Today, 25 April, is the feast of ...
Mark, evangelist (74): 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. Mark's emblem the lion, like the emblems of
the other evangelists, is a very early tradition. Already in the time of
Augustine and Jerome, the four living creatures of the Apocalypse were
held to be typical of the evangelists.
Last year the The Supple Doctor aka Doctor Elasticus aka Oriens aka Bill
East added the following as usual helpful information:
>From H.B. Swete's commentary on St Mark (Macmillan, London, 1913)
- rather old now, and for most purposes superceded by Vincent Taylor's
commentary - but I still find it useful on certain points. Introduction
p. xxxvi ff.:-
"Another indication of the attitude of the ancient Church towards the
Gospel of St Mark is found in the distribution of the evangelical
symbols among the four Evangelists. From the time of Irenaeus the four
Gospels were associated in Christian thought with the four Cherubim of
Ezekiel, and the corresponding Zoa ('living creatures') of the
Apocalypse. Irenaeus (iii.11.8) quotes the Apocalypse only, but he calls
the lving creatures Cherubim, and refers to Ps. lxxix (lxxx) 2 . . . It
is the Eternal Word, he says, Who sits upon the Cherubim, and their
fourfold manner of operation (pragmateia, dispositio); the lion answers
to his royal office and sovereign authority and executive power; the
calf symbolises his sacrificial and priestly character; the human face,
his coming in human nature; the flying eagle, the gift of the Spirit
descending on His Church. The Gospels according,y, which reflect the
likeness of Christ, possess the same characteristics; St John sets forth
the Lord's princely and glorious generation from the Father, St Luke
emphasises his priestly work, St Matthew his human descent, St Mark his
prophetic office . . .
"Thus Irenaeus, it is clear, regards the Eagle as the symbol of St Mark,
whilst St Matthew, St Luke and St John are represented by the Man, the
Calf and the Lion respectively. This interpretation of the symbols is
followed in the lines prefixed to the Gospel-paraphrase of Juvencus,
according to which
Marcus amat terras inter caelumque volare,
Et vehemens aquila stricto secat omnia lapsu.
"But the method by which it is reached is so arbitrary that later
writers did not hesitated to rearrange them at discretion. Thus in the
notes on the Apocalypse attributed to Victorinus of Pettau the Eagle is
assigned to St John and the Lion to St Mark. Through the influence of
Jerome this became the popular view . . .
"Other arrangements were freely proposed. Thus in the Pseudo-Athanasian
Synopsis Matthew is the Man, Mark the calf, Luke the lion, John the
eagle. Augustine finds the lion in Matthew, the man in Mark, the calf in
Luke, the eagle in John . . .
"A table will show the extent of these variations:
Irenaeus Victorinus Augustine Ps-Athanasius
Mt. Man Man Lion Man
Mc. Eagle Lion Man Calf
Lc. Calf Calf Calf Lion
Jo. Lion Eagle Eagle Eagle
"It will be seen at a glance that while in three out of the four
distributions St Matthew is the Man, St Luke the Calf, and St John the
Eagle, to St Mark each of the symbols is assigned in turn. This fact
illustrates with curious precision the difficulty which the ancient
Church experienced in forming a definite judgement as to the place and
office of his Gospel . . ."
Anianus, bishop of Alexandria (first century): According to the
so-called "Acts of Mark" Anianus, the second bishop of Alexandria had
been a shoemaker who seriously wounded his hand with an awl. His hand
was healed by Mark the evangelist.
Heribald, bishop of Auxerre (857): An ancient Gallican martyrology
relates that the light of Heribald's virtues, although hidden for long
time in a monastic cell, afterwards spread its rays over the whole of
Gaul.
****************
Dr Carolyn Muessig
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
University of Bristol
Bristol BS8 1TB
UK
phone: +44(0)117-928-8168
fax: +44(0)117-929-7850
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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