Peter the Apostle. He was sent for to Rome by the brethren and there wrote a gospel, and having finished it, went into Egypt. He was the first to preach Christ at Alexandria and formed a church there. Later he was arrested for his faith in Christ, bound with cords and grievously tortured by being dragged over stones. Then, while shut up in prison, he was comforted by the visit of an angel, and finally, after our Lord Himself had appeared to him, he was called to the heavenly kingdom in the eighth year of Nero.”
The city of Venice claims to possess the body of St Mark which is supposed to have been brought there from Alexandria early in the ninth century. The authenticity of the remains preserved for so many hundred years has not passed unquestioned, and in any case it may be doubted whether the percolation of water, which for long periods rendered the subterranean confessio where they repose quite inaccessible, has not wrought irreparable damage to the frail contents of the shrine. It is certain, however, that St Mark has been honoured from time immemorial as principal patron of the city. St Mark’s emblem, the lion, like the emblems of the other evangelists, is of very ancient date. Already in the time of St Augustine and St Jerome, “the four living creatures” of Apoc. iv 7—8 were held to be typical of the evangelists, and these holy doctors were reduced to tracing a connection between St Mark and his lion by the consideration that St Mark’s Gospel begins with a mention of the desert and that the lion is lord of the desert.
    On St Mark’s day are celebrated the litaniae majores, but it should be pointed out that this solemn procession, formerly associated with a fast, has no connection of origin with the festival of the holy evangelist. It is not improbable that the litaniae majores date back in Rome to the time of St Gregory the Great or even earlier, whereas the liturgical recognition of St Mark on this day was only introduced at a much later period. There can be no reasonable doubt, as Mgr Duchesne long ago pointed out, that the ceremony and prayers of the litany (i.e. supplications) are no more than the christianized adaptation of the Robigalia occurring on the same day, which are commemorated in Ovid’s Fasti. Of this pagan procession and lustration something has been said under Candlemas day, February 2.

John Mark is in the Greek Menaon on September 27, and on the same date the Roman Martyrology has: “At Byblos in Phoenicia, St Mark the bishop, who by blessed Luke is also called John and who was the son of that blessed Mary whose memory is noted on June 29”. That he became a bishop at Byblos or elsewhere is a tradition of the Greeks, from whom the West acquired it.

St. Mark April 25, 2007 
Most of what we know about Mark comes directly from the New Testament. He is usually identified with the Mark of Acts 12:12. (When Peter escaped from prison, he went to the home of Mark's mother.)
Paul and Barnabas took him along on the first missionary journey, but for some reason Mark returned alone to Jerusalem. It is evident, from Paul's refusal to let Mark accompany him on the second journey despite Barnabas's insistence, that Mark had displeased Paul. Later, Paul asks Mark to visit him in prison so we may assume the trouble did not last long.
The oldest and the shortest of the four Gospels, the Gospel of Mark emphasizes Jesus' rejection by humanity while being God's triumphant envoy. Probably written for Gentile converts in Rome—after the death of Peter and Paul sometime between A.D. 60 and 70—Mark's Gospel is the gradual manifestation of a "scandal": a crucified Messiah.
Evidently a friend of Mark (Peter called him "my son"), Peter is only one of the Gospel sources, others being the Church in Jerusalem (Jewish roots) and the Church at Antioch (largely Gentile).
Like one other Gospel writer, Luke, Mark was not one of the 12 apostles. We cannot be certain whether he knew Jesus personally. Some scholars feel that the evangelist is speaking of himself when describing the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane: "Now a young man followed him wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body. They seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked" (Mark 14:51-52).
Others hold Mark to be the first bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Venice, famous for the Piazza San Marco, claims Mark as its patron saint; the large basilica there is believed to contain his remains.
A winged lion is Mark's symbol. The lion derives from Mark's description of John the Baptist as a "voice of one crying out in the desert" (Mark 1:3), which artists compared to a roaring lion. The wings come from the application of Ezekiel's vision of four winged creatures (Ezekiel, chapter one) to the evangelists.
Comment:    Mark fulfilled in his life what every Christian is called to do: proclaim to all people the Good News that is the source of salvation. In particular, Mark's way was by writing. Others may proclaim the Good News by music, drama, poetry or by teaching children around a family table.
Quote:    There is very little in Mark that is not in the other Gospels—only four passages. One is: “...This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come” (Mark 4:26-29).

