MARK THE FASTER

On March 18, the Church honors the memory of Saint Mark the Faster. The celebration of this saint always falls during Great Lent. Therefore, the day of his remembrance is a quiet, reverent celebration, worthy of the ancient monks. Truly, they are the saints of Great Lent. “You’ve lived to be a hundred years old and fought me all this time,” the demon whispered to Mark, trying to make him feel depressed. “Oh no, it’s you who has grown old with me, even though you are incorporeal,” replied the ascetic in a mental battle.

The Lausiac History, an ancient Patericon dedicated to the saint desert fathers and mothers of Egypt, written in 419–420 by Bishop Palladius, tells the story of Egyptian monasticism through the lives of ascetics, many of whom the author knew personally. In former times, the Orthodox Church attached great importance to this work. According to the liturgical statute, the Lausiac History should be read during the service after the third kathisma and the third song of the canon on weekdays during Great Lent. One of the great ascetics described by Palladius was Mark the Faster.

Saint Mark the Faster should be distinguished from another saint of the same name, Mark the Ascetic (360 – after 430). The latter is one of the Fathers of the Church. He was a significant theologian and ascetic writer. He leaved behind written works that were included in a classic collection of works by ancient ascetic authors, extremely important for Orthodox spirituality, entitled Philokalia. It is believed that Mark the Ascetic was a monk not far from modern-day Ankara. His works reflect the theology of the Antiochian school, while “our” Mark the Faster, mentioned by Palladius, was an Egyptian monk. Mark the Ascetic was a disciple of John Chrysostom, who was viewed with suspicion in Egypt. Palladius writes that he personally saw Mark the Ascetic during his stay in Egypt between 390 and 399, when the latter was already 100 years old. In turn, Mark the Ascetic argued with Nestorius in the 30s of the fifth century. Unfortunately, the Faster and the Ascetic are very often mistakenly identified with each other. Incidentally, contemporary Orthodox theologian Alexei Osipov often refers to Mark the Ascetic when arguing against the doctrine of original sin. This is no coincidence, because the Antiochian theological tradition to which Mark belonged was characterized by an optimistic anthropology.

Palladius devotes one small chapter to Mark the Faster. There is no reason to be surprised by this small amount of text. By Palladius’ own admission, during his stay in Egypt he communicated with a thousand ascetics. In the Lausiac History, he recounted only a few dozen. We will never know about the vast majority of those who are not mentioned in this written work. The story of Mark the Faster begins as the conclusion of the chapter dedicated to the renowned holy ascetic of the Golden Age of the Fathers, Saint Macarius the Great (300-391), also known as Macarius of Egypt, to distinguish him from another Macarius, Macarius of Alexandria, or the Younger (295-395). Both Macarius were contemporaries and became famous for their incredibly powerful teachings and numerous miracles.

Unlike most monks of that time, Macarius was a priest, so he celebrated the sacraments himself and brought them to other ascetics. He says: “I never myself gave the Holy Gifts to Mark, but I noticed that his Angel took them from the altar and gave them to him; I myself saw only the hand giving him Communion.” This story can be interpreted as a great mystical vision, which, it is a very exceptional case, was repeated many times; it can also be understood in the context of the biblical Scriptures, especially since the ascetics themselves constantly studied the Bible in order to learn to see reality exclusively through the Word of God. Macarius perceived Mark as one of the prophets, therefore he believed that it was not his hand that gave Mark communion, but the hand of an angel that gave the “mysterious burning coal” of the Word of God and bring the Body and Blood of Christ to His saints and prophets, as it was with the great heroes of the Bible, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

Mark knew the entire Bible by heart. Subsequently, the practice of memorizing Scripture was adopted by the Muslims of Egypt and applied to the Koran. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov (1807-1867) urged his contemporaries to study Scripture by heart. “When you go blind, you will be able to recite the Gospel of John aloud,” Ignatius wrote. To his contemporaries, this seemed like foolishness in Christ. The supposed madness turned out to be a prophecy. Just half a century after Ignatius’ death, the Bolsheviks came to power. And while in France, Germany, and Switzerland, and other countries, old, printed Bibles can be easily found in second-hand bookstores in various editions, in the places where their power spread, the atheistic Bolsheviks destroyed all texts of Scripture, so that almost none remained in people’s hands.

“Then the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them,” says Isaiah’s messianic prophecy (Isaiah 11:6). Saint Mark the Faster is also called Mark of Egypt. This helps to distinguish him from Mark the Ascetic, who was a monk in Anatolia, mentioned at the very beginning. In some ancient menologies, Mark is also called “Mark, who healed the hyena.” One version of the Lausiac History, which is more detailed than the main text, says that Saint Mark never spat on the ground. Once, a hyena came to the saint and brought him her blind cub. The saint gave the blind animal sight by anointing its eyes with saliva. In gratitude, the hyena soon brought him a sheepskin. Mark took it only after the animal promised never to kill sheep again. Thus, the simple gestures of the prophets became an expression of sincere love for all creation.