Search
Fragments of Papias - Schmidt 4:11Papias of HierapolisPeter sent the first catholic epistle from Rome, having, according to Eusebius, Mark the evangelist as a follower. At this time, he composed the gospel at the Romans’ request, according to Clement in the sixth book of his Hypotyposeis and Papias the bishop of Hierapolis.Dubious and Spurious Pieces 6:7Hippolytus of Rome14. Mark the evangelist, bishop of Alexandria.The Genuine Acts of Peter 1:4Peter of AlexandriaAlexandria is a city of exceeding magnitude, which holds the first place not only among the Egyptians, but the Thebans also and the Libyans, who are at no great distance from Egypt. A cycle of two hundred and eighty-five years from the incarnation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had rolled round, when the venerable Theonas, the bishop of this city, by an ethereal flight, mounted upwards to the celestial kingdoms. To him Peter, succeeding at the helm of the Church, was by all the clergy and the whole Christian community appointed bishop, the sixteenth in order from Mark the Evangelist, who was also archbishop of the city. He in truth, like Phosphor rising among the stars, shining forth with the radiance of his sacred virtues, most magnificently governed the citadel of the faith. Inferior to none who bad gone before him in his knowledge of Holy Scripture, he nobly applied himself to the advantage and instruction of the Church; being of singular prudence, and in all things perfect, a true priest and victim of God, he watchfully laboured night and day in every sacerdotal care.THE CHURCH HISTORY OF EUSEBIUS · Book 2 25:2Eusebius of Caesarea1 When Nero was in the eighth year of his reign, Annianus succeeded Mark the evangelist in the administration of the parish of Alexandria.Constitutions of the Holy Apostles Book 7 4:24Apostolic ConstitutionsXLVI. Now concerning those bishops which have been ordained in our lifetime, we let you know that they are these:-James the bishop of Jerusalem, the brother of our Lord; upon whose death the second was Simeon the son of Cleopas; after whom the third was Judas the son of James. Of Caesarea of Palestine, the first was Zacchaeus, who was once a publican; after whom was Cornelius, and the third Theophilus. Of Antioch, Euodius, ordained by me Peter; and Ignatius by Paul. Of Alexandria, Annianus was the first, ordained by Mark the evangelist; the second Avilius by Luke, who was also an evangelist. Of the church of Rome, Linus the son of Claudia was the first, ordained by Paul; and Clemens, after Linus' death, the second, ordained by me Peter. Of Ephesus, Timotheus, ordained by Paul; and John, by me John. Of Smyrna, Aristo the first; after whom Strataeas the son of Lois; and the third Aristo. Of Pergamus, Gains. Of Philadelphia, Demetrius, by me. Of Cenchrea, Lucius, by Paul. Of Crete, Titus. Of Athens, Dionysius. Of Tripoli in Phoenicia, Marathones. Of Laodicea in Phrygia, Archippus. Of Colossae, Philemon. Of Borea in Macedonia, Onesimus, once the servant of Philemon. Of the churches of Galatia, Crescens. Of the parishes of Asia, Aquila and Nicetas. Of the church of Aeginae, Crispus. These are the bishops who are entrusted by us with the parishes in the Lord; whose doctrine keep ye always in mind, and observe our words. And may the Lord be with you now, and to endless ages, as Himself said to us when He was about to be taken up to His own God and Father. For says He, "Lo, I am with you all the days, until the end of the world. Amen."On Matthew · Homily 14 1:19John ChrysostomAnd mark the evangelist's care to avoid superfluity of words; how he tells us not of every one of them that are healed, but in a few words speeds over showers of miracles.Chronicle · Pages 188-332 68:5Jerome3 c Mark the evangelist, Peter's interpreter, preaches Christ in Egypt and Alexandria. 6 43Chronicle · Pages 188-332 69:24Jeromeb The first bishop of the church of Alexandria ordained after Mark the Evangelist was Annianus, who presided for twenty two years.Commentary on Isaiah 48:3Jerome(Verse 12.) Therefore I will divide him among the many, and he will share the spoils of the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors. LXX: Therefore he shall receive many as his portion, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, because his soul was poured out to death and he was numbered with the wicked. He himself bore the sins of many and was delivered up for their iniquities. Christ endured many sufferings so that he might attain great rewards. For, he said, he suffered and accomplished all that the previous word described, and he himself bore the iniquities of many: therefore I will divide to him many, so that for the part of the Lord Jacob, and his inheritance rope of Israel, they may believe in him coming from the East and West, and may recline in the kingdom of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matth. VIII): when that which is written is fulfilled: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession (Ps. II, 8). Concerning which and in this same Prophet it is read: There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise up to reign over the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope (Isaiah 11:10). But these many previously were held captive by the strong; and under the appearance of an ass and a colt, they had many masters, to whom the Apostles said: The Lord has need of them (Matthew 21:3). Those who were strong before Christ assumed a human body, and strong overcame him, would plunder his house. Therefore, he delivered and distributed the spoils of the strong Apostles to his own, so that Peter, James, and John became