This
is Jesus' first public miracle, however
it is not related in the Gospel of Mark.
Mark was one of the Seventy Apostles sent
out by Christ; he was the servant who
carried water to the house of Simon the
Cyrenian, where the Last Supper took place;
and Mark was the one who hosted the disciples
in his house after the death of Jesus,
and into whose house the resurrected Jesus
Christ came, although all the doors were
shut. The following details are also based
on Severus' account, and need corroboration
before they are accepted as more than
10th century pious legend: He eventually
went to Alexandria and was the first to
preach the Gospel there. He is said to
have performed many miracles, and established
a church there, appointing a bishop, three
priests, and seven deacons. Mark is considered
by this writer to have founded the School
of Alexandria, a school that encouraged
studies in science, philosophy, music,
math and language embraced by the early
Coptic Christians, who believe such disciplines
are not contrary to religion, but lead
believers to a true spiritual life.
When
Mark returned to Alexandria, the people
there are said to have resented his efforts
to turn them away from the worship of
their traditional Egyptian gods. In 68
A.D. they killed him, and tried to burn
his body. Afterwards, the Christians in
Alexandria removed his unburned body from
the ashes, wrapped it and then buried
it in the easterly part of the church
they had built. His remains, except for
the head, were later stolen and taken
to Venice (see below). However, the first
reports of his execution by burning date
to the 4th century and are considered
apocryphal by many church historians.
It should be noted that Severus' account
is not entirely reconcilable with the
first accounts we have of St. Mark. Papias
says that he was a disciple of Peter and
never knew Jesus himself. Papias says
Mark wrote down the stories Peter told,
but not necessarily in chronological order.
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