25/04/2022
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Today, we are celebrating the feast day of one of the 4 evangelists, none other than St. Mark. Of course, all would agree that He is best known as the author of a Gospel. Like Saint Luke and Saint Paul, he was not one of the Twelve Apostles and so likely never met Jesus Christ in person. Scholars believe that the Gospel of Saint Mark relates the experiences of Saint Peter, Markβs mentor. Each Gospel has its own unique sources, emphases, and symbols.
β’ Matthew is associated with the winged man β or the angel β because his Gospel focuses on the humanity of Christ, Saint Jerome affirms. In fact, it is Matthew who includes the narrative about the genealogy of Jesus.
β’ The lion is related to St. Mark because his Gospel emphasizes the majesty of Christ and his royal dignity, just as the lion has traditionally been regarded as the king. Markβs Gospel begins with the prophetic voice of John the Baptist, crying out in the wilderness like a lionβs roar.
β’ Luke gets the ox, because his gospel focuses on the sacrificial character of Christβs death, and the ox has always been a sacrificial animal par excellence, both for Judaism and Romans. In Lukeβs depiction of the Nativity, the ox, with the donkey, bears witness to the birth of the Messiah.
β’ John, finally, is associated with the eagle for two reasons: first, because his Gospel describes the Incarnation of the divine Logos, and the eagle is a symbol of that which comes from above. The second, because like the eagle, John β in his Revelation β was able to see beyond what is immediately present. They donβt call St. John the Evangelist βthe Eagle of Patmosβ for nothing!
These symbols are taken first from the Prophet Ezekiel (1:1-21):
In the 30th year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the river Chebar, the heavens opened, and I saw divine visionsβ¦. As I looked, a stormwind came from the north, a huge cloud with flashing fire, from the midst of which something gleamed like electrum. Within it were figures resembling four living creatures that looked like this: their form was human, but each had four faces and four wings, and their legs went straight down; the soles of their feet were round. They sparkled with a gleam like burnished bronze. Their faces were like this: each of the four had a face of a man, but on the right side was the face of a lion, and on the left side the face of an ox, and finally each had the face of an eagleβ¦.
In the Book of Revelation (4:6-8), we find a similar description:
Surrounding this throne were twenty-four other thrones upon which were seated twenty-four elders; they were clothed in white garments and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning and peals of thunder; before it burned seven flaming torches, the seven spirits of God. The floor around the throne was like a sea of glass that was crystal-clear. At the very center, around the throne itself, stood four living creatures covered with eyes front and back. The first creature resembled a lion; the second, an ox; the third had the face of a man; while the fourth looked like an eagle in flight. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and eyes all over, inside and out. Day and night, without pause, they sing: βHoly, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, He who was, and who is, and who is to come!β
Sources:
(1) Do you know which 4 creatures are associated with the 4 Gospels?βAleteia;
(2) What are the Symbols of the Four Evangelists?βCatholic Exchange;
(3) π· Pinterest, PngTree
