Mark of Athens

CONCERNING ST. MARK OF ATHENS, HERMIT IN LIBYA.

FOURTH CENTURY.

Mark of Athens, Hermit in Libya (Saint)

[1] After having vindicated the holiness and veneration of Mark of Arethusa from the testimony of the Greeks and the authority of Nazianzen, we present another Mark, who, at the very time that the first Mark illuminated the Christian faith and piety with his outstanding confession in Syria, the Acts of this Saint to be admired by all as an example of outstanding fortitude, openly venerable -- at the same time this one also inhabited the deserts of Libya in seclusion, known to God alone and to the Angels, until in extreme old age, at the age of one hundred and thirty, he became known to Abbot Serapion for the sole purpose that, just as Antony cared for the funeral of St. Paul, so he should care for the funeral of this blessed anchorite and reveal to the world his life, until then unknown. And would that we had as certain authors for Serapion's account as we have the narrative of the great Antony about St. Paul. Now the reliability of the entire history must necessarily rest on the concordant testimony of two manuscripts, one of which gave us the Life of St. Basil the Younger, presented on the 26th of March, found in two manuscripts and was among the Greek codices of Cardinal Mazarin; the other exists at Dijon in the library of the most distinguished Lord Councillor le Mare, which we transcribed, and after the title has the customary formula for requesting a blessing, "Eulogeson Pater." This was an argument for us that such a history was not only accepted as true among the Greeks, but was also customarily read publicly in church as the history of a Saint.

[2] although perhaps pertaining to May Various manuscript Synaxaria, such as the Ambrosian, the Chifflet, the Parisian of the Dominican Fathers, and the Mazarinian, have St. Mark the Hermit -- the first two at the 20th, the latter at the 22nd of May. And in the Chifflet manuscript, after the customary commemorative formula, "On the same day, Saint Mark the hermit, rested in peace" --

after this formula, I say, is added the distich:

"Didosi Marko tes Edem kepon megan, Ho kepon heuron eis taphen Christos palai."

"Christ, who once found a garden for his burial, gives to Mark the great garden of Eden."

But since in the Lives of the Fathers many hermits or monks of this name are commended for outstanding holiness, yet they are referred here we do not dare to presume that it is this Athenian rather than some one of those who is celebrated in these verses, even though the mention of Paradise inserted in them could seem to have some foundation in those things which Mark the Athenian indicated to Abbot Serapion had been divinely shown to him. Therefore, lest any confusion arise from assigning these Acts to one of the aforesaid days of May, we have preferred to insert them here after another Saint of the same name and, as we shall show below, of the same period; if perhaps in the meantime, having understood the judgments of others after they have seen these things, we may be able to define something more certain for that month.

[3] The title, moreover, of both manuscripts from which these Acts are given is this: his abode on a mountain in Libya "The Life and manner of living of our holy Father Mark the Athenian, who lived on Mount Thraces, which is toward interior Ethiopia, above the nation of the Chettaeans." Ptolemy places the village of Chettaea on the Mediterranean Sea between the 55th and 56th degree of latitude; and accordingly it is distant from Alexandria by five degrees -- that is, 300,000 paces -- by the coastal route. So that it is not surprising if Serapion, who was to travel by the land route, was told that there was an interval of thirty days from Alexandria to the mountain where Mark dwelt, which we deduce from the location of the places to be what is today called Barca. The author perhaps wrote Barke or Brake, which the ignorance of copyists changed to Thrake, substituting, as often happens, the well-known region of Thrace in Europe for an unknown name of a barbarian land. Similarly, instead of interior Ethiopia, very far distant, we would willingly understand interior Libya, which the desert of Barca most closely faces -- the Egyptians perhaps calling by the name of Ethiopia whatever extends beyond the Libya more familiar to them, further inland from the sea. The mountain that we call Barca, where it most closely faces the Chettaeans, is called Asiphus by Ptolemy; but the name Barca now belongs to which is now called the mountain and desert of Barca whatever extends from the Great Chersonese to the borders of Alexandria as a desert region, encompassing Marmarica and Libya, 450 leagues in length, and extending from the sea to Numidia for more than 60 leagues. This whole region is called in Arabic Schart Barca, "desert of the tempest," or Ceyrat Barca, "way of the tempest," because it must be crossed by those traveling from Barbary to Egypt, and is exposed to winds that roll the sands in those waterless lands no differently than waves in the sea. There are, however, those who think this is a more ancient name, derived from Barce, a town of the Cyrenaic region, from which those mountains take their beginning -- the very place where Ptolemy located the Barcitae (who seem to be the Barcaei of Virgil). This is not unlike the truth, since Melas and Strabo extend the name Cyrenaic more broadly, all the way to the Nile.