the leaders of the circumcised people, and Paul and Barnabas were sent to the Gentiles, not separated in spirit but in different places, and stood on different fronts under one Lord, so that they might raise a triumph to the victorious army on both sides, for the Savior. From this, those who truly say that there was a disagreement and contention between Peter and Paul regarding the dispensation (Acts 15), in order to satisfy the blasphemous Porphyry: and they assert that the ceremonies of the old Law must be observed in the Church of Christ, by the believing offspring of Israel, and that they should expect Jerusalem to be golden for a thousand years, in order to sacrifice victims and to be circumcised, to sit on the Sabbath, to sleep, to be satiated, to be intoxicated, and to rise to play, a play that offends God. We said this because of what is now being prophesied: And he shall divide the spoils of the strong (Is. LIII, 12). According to what is written in another place: When he divided the heavenly kings in it. And again: The beloved king of hosts, and of beauty, shall divide the spoils (Ps. LXVII, 13). Finally, regarding the Apostle Paul, who was from the tribe of Benjamin, according to the Hebrew it is said: Benjamin, a ravenous wolf: in the morning he shall devour, and in the evening he shall divide the spoils (Gen. XLIX, 27). Of which we have already spoken: They shall rejoice in your presence, as those who rejoice in the harvest, and as those who divide the spoils (Isaiah IX, 3), dividing the churches of Christ for themselves in the whole world. Therefore, he will receive many nations, who came to preach remission to the captives and led captive captivity before, from the devil and demons, and gave it as a gift to men and believers, because he delivered his soul to death, and was reckoned with the wicked or unjust (I Cor. IX). For if the Apostle became as one without law to those who were without law (although he was not without law toward God, but was within the law of Christ), why then was Christ considered to be with the unjust, so that he might redeem the unjust from sin, and become all things to all people, so as to save everyone? For he carried our sins in his body (1 Peter 2), affixing them to the wood of the cross, in order to erase the handwriting that we had made for the devil and his angels, written by the deeds of our soul, that is, by our actions. About which Paul the apostle speaks: And you, when you were dead in sins, and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has quickened together with him, forgiving you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it (Eph. I, 2; Coloss. II, 14, 15). But the lawless men with whom he is counted, Mark the Evangelist understands to be the robbers, writing: And they crucified with him two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled which says: 'And he was reckoned among the transgressors' (Mark 15:27). This can also be understood at a deeper level, as the Lord himself says: 'I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit; I have become like a man who has no strength, forsaken among the dead' (Psalm 88:4). Indeed, he was reckoned among sinners and transgressors, in order to descend to hell; and in many places in the scriptures, hell is referred to as a pit, and he would free the prisoners from the prison. He was handed over for our sins and was raised for our justification (Rom. IV). Such was His great mercy that He prayed for His transgressors, and even for His persecutors, on the cross, saying: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke XXIII, 34).Commentary on Isaiah 57:5Jerome(Verse 23 onwards) For according to the days of a tree, the days of my people will be, and the work of their hands will grow old with my chosen. They will not labor in vain, nor bring forth children in trouble, for they are the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants will be with them. And before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent's food. They shall do no harm, neither shall they kill in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord. LXX: For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people: and the works of their hands shall be multiplied. My chosen ones shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for a curse: for they are the seed blessed by the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer them: while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together: the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the serpent shall eat dust like bread. They will not harm or destroy on my holy mountain, says the Lord. The dwelling and plantation of the righteous will be eternal, so that the days of the life of my people may be compared to the days of the life of the tree, about which it is said in the Psalms: The righteous will flourish like a palm tree (Psalm 92:13), triumphing over their adversaries daily and displaying the emblem of victory. However, if we read it according to the Septuagint, we understand 'the days of the life of the tree,' which conveys more the meaning from the Hebrew rather than the words, and we understand it as the tree of life that was situated in paradise. So that Adam would not extend his hand to live, he was driven out of paradise (Genesis, III). In the custody of which, Cherubim, that is, a multitude of knowledge, and a fiery sword was placed to guard the way of the tree of life, so that Adam, who was in sin and not yet aware of his sins, would not eat from it and die from the death of impenitence, desperation, and pride. Solomon explains more clearly what this tree of