75 Mark, Evangelist according to Papias, "he had neither heard the Lord, nor ever been his disciple, but later had attended Peter, who composed his teachings to suit the needs of the moment, but did not profess to make a regular collection of the Lord's sayings. And so Mark made no mistakes; writing down the particulars just as he remembered them."(RM)
The Holy Disciple and Evangelist Mark, named also John-Mark (Acts 12: 12), was a Disciple from among the Seventy, and was also a nephew of the Disciple Barnabas (Comm. 11 June). He was born at Jerusalem. The house of his mother Mary adjoined the Garden of Gethsemane. As Church Tradition relates, on the night of the Sufferings of Christ on the Cross he followed after Him, wrapped in a linen winding-cloth, and he fled from the soldiers catching hold of him (Mk. 14: 51-52). After the Ascension of the Lord, the house of his mother Saint Mary became a place of prayerful gatherings of Christians and a lodging for certain of the Apostles (Acts 12: 12).
      Saint Mark was a very close companion of the Apostles Peter and Paul (Comm. 29 June) and of the Disciple Barnabas. Saint Mark was at Seleucia together with Paul and Barnabas, and from there he set off to the island of Cyprus, and he crossed over the whole of it from East to West.

After working with the Apostle Paul, Saint Mark returned to Jerusalem, and then with the Apostle Peter he arrived in Rome, from whence at the latter's bidding he set out for Egypt, where he became founder of the Church.   During the time of the second evangelic journey of the Apostle Paul, Saint Mark met up with him at Antioch. From there he set out preaching with the Disciple Barnabas to Cyprus, and then he went off again to Egypt, where together with the Apostle Peter he founded many churches, and then also at Babylon. From this city the Apostle Peter directed an Epistle to the Christians of Asia Minor, in which he points to Saint Mark as his spiritual son (1 Pet. 5: 13).  When the Apostle Paul came in chains to Rome, the Disciple Mark was at Ephesus, where the cathedra-seat was occupied by Saint Timothy (Comm. 4 January). The Disciple Mark arrived together with him in Rome. There also he wrote his holy Gospel (c. 62-63).
From Rome Saint Mark again set off to Egypt. At Alexandria he made the beginnings of a Christian school, from which later on emerged such famous fathers and teachers of the Church, as Clement of Alexandria, Sainted Dionysios (5 October), Sainted Gregory Thaumatourgos ("Wonderworker", Comm. 5 November), and others. Zealous with the arranging of Church Divine-services, the holy Disciple Mark compiled the order of Liturgy for the Alexandrian Christians.  Later on in preaching the Gospel, Saint Mark also visited the inner regions of Africa, and he was in Libya at Nektopolis.
During the time of these journeys, Saint Mark received inspiration of the Holy Spirit to go again to Alexandria and confront the pagans.

There he visited at the home of the dignitary Ananias, for whom he healed a crippled hand. The dignitary happily took him in, hearkened with faith to his narratives, and received Baptism. And following the example of Ananias, many of the inhabitants of that part of the city where he lived were baptised after him. This roused the enmity of the pagans, and they gathered to kill Saint Mark. Having learned of this, the holy Disciple Mark made Ananias bishop, and the three Christians: Malchos, Sabinos and Kerdinos – presbyters.
The pagans pounced upon Saint Mark when he was making Divine-services. They beat him, dragged him through the streets and threw him in prison. There Saint Mark was granted a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who strengthened him before his sufferings. On the following day the angry crowd again dragged the holy disciple through the streets towards the court-room, but along the way Saint Mark died with the words: "Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit".

The pagans wanted to burn the body of the holy disciple. But when they lit up the bon-fire, everything grew dim, thunder crashed and an earthquake occurred. The pagans fled in terror, and Christians took up the body of the holy disciple and buried it in a stone crypt. This was on 4 April in the year 63. The Church celebrates his memory on 25 April.

In the year 310, a church was built over the relics of the holy Disciple Mark. In the year 820, when the Mahometan Arabs had established their rule in Egypt and those of this different faith oppressed the Christian Church, the relics of Saint Mark were transferred to Venice and placed in the church of his name.
In the ancient iconographic tradition, which adopted symbols for the holy Evangelists borrowed from the vision of Saint John the Theologian (Rev. 4: 7), the holy Evangelist Mark is depicted by a lion – symbolising the might and royal dignity of Christ (Rev. 5: 5). Saint Mark wrote his Gospel for Christians from among the gentile-pagans, since he emphasises predominantly the words and deeds of the Saviour, in which particularly is manifest His Divine Almightiness. The many particularities of his account can be explained by his proximity to the holy Apostle Peter. All the ancient writers testify, that the Gospel of Mark represents a concise writing-down of the preaching and narratives of the first-ranked Apostle Peter. One of the central theological themes in the Gospel of Saint Mark is the theme of the power of God, doing the humanly impossible, wherein the Lord makes possible that which of man is impossible. By the efficacy of Christ (Mk. 16: 20) and the Holy Spirit (Mk. 13: 11), His disciples are to go forth into the world and preach the Gospel to all creatures (Mk. 13: 10, 16: 15).© 1996-2001 by translator Fr. S. Janos.

