SAINT MARK OF APOLLONIA, HERMIT - 5 MARCH

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH

Saints celebrated on the 5th of March

SAINT MARK OF APOLLONIA, HERMIT

According to the Meneae*, Saint Mark (Marcus) withdrew into the wilderness at the age of 40, where he lived another 60 years. He is said to have restored the sight to a blind hyena cub, impressing on it was healed under the condition that it left poor people's sheep unharmed. Even this short anecdote shows how respected this saint was in the opinion of the people. 

Already as a youth he had distinguished himself by great gentleness and temperance. He read the holy scriptures so diligently that he knew a part of them by heart. People talked about him far and wide, therefore the Bollandists* refer to Mark as multorum sermone (Sozomenus VI. 29). His name indicates that he originally came from Apollonia. There existed, however, at least 32 cities of this name in antiquity; probably Cyrenean Apollonia was his native city. 

When he had withdrawn to the desert of Scete and he finally lay on his deathbed, an angel handed him (according to legend) the holy provision for the journey. Interestingly, only the wrist and hand of this celestial being were visible to Mark.

Our saint was so humble that he referred to himself only as an "old wretched man," a "glutton," a "slave of his belly." He was at constant war with the evil spirits, whom he reproached loudly for their noisy pursuits. His memory is celebrated in the Greek Church on March 5 or March 4. The little spoon, which the angel is said to have used to administer holy communion to Mark, was reverently preserved, according to the Meneae* (I. 367-368).

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 4, Augsburg, 1875, pp. 109-10)

*A hagiography source used by the authors 

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Mark may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.