Shenouda III. The Beholder of God, Mark the Evangelist, Saint and Martyr. (4th ed.)Trans. Samir F. Mikhail, M.D. Maged S. Mikhail, M.D. [Online] Available at: http://tasbeha.org/content/hh_books/Stmark/, 1968.
Mark was born in Gyrene (or Cyrene), one of the Five Western Cities (Pentapolis) in Libya, in a small village called Aberyatolos, according to His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, patriarch of the Holy See of St. Mark, Alexandria, Egypt. Shenouda III indicates in his very detailed biography (The Beholder of God, Mark the Evangelist, Saint and Martyr. (4th ed.)Trans. Samir F. Mikhail, M.D. Maged S. Mikhail, M.D. [Online] Available at: http://tasbeha.org/content/hh_books/Stmark/, 1968) that Mark, "a Jew from the Levite tribe" (p. 9), was born to wealthy and “religious parents,” his mother named Mary and his father named Artistopolis, "who was a cousin of