Augustine of Hippo

In his own words on Mark

• Mark 1:1

  Note that Mark mentions nothing of the nativity or infancy or youth of the Lord. He has made his Gospel begin directly with the preaching of John.

  HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 2.6.18

• Mark 1:2

  The efficacy of John's baptism is attested by the holy way he lived as a person. His baptism was in accord with the justice of a just man, yet still a mere man, but one who had received extraordinary grace from the Lord, a grace so great that he was deemed worthy to precede the final Judge of history, and to point him out with his finger, and to fulfill the words of that prophecy: "The voice of one crying out in the desert, prepare the way for the Lord."

  TRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 5.6.2

• Mark 1:3

  Quaest. nov. et vet. Test.lvii: For knowing that all things are to be referred to their author, he has brought these sayings back to Isaiah, who was the first to intimate the sense. Lastly, after the words of Malachi, he immediately subjoins, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness," in order to connect the words of each prophet, belonging as they do to one meaning, under the person of the elder prophet.

• Mark 1:7

  John therefore was a foreteller of Christ nearer to Him in time than all who went before him. And because all the righteous men and prophets of former times desired to see the fulfillment of what, through the revelation of the Spirit, they foresaw would come to pass—whence also the Lord Himself says, "That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them,"—therefore it was said of John that he was more than a prophet, and that among all that were born of women there was none greater than he; because to the righteous men who went before him it was only granted to foretell the coming of Christ, but to John it was given both to foretell Him in His absence and to behold His presence, so that it should be found that to him was made manifest what the others had desired. ... And John, therefore, though the nearest to Christ in point of time, and within one year of the same age with Him, yet, while he was baptizing, went before the way of Christ who was still to come; for which reason it was said of him, "Behold, I send my messenger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee." And he himself preached, saying, "There cometh one mightier than I after me."

  ANSWER TO THE LETTERS OF PETILIAN, THE DONATIST 2.37

• Mark 1:10

  The dove is not for sale; it is given gratis. Hence it is called grace.

  TRACTATE ON JOHN 10.6.3

• Mark 1:10

  Those who receive the baptism of Christ need not seek the baptism of John. Those who received the baptism of John did indeed seek the baptism of Christ.… No baptism was necessary for Christ, but he freely received the baptism of a servant (John) to draw us toward his baptism.

  TRACTATE ON JOHN 5.5.3, 4

• Mark 1:10

  Why did the Son of God appear as a man and the Holy Spirit as a dove? Because the Son of God came to show humanity a pattern for living, whereas the Holy Spirit made his appearance to bestow the gift which enables excellent living. Moreover, both appearances surely came in a visible manner for the sake of carnal eyes. For we must pass by degrees through the visible sacraments from those things which are seen with the physical eyes to those things which are understood spiritually by the mind. For human words make a sound and then pass away. But when the divine Word is expressed, that which is signified by the words does not pass away.

  QUESTIONS, QUESTION 43

• Mark 1:11

  The Trinity appears very clearly: the Father in the voice, the Son in the man, the Spirit in the dove.

  TRACTATE ON JOHN 6.5.1

• Mark 1:11

  (de Cons. Ev. ii. 14) Wherefore Matthew relates that the voice said, This is my beloved Son; for he wished to show that the words, This is My Son, were in fact said, that thus the persons who heard it might know that He, and not another, was the Son of God. But, if you ask, which of these two sounded forth in that voice, take which you will, only remember, that the Evangelists, though not relating the same form of speaking, relate the same meaning. And that God delighted Himself in His Son, we are reminded in these words, In thee I am well pleased.

  Catena Aurea by Aquinas

• Mark 1:11

  Whichever of the Evangelists may have preserved for us the words as they were literally uttered by the heavenly voice, the others have varied the terms only with the object of setting forth the same sense more familiarly, so that what is thus given by all of them might be understood as if the expression were: In You I have set my good pleasure; that is to say, by You I am doing what is my pleasure.

  HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 2.14.31

• Mark 1:11

  In the Scripture many details are mentioned distinguishably of each of the triune Persons individually, such as cannot be said of them jointly, even though they are inseparably together, as when they are made manifest by corporeal sounds. So in certain passages of Scripture and through certain created beings they are shown separately and successively, as the Father in the voice which is heard: "Thou art my Son," and the Son in the human nature which he took from the Virgin, and the Holy Spirit in the physical appearance of a dove. These are mentioned distinguishably, it is true, but they do not prove that the Three are separated. To explicate this, we take as an example the unity of our memory, our understanding, our will. Although we list these distinguishably, individually and in their various functions, there is nothing we do or say which proceeds from one of them without the other two. However, we are not to think that these three faculties are compared to the Trinity so as to resemble it at every point, for a comparison is never given such importance in an argument that it exactly fits the thing to which it is compared. Besides, when can any likeness in a created being be applied to the Creator?

  LETTER 169, TO EUODIUS

• Mark 1:18

  They did not follow Him in such manner as that they should cleave to Him; for it is plain when they cleave unto Him, for He called them from the ship. For one of the two was Andrew, as you have just heard, and Andrew was the brother of Peter; and we know from the Gospel that the Lord called Peter and Andrew from the ship, saying, "Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men." And from that time they clave unto Him, so as not to go away. On the present occasion these two followed Him, not as those who were not again to leave Him, but to see where He dwelt.... He showed them where He dwelt: they came and remained with Him. What a blessed day they spent, what a blessed night! Who can make known to us those things which they heard from the Lord? Let us also build in our heart, and make a house into which He may come and teach us, and have converse with us.

  Tractates on John 7

• Mark 1:24

  Those words show clearly that the demons had much knowledge, but entirely lacked love. They dreaded receiving their punishment from him. They did not love the righteousness that was in him. He made himself known to them to the extent he willed; and he willed to be made known to the extent that was fitting. But he was not made known to them as he is known to the holy angels, who enjoy participation in his eternity, in that he is the Word of God. To the demons he is known as he had to be made known, by striking terror into them, for his purpose was to free from their tyrannical power all who were predestined for his kingdom and glory, which is eternally true and truly eternal. Therefore, he did not make himself known to the demons as the life eternal, and the unchangeable light which illuminates his true worshipers, whose hearts are purified by faith in him so that they see that light. He was known to the demons through certain temporal effects of his power, the signs of his hidden presence, which could be more evident to their senses, even those of malignant spirits, than to the weak perception of human beings.

  City of God 9.21

• Mark 1:24

  Call to mind with me the time when Peter was praised and called blessed. Was it because he merely said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"? No, he who pronounced him blessed regarded not merely the sound of his words, but the affections of his heart. Compare that with the words of the demons who said almost the same thing: "We know who you are, the Son of God," just as Peter had confessed him as "Son of God." So what is the difference? Peter spoke in love, but the demons in fear.… So tell us how faith is to be defined, if even the devils can believe and tremble? Only the faith that works by love is faith.

  SERMONS ON NEW TESTAMENT LESSONS 40.8

• Mark 1:24

  (de Civ. Dei, ix. 21) Moreover, how great is the power which the lowliness of God, appearing in the form of a servant, has over the pride of devils, the devils themselves know so well, that they express it to the same Lord clothed in the weakness of flesh. For there follows, And he cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus of Nazareth, &c. For it is evident in these words that there was in them knowledge, but there was not charity; and the reason was, that they feared their punishment from Him, and loved not the righteousness in Him. (ubi sup.) For He was known to them in that degree in which He wished to be known; and He wished as much as was fitting. He was not known to them as to the holy Angels, who enjoy Him by partaking of His eternity according as He is the Word of God; but as He was to be made known in terror, to those beings from whose tyrannical power He was about to free the predestinate. He was known therefore to the devils, not in that He is eternal Life, but by some temporal effects of His Power, which might be more clear to the angelic senses of even bad spirits than to the weakness of men.

