The Coptic Church or the Church of Alexandria is called “Sees of St. Mark”; one of the earliest four sees: Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome.
The Copts are proud of the apostolicity of their Church, whose founder is St. Mark; one of the seventy Apostles (Mk 10:10), and one of the four Evangelists. He is regarded by the Coptic hierarchy as the first of their unbroken 117 patriarchs, and also the first of a stream of Egyptian martyrs.
This apostolicity was not only furnished on grounds of its foundation but rather by the persistence of the Church in observing the same faith received by the Apostle and his successors, the Holy Fathers.
St Mark’s gospel journey took him famously to Egypt in 61 A.D. where his preaching paved the way for Christian belief and eventually the forming of the Coptic Orthodox Church. In Coptic icons this journey is usually suggested by a ship on a sea and the lighthouse of Alexandria in the background. He is shown with a red himation to reference his brutal martyrdom and always holds a gospel book. In most icons there will usually be a reference to a lion or lion-headed cherubim which, in early patristic writing, links him to one of the 4 cherubim seen by Ezekiel and by St John in the book of Revelation. These 4 cherubim are likened in early homilies to the 4 gospel writers and are therefore paired with them in Orthodox iconography. Coincidentally there is also an old tale recounted by Severus Ebn-El-Mokafa telling of an incident where St Mark was traveling with his father and was met by lions. In his faith, he prayed for deliverance and the two lions immediately fell dead. As a result, St Mark’s father believed in the Lord Jesus. The angel in the icon descends symbolically to place a crown of martyrdom on St Mark’s head in acknowledgement of the bloody death he would endure for Christ’s mission.
St. Mark was a broad-minded Apostle. His ministry was quite productive and covered a large field of activities. These include:
- Preaching in Egypt, Pentapolis, Judea, Asia Minor, and Italy during which time he ordained bishops, priests, and deacons.
- Establishing the “School of Alexandria” which defended Christianity against the philosophical school of Alexandria and conceived a large number of great Fathers.
- Writing the Divine Liturgy of the Holy Eucharist which was modified later by St. Cyril to the Divine Liturgy known today as the Divine Liturgy of St. Cyril.