The Prologue from Ohrid: April 25
1. THE HOLY APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST MARK
Mark was a traveling companion and assistant to the Apostle Peter who, in
his first epistle calls him his son, "The chosen one at Babylon sends
you his greeting as does Mark, my son" (1 Peter 5:13), not
according to the flesh but a son according to the spirit. While Mark was in Rome
with Peter, the faithful begged him to write down for them the saving teaching
of the Lord Jesus, His miracles and His life. Thus, Mark wrote the Holy Gospel
which the Apostle Peter himself saw and attested to its truthfulness. Mark was
appointed a bishop by the Apostle Peter and was sent to Egypt to preach. As so,
St. Mark was the first preacher of the Good News [Gospel] in Egypt and was the
first bishop in Egypt. Egypt was entirely oppressed by the thick darkness of
paganism, idolatry, soothsaying and malice. With the help of God, St. Mark
succeeded to sow the seed of the teaching of Christ throughout Libiya, Ammonicia
and Pentopolis. From Pentopolis, St. Mark came to Alexandria where the Spirit
of God led him. In Alexandria, he succeeded in establishing the Church of God
and installed bishops, priests and deacons and to firmly strengthen them all in
the honorable Faith. Mark confirmed his preaching through many and great
miracles. When the heathens raised accusations against Mark, as a destroyer of
their idolatrous faith, and when the mayor of the city began to search for Mark,
he again fled to Pentopolis where he continued to strengthen his earlier work.
After two years, Mark again returned to Alexandria to the great joy of all the
faithful, whose number was greatly multiplied. On this occasion, the pagans
seized Mark, bound him tightly and began to drag him over the cobblestone
pavement crying out: "Let us drag the ox to the pen." Wounded and
bloodied throughout, they cast Mark into prison where, at first, a heavenly
angel appeared to him encouraging and strengthening him. After that, the Lord
Jesus Himself appeared to him and said: "Peace be to you Mark, my
Evangelist!" To that Mark replied: "Peace be to you also my Lord
Jesus Christ!" The next day the vicious men brought Mark out of prison and
again dragged him throughout the streets with the same cry: "Let us drag
the ox to the pen." Completely exhausted and worn out, Mark uttered: "Into
Your hands O Lord, I give up my spirit." Mark expired and his soul was
translated into a better world. His holy relics were honorably buried by
Christians and, through the centuries, his relics give healing to people from
all of their afflictions, pains and diseases.
2. SAINT ANIANUS, THE SECOND BISHOP OF
ALEXANDRIA
When Mark stepped out of the boat on dry land in Alexandria, the sandal on
one foot became torn. Then, he saw a cobbler to whom he gave his sandal for
repairs. In mending the sandal, the cobbler pierced himself with the needle in
his left hand and blood began to flow and the cobbler screamed in pain. Then
the apostle of God mixed some dust with his spittle and anointed the wounded
hand and suddenly the hand became whole again. Astonished at this miracle, the
cobbler invited Mark to his home. Hearing Mark's homily, Anianus [for that was
the cobbler's name] was baptized; he and his entire household. Anianus
displayed so much virtue and so much zeal for the work of God that St. Mark
consecrated him bishop. This holy man was the second bishop of the Church in
Alexandria.
HYMN OF PRAISE
THE HOLY APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST MARK
The Evangelist Mark, to Egypt he flew
As a bee with honey. And Egypt experienced
The sweetness of Christ's honey; the sweetness of living knowledge,
And the people began to be amazed at Christ:
How He, in His divine concern, became incarnated
How He, humbled Himself for man's salvation,
And how He resurrected in glory and power.
Through the thick darkness, until now, we walked!
The Egyptians said: "And now for us, the sun rises,"
Let us rejoice O people in this shiny day!
But his wonderful crop, Mark watered with his blood,
And because of that, all the idols collapsed.
And Egypt, the land of the pharaohs, was baptized
Became the field of God; the Apostolic Church.
REFLECTION
The devil quickly finds work for idle hands and an angel quickly finds work
for diligent hands. In this world of constant movement and constant change man,
whether he wants to or not, must always be busy, be it either good works or evil
works. The idle man, actually is not lazy. He is a diligent worker of the
devil. An idle body and an idle soul is the most suitable field for the devil's
plowing and sowing. St. Anthony the Great said: "The body needs to be
subdued and immersed in prolonged labors." St. Ephrem the Syrian teaches: "Teach
yourself to work, so that you will not have to learn to beg." All of the
other Holy Fathers, without exception, speak about the necessity of work for the
salvation of the soul of man. The apostles and all the saints give to us an
example of continuous and concentrated spiritual and physical labor. That the
idle man, by his idleness, does not extend his life on earth but shortens it, is
clearly shown by the longevity of many saints, the greatest laborers among the
laborers in the world.
CONTEMPLATION
To contemplate the resurrected Lord Jesus:
1. How His resurrection incites us and strengthens us for every good work;
physical and spiritual;
2. How His resurrection enlightens our every good work with the light of
hope in the Living God, Who counts our works, measures them and preserves them
for the Day of Judgment.
HOMILY
About the apostles' love for labors
"Nor did we eat food received free from everyone. On the
contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked so as not to burden any
of you" (2 Thessalonians 3:8).
First fulfill then teach. All the apostles and all of the saints of God
adhered to this rule. Thus, the Apostle Paul, even before he spoke the command:
"If anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat"
(2 Thessalonians 3:10), declares for himself and for his assistants in
preaching that they did not eat anyone's bread for free, rather by effort and
labor earned their bread. "Night and day we worked!" Behold
the true laborers! Behold the honey-bearing bees of Christ! Daily and nightly
toil: where is their time for sin? Daily and nightly toil: where is their room
for sin? Daily and nightly toil: where can the devil weave his nest of
passions? Daily and nightly toil: where is their cause for scandal?
In certain Egyptian and Palestinian monasteries, there lived about ten
thousand monks. They all lived off the labor of their hands: from weaving
beehives, baskets, door mats and from other types of handiwork. Daily and
nightly toil and daily and nightly prayer. When a monk sold his beehives in
town for a higher price than the price which the abbot designated, for that, the
monk experienced punishment. For the ascetics it was not a matter of enrichment
but only for the most essential nourishment and the simplest clothing. In this,
the ascetics were and are the true followers of the great apostle.
O, my brethren, let us flee from slothfulness [idleness] as from a cave of
wild beasts. If by some chance we fall into a cave of wild beasts, let us
quickly flee from it, before the wild beasts totally seal off the entrance. The
cave is the dwelling place where the slothful man seeks rest. The wild beasts
are evil spirits who, in such a dwelling place, feel more at home there than
near their king in Hades. O Lord, Who are wonderful in all the works of Your
creation, awaken us from slothfulness and encourage us to nightly and daily
labor by Your encouraging Holy Spirit.
To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.