Great Mark, whose fame the whole of Christendom
Commemorates with songs harmonious.
We laud this true disciple of the Lord,
This protégé of Paul and Peter’s charge,
Who from their teaching learned the history
Of Christ’s brief life and briefer ministry,
The stories of His healings and His care
For those whom human fear had named unclean,
The sorrows of His passion, cross and death,
The silent witness of His empty tomb,
The glory of His resurrection bright,
And penned them as a lasting testament
To keep the Church in doctrine pure and sound.
Then he to fabled Egypt’s shore repaired
To preach what he, inspired by God, had writ
To them who sat as if at Peter’s feet –
The promise of eternal life in Christ.
So prized was he, that Alexandria
Anointed him both priest and patriarch
‘Til Rome from whence he came decreed his death.
And though his voice was stilled, his greater voice
Lived on, and louder grew, until it roared,
Until this Mark, this wingéd lion rose
And through the faithful who embraced his words
To jaded Rome to conquer it returned,
And won it not with deadly clash of steel,
But with the Spirit’s sword of living fire,
And thence to all the world, and so to us.
Then swell the anthem louder, louder still,
Until the hymn resounds in heav’n itself
And tempts the curious angelic choirs
To join with lesser voices here below
And render holy Mark his tribute due.
Copyright © 2008 Anthony Corvaia, Jr. All rights reserved.
The above poem is reposted to this site by kind permission of its original author.
