Mark , Gospel of St. or according to St., story of the life, preaching and miracles of Jesus Christ, composed by St. Mark, disciple and interpreter of St. Peter and one of the four evangelists. This is one of the canonical books of the New Testament, recognized as such by both Catholics and Protestants.

It is commonly believed that St. Peter having gone to Rome around 44 AD, St. Mark accompanied him and wrote his gospel at the supplication of the faithful, who asked him to give them in writing what he had learned from the mouth of St. Peter. It is added that this chief of the apostles approved St. Mark’s enterprise, and gave his gospel to read in the churches as an authentic work. Tertullian, ( Against Marcion IV) attributes this gospel to St. Peter; and the author of the synopsis attributed to St. Athanasius and some of those cited in St. Chrysostomos believe that St. Mark wrote it in Egypt; others claim that he wrote it only after the death of St. Peter. All these divergences of opinions prove that nothing is very certain about the time or place of St Mark ‘s composing his gospel.

People are also very divided on the language in which it was written, some maintaining it was written in Greek, and others in Latin. The ancients and most of the moderns hold with the Greek, which still passes at present for the original of St. Mark , but some Greek manuscript copies of this gospel say it was written in Latin; the Syriac and the Arabic say so, too. It is suitable that being in Rome and writing for the Romans, he wrote in their language. Baronius and Selden declared themselves for this opinion but it is not generally followed. In Venice they show some notebooks that are claimed to be the original in the hand of St. Mark . If this fact were certain, and one could read the manuscript, the question would be quickly decided, but it is doubtful that this is the true original of St. Mark and it is generally so dilapidated with age that one can scarcely discern a single letter. Among the authors who have spoken of it, Dom Bernard de Montfaucon who saw it, says in his Voyage to Italy (ch 4, p. 55) that it was written in Latin and he admits that he never saw so ancient a manuscript. It is written on Egyptian paper that is much thinner and more delicate that what is seen in various places. The same author, in his Antiquity explained (xiii), thinks that it is a safe bet that this manuscript was written at the latest in the fourth century. In 1564 it was put in a cave whose very vault is below the lowest tides of the neighboring sea, hence the perpetual dripping on those that curiosity brings there. One might still read it when it was deposited there. Yet an author who saw it before Father Montfaucon thought he could see Greek letters.

Some ancient heretics, as reported by S. Ireneas (III:2) accept only St. Mark ’s Gospel. Others among the Catholics reject, if one may believe St. Jerome and St. Gregory of Nyssia, the twelve last verses of his Gospel, from verse 9 surgens mane etc. until the end of the work, apparently because St. Mark in this place appears too opposed to St. Matthew, and because he reports circumstances that they believe are opposed to the other evangelists. The ancient fathers, the ancient Oriental versions, and almost all ancient copies, both printed and Greek and Latin manuscripts, read these dozen last verses and recognize them as authentic, as well as the rest of St. Mark ’s Gospel.

Finally, by contrasting St. Mark with St. Matthew, it appears the former abbreviated the work of the latter; he often uses the same terms, reports the same circumstances, and sometimes adds details that illuminate the text of St. Matthew. Yet he reports two or three miracles that are not found in the latter and does not always conform to the order of his narration, especially from ch 4:12 to ch. 14:13 of St. Matthew, being more attached in this interval to that of St. Luke. Calmet, Dictionnaire De la Bible , vol. II, pp. 616-7.