Called in the Gospel “the Mother of Jesus,” Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as “the Mother of my Lord” (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly “Mother of God” (Theotokos). 
“The Blessed Virgin was eternally predestined, in conjunction with the incarnation of the divine Word, to be the Mother of God. By decree of divine Providence, she served on earth as the loving mother of the divine Redeemer, an associate of unique nobility, and the Lord's humble handmaid. She conceived, brought forth, and nourished Christ.”

THE EUCHARIST, A MYSTERY TO BE BELIEVED POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI

   THE saints and just, from the beginning of time and throughout the world, who have been made perfect, everlasting monuments of God’s infinite power and clemency, praise His goodness without ceasing; casting their crowns before His throne they give to Him all the glory of their triumphs: “His gifts alone in us He crowns.”

The POPES HTML
“The answers to many of life's questions can be found by reading the Lives of the Saints. They teach us how to overcome obstacles and difficulties, how to stand firm in our faith, and how to struggle against evil and emerge victorious.”  1913 Saint Barsanuphius

 “To withdraw into the desert is for Christians tantamount to associating themselves more intimately with Christ’s passion, and it enables them, in a very special way, to share in the paschal mystery and in the passage of Our Lord from this world to the heavenly homeland” (#1).


Benedict XVI_Archbishop_Hilarion
Benedict XVI receives Orthodox Archbishop Hilarion n September 18th, Pope Benedict XVI;  Archbishop Hilarion, president of the Department for External Church Affairs of the Patriarchate of Moscow.
The Orthodox Archbishop is currently visiting the Vatican at the invitation of Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
This Pontifical Council underlined that the visit will confirm the ties of friendship between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, with a view to closer collaboration and to favor the presence of the Church in the lives of the peoples of Europe and the world.
In addition, a further step in ecumenical relations is scheduled for the month of October in Cyprus: the meeting of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, which will address the theme of Petrine Primacy.

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 39
Expecting, I have expected thy grace: and thou hast done with me
according to the multitude of the mercies of thy name.
Thou hast heard my prayers: and thou hast led me out of the den of misery, and from the pit of the enemy.
Manifold and wonderful are thy gifts, O Lady: incomparable are the gifts of thy graces.
Let all those exult and rejoice in thee who love thee: let them who have hated thy name, fall into hell.
Blessed be thou forever, O Lady: forever, world without end.
O Lady, let not the Lord rebuke me in His anger: obtain for us pardon for our sins.
Let all our desire be in thy sight: our hope and our confidence.
My heart is troubled within me: light departs from my interior,
Enlighten with thy brightness my blindness: sweeten with thy sweetness my contrite heart.
Forsake us not, O Lady, Mother of God: let thy grace and thy power be at my right hand.

Join us on CatholicVote.org. Be part of a new movement committed to using powerful media projects to create a Culture of Life. We can help shape the movement and have a voice in its future. Check it out at www.CatholicVote.org

Saint Frances Xavier Seelos  Practical Guide to Holiness

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee.  I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not
O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.  I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  I beg the conversion of poor sinners,  Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace

The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.

Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

How do I start the Five First Saturdays?

DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.

As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.
Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
 Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
 Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.

Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.

1.    Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2.    I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3.    The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4.    It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means.  5.    The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6.    Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7.    Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8.    Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.    I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10.    The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.  11.    You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12.    I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13.    I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14.    All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15.    Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
  Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., V,xxiii).
Aramaic continued to be an important language for Jews, alongside Hebrew, and parts of the Talmud are written in it.

Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.

To Save A Life is Earthly; Saving A Soul is Eternal Donation by mail, please send check or money order to:

Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament

Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited. 
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy:  “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.” 

Thus began a great adventure that would eventually result in the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a Temple dedicated to the Divine Child Jesus, a place of refuge for all. Use this link to read a remarkable story about The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Father Reardon, Editor of The Catholic Bulletin for 14 years Lover of the poor; “A very Holy Man of God.”

America's First Basilica Largest Nave in the World

James M. Reardon Publication History of Basilica of Saint Mary 1600-1932

James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872;  Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;
Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.

The only replicas ever made:  in order from west to east {1932}.