  Catena Aurea by Aquinas

• Mark 1:24

  Impure spirits knew that Jesus Christ would come, they had heard of His coming from the angels, they had heard of it from the prophets, and they expected it. For if they were not expecting it, why did they exclaim, "What have we to do with Thee? Art Thou come before the time to destroy us? We know who Thou art; the Holy One of God." They expected that He would come, but they were ignorant of the time.

  Tractates on John 7

• Mark 1:24

  Faith is mighty, but without love it profits nothing. The devils confessed Christ, but lacking charity it availed nothing. They said, "What have we to do with you?" They confessed a sort of faith, but without love. Hence they were devils. Do not boast of that faith that puts you on the same level with the devils.

  TRACTATE ON JOHN 6.21

• Mark 1:39

  (de Cons. Evan. ii. 19) But by this preaching, which, he says, He continued in all Galilee, is also meant the sermon of the Lord delivered on the mount, which Matthew mentions, and Mark has entirely passed over, without giving any thing like it, save that he has repeated some sentences not in continuous order, but in scattered places, spoken by the Lord at other times.

  Catena Aurea by Aquinas

• Mark 1:40

  It is not in one's own power, however admirable and trustworthy may be the knowledge one has of the facts, to determine the order in which he will recall them to memory. For the way in which one thing comes into one's mind before or after another proceeds not as we will, but simply as it occurs to us. It is reasonable enough to suppose that each of the Evangelists believed it to have been his duty to relate what he had to relate in that order in which it had pleased God to suggest it to his recollection.

  HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 2.21.51

• Mark 1:40

  (de Con. Evan. ii. 19) Mark puts together circumstances, from which one may infer that he is the same as that one whom Matthew (Matt. 8:2) relates to have been cleansed, when the Lord came down from the mount, after the sermon.

  Catena Aurea by Aquinas

• Mark 2:1

  (de Con. Evan. ii. 25) But Matthew writes this miracle as if it were done in the city of the Lord, whilst Mark places it in Capernaum, which would be more difficult of solution, if Matthew had also named Nazareth. But seeing that Galilee itself might be called the city of the Lord, who can doubt but that the Lord did these things in His own city, since He did them in Capernaum, a city of Galilee; particularly as Capernaum was of such importance in Galilee as to be called its metropolis? Or else, Matthew passed by the things which were done after He came into His own city, until He came to Capernaum, and so adds on the story of the paralytic healed, subjoining, And, behold, they presented to him a man sick of the palsy, after he had said that He came into His own city.

  Catena Aurea by Aquinas

• Mark 2:11

  You have been a paralytic inwardly. You did not take charge of your bed. Your bed took charge of you.

  ON THE PSALMS 41.4

• Mark 2:17

  Pray for us that we may be saved by that salvation of which it is said: "They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are ill; for I am not come to call the just but sinners." Pray, then, for us that we may be made upright. This is indeed something which one cannot do unless he knows and wishes it; and he will become so as constantly as he wishes it fully—but it will not be through his own effort that he is able, unless he is healed and helped by the grace of the Spirit.

  LETTER 145, TO ANASTASIUS

• Mark 2:17

  By those who are well he means those being made righteous. Sinners are compared to those who are ill. Let the sick man, then, not presume on his own strength, because "he shall not be saved by his great strength." The strength of self-deceivers is not that strength that well people enjoy, but like those in delirium. They are like those out of their minds, who imagine themselves in such good health that they do not consult a physician, and even fall upon him with blows as if he were an intruder! In the same way, these delirious people, with their mad pride, fall upon Christ with blows, so to speak, because they have felt no need of his kindly help to those who seek to be just according to the prescriptions of the law. Let them, then, put away this madness. Let them understand, as far as they are able, that they have free will, and that they are called not to despise the Lord's help with a proud heart, but to call upon him with a contrite heart. The free will then will be free in proportion as it is sound, and sound in proportion as it is submissive to divine mercy and grace.