notice received through Abbot Serapion As for Serapion, he was an inhabitant of the inner Desert (which was the last habitation of the great Antony, a three-day journey distant from Aphrodito, as we showed on the 17th of January in the Commentary, number 7) -- he was, I say, an inhabitant of the inner desert when he reported about Mark; and perhaps his master John also dwelt there, being probably one of St. Antony's disciples. For his cell was distant from Alexandria by an interval of twelve days, measured by moderate stages, which however Serapion says he covered in five days "ek tes polles optasias," "on account of the frequent vision" -- that is (as it seems to me) the experience of the road leading there, or the celestial admonitions by which he was urged to hasten that journey day and night. Unless perhaps one prefers the conjecture of Reinold Dehn, who suspects that for "optasias" one should read "elasias," a word that signifies a journey undertaken at great and rapid pace, even with the aid of horses; but here it would be apt to signify great haste.

[2] who seems afterwards to have been near Arsinoe Moreover, whether any mention of that John is made in the Lives of the Fathers is difficult to divine among so many persons of the same name. It is readier to suspect that Serapion, his disciple, whose authority could be so great that things narrated by him, however marvelous, would be held as undoubted, was the same one whom Rufinus -- or rather the author of the book, Evagrius, chapter 18 -- writes that he found in the region of Arsinoe, Father of many monasteries, "under whose care there were held many and various monasteries of about ten thousand monks, who all, from their own labors, which they chiefly obtained through the wages of their hands at harvest time, bringing the greater part to the aforementioned Father, devoted it to the uses of the poor." The times certainly do not disagree, since the persecution of which Mark makes mention as being in force at the time of his departure, after ninety-seven years, to have flourished around the year 400 may be understood as one of the last; for the beginnings of Constantine's reign, during which persecutions began to cease, fell at the beginning of the fourth century, toward the end of which Evagrius and Rufinus flourished.

LIFE

From the Greek Manuscript of Dijon.

Mark of Athens, Hermit in Libya (Saint)

FROM A GREEK MANUSCRIPT

CHAPTER I.

The Place and Approaching Death of the Saint Are Revealed to Abbot Serapion: He Seeks Him and Finally Finds Him. The First Meeting of the Two.

[1] Abbot Serapion narrated to us in the inner desert of Egypt, at the dwelling of Abbot John, Serapion is admonished in a dream speaking thus: "When I was sleeping one time, I saw in a dream that two Ascetics came to Abbot John, that great old man, who, having received his blessing, said to each other: 'Is this Abbot Serapion?' And one answered the other: 'It is; let us rise so that we may enjoy his blessing too.' To whom Abbot John said: 'He has just arrived here from the desert and is exceedingly weary; let him rest for a while.' They said to him: 'How long have you been residing in this desert, and you have not gone to Abbot Mark, who dwells on the mountain of Ethiopia called Thraces? For among all the Ascetics of the desert there is none other like him, inasmuch as he is an old man of one hundred and thirty years, and for a full ninety-five years he has seen no human being; and within forty days the holy Fathers who are in the land of the living will come and receive him to themselves.'"