life is, who, discussing the wisdom of God, says: The tree of life is for all who approach it, and who rely on it, as a firm foundation on the Lord (Proverbs III, 18); there is no doubt that it signifies the Word of God, who himself is the way and wisdom, and speaks of himself: I am the life (John XI, 25). And as the Prophet sings: You have made everything in wisdom: the earth is full of your creatures (Psalm 104:24); and the Apostle Paul: Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). The works of the people of God will also not grow old, but will be renewed daily, so that they do not walk in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the spirit (Romans 7). Just as through the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one man, many will be made righteous. Certainly, this must be said, that the works of those whose house is founded upon rock endure forever, and those who build upon the foundation of Christ with gold, silver, and precious stones (1 Corinthians 3): and on the contrary, the works of those whose house is founded upon sand perish in a sudden tempest; and those who build upon the foundation of Christ with wood, hay, and straw. Does it not seem to you that their works grow old every day, who, forgetting the past, extend into the future? Both the old and the new are called the Testament: not that the old one perishes, but that the new one does not succeed it. This can also be said in accordance with the Hebrew, that the works of the people and of those who believe in Christ are the fruits of the Apostles, that is, of the elect of God, and are stored in their treasuries. For many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 20). These people will not labor in vain, as the Jews once labored; but they will eat the labors of their hands. They will not generate in confusion or in curse, and, as is more expressly put in Hebrew, into non-existence, which in their language is called Labala ( Al. Labaala), that is, that they should cease to be and have an end to their substance: for which reason Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion interpreted it as hastening: so that they should not believe without reason, but imitate Nathanael, who was praised by the voice of the Lord, Behold a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit (John 1:47), who sought Christ by the authority of the Scriptures and desired to know about the prophets, saying, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? And the meaning is: How do you bring the Messiah to me from Galilee and Nazareth, when I know that he was promised to come from Bethlehem in Judah? Therefore, the apostles and apostolic men will generate children in such a way that they instruct them from the Holy Scriptures, so that they do not imitate the curse of the Jews, but rather say with the Prophet: From your fear, Lord, we have conceived in the womb, and have given birth and brought forth (Isaiah 26:18). For it was said of them: Blessed shall be the offspring of your womb (Deuteronomy 28:4). These are the sons of Abraham, who do his works: and in the old history they are called the sons of the Prophets (John VIII): such as in the new Testament the apostles begot (Acts XVI), Paul begot Timothy, Luke, and Titus, and many others; Peter begot Mark the evangelist, and the others, whose blessed seed is, and thus far blessed, and the sons remain of their sons. Concerning whom the Prophet says: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, he will greatly desire his commandments. His descendants will be mighty on the earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed. (Psalm 112:1-2) And elsewhere: Your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. (Psalm 128:4-5) On the contrary, it is said of Judas, the traitor, and all who are like him, Let his children be orphans, and his wife a widow. Let his children wander and beg; let them be driven out of their ruined homes. (Psalm 109:9-10) For the end of a wicked generation is the worst. They conceive sorrow and give birth to iniquity. Concerning them it is written: Behold, he travailed with injustice, he has conceived sorrow, and has brought forth iniquity (Psalm 7:15). But if this is said of the wicked, how then did Samuel, a blessed and righteous man, beget wicked sons who did not walk in their father's ways (1 Samuel 8)? And David, from whose seed Christ was born, begot two sons, Amnon and Absalom, one of whom became the murderer of his brother and the other the murderer of his father (2 Samuel 13, 15, and 16)? From all these things we learn that sons and grandsons should be understood according to what we have said. Therefore, Paul also begets sons until Christ is formed in them, and Onesimus is begotten in chains (Gal. IV). When they cry out, they are immediately heard, and when they speak, the Lord will say, 'Here I am.' All these things we also see fulfilled according to the letter in the Acts of the Apostles. For all the nations could not have believed in such a short time unless their faith had been somehow forced out by the miracles of signs. For while the Apostles and apostolic men were speaking and shouting out, the Lord would respond with the greatness of signs, such as when Dorcas rose up at the prayers of Peter (Acts 9), when the father of Publius on the island of Melita, who was suffering from fevers and dysentery, which are diseases that are contrary to each other, was healed by the prayers of Paul (Acts 28), and when the whole world declared that gods were walking among men (Acts 28). At that time, the wolf and the lamb were grazing together, the persecutor Paul and the disciple