  LETTER 157, TO HILARIUS

• Mark 2:18-19

  (de Con. Evan. ii. 27) But it may be thought that He added Pharisees, because they joined with the disciples of John in saying this to the Lord, whilst Matthew relates that the disciples of John alone said it: but the words which follow rather show that those who said it spoke not of themselves, but of others. For it goes on, And they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples, &c. For these words show, that the guests who were there came to Jesus, and had said this same thing to the disciples, so that in the words which he uses, they came, he speaks not of those same persons, of whom he had said, And the disciples of John and the Pharisees were fasting. But as they were fasting, those persons who remembered it, come to him. Matthew then says this, And there came to him the disciples of John, saying, because the Apostles also were there, and all eagerly, as each could, objected these things. (ubi sup.) Mark here calls them children of the nuptials, whom Matthew calls children of the bridegroom; for we understand the children of the nuptials to be not only those of the bridegroom, but also of the bride.

  Catena Aurea by Aquinas

• Mark 2:23-24

  (de Op. Monach. 23) For it was a precept in Israel, delivered by a written law, that no one should detain a thief found in his fields, unless he tried to take something away with him. For the man, who had touched nothing else but what he had eaten, they were commanded to allow to go away free and unpunished. Wherefore the Jews accused our Lord's disciples, who were plucking the ears of corn, of breaking the sabbath, rather than of theft.

  Catena Aurea by Aquinas

• Mark 2:25

  It is foolish to believe the Evangelist's account that he ate and not to believe that he was really hungry. Yet it does not follow that everyone who eats is hungry. For we read that even an angel ate, but we do not read that he was hungry. Nor does it follow that everyone who is hungry eats. He may either restrain himself due to some obligation or lack food or the means to eat.… Now, just as the fact that Jesus ate food is unintelligible without a body, so the fact that he felt hunger is impossible without a soul.

  AGAINST THE APOLLINARIANS, QUESTION 80

• Mark 3:4

  (de Con. Evan. ii. 35) But some one may wonder how Matthew could have said, that they themselves asked the Lord, if it was lawful to heal on the sabbath-day; when Mark rather relates that they were asked by our Lord, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath-day, or to do evil? Therefore we must understand that they first asked the Lord, if it was lawful to heal on the sabbath-day, then that understanding their thoughts, and that they were seeking an opportunity to accuse Him, He placed in the middle him whom He was about to cure, and put those questions, which Mark and Luke relate. We must then suppose, that when they were silent, He propounded the parable of the sheep, and concluded, that it was lawful to do good on the sabbath-day. It goes on: But they were silent.

  Catena Aurea by Aquinas

• Mark 3:5

  If angry emotions which spring from a love of what is good and from holy charity are to be labeled vices, then all I can say is that some vices should be called virtues. When such affections as anger are directed to their proper objects, they are following good reasoning, and no one should dare to describe them as maladies or vicious passions. This explains why the Lord himself, who humbled himself to the form of a servant, was guilty of no sin whatever as he displayed these emotions openly when appropriate. Surely the One who assumed a true human body and soul would not counterfeit his human affections. Certainly, the Gospel does not falsely attribute emotions to Christ when it speaks of him being saddened and angered by the lawyers because of their blindness of heart.

  THE CITY OF GOD, BOOK 14

• Mark 3:5

  Feelings cannot exist in anything but a living soul. These events show that just as Jesus had a human body he had a human soul. We read about the diversity of his feelings in the reports of the same Evangelists [who attested his divinity]: Jesus was astonished, was angered, was grieved, was elated, and similar emotive responses without number. Likewise it is clear that he experienced the ordinary fully human experience of interconnectedness between his body and his soul. He was hungry; he slept; he was tired from his journey.

  AGAINST THE APOLLINARIANS 80

• Mark 3:10

  What then is to touch, if not to believe? For we touch Christ by faith and it is better to touch by faith and not by the hand, than to palpate by hand and not touch by faith. It was not a great thing to touch Christ. The Jews touched Him when they apprehended Him, touched Him when they bound Him, touched Him when they hung Him, touched Him and by touching wickedly, they lost what they touched. Touch by faith, O Catholic Church, touch by faith. If you think Christ is only a man, you have touched Him on earth. If you believe Christ is Lord equal to the Father, then you have touched Him when He ascended to the Father.