Saints Simon (saw), Bartholomew (knife), James the Lesser (book), John (eagle), Andrew (transverse cross), Peter keys), Paul (sword), James the Greater (staff), Thomas (carpenter's square), Philip (serpent), Matthew (book), and Jude sword

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi. Site http://www.fathercorapi Site http://www.fathercorapi

St. Mark (John Mark) 2nd Gospel before year 60 Greek for Christian Gentile converts St. Paul St. Barnabas associates (who was Mark's cousin) Patron of notaries
St. Mark

The second Gospel was written by St. Mark, who, in the New Testament, is sometimes called John Mark. Both he and his mother, Mary, were highly esteemed in the early Church, and his mother's house in Jerusalem served as a meeting place for Christians there.  St. Mark was associated with St. Paul and St. Barnabas (who was Mark's cousin) on their missionary journey through the island of Cyprus. Later he accompanied St. Barnabas alone. We know also that he was in Rome with St. Peter and St. Paul. Tradition ascribes to him the founding of the Church in Alexandria.
St. Mark wrote the second Gospel, probably in Rome sometime before the year 60 A.D.; he wrote it in Greek for the Gentile converts to Christianity. Tradition tells us that St. Mark was requested by the Romans to set down the teachings of St. Peter. This seems to be confirmed by the position which St. Peter has in this Gospel. In this way the second Gospel is a record of the life of Jesus as seen through the eyes of the Prince of the Apostles.

The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark, also known as John Mark (Acts 12:12), was one of the Seventy Apostles, and was also a nephew of St Barnabas (June 11). He was born at Jerusalem. The house of his mother Mary adjoined the Garden of Gethsemane. As Church Tradition relates, on the night that Christ was betrayed he followed after Him, wrapped only in a linen cloth. He was seized by soldiers, and fled away naked, leaving the cloth behind (Mark 14:51-52). After the Ascension of the Lord, the house of his mother Mary became a place where Christians gathered, and a place of lodging for some of the Apostles (Acts 12:12).

St Mark was a very close companion of the Apostles Peter and Paul (June 29) and Barnabas. St Mark was at Seleucia with Paul and Barnabas, and from there he set off to the island of Cyprus, and he traversed the whole of it from east to west. In the city of Paphos, St Mark witnessed the blinding of the sorcerer Elymas by St Paul (Acts 13:6-12). 
After working with the Apostle Paul, St Mark returned to Jerusalem, and then went to Rome with the Apostle Peter. From there, he set out for Egypt, where he established a local Church.  St Mark met St Paul in Antioch. From there he went with St Barnabas to Cyprus, and then he went to Egypt again, where he and St Peter founded many churches. Then he went to Babylon. From this city the Apostle Peter sent an Epistle to the Christians of Asia Minor, in which he calls St Mark his son (1 Pet 5:13).

When the Apostle Paul came to Rome in chains, St Mark was at Ephesus, where St Timothy (January 4) was bishop. St Mark went with him to Rome. There he also wrote his holy Gospel (ca. 62-63).
From Rome St Mark traveled to Egypt. In Alexandria he started a Christian school, which later produced such famous Fathers and teachers of the Church as Clement of Alexandria, St Dionysius of Alexandria (October 5), St Gregory Thaumatourgos (November 5), and others. Zealous for Church services, St Mark composed a Liturgy for the Christians of Alexandria.

St Mark preached the Gospel in the inner regions of Africa, and he was in Libya at Nektopolis.

During these journeys, St Mark was inspired by the Holy Spirit to go again to Alexandria and confront the pagans. There he visited the home of Ananias, and healed his crippled hand. The dignitary happily took him in, listened to his words, and received Baptism.
Following the example of Ananias, many of the inhabitants of that part of the city where he lived were also baptized. This roused the enmity of the pagans, and they wanted to kill St Mark. Having learned of this, St Mark made Ananias a bishop, and the three Christians Malchos, Sabinos, and Kerdinos were ordained presbyters to provide the church with leadership after his death.
The pagans seized St Mark when he was serving the Liturgy. They beat him, dragged him through the streets and threw him in prison. There St Mark was granted a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who strengthened him before his sufferings. On the following day, the angry crowd again dragged the saint through the streets to the courtroom, but along the way St Mark died saying, "Into Your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit."

The pagans wanted to burn the saint's body, but when they lit the fire, everything grew dark, thunder crashed, and there was an earthquake. The pagans fled in terror, and Christians took up the body of St Mark and buried it in a stone crypt. This was on April 4, 63. The Church celebrates his memory on April 25.

In the year 310, a church was built over the relics of St Mark. In 820, when the Moslem Arabs had established their rule in Egypt and oppressed the Christian Church, the relics of St Mark were transferred to Venice and placed in the church named for him.  In the ancient iconographic tradition, which adopted symbols for the holy Evangelists borrowed from the vision of St John the Theologian (Rev 4:7) and the prophecy of Ezekiel (Ez. 1:10), the holy Evangelist Mark is represented by a lion, symbolizing the might and royal dignity of Christ (Rev 5:5).