Ananias (Acts 9). That wolf, of which it is written: Benjamin, a ravenous wolf, in the morning he will eat prey, and in the evening he will divide the spoils (Gen. XLIX, 27); or as it is said in Hebrew, he will divide the spoils. Whose teaching was the food of believers, and who triumphed over vanquished adversaries in the whole world. But all who believe are lambs, who follow the Lamb wherever he goes (Apoc. XIV), whom the Lord handed over to Peter to feed, saying: Feed my lambs (John XXI, 16). The lion also, like an ox, will eat straw, when the most eloquent men, once powerful in the world, submit themselves to rusticity, so that they may not feed on worldly eloquence, which trickles like honey from the lips of a harlot, but rather follow lowliness and straw in history until they earn the wheat of understanding with much labor and industry. Concerning these straw and wheat, Jeremiah speaks: 'What has straw to do with wheat?' says the Lord (Jeremiah 13:28). And it must be considered that it is not the ox that turns into madness, but the lion that is transformed into gentleness. The serpent that observed the heel of the man, and whose head was observed by the man, will by no means be nourished by the destruction of others, but will eat the earth, or rather dust, as bread (Genesis 3). Or certainly it must be understood that the devil, who previously fed on the deaths of men, will only devour those who are dust and earth: through which everything demonstrates the transformation of evils into good, those who are innocent will be, with the ancient ferocity abandoned: not outside, but on the holy mountain of the Lord, that is, in the Church, and in the confession of that mountain, from which the prince of Tyre was wounded, and having been cut from the mountain without hands, grew into a great mountain, and filled the world (Daniel 2). Let us ask in this place the Jews, and all those who still eat the chaff of the Scriptures under the name of Christian, which will be separated from the wheat in the Lord's winnowing fan and will be delivered to the wind and the flames, how the beatitude is to be estimated, namely in the thousand-year kingdom, on Mount Zion, the city of present Christ's Jerusalem; and in the most august Temple, will wolves and lambs, lions and oxen, serpents and humans eat together and live together in harmony? And will these (i.e. the holy ones) alone be harmless, who have dwelt on the holy mountain of the Lord? From which we understand that all who are outside the mountain are to be killed. Therefore, the entire world will be laid bare for wolves, lions, bears, leopards, and serpents, and all other beasts; and the vast forests, and the Egyptian wilderness, which is fertile with venomous animals, and the city of the holy ones will be a dwelling not only for humans, but also for beasts and serpents, as according to the earlier prophecy, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard with the goat, the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall all die together. And a little child shall lead them, and an infant shall put his hand into the hole of the asp, and shall destroy the brood of the reptile in its lair. (Isaiah 11) And the cause of such great happiness is because the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord.Letters · letter_146 1:4Jerome1. We read in Isaiah the words, "the fool will speak folly," [Isa. 32:6, RV] and I am told that some one has been mad enough to put deacons before presbyters, that is, before bishops. For when the apostle clearly teaches that presbyters are the same as bishops, must not a mere server of tables and of widows [Acts 6:1, Acts 6:2] be insane to set himself up arrogantly over men through whose prayers the body and blood of Christ are produced? Do you ask for proof of what I say? Listen to this passage: "Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the bishops and deacons." [Ph. 1:1] Do you wish for another instance? In the Acts of the Apostles Paul thus speaks to the priests of a single church: "Take heed unto yourselves and to all the flock, in the which the Holy Ghost hath made you bishops, to feed the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." [Acts 20:28, RV] And lest any should in a spirit of contention argue that there must then have been more bishops than one in a single church, there is the following passage which clearly proves a bishop and a presbyter to be the same. Writing to Titus the apostle says: "For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain presbyters in every city, as I had appointed thee: if any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God." [Tit. 1:5-7] And to Timothy he says: "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery." [Tim. 4:14] Peter also says in his first epistle: "The presbyters which are among you I exhort, who am your fellow-presbyter and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: feed the flock of Christ ...taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly, according unto God." In the Greek the meaning is still plainer, for the word used is "episkopountej", that is to say, overseeing, and this is the origin of the name overseer or bishop. But perhaps the testimony of these great men seems to you insufficient. If so, then listen to the blast of the gospel trumpet, that son of thunder, [Mark 3:17] the disciple whom Jesus loved [Joh. 13:23] and who reclining on the Saviour's breast drank in the waters of sound doctrine. One of his letters begins thus: "The presbyter unto the elect lady and her children whom I love in the truth;" and another thus: "The presbyter unto the well-beloved