[2] "While they were saying these things, I awoke; and behold, no one was present with Abbot John. he departs to seek the Saint Approaching him, I narrated what I had seen in my dream. He said to me: 'It is a divine vision; where is Mount Thraces?' I answered: 'Pray for me, Father.' And having prayed, I kissed him, and on account of the frequent vision I set out and arrived at Alexandria after five days, although the journey is otherwise reckoned at twelve days. Entering the city, I asked a certain merchant from among those who know the roads best, and said: 'Is Mount Thraces in Ethiopia far from here?' He answered: 'Very far indeed, my Abba.' To whom I again said: 'How great is that distance?' 'As I estimate, Father,' he replied, 'twenty days, and learns at Alexandria the road leading there toward the regions through which we enter Ethiopia, near the great sea of the nation of the Chettaeans.' I then said to him again: 'But how much time do you think I would need? For I wish to travel there.' And the merchant answered: 'If the journey is by sea, not many days are needed; but if by land, reckon on thirty days.'"

[3] "Then I put water in a flask and commended myself to God, he undertakes the journey through the wilderness and proceeding through that dreadful wilderness for twenty days, I saw neither beast nor bird nor anything else, because there was nothing there for the sustenance of animals: for no rain, no dew whatsoever descends there, nor is there anything that can be eaten. After twenty days the water that I was carrying ran out, and I began to be in danger on the road, since I could neither go forward nor turn back, and moreover I feared to become disobedient to God's command. I therefore lay down on the ground as if dead, held by the burning of thirst; and behold, the Brothers whom I had seen in the vision coming to Abbot John in which, endangered by thirst, he is divinely strengthened stood beside me and said: 'Rise and come with us.' Strengthened in the power of the Lord and rising, I saw one of them fix his eyes on the ground, who, turning to me, said: 'Do you wish to take water?' To whom I said: 'As you command, Father.' He then showed me a root cast off from a gum tree and said to me: 'Take and eat of this root, and walk in the power of the Lord.' And when I had eaten a little, I was moistened as if I had been immersed in water, and my spirit was refreshed as if nothing had ever been lacking to me. They, having shown me the way by which I would arrive at the Saint, said: 'Do not delay,' and immediately vanished from my eyes."

[4] "For another seven days, therefore, I proceeded through that wilderness, and thus arrived at the mountain itself. St. Mark is forewarned of his coming I ascended even to its summit, finding nothing on that entire mountain, which was so high that it seemed to touch the very sky. When I reached its peak, I looked around, and behold, at its summit there was a great sea. I wandered about the mountain this way and that for seven days. Toward evening I saw Angels of God descending to the Saint and saying to him: 'Blessed are you, Abba Mark, and well is it with your soul; behold, we have brought to you Abbot Serapion, whom your spirit desired to see; see him and rejoice.' Hearing these things and being terrified, I went toward that vision and came to the holy cave in which the Blessed one was; and approaching the door, I heard him uttering from the divine Scriptures verses of this kind: 'For a thousand years in your sight, Lord, are as yesterday which has passed,' and the rest of the same Psalm. Psalm 89:4"

[5] "Then he said: 'Blessed is your soul, O Mark, because it has not been contaminated nor defiled in this wicked world; blessed is your body, he is heard blessing God because it has not been intoxicated by the lusts of perverse thoughts; blessed are your eyes, because the devil was unable to seduce them to gaze upon alien forms; blessed are your ears, because they have not heard the womanly sirens of this foolish world; blessed are your hands, which have neither touched nor possessed any human things; nor has the scent of the devil blown through your nostrils, nor have your feet walked in the ways that lead to death; and encouraging himself for his departure your steps have not been tripped; but your soul has been filled with the food

of the spirit, and your body has been sanctified by the illumination of Angels." And again he said: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his rewards. Why are you sad, O my soul? Do not fear; for you shall not be detained in the custody of hell, nor shall the demons be able in any way to accuse you, because there is no guilt of sins in you. But hear David saying in the Psalm: 'The Angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him, to save them.' Hear also the Savior in the Gospel: 'Blessed is that servant who shall have done the will of his Lord.' Psalm 33:8; Luke 12:43"

[6] Having spoken these and many other things from the divine Scriptures, he came out to the entrance of the cave, then he receives Serapion where, weeping in a pitiable manner, he called me and said: "In the peace of Christ you have come, Abbot Serapion; approach me, my son." And when I had approached, he embraced me, weeping, and saying: "Behold, the scent of my son Serapion, the scent of a spiritual son. For the labor you have undertaken to see this gray head, my Lord Jesus Christ will repay you on the day of judgment, on which the secrets of men shall be revealed, because you did not shrink from undergoing so great a labor. It is ninety-five years, my son, since I have seen a human being, and tells him that he has lived there for 95 years except you today, whom I have desired for a long time." Having said these things, we sat down at his command, and I began to ask him about his blameless manner of life. He, however, taking up the discourse, spoke again thus:

[7] "Behold, my son, it is ninety-five years during which I have lived in this small cave, and I have seen neither bird nor any beast, of which 30 he spent in the greatest distress nor have I tasted any human food, nor been clothed in a garment. For thirty years I was here in great straits and difficulties from hunger, thirst, and nakedness -- but more from the snares of the demons. I ate mud from the spring and drank water from the sea; and I spent twenty years naked in the greatest affliction, because the demons swore among themselves a thousand times to drown me by plunging me into the sea. Many times they dragged me down to the lowest parts of the mountain, so that nothing was left whole in either my skin or my flesh, crying out and saying: 'Get out of our land! From the origin of the world no other person has entered here, and how have you dared to come here?'"

[8] "But after I had persevered with great patience for thirty years in hunger and thirst, after which God began to visit him in nakedness and in combats with demons, the power of God came upon me, and by his will the properties of my body were changed, and hair grew over my entire body, until from the hair itself a covering was made for it. And spiritual food was brought to me without fail, and Angels descended to me. And I beheld, my son, the joy of the kingdom of heaven and the dwelling places of the holy souls; I saw the promise of blessedness prepared for those who do good; I saw the Paradise of God; I saw the tree of knowledge from which our first parents Adam and Eve ate; I saw Enoch and Elijah living on the earth. In short, there is nothing, my son, that God, when asked, has not shown me." When the Saint had said these things, he also narrates how he came there I said to him: "Tell me, Father, how did you come here?" And he, beginning the narrative about himself, said: "I, my son, was born at Athens and was instructed in the learning of the philosophers. But when my parents died, I said within myself: 'I too am mortal, like my fathers; and what will the world profit me?' Immediately therefore I took off my garments, cast myself upon a plank into the sea, and arrived at this mountain."

[9] As he narrated thus, day broke, and I saw his entire body covered with hair like a wild animal, he asks what state the world is in and I was terrified and trembling with fear, because I saw in him no form of a man whatsoever. I could therefore recognize him in no other way than that human speech issued from his mouth. When he saw that I was frightened, he said: "Do not be terrified, my son, at the sight of this body; for it is perishable, taken from the perishable." And again he questioned me, saying: "Does the world still endure and flourish as it used to of old?" I answered: "Yes, Father; by the grace of Christ, they rejoice even more than in former times." He said: "Does idolatry and persecution still prevail?" "No, Father," I said, "but through your prayers persecution has ceased, and idolatry is not openly practiced." Hearing this, the old man rejoiced with great joy.

[10] and marvels at the failure of miracles Again he asked me whether there were any Saints in the world today performing signs and wonders, as Christ said in the Gospel: "If anyone has faith as a grain of mustard seed and says to this mountain, 'Pass hence and be cast into the sea,' it shall be done for him." Matthew 17:19 And immediately at these words the mountain on which we were was lifted up and began moving toward the sea. Looking and seeing it advancing, he struck his face with his hand, saying: "What is the matter with you, O mountain? Did I tell you to be removed? Stand in your place." And at once, while the Saint was speaking, the mountain stood in its place. I, seeing such things, fell to the ground in fear; and the Saint, taking me by his hand, raised me up, saying: "Have you never seen anything of this kind in your life?" To whom I said: "Indeed not." But he, sighing, wept and said: "Woe to the earth, because Christians are so only in name, by no means in works. Blessed be God who brought me to this place, so that I should not die in my own homeland and be buried in a land polluted by many sins."

CHAPTER II

Having Taken Supper, Mark Narrates the Order of His Life: and After Final Commands and Prayers He Dies: He Is Buried by Serapion: Who Is Then Miraculously Restored to His Own Place.