St Mark wrote his Gospel for Gentile Christians, emphasizing the words and deeds of the Savior which reveal His divine Power. Many aspects of his account can be explained by his closeness to St Peter. The ancient writers say that the Gospel of Mark is a concise record of St Peter's preaching.
One of the central theological themes in the Gospel of St Mark is the power of God achieving what is humanly impossible. The Apostles performed remarkable miracles with Christ (Mark 16:20) and the Holy Spirit (Mark 13:11) working through them. His disciples were told to go into the world and preach the Gospel to all creatures (Mark 13:10, 16:15), and that is what they did.

1st v. St Anianus Bishop St Mark shoemaker aide great fervor and virtue
Item Alexandríæ sancti Aniáni Epíscopi, qui, beáti Marci discípulus ejúsque in Episcopátu succéssor, clarus virtútibus quiévit in Dómino.
    Also at Alexandria, Bishop St. Anian, disciple of blessed Mark, and his successor in the episcopate.  With a great renown for virtue, he rested in the Lord.
1st v. ST ANIANUS, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA
ACCORDING to the so-called “Acts of St Mark”, St Anianus, the second bishop of Alexandria, had been a shoemaker, whose hand, wounded by an awl, had been healed by the evangelist at his first entrance into the city. Other writers, on the other hand, assert that St Anianus was an Alexandrian of noble family. He is said to have been consecrated bishop in order that he might govern during the absence of St Mark, whom he afterwards succeeded. Eusebius speaks of him as “a man well pleasing to God and admirable in all things”, and Epiphanius mentions a church in Alexandria built in his honour.

In the apocryphal Acts of Mark, Anianus is described as the second bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Mark states that Anianus was originally a shoemaker.
Other lists refer to Anianus as a noble who was consecrated by Mark and named to succeed him.

Anianus of Alexandria B (RM) 1st century. According to Eusebius and the apocryphal acta of Saint Mark, Anianus was a shoemaker by trade. He was converted to Christianity and became a disciple of Saint Mark when he was healed of an awl wound. His fervor and virtue were so great that Mark appointed Anianus as his vicar during his absence and upon Mark's death Anianus succeeded him as bishop of Alexandria for 18 years and seven months.
Other sources have him a noble who was named bishop by Mark. Saint Epiphanius mentions a church in Alexandria built in the honor of Anianus (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).

75 Mark, Evangelist according to Papias, "he had neither heard the Lord, nor ever been his disciple, but later had attended Peter, who composed his teachings to suit the needs of the moment, but did not profess to make a regular collection of the Lord's sayings. And so Mark made no mistakes; writing down the particulars just as he remembered them."(RM)
Alexandríæ natális beáti Marci Evangelístæ.  Hic, discípulus et intérpres Apóstoli Petri, rogátus Romæ a frátribus scripsit Evangélium, quo assúmpto, perréxit in Ægyptum, primúsque Alexandríæ Christum annúntians, constítuit Ecclésiam; ac póstea, pro fide Christi tentus, fúnibus vinctus et per saxa raptátus, gráviter afflíctus est; deínde, reclúsus in cárcere, primo angélica visitatióne confortátus est, et demum, ipso Dómino sibi apparénte, ad cæléstia regna vocátus, octávo Nerónis anno.

    At Alexandria, the birthday of St. Mark the Evangelist, disciple and interpreter of the apostle St. Peter.  He wrote his gospel at the request of the faithful at Rome, and taking it with him, proceeded to Egypt and founded a church at Alexandria, where he was the first to preach Christ.  Afterwards, being arrested for the faith, he was bound, dragged over stones, and endured great afflictions.  Finally he was confined to prison, where, being comforted by the visit of an angel, and even by an apparition of our Lord himself, he was called to the heavenly kingdom in the eighth year of the reign of Nero.

Among the younger figures of the New Testament is John Mark (Acts 12:25), mentioned several times in the New Testament. Of the four Gospels his is the most vivid and informal because it was probably the first recorded (AD 60-70). In some ways it is the most descriptive Gospel, yet he writes as though it had to be done quickly.

Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, Asia Minor, called him the interpreter of Peter, c. 130, and said that he preached the gospel in Alexandria. An ancient tradition had the Gospel written down in Rome for Gentile Christians.
He recorded the story of Jesus as he heard it from the lips of Saint Peter. "For," according to Papias, "he had neither heard the Lord, nor ever been his disciple, but later had attended Peter, who composed his teachings to suit the needs of the moment, but did not profess to make a regular collection of the Lord's sayings. And so Mark made no mistakes; writing down the particulars just as he remembered them."
Mark's Gospel is written in awkward Greek, full of Semitic turns of phrases, cumbersome participles, and a lack of transitions. Yet Mark's simple language, stripped of rhetorical flourishes, without oratorical periods, without concern for syntax, is perhaps the clearest language through which to see best the flesh and blood of Jesus. The miracles of Jesus must have deeply affected Mark because his Gospel recounts many of them.