Gains whom I love in the truth." When subsequently one presbyter was chosen to preside over the rest, this was done to remedy schism and to prevent each individual from rending the church of Christ by drawing it to himself. For even at Alexandria from the time of Mark the Evangelist until the episcopates of Heraclas and Dionysius the presbyters always named as bishop one of their own number chosen by themselves and set in a more exalted position, just as an army elects a general, or as deacons appoint one of themselves whom they know to be diligent and call him archdeacon. For what function, excepting ordination, belongs to a bishop that does not also belong to a presbyter? It is not the case that there is one church at Rome and another in all the world beside. Gaul and Britain, Africa and Persia, India and the East worship one Christ and observe one rule of truth. If you ask for authority, the world outweighs its capital. Wherever there is a bishop, whether it be at Rome or at Engubium, whether it be at Constantinople or at Rhegium, whether it be at Alexandria or at Zoan, his dignity is one and his priesthood is one. Neither the command of wealth nor the lowliness of poverty makes him more a bishop or less a bishop. All alike are successors of the apostles.Lives of Illustrious Men 11:2JeromePhilo the Jew, an Alexandrian of the priestly class, is placed by us among the ecclesiastical writers on the ground that, writing a book concerning the first church of Mark the evangelist at Alexandria, he writes to our praise, declaring not only that they were there, but also that they were in many provinces and calling their habitations monasteries. From this it appears that the church of those that believed in Christ at first, was such as now the monks desire to imitate, that is, such that nothing is the peculiar property of any one of them, none of them rich, none poor, that patrimonies are divided among the needy, that they have leisure for prayer and psalms, for doctrine also and ascetic practice, that they were in fact as Lake declares believers were at first at Jerusalem. They say that under Caius Caligula he ventured to Rome, whither he had been sent as legate of his nation, and that when a second time he had come to Claudius, he spoke in the same city with the apostle Peter and enjoyed his friendship, and for this reason also adorned the adherents of Mark, Peter's disciple at Alexandria, with his praises. There are distinguished and innumerable works by this man: On the five books of Moses, one book Concerning the confusion oftongues, one book On nature and invention, one book On the things which our senses desire and we detest, one book On learning, one book On the heir of divine things, one book On the division of equals and contraries, one book On the three virtues, one book On why in Scripture the names of many persons are changed, two books On covenants, one book On the life of a wiseman, one book Concerning giants, five books That dreams are sent by God, five books of Questions and answers on Exodus, four books On the tabernacle and the Decalogue, as well as books On victims and promises or curses, On Providence, On the Jews, On the manner of one's life,, On Alexander, and That dumb beasts have right reason, and That every fool should be a slave, and On the lives of the Christians, of which we spoke above, that is, lives of apostolic men, which also he entitled, On those who practice the divine life, because in truth they contemplate divine things and ever pray to God, also trader other categories, two On agriculture, two On drunkenness. There are other monuments of his genius which have not come to our hands. Concerning him there is a proverb among the Greeks "Either Plato philonized, or Philo platonized," that is, either Plato followed Philo, or Philo, Plato, so great is the similarity of ideas and language.Lives of Illustrious Men 36:2JeromePantaenus, a philosopher of the stoic school, according to some old Alexandrian custom, where, from the time of Mark the evangelist the ecclesiastics were always doctors, was of so great prudence and erudition both in scripture and secular literature that, on the request of the legates of that nation, he was sent to India by Demetrius bishop of Alexandria, where he found that Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles, had preached the advent of the Lord Jesus according to the gospel of Matthew, and on his return to Alexandria he brought this with him written in Hebrew characters. Many of his commentaries on Holy Scripture are indeed extant, but his living voice was of still greater benefit to the churches. He taught in the reigns of the emperor Severus and Antoninus surnamed Caracalla.Sermons · Sermon 236A 1:10Augustine of HippoThen Jesus opened the Scriptures to them, because they had said despairingly, "But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel." O disciples, you had hoped; now you do not hope. Come, thief, remind the disciples. Why do you despair because you saw him crucified, because you looked upon him hanging, because you thought him weak. That same thief, hanging on the cross, immediately believed and recognized him, a companion in punishment; but you forgot the author of life. Shout, thief, from the cross; you criminal, convict the holy ones. What did those say? "We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel." What did this one say? "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." You had hoped, therefore, that he was the one to redeem Israel. O disciples, if he is the one to redeem Israel, you faltered; but he refreshed, he does not forsake. The one who became your