Church of St. Mark
Behind a doorway in a narrow alley in the Old City
of Jerusalem stands the Church of St. Mark. Parts of the building date to the
12th century A.D., but according to a 16th-century
inscription, the site of the church has been dedicated to religious purposes
since A.D. 73. Evidence shows that a church stood here as early as the seventh
century A.D. This early building may have been the church called St. Peter in
Chains, which was restored by the Crusaders. Later, a Moslem hospice and mosque
occupied part of the restored building.
Today, the church is known
as St. Mark’s because of a tradition that Peter hid there after an angel
rescued him from prison in Jerusalem. After his escape Peter “went to the house of Mary, the mother
of John whose other name was Mark” (Acts 12:12). Another story says that
original house on the site contained the Upper Room, where Jesus ate the Last
Supper and where the Pentecost occurred.
Inside the church there is a
small baptismal font, which would have held holy water for baptisms. It is
decorated with a scene of Jesus baptizing a woman. Some scholars think this
woman may have been Mary, the mother of Mark; or she may have been Jesus’ mother.
Hanging on one of the church walls is a very old painting of the Blessed
Virgin. According to Theodore of
Constantinople, a church leader in the sixth century, this portrait was
painted by the gospel writer Luke.