Mark's Gospel starkly sets out the demands of Jesus on his followers.  Jesus had suffered, says Mark; His followers will suffer similarly.
Indeed, Jesus had explicitly warned the disciples about this. But it is also clear that those who can endure such sufferings will be greatly rewarded, for what Mark claims to be bringing is 'good news,' 'the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,' as he states in the very first verse.

Another early historian, Eusebius, reporting the words of Saint Clement of Alexandria says that Saint Mark, a follower of Saint Peter, was asked by Roman tradesmen to compose a permanent memorial of Saint Peter's sermons, and so came to write, from his memory of them, the Gospel which bears his name.
Saint Mark Image of Saint Mark courtesy of Saint Charles Borromeo Church
Saint Ireneaus also tells us that Mark was Saint Peter's interpreter and mouthpiece.
Saint Mark was a cousin of Barnabas (Col. 4:10). His mother, Mary, was evidently a person of some wealth and position in Jerusalem, for her home was a center of hospitality to which the leaders of the early Church naturally gravitated.
When Saint Peter escaped from prison, he came "to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying," and it was a maid of the house, called Rhoda, who answered the door.

Mark was probably a Levite, because we know that his kinsman Barnabas was one (Acts 4:36), and perhaps a minor minister in the synagogue.
He accompanied Paul and Barnabas to Antioch in AD 44 (Acts 12:25), then to Salamis in Cyprus, and with Barnabas was on Paul's first missionary journey (Acts 13:5), but left Paul at Perga in Pamphylia and returned alone to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13).
For some reason he evidently offended Paul, who did not take him on his second missionary journey to Cilicia and Asia Minor, which was the occasion of the disagreement and separation of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:36-40).

Mark accompanied Barnabas to Cyprus (Acts 15:39) and then, evidently back in Paul's good graces, was with him in Rome during his first imprisonment (Col. 4:10), where he was apparently a disciple of Peter, who affectionately called him "my son, Mark" (1 Peter 5:13).

During Paul's second Roman captivity, shortly before his martyrdom, he writes to Timothy, who was at Ephesus, to "take Mark and bring him with you, for he is profitable to me for the ministry" (2 Timothy 4:11).
An early uncertain tradition, recorded by Eusebius, renders Mark the first bishop of Alexandria, but neither Papias nor Clement of Alexandria mentions it.
The tradition says that upon his arrival in Alexandria, like Paul arriving in Damascus, Mark found lodging with an inhabitant, in this case with a shoemaker. The shoemaker was also to become a saint, whose feast is celebrated today-- Anianus.
Tradition continues that Mark was martyred during the reign of Emperor Trajan or the "eighth year of Nero," and the shoemaker Anianus succeeded him as bishop.

One Easter Sunday, the uncertain tradition continues, April 24, 68, Mark was arrested. The long path of Jesus, from Gethsemani up to the palace of Anna, which Mark had not had the courage to pursue in Jerusalem, had been reserved for him, with a rope around his neck, from Alexandria up to the little port of Bucoles.
Tintoretto The Stealing of the Dead Body of St. Mark
Tintoretto, Galleria dell'Accademia, Venice Electronic image from Web Gallery of Art

He fell several times along the way. Finally, after having carried his rope all day and then for a night, and feeling it sink into his flesh, in the end he no longer desired that it be removed. He wanted to find this collar to his measure, this light yoke--and died strangled.

Regardless of Papias's remarks that Mark never knew our Lord, there is speculation that he would have been acquainted with Jesus. He may have been the unnamed youth (mentioned only in Saint Mark's Gospel 14:51-52) who appeared at the time of the Betrayal, wrapped in a sheet, as if he had come straight from his bed, and who, when caught, escaped into the night (this has always been curious to me).
It is likely enough that Saint Mark, as a boy, had been drawn to the scene, but it is only a conjecture.

Other Scripture scholars note that the Last Supper may have occurred in the room reserved in Mark's mother's house for pilgrims, and that the Garden of Gethsamane belonged to the family. It would have been common enough for one of the family members or servants to sleep in the garden as a protection against thieves, which would explain the boy sleeping in the open (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Gill, Walsh, White).
Tintoretto
By the 2nd century after Christ, Christians transferred the emblem to the four Evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) in written allusions. These became visual symbols in the 5th century.