companion on the way, he became the way for you. But back then, Peter was not there who had said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." He was not with them. He thought about Christ, wherever he was, that he was with them. Before the Lord died, he had denied; but when the Lord looked at him, he wept. But now, with the Lord crucified and dead... per chance he thought that seeing the Jews insulted, and they said, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross, and we will believe you." When perhaps even the disciples, not insulting, but exhorting him to come down from the cross. After he did not, but gave up his spirit, and appeared dead on the wood, as other men die, wrapped, buried; when even they despaired, and among the despairing was Peter. After the resurrection, as Mark the Evangelist says, "He appeared to the women; he said, 'Go, tell my disciples, and Peter, that I have risen from the dead.'" For the Lord had already shown himself to the faithful women; and they returned and evangelized to the disciples, because they saw a vision of angels who said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here: he has risen"; and they did not find his body in the tomb. The women said these things, and the men did not believe; they were announcing this to the apostles, the announcers themselves of who he was. For when he was casting out spirits from possessed bodies, the very twisted spirits, afflicted by torments, said, "What have you to do with us, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"The Harmony of the Gospels · Book 3 8:10Augustine of Hippo48. If any one, however, asserts that if this was the real state of the case, Mark might have mentioned the third hour explicitly at the point at which it really was the third hour, namely, when the voices of the Jews were lifted up demanding that the Lord should be crucified; and, further, that he might have told us plainly there that those vociferators did really crucify Him at that time,-such a reasoner is simply imposing laws upon the historians of truth in his own overweening pride. For he might as well maintain that if he were himself to be a narrator of these occurrences, they ought all to be recorded just in the same way and the same order by all other writers as they have been recorded by himself. Let him therefore be content to reckon his own notion inferior to that of Mark the evangelist, who has judged it right to insert the statement just at the point at which it was suggested to him by divine inspiration. For the recollections of those historians have been ruled by the hand of Him who rules the waters, as it is written, according to His own good pleasure. For the human memory moves through a variety of thoughts, and it is not in any man's power to regulate either the subject which comes into his mind or the time of its suggestion. Seeing, then, that thoseholy and truthful men, in this matter of the order of their narrations, committed the casualties of their recollections (if such a phrase may be used) to the direction of the hidden power of God, to whom nothing is casual, it does not become any mere man, in his low estate, removed far from the vision of God, and sojourning distantly from Him, to say, "This ought to have been introduced here;" for he is utterly ignorant of the reason which led God to will its being inserted in the place it occupies. The word of an apostle is to this effect: "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost." And again he says: "To the one indeed we are the savour of life unto life; to the other, the savour of death unto death;" and adds immediately, "And who is sufficient for these things?" -that is to say, who is sufficient to comprehend how righteously that is done? The Lord Himself expresses the same when He says, "I am come that they which see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind." For it is in the depth of the riches of the knowledge and wisdom of God that it comes to pass that of the same lump one vessel is made unto honour, and another unto dishonour. And to flesh and blood it is said, "O man, who art thou that repliest against God?" Who, then, knows the mind of the Lord in the matter now under consideration? or who hath been His counsellor, where He has in such wise ruled the hearts of these evangelists in their recollections, and has raised them to so commanding a position of authority in the sublime edifice of His Church, that those very things which are capable of presenting the appearance of contradictions in them become the means by which many are made blind, deservedly given over to the lusts of their own heart, and to a reprobate mind; and by which also many are exercised in the thorough cultivation of a pious understanding, in accordance with the hidden righteousness of the Almighty? For the language of a prophet in speaking to the Lord is this: "Thy thoughts are exceeding deep. An inconsiderate man will not know, and a foolish man will not understand these things."The Christian Topography · Book 5 8:8Cosmas IndicopleustesMark the Evangelist.Homilies on Ezekiel · Book 1 10:21Gregory the DialogistWe must carefully observe that by the voice of the Lord it is said to the Prophet that he should first hear His words, and afterward speak. For we hear the words of God if we do them. And then we rightly speak them to our neighbors when we ourselves have first done them. This Mark the Evangelist confirms well when he narrates a miracle performed by the Lord, saying: "They bring to Him one deaf and mute, and they besought Him to lay His hand upon him." He indicates the order of the healing, adding: "He put