[11] When evening had come, he said: "Brother Serapion, is it not time for us to perform our customary thanksgiving and act of charity?" supper is taken, divinely prepared But I did not answer him a word. He, immediately rising and lifting his hands to heaven, recited the Psalm: "The Lord governs me and nothing shall be wanting to me," etc. Then turning upward he said in a loud voice: "Prepare the table, my son." And he said to me: "Let us enter, my son, and receive the food that God has sent us." I, marveling, was astonished, because until then I had seen nothing in the cave. But when we had entered, I saw a table set with two chairs, and fresh bread, delicate and white as snow or a beautiful flower; and two cooked fish, and blessed and most beautiful pastries, and olives and dates, and salt, and a cup full of water most sweet and more pleasant than honey. When we had reclined, therefore, the Saint said: "Give the blessing, Abbot Serapion." But I said: "Pardon me, Father." And immediately the old man said: "Lord, bless." And behold, we saw as it were an outstretched right hand coming from heaven to the table and forming the sign of the Cross.

[12] When we had eaten, the Saint said: "Remove this, my son." And at once that table was taken away. Mark relates that he was accustomed to be refreshed thus I, indeed, in all my life have never tasted food or drink of such a kind as those, either in appearance or in sweetness. Then the Saint said to me: "Have you seen, Brother, how much God loves his servants? For every day one fish was sent to me, and today on your account two have been sent. Thus has God been accustomed to send me food, my son, and spiritual drink. For thirty years I was in this place and did not find even a root of a plant; my soul endured hunger and thirst; I ate the mud of the earth when hungry and drank the bitter water from the sea; I lived unshod and naked until my limbs were stripped of their skin from the cold, and the sun burned my flesh, after overcoming the temptations of 30 years and I lay on the earth as if dead. The demons waged war against me, continually surrounding and afflicting me as one abandoned to them by God, for thirty years, thus struggling with hunger and thirst and nakedness, with the violence of daytime heat and nighttime cold, while meanwhile I saw neither bird nor any animal on this mountain. It is now ninety-five years that I have been here; nor did my eyes see any of the living creatures created by God during all those thirty years -- only demons."

[13] "But when the thirty years were completed during which I lived amid these dangers, and that his body was marvelously changed God gave command to my body, and hair grew and covered all my limbs. From that hour until now the demons have been unable to fight against me or approach me, nor have hunger or thirst, cold or heat prevailed against me; nor indeed have I ever been weakened in any way. But today the measure of my life has been fulfilled, and God has sent you to bury my lowly body with your holy hands." After he had said these things, on that very day toward evening after having taken food, he said to me: "Brother Serapion, pardon me yet a little while, about to depart and on this night let us keep vigil for my departure." Performing the first hour, we completed all the Psalms of David; then he said to me: "When you bury my body, place it in this cave in the peace of Christ, and blocking the mouth of the cave with stones, depart, and by no means remain here."

[14] But beginning to weep with tears and sorrowful lamentation, I said to him: he consoles Serapion "Father, pray that I may be received with you wherever you go; for I do not know where I am to go, or how I came here." The Saint answered me: "On the day of my joy, do not weep; for God will lead you, and taking you hence will keep you safe and joyful. You will not depart hence by the same road by which you came here, O Brother Serapion. Now, my son, this day is great for me above all the days of my life. Today my soul will dismiss this passible body and will go to rest in the tabernacles of life. and in a great light Today I shall be transferred to the place of my destined

rest." When he had said these things, the cave was filled with light more splendid than the sun, and over that entire vast mountain was spread a fragrance of spices. And the Saint, taking my hand, began to speak thus:

[15] he bids farewell to his body "Farewell, O cave, in which I strove to please God with my body, which during my life dwelt in you, and again shall remain here until the day of resurrection. And you, O body, house of labors and fatigues and necessities, farewell. To you, Lord, I commend my body; for your sake it has endured hunger and thirst, cold and heat: do you clothe it with the garment of glory on the dread day of your coming. Farewell, my eyes, which nightly vigils have wasted, and now, composed for sleep, rest. Farewell, my feet, which I wearied by persisting in prayer throughout entire nights. Farewell, Ascetics dwelling in the caves of the mountains; to the universal Church of the faithful farewell, you who are bound and afflicted for the kingdom of God; farewell, exiles who have no comforter. Farewell, monasteries; farewell, Lauras; farewell, faithful Church, reconciler of sinners. Farewell, Priests of the Lord, mediators between God and men; farewell, children of the Church, pleasing to Christ through holy baptism; farewell, you who receive strangers as you would Christ, friends of God and hospitable. Farewell, Kings and Princes who are merciful toward the poor; farewell, humble fasters and tireless athletes amid labors; farewell, you who are devoted to prayers and keep vigil in the holy churches. Farewell, monks; farewell, earth, and all who dwell in it -- in the peace of Christ and his love, farewell."