Saint Mark is the patron of Venice, to where his relics were reputedly brought in the 9th century from Alexandria. Although the original church of St. Mark in Venice was destroyed in 976, the rebuilt basilica contains both the relics and a magnificent series of mosaics on Mark's life, death, and translation. These date from the 12th-13th centuries and form a unique record (Farmer). He is also the patron of Egypt, glaziers, notaries, secretaries, and Spanish cattle breeders (for which there is no obvious explanation). He is invoked by captives (Roeder, White).The Miracle of St. Mark Freeing the Slave Tintoretto, Galleria dell'Accademia, Venice Electronic image from Web Gallery of Art
In art, Saint Mark is an evangelist with a book or scroll and a winged lion. At times he may be shown (1) with palm and book (sometimes pax tibi Marce is written on his book); (2) as a bishop with his throne decorated with lions; (3) coming to the aid of Venetian sailors; or (4) rescuing Christian slaves from the Saracens (Roeder).

The winged lion is used as Saint Mark's emblem. This is one of the four winged creatures of Ezekiel 1:10; 10:14 that were first applied by Jewish scholars to the four archangels (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel) with reference to and later used in reference to the four major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel). Traditionally, it is explained that the winged lion is chosen for Mark because his gospel speaks of the royal dignity of Christ, and because he begins his account of Saint John the Baptist with the "voice crying is the desert" (Appleton).

150 St. Philo and Agathopodes Antiochene deacons authored Acts recounting life and death of St. Ignatius of Antioch
Antiochíæ sanctórum Philónis et Agathópodis Diaconórum, de quibus beátus Ignátius, Epíscopus et Martyr, laudábilem in suis epístolis mentiónem facit.
    At Antioch, the deacons Saints Philo and Agathopodes, who were praised in the letters of blessed Ignatius, bishop and martyr.

Believed to have authored the Acts recounting the life and death of St. Ignatius of Antioch. They were deacons who assisted Ignatius and, after his martyrdom in Rome, brought back to Antioch those relics they could recover from Roman authorities.

312 Saturninus, Theophilus & Revocata MM (RM)
A group of martyrs concerning whom place of martyrdom is not  known (Benedictines).
Silvanus, Luke, and Mucius MM (RM). Bishop Silvanus of Emesa, Phoenicia, his deacon Luke, and his lector Mucius were martyred under Maximian following a long imprisonment. The Roman Martyrology identifies this Silvanus with the companion of Tyrannio (Benedictines).

392 St. Phaebadius one of “the illustrious men” of the Church extirpated Arianism heresy
Also called Fiari, bishop of Agen in Southern Gaul. He was a very well known bishop and was termed by St. Jerome one of “the illustrious men” of the Church. With his friend St. Hilary of Poitiers, he worked to extirpate the heresy of Arianism in the West.

489 St. Macaille Bishop of Croghan prelate vows of St. Brigid
Offaly, Ireland, a disciple of St. Mel(488-490). He was one of the prelates receiving the vows of St. Brigid (450-525).
Macaille of Croghan B (AC) (also known as Macculi, Macull). The sources say that there are two bishops whose feasts fall on the same day named Macaille (the second one actually has his feast on April 27). One was a disciple of Saint Patrick, and the other was only converted by him (though the stories do not indicate that either was really a disciple, per se, of Patrick). Today's Macaille was a disciple of Saint Mel and assisted him in receiving the vow of Saint Brigid. There is a tradition that Mel erred in using the service for the consecration of a bishop, and that Macaille strongly protested. Saint Mel refused to admit he was wrong and said that it was all the will of God. This Macaille became the first bishop of Croghan, Offaly.

7th v. Authaire of La Ferté courtier at King Dagobert Ipalace France (AC)

(also known as Oye) 7th century. Saint Authaire was a courtier at the palace of King Dagobert I of France and father of Saint Ouen of Rouen. He is the patron of the village of Le- Ferté-sous-Jouarre, where he usually resided (Benedictines).

7th v. Bova (Beuve, Bona) abbess & Doda rejected marriage proposals she  devote to service of God OSB VV (RM)

7th century. Saint Bova, sister of Saint Balderic (Baudry) and near relative of King Dagobert, edified the royal court and entire kingdom by her virtues. She rejected all marriage proposals because she decided to devote herself to the service of God. After her brother founded Montfauçon Abbey, in 639 he built a convent near Rheims, where Bova ruled as abbess until her death c. 680.

Her niece Doda followed in her footsteps and succeeded her as abbess. The relics of both saints were later translated to Saint Peter's Abbey in Rheims. Although their original vitae were destroyed in a fire, a later writer recorded the traditions related by the nuns in the 10th century (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).