His fingers into his ears, and spitting, He touched his tongue, and looking up to heaven, He sighed and said to him: Ephphetha, that is, be opened. And immediately his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke rightly." For what does it mean that God, the Creator of all things, when He wished to heal the deaf and mute man, put His fingers into his ears and, spitting, touched his tongue? What is designated by the fingers of the Redeemer except the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Hence, when in another place He had cast out a demon, He said: "If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has surely come upon you." Concerning which matter He is described by another Evangelist as having said: "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." From both these passages it is gathered that the finger of God is called the Spirit. Therefore to put fingers into the ears is to open the mind of the deaf person to obedience through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But what does it mean that spitting He touched his tongue? The saliva received from the mouth of the Redeemer is for us wisdom in divine eloquence. For saliva flows down from the head into the mouth. Therefore when our tongue is touched by that wisdom which He Himself is, it is immediately formed for words of preaching. He looked up to heaven and sighed—not because He Himself had need of sighing, He who gave what He asked for, but He taught us to sigh to Him who presides over heaven, so that both our ears ought to be opened through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and our tongue ought to be loosed through the saliva of the mouth, that is, through knowledge of divine speech, for words of preaching. To whom immediately "Ephphetha," that is, "be opened," is said; and immediately his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed. In this matter it should be noted that "be opened" was said because of the closed ears. But for one whose ears of the heart have been opened to obedience, without doubt the bond of his tongue is also subsequently loosed, so that he may speak to others about the good things to be done which he himself has done. And here it is well added: "And he spoke rightly." For he speaks rightly who has first done by obeying what he advises by speaking should be done.Register of Epistles · Book 10 12:11Gregory the DialogistI have received the blessing of Saint Mark the Evangelist and of your Blessedness. And I have been desirous of sending you some timber; but the ship which came was too small to carry it. And yet even that which the Alexandrians saw when they came is of small size. For I had prepared some that is much larger for you, which has not yet been conveyed to the Roman city: for I waited for it to be conveyed when the Alexandrian ship should arrive; and it has remained in the place where it was felled.Register of Epistles · Book 6 42:8Gregory the DialogistWe have received with the charity that was due to the bearer of these presents, our common son the deacon Isidore, who brought to us the benediction of Saint Mark the evangelist. And you indeed, being resplendent in the merit of a good life, have sent to us the sweetly smelling word, which is nigh unto Paradise. But we, to wit because we are sinners, send you wood from the West, which, being suitable for the building of ships, signifies the tumult of our mind, as being ever tossed in the sea-waves; and we wished indeed to send larger pieces, but the ship was not large enough to hold them . In the month of August, Indiction 14.Chronicon · English translation 4:5Isidore of Seville69. Claudius ruled for fourteen years. With him ruling, the apostle Peter went to Rome against Simon Magus. Also Mark the Evangelist, preaching Christ in Alexandria, wrote his gospel.Commentary on Luke 5:19Bede[Luke 5:15] -- The word about him spread all the more, and great crowds came together to hear him and to be cured of their infirmities. The complete salvation of one urges many crowds to the Lord. For, in order to show that he was healed both outwardly and inwardly, he by no means keeps silent about the benefit received or about the one from whom he received it. Rather, as Mark the Evangelist narrates, having fulfilled the duty of a herald, he immediately began to proclaim and spread the word, so much so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a city, but stayed outside in deserted places; yet people came to him from every direction (Mark 1). Therefore, it is rightly asked why the Lord commanded some things he did to be kept hidden, and they could not be hidden even for a moment. Did the eternal Son, co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, desire something that he could not accomplish in this matter? But it should be noted that our Redeemer, through his mortal body, provided us with an example in all that he did. For when performing a miracle, he ordered silence, and yet it could not be kept silent. He thereby indicated that his chosen followers, by following his examples of teaching, should indeed wish to remain hidden in their great deeds, but be revealed against their will for the benefit of others: so that it may be an example of great humility to desire their works to be hidden, and an example of great exaltation that their works cannot be hidden. Therefore, the Lord did not wish to do anything that he could not achieve, but he provided an example of what his members ought to desire and what should be done about them even against their will, by the teaching of his example.Commentary on Luke 5:39Bede[Luke 5:34] -- To whom he himself