[16] and to Serapion, to whom he gives instructions about his body When he had spoken thus, the Saint turned and kissed me, and said: "Farewell, Brother Serapion. May Christ, in hope of whose recompense you undertook this labor, himself repay you the reward of your toil on the day of his coming." And again he said to me: "I adjure you by Christ the Son of God: take nothing whatsoever from this humble body of mine, not even a single hair, nor put upon it the covering of any garment; but let the hairs with which the Lord clothed it be themselves its burial shroud; and do not remain here today." After which, while I wept at these words of the Saint, a voice came from heaven saying: "Bring to me the doer of justice, the perfect Christian and faithful servant. Come, my son Mark; come, rest in the land of joy and spiritual life." And immediately the Saint said to me: "Let us kneel, Brother." And kneeling, I heard the voice of one saying to another: here he sees his soul borne to heaven "Stretch out your arms." And hearing this I rose from kneeling, and looking up I saw the soul of the Saint being carried by Angels, clothed in a white robe, being borne up to the heavens, and the veil over them was lifted for it. I also saw the battalions of demons, for those deceitful ones stood like infinite and numberless hosts in the air, detaining the souls that wished to pass through; but immediately I beheld as it were a right hand extended from heaven, receiving his spirit; and I could no longer catch sight of him.

[17] It was the sixth hour of the night when I saw these things, and I spent the rest of it in prayer until morning; and having buried the body and completing the customary hymns over the body of the deceased, I took it up and laid it within the cave, and having blocked its entrance, I descended from the mountain, praying and beseeching God to be my helper in retracing that terrible wilderness. Around sunset, behold, those two Brothers returning from the mountain who had appeared at the dwelling of Abbot John were present, saying to me: "Truly, Brother, you have buried a man today of whom this world was not worthy. Rise now and let us walk through the night, for the air is cooler now; by day you will not be able to walk on account of the heat of the sun." Rising, I was with them until morning. Then they said to me: "Go in peace and pray for us."

[18] They had scarcely departed when behold, I found myself standing at the entrance of the church of Abbot John, he suddenly finds himself at the dwelling of Abbot John and astonished, I glorified God with a loud voice, and I remembered the word the Saint had said to me: "You will not depart hence by the same road by which you came here." And so I believed that by an invisible translation, through the prayers of St. Mark, the faithful servant of God, I had been transported to where I had been before; and I magnified the mercies of the most good and most merciful God, which he had shown toward me, his unworthy servant, on account of the prayers of his servant Mark. and relates to him what he had seen When Abbot John heard my voice, he came out and said: "In peace with God you have come, Abbot Serapion." And entering the church, I narrated to him all that had taken place; and we all glorified God.

[19] Then Abbot John said to me: "Truly, Brother, he was a perfect Christian both in name and in deed; and together they praise God in his Saint but we are Christians in name only, by no means in deeds. But the lover of mankind and merciful God, who received his servant Mark into the eternal tabernacles of heaven, may he himself protect us and his holy Church under the wings of his grace against all the scandals of the devil; for the devil always and unceasingly remains, like a roaring lion, against us monks. Yet may the most good God, the kind and merciful God, who accepts the repentance of us sinners, lead us in his holy will, that we may obtain mercy on the day of judgment, together with our holy Father Abbot Mark, who went forth from Athens; with the intercession and supplication of the immaculate Mother of God, together with all the Saints, as many as have pleased Christ from the beginning of the world: to whom belongs honor and power, with his unbegotten Father and the most holy, most good, and life-giving Spirit, now and always and forever and ever. Amen."