  Sermon 246

• Mark 3:11

  The "faith that works by love," is not the same faith that demons have. "For the devils also believe and tremble," but do they love? If they had not believed, they would not have said: "You are the holy one of God" or "You are the Son of God." But if they had loved, they would not have said: "What have we to do with you?"

  LETTER 194, TO SIXTUS

• Mark 3:11

  Both the devils and the faithful confessed Christ. "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God," said Peter. "We know who thou art. Thou art the Son of God," said the devils. I hear a similar confession, but I do not find a similar charity. In one there is love, in another fear. He is lovely to those who are sons. He is terrible to those who are not sons.

  ON THE PSALMS 50.2

• Mark 3:16

  (de Con. Evan. ii. 17) But let no one suppose that Simon now received his name and was called Peter, for thus he would make Mark contrary to John, who relates that it had been long before said unto him, Thou shalt be called Cephas. (John 1:42) But Mark gives this account by way of recapitulation; for as he wished to give the names of the twelve Apostles, and was obliged to call him Peter, his object was to intimate briefly, that he was not called this originally, but that the Lord gave him that name.

  Catena Aurea by Aquinas

• Mark 3:23

  Now as for the Lord's saying: "Satan cannot drive out Satan," lest perhaps anyone using the name of some of the lowest powers when driving out a demon should think this opinion of the Lord's to be false, let him understand the point of this saying: Satan does spare the body or the senses of the body, but he tempts the senses for the purpose of dominating the will of the man in question, in a triumph of greater import, through the error of impiety. Satan does not strike for the body as such, but rather for the innermost self in order to work in him in the manner described by the apostle: "according to the prince of the power of this air, who is now active in the sons of disobedience." For Satan was not troubling and tormenting the senses of their bodies, nor was he battering their bodies, but he was reigning in their wills, or better, in their covetousness.

  EIGHTY-THREE DIFFERENT QUESTIONS, QUESTION 79.2

• Mark 3:25

  Mention has been made of the unclean spirit whom the Lord shows to be divided against himself. The Holy Spirit, however, is not divided against himself. Rather he makes those whom he gathers together undivided against themselves, by dwelling within those who have been cleansed, that they may be like those of whom it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, "The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul."

  SERMONS ON THE NEW TESTAMENT LESSONS 21.35

• Mark 3:27

  The "strong man" in this passage means the devil who was able to hold the human race in bondage. By his "goods," which Christ was coming to plunder, the devil was keeping for himself those who would in time become faithful, but had remained in the clutches of ungodliness and various sins. It was for the purpose of binding up this strong man that John, in the Apocalypse, saw "an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years." The angel checked and repressed his power to seduce and possess those destined to be set free.

  City of God 20.7

• Mark 3:27

  And therefore He conquered the devil first by righteousness, and afterwards by power: namely, by righteousness, because He had no sin, and was slain by him most unjustly; but by power, because having been dead He lived again, never afterwards to die. But He would have conquered the devil by power, even though He could not have been slain by him: although it belongs to a greater power to conquer death itself also by rising again, than to avoid it by living. But the reason is really a different one, why we are justified in the blood of Christ, when we are rescued from the power of the devil through the remission of sins: it pertains to this, that the devil is conquered by Christ by righteousness, not by power. For Christ was crucified, not through immortal power, but through the weakness which He took upon Him in mortal flesh; of which weakness nevertheless the apostle says, "that the weakness of God is stronger than men."