said: Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? But days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days. The bridegroom is Christ, the bride is the Church. From this holy and spiritual union, the apostles were created. Hence, Mark the evangelist rightly calls them children of the wedding, not only of the bridegroom but also of the bride, wishing it to be understood that through the baptismal regeneration, they were taken into the right of divine generation. They cannot fast or mourn as long as they see the bridegroom in the chamber and know that he is with the bride. But when the wedding is over, and the time of the passion and resurrection arrives, then the children of the bridegroom will fast. However, Luke did not say like the others: Can the children of the bridegroom or the wedding fast or mourn, but can you make the children of the bridegroom fast (Luke 5)? He elegantly hinted that those who were speaking were the ones who would make the children of the bridegroom mourn and fast, since they were the ones who would kill the bridegroom. It is to be noted that this mourning of the absence of the bridegroom is not only now, that is, after the death and resurrection of the same bridegroom, but before his incarnation throughout the whole time of this age. For the early times of the Church, before the birth of the Virgin, had saints who desired the advent of the incarnation of Christ. But these times, since he ascended into heaven, have saints who desire his manifestation to judge the living and the dead. Nor did this desirable mourning of the Church rest somewhat, except as long as he was here with the disciples in the flesh. According to the laws of tropology, it is to be known that as long as the bridegroom is with us, we are in joy, and neither can we fast nor mourn. But when he has departed and fled from us because of sins, then fasting is to be proclaimed, then mourning is to be received.Commentary on Acts · Chapter 12 1:17Theophylact of Ohrid"John, who was called Mark." This John was perhaps not the one who constantly remained with the apostles. That is why the writer added his distinguishing name, since he said: "who was called Mark." Perhaps this is Mark the Evangelist, through whom, they say, Peter transmitted his Gospel, since the Gospel of Mark is said to be Peter's Gospel. This supposition is justified by the fact that Peter and the other apostles spent a considerable amount of time at his house.Commentary on Mark · Chapter 1 1:5Thomas AquinasJEROME . (in Prolog.) Mark the Evangelist, who served the priesthood in Israel, according to the flesh a Levite, having been converted to the Lord, wrote his Gospel in Italy, shewing in it how even his family benefited Christ. For, commencing his Gospel with the voice of the prophetic cry, he shews the order of the election of Levi, declaring that John the son of Zachariah was sent forth by the voice of an angel, and saying, The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.Commentary on Mark · Chapter 1 3:8Thomas AquinasPSEUDO-JEROME . Mark the Evangelist, like a hart, longing after the fountains of water, leaps forward over places, smooth and steep; and, as a bee laden with honey, he sips the tops of the flowers. Wherefore he hath shewn us in his narrative Jesus coming from Nazareth, saying, And it came to pass in those days, &c.TREATISE ON THE STATES OF LIFE · Question 185 2:2Thomas AquinasObjection 3: Further, Jerome (Prologue, super Marc.) says that "it is related of the Blessed Mark* that after receiving the faith he cut off his thumb that he might be excluded from the priesthood." [*This prologue was falsely ascribed to St. Jerome, and the passage quoted refers, not to St. Mark the Evangelist, but to a hermit of that name. (Cf. Baronius, Anno Christi, 45, num. XLIV)] Likewise some take a vow never to accept a bishopric. Now to place an obstacle to a thing amounts to the same as refusing it altogether. Therefore it would seem that one may, without sin, refuse the episcopal office absolutely.Book 5 21:7Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England"If therefore it could be that the Lord's day should always happen on the fifteenth day of the first month, that is, on the fifteenth moon, we might always celebrate the Passover at one and the same time with the ancient people of God, though the nature of the mystery be different, as we do it with one and the same faith. But inasmuch as the day of the week does not keep pace exactly with the moon, the Apostolic tradition, which was preached at Rome by the blessed Peter, and confirmed at Alexandria by Mark the Evangelist, his interpreter, appointed that when the first month was come, and in it the evening of the fourteenth day, we should also wait for the Lord's day, between the fifteenth and the one-and-twentieth day of the same month. For on whichever of those days it shall fall, Easter will be rightly kept on the same; seeing that it is one of those seven days on which the feast of unleavened bread is commanded to be kept. Thus it comes to pass that our Easter never falls either before or after the third week of the first month, but has for its observance either the whole of it, to wit, the seven days of unleavened bread appointed by the law, or at least some of them. For though it comprises but one of them, that is, the seventh, which the Scripture so highly commends, saying, 'But the seventh day shall be a more holy convocation, ye shall do no servile work therein,' none can lay it to our charge, that we do not rightly keep Easter Sunday, which we received from the Gospel, in the third week of the first month, as the Law prescribes.