729 Egbert of Rathemigisi Northumbrian monk of Lindisfarne OSB (RM)

Saint Egbert was a Northumbrian monk of Lindisfarne who migrated to Ireland and lived at Rathelmigisi (Rathmelsigi) in Connaught. In 684, he unsuccessfully tried to dissuade King Egfrith from invading Ireland. At Rathelmigisi Egbert trained several bands of monks for the German missions that included Saints Wigbert and Willibrord. When his companion Æthelhun died of the plague and he contracted it, too, Egbert vowed voluntary exile for life if he recovered. Although he wanted to join the missionaries, his vow and a vision instructing him otherwise, led Egbert to become an admirable monk on the island of Iona in Scotland. There he attempted to induce the monks to adopt Roman liturgical practices. He succeeded at last: in fact, on the day of his death, Easter was celebrated at Iona for the first time according to the Roman reckoning. Egbert's feast is found in both the Roman and Irish martyrologies and in the metrical calendar of York (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Gill).

857 Heribald of Auxerre Benedictine monk abbot love of well-regulated lives ceremonies well-built churches OSB B (AC)
857 ST HERIBALD, Bishop OF AUXERRE
AN ancient Gallican martyrology asserts of St Heribald that the light of his virtues, hidden for a time in a monastic cell, afterwards spread its rays over the whole of Gaul and drew upon him not only the love but the wonder of his contemporaries. From the abbey of St Germanus, which he ruled, lie was promoted to the bishopric of Auxerre; and he enshrined in a more worthy place the body of St Germanus. The exact date of his death is uncertain.

First as a Benedictine monk and abbot of Saint Germanus Abbey in Auxerre, then as bishop there, Saint Heribald demonstrated his love of well-regulated lives and ceremonies and well-built churches (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

891 Photius career of scholarship and public service at the imperial court legitimate patriarch of Constantinople Orthodox objection to doctrine of the Holy Spirit BM

Born in Constantinople, c. 810; died there c. 891; canonized by the Orthodox Church. Photius, a member of a patrician family, was a man of very great ability and learning who until mid-life followed a career of scholarship and public service at the imperial court, where he was secretary of state and filled other offices. Then, in 858, Emperor Michael III banished the patriarch Ignatius, and Photius, who until then had been a layman, was made patriarch.

From that time Photius's life is one of difficulties between himself and Pope Saint Nicholas I and his successor Adrian II, complicated by the fluctuations of Byzantine politics--a long, complex, and often obscure struggle that is a matter of ecclesiastical history. It did not end until 879 when, Ignatius being dead, Pope John VIII recognized Photius as the legitimate patriarch of Constantinople and peace was restored between the churches.

For Orthodox Catholics, Saint Photius was the standard-bearer of their church in its disagreements with the pope of Rome; to Roman Catholics, he was a proud and ambitious schismatic: the relevant work of scholars over the past generation has somewhat modified partisan judgements. All agree on the virtue of his personal life and his remarkable talents, even genius, and the wide range of his intellectual aptitudes. Pope Nicholas himself referred to his 'great virtues and universal knowledge.'

Of his extensive writings the one of most general interest is the Bibliotheca or Myriobiblion, which has been translated into English and which includes descriptions and summaries of 279 books of all kinds, including extracts from works whose original text no longer exists. His Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit is important as a classical statement of Orthodox objections to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit's proceeding from the Father and the Son (Filioque) (Attwater).

1243 Blessed Boniface of Valperga monk bishop of Aosta B (PC)
Boniface, a monk of the Benedictine abbey of Fruttuaria, was chosen to be prior of the Augustinian canons regular of Saint Ursus at Aosta in 1212 and finally bishop of Aosta (1219-1243) (Benedictines).

1586 Bl. Robert Anderton Jesuit Cardinal theology professor notable figure Catholic Reformation defended Gallileo

1586 BR. ROBERT ANDERTON AND WILLIAM MARSDEN, MARTYRS
ROBERT ANDERTON and William Marsden were two young Lancashire men who were ordained priests at Rheims and sent upon the English mission. The ship which was conveying them to England was driven out of her course to the shore of the Isle of Wight, where the passengers were obliged to disembark. Suspicion at once fell upon the two young men: they were taken before a magistrate to be questioned, and, as they did not deny that they were priests, they were sent to prison.
   At their trial they protested not only that they had made a forced landing, but also that at the time of their arrest they had not been in England for the statutory period which would bring them within the scope of the penal law. Although this was actually the case, they were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. A reprieve, however, was granted until the will of the Privy Council could be ascertained, and the prisoners were sent up to London for further examination. In the end they were executed in the Isle of Wight on April 25, 1586, their cheerful fortitude on the scaffold producing a profound impression upon all who witnessed it.

1913 Blessed Giovanni Battista Piamarta (AC)
Born at Brescia, Italy, November 26, 1841; died at Remedello, April 25, 1913; beatified October 12, 1997. (Coming in 2000.)