The Bones of St. Mark

St. Mark, the Evangelist, was not one of the Twelve Apostles. According to tradition, he was converted by St. Peter and became his favorite disciple. Ecclesiastical tradition speaks of his having been sent by St. Peter to preach the Gospel in Egypt; after preaching there for twelve years, he founded the Church of Alexandria, one of the most celebrated of the ancient churches. The Coptic Church still claims him as its founder and first bishop. But by his preaching and his miracles he stirred up the anger of the heathen in Alexandria. During the feast of their god Serapis, they found him in the act of worship, and, seizing him, they dragged him through the streets by a rope, until he died, about 68 A.D. It is said that at the time of his death, a dreadful storm of hail and lightning fell upon his murderers and destroyed them. The Christians of Alexandria buried his mangled remains and protected his tomb with great reverence for many centuries. Two Venetian merchants, trading in Alexandria, are said to have carried off the body by stealth in 815 A.D. It seems that at about that time, the Caliph of Egypt was building at Alexandria a new palace and decorating it with the spoils of the Christian churches. It was feared that the body of St. Mark would share in the general desecration, so these Christian merchants, Buono and Rustico by name, bribed the chief priest of the temple to give up the sacred remains for transportation to Venice, where they could rest in eternal security. They had to take every precaution against detection from both Christians and Moslems. To deceive the Christians, the body of St. Claudia was placed in the tomb hitherto occupied by that of St. Mark; and to avoid all chance of inquiry from the Moslems, the merchants placed their prize in a large basket stuffed with herbs and pork. As it was borne to the place of embarkation, the porters cried aloud, "Khanzir!" ("Pork!") which was amply sufficient to keep each and every Mussulman at a safe distance. When on board ship, the treasure was wrapped in a sail and hoisted to the yard arm. The people of Venice welcomed the relics of the blessed Evangelist with great exultation. They abandoned themselves to prayers, processions, banquets, and public holidays. Crowds of pilgrims flocked from far and near to pay their homage. The stately Church of St. Mark was built as his great mausoleum; the first church, however, was destroyed by fire in 976. It rebuilding, as what is now the Cathedral of St Mark, was immediately commenced and it was consecrated in 1085.

Over the porch doorways are four mosaics, representing respectively the translation of the relics of St. Mark from Alexandria; the landing of the relics; the grand religious ceremonies which took place on their arrival; and the enshrining of the relics. After the transportation of the body of St. Mark to Venice, St. Mark was adopted as the patron saint of the city, supplanting the former patron, St. Theodore. The winged "Lion of St. Mark" was evidently borrowed from Daniel's vision, "the first of which was like a lion, and had an eagle's wings" (Daniel VII., 4). It was blazoned on the standards and impressed upon the coinage of the Republic. "Viva San Marco!" was the rallying cry of its citizens and the battle shout of its warriors.

The remains of St. Mark, doubtless, perished in the conflagration of 976, but the revenues of the church depended too much on the homage paid to these relics to permit the confession of its loss, so there was recourse to what Ruskin calls "one of the most successful impostures ever attempted by the Romish Church"--which was the announcement of the miraculous recovery of the body of St. Mark, in 1085, after it had been lost for nearly two centuries. This created a festive anniversary, which was celebrated for a time with great religious pomp. The account of the re-discovery is thus related by the historian Corner: "After the repairs undertaken by the Doge Orseolo, the place in which the body of the Holy Evangelist rested had been altogether forgotten; so that the Doge, Vitale Faliero, was entirely ignorant of the place of the venerable deposit.

"This was no light affliction, not only to the pious Doge, but to all the citizens and people; so that, at last, moved by confidence in the Divine mercy, they determined to implore, with prayer and fasting, the manifestation of so great a treasure, which did not now depend upon any human effort. A general fast being proclaimed and a solemn procession appointed for the 25th day of June, while the people assembled in church interceded with God in fervent prayers for the desired boon, they beheld, with as much amazement as joy, a slight shaking in the marbles of a pillar (near the place where the Altar of the Cross is now) which, presently falling to the earth, exposed to the view of the rejoicing people the chest of bronze in which the body of the Evangelist was laid."