  ON THE TRINITY 13.14.18

• Mark 3:27

  It is not then difficult to see that the devil was conquered, when he who was slain by Him rose again. It is something more, and more profound of comprehension, to see that the devil was conquered when he thought himself to have conquered, that is, when Christ was slain. For then that blood, since it was His who had no sin at all, was poured out for the remission of our sins; that, because the devil deservedly held those whom, as guilty of sin, he bound by the condition of death, he might deservedly loose them through Him, whom, as guilty of no sin, the punishment of death undeservedly affected. The strong man was conquered by this righteousness, and bound with this chain, that his vessels might be spoiled, which with himself and his angels had been vessels of wrath while with him, and might be turned into vessels of mercy.

  ON THE TRINITY 13.15.19

• Mark 3:28

  It is not that this was a blasphemy which under no circumstances could be forgiven, for even this shall be forgiven if right repentance follows it.

  SERMONS ON NEW TESTAMENT LESSONS 21.35

• Mark 3:29-30

  (Serm. 71, 12, 21) Or else impenitence itself is the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost which hath no remission. For either in his thought or by his tongue, he speaks a word against the Holy Ghost the forgiver of sins, who treasures up for himself an impenitent heart. But he subjoins, Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit, that he might show that His reason for saying it, was their declaring that He cast out a devil by Beelzebub, not because there is a blasphemy, which cannot be remitted since even this might be remitted through a right repentance: but the cause why this sentence was put forth by the Lord, after mentioning the unclean spirit, (who as our Lord shows was divided against himself,) was, that the Holy Ghost even makes those whom He brings together undivided, by His remitting those sins, which divided them from Himself, which gift of remission is resisted by no one, but him who has the hardness of an impenitent heart. For in another place, the Jews said of the Lord, that He had a devil, (John 7:20.) without however His saying any thing there about the blasphemy against the Spirit; and the reason is, that they did not there cast in His teeth the unclean spirit, in such a way, that that spirit could by their own words be shown to be divided against Himself, as Beelzebub was here shown to be, by their saying, that it might be he who cast out devilso.

  Catena Aurea by Aquinas

• Mark 3:32

  It is he who said that no one belongs to his family except those who do the will of his Father. To be sure, he graciously included Mary herself in this number, for she was doing the will of his Father. Thus he spurned the earthly name of his mother in comparison to heavenly kinship.… Do not be ungrateful, pay your duty of gratitude to your mother, repay earthly favors by spiritual ones, temporal by eternal ones.

  LETTER 243, TO LAETUS

• Mark 3:35

  She did the Father's will. It was this in her that the Lord magnified, not merely that her flesh gave birth to flesh.… When he said, "Blessed are they who hear the Word of God and keep it," he was in effect saying: "My mother whom you have called blessed is blessed for the reason that she keeps the Word of God, not that the Word was made flesh in her and dwelt among us, but that she keeps the very Word of God through which she was made and which was made flesh in her."

  TRACTATE ON JOHN 10.3.2

• Mark 3:35

  What else does he here teach us, than to prefer to kinship "after the flesh" our descent "after the Spirit." He teaches that persons are united by nearness of spirit to those who are just and holy, and that by obeying and following they cleave to their teaching and conduct. Therefore Mary is more blessed in receiving the faith of Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ. For to the one who said, "Blessed is the womb, which bore you!" he himself answered: "Blessed are they who hear the Word of God and keep it." Concerning his own brothers, his own relatives after the flesh, who at first did not believe in him, he found dubious advantage in being their kin. As for Mary, her nearness as a mother would have been little help for her salvation if she had not borne Christ in her heart in a more blessed manner than in the flesh.

  ON VIRGINITY 3

• Mark 4:12

  And accordingly the very thing that seemed to be spoken by Himself in secret, was in a certain sense not spoken in secret; for it was not so spoken to remain unuttered by those to whom it was spoken; but rather so in order to be preached in every possible direction. A thing therefore may be uttered at once openly, and not openly; or at the same time in secret, and yet not in secret, as it is said, "That seeing, they may see, and not see." For how "may they see," save only because it is openly, and not in secret; and again, how is it that the same parties "may not see," save that it is not openly, but in secret? Howbeit the very things which they had heard without understanding, were such as could not with justice or truth be turned into a criminal charge against Him: and as often as they tried by their questions to find something whereof to accuse Him, He gave them such replies as utterly discomfited all their plots, and left no ground for the calumnies they devised.

  TRACTATES ON JOHN 113

• Mark 4:12

  (Quaest. 14, in Matt.) Or else they deserved this, their not understanding, and yet this in itself was done in mercy to them, that they might know their sins, and, being converted, merit pardon.

  Catena Aurea by Aquinas

• Mark 4:20

  Work diligently the soil while you may. Break up your fallow with the plough. Cast away the stones from your field, and dig out the thorns. Be unwilling to have a "hard heart," such as makes the Word of God of no effect. Be unwilling to have a "thin layer of soil," in which the root of divine love can find no depth in which to enter. Be unwilling to "choke the good seed" by the cares and the lusts of this life, when it is being scattered for your good. When God is the sower and we are the ground, we are called to work to be good ground.

  SERMONS ON NEW TESTAMENT LESSONS 73.3

• Mark 4:32

  In the same manner, then, the catholicity of our mother becomes palpable when others who are not her sons make war on her. It is a fact that this little branch of worshipers in Africa has been broken off from the great tree which embraces the whole world in the spreading of its branches. She is in labor with them in charity, that they may return to the root without which they cannot have true life.

  LETTER 32

• Mark 4:41

  When you have to listen to abuse, that means you are being buffeted by the wind. When your anger is roused, you are being tossed by the waves. So when the winds blow and the waves mount high, the boat is in danger, your heart is imperiled, your heart is taking a battering. On hearing yourself insulted, you long to retaliate; but the joy of revenge brings with it another kind of misfortune—shipwreck. Why is this? Because Christ is asleep in you. What do I mean? I mean you have forgotten his presence. Rouse him, then; remember him, let him keep watch within you, pay heed to him.… A temptation arises: it is the wind. It disturbs you: it is the surging of the sea. This is the moment to awaken Christ and let him remind you of those words: "Who can this be? Even the winds and the sea obey him."

  SERMONS 63.1-3

• Mark 5:2

  (de Con. Evan. 2. 24) Though Matthew says that there were two, Mark and Luke mention one, that you may understand that one of them was a more illustrious person, concerning whose state that country was much afflicted.

  Catena Aurea by Aquinas

• Mark 5:11-12

  (de Con. Evan. ii. 24) What Mark here says, that the herd was about the mountain, and what Luke calls on the mountain, are by no means inconsistent. For the herd of swine was so large, that some part were on the mountain, the rest around it. It goes on: And the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.

  Catena Aurea by Aquinas

• Mark 5:22-23

  (de Con. Evan. 2. 28) But we must understand, that what is added of the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, took place when Jesus had again crossed the sea in a ship, though how long after does not appear; for if there were not an interval, there could be no time for the taking place of that which Matthew relates, concerning the feast in his own house; after which event, nothing follows immediately, except this concerning the daughter of the chief of the synagogue. For he has so put it together, that the transition itself shows that the narrative follows the order of time. It goes on, There cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, &c. (ubi sup.) For he attaches himself not to the words of the father, but to what is of most importance, his wishes; for he was in such despair, that his wish was that she should return to life, not thinking that she could be found alive, whom he had left dying.

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• Mark 5:34

  Few are they who by faith touch him; multitudes are they who throng about him.

  SERMON 62.4

• Mark 5:35-37

  (ubi sup.) It is not said that he assented to his friends who brought the tidings and wished to prevent the Master from coming, so that our Lord's saying, Fear not, only believe, is not a rebuke for his want of faith, but was intended to strengthen the belief which he had already. But if the Evangelist had related, that the ruler of the synagogue joined the friends who came from his house, in saying that Jesus should not be troubled, the words which Matthew relates him to have said, namely, that the damsel was dead, would then have been contrary to what was in his mind. It goes on, And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.

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• Mark 5:39

  He comes to the house, and finds the customary funeral rites already underway, and he says to them, "Why do you make a tumult and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping." He spoke the truth. She was in a certain sense asleep—asleep, that is, in respect of him, by whom she could be awakened. So awakening her, he restored her alive to her parents.

  SERMON ON NEW TESTAMENT LESSONS 48

• Mark 6:3

  Those heretics were called Antidicomarites who denied the virginity of Mary to the point that they claim that after the birth of Christ she had intercourse with her husband.

  Heresies, LVI

• Mark 6:3

  (de Con. Evan. ii. 42) Matthew indeed says that He was called the son of a carpenter; nor are we to wonder, since both might have been said, for they believed Him to be a carpenter, because He was the son of a carpenter.

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• Mark 6:8-9

  (de Con. Evan. 2, 30.) Or else; according to Matthew (Matt. 10:19), the Lord immediately subjoined, The workman is worthy of his meat, which sufficiently proves why He forbade their carrying or possessing such things; not because they were not necessary, but because He sent them in such a way as to show, that they were due to them from the faithful, to whom they preached the Gospel. From this it is evident, that the Lord did not mean by this precept that the Evangelists ought to live only on the gifts of those to whom they preach the Gospel, else the Apostle transgressed this precept, when he procured his livelihood, by the labour of his own hands, but He meant that He had given them a power, in virtue of which, they might be assured, these things were due to them. It is also often asked, how it comes that Matthew and Luke have related that the Lord commanded His disciples not to carry even a staff, whilst Mark says, And he commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only. Which question is solved, by supposing that the word 'staff' has a meaning in Mark, who says that it ought to be carried, different from that which it bears in Matthew and Luke, who affirm the contrary. For in a concise way one might say, Take none of the necessaries of life with you, nay, not a staff, save a staff only; so that the saying, nay not a staff, may mean, nay not the smallest thing; but that which is added, save a staff only, may mean that, through the power received by them from the Lord, of which a rod is the ensign, nothing, even of those things which they do not carry, will be wanting to them. The Lord therefore said both, but because one Evangelist has not given both, men suppose, that he who has said that the staff, in one sense, should be taken, is contrary to him who again has declared, that, in another sense, it should be left behind: now however that a reason has been given, let no one think so. So also when Matthew declares that shoes are not to be worn on the journey, he forbids anxiety about them, for the reason why men are anxious about carrying them, is that they may not be without them. This is also to be understood of the two coats, that no man should be troubled about having only that with which he is clad, from anxiety lest he should need another, when he could always obtain one from the power given by the Lord. In like manner Mark, by saying that they are to be shod with sandals or soles, warns us that this mode of protecting the feet has a mystical signification, that the foot should neither be covered above nor be naked on the ground, that is, that the Gospel should neither be hid, nor rest upon earthly comforts; and in that He forbids their possessing or taking with them, or more expressly their wearing, two coats, He bids them walk simply, not with duplicity. But whosoever thinks that the Lord could not in the same discourse say some things figuratively, others in a literal sense, let him look into His other discourses, and he shall see, how rash and ignorant is his judgment.

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• Mark 6:9

  What is forbidden is neither the carrying nor the possessing of two coats, but more distinctly the wearing of two coats at the same time. The words say: "and not put on two coats." What counsel is conveyed to them by this? They ought to walk not in duplicity, but in simplicity.

  HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 2.30.75

• Mark 6:16

  (de Con. Evan. ii. 43) But in these words Luke bears witness to Mark, to this point at least, that others and not Herod said that John had risen; but Luke had represented Herod as hesitating, and has put down his words as if he said, John have I beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things? We must however suppose, that after this hesitation, he had confirmed in his own mind what others had said, for he says to his children, as Matthew relates, This is John the Baptist, he has risen from the dead. (Matt. 14:2) Or else these words are to be spoken, so as to indicate that he is still hesitating, particularly as Mark who had said above that others had declared that John had risen from the dead, afterwards however is not silent as to Herod's plainly saying, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead. Which words also may be spoken in two ways, either they may be understood as those of a man affirming or doubling.

  Catena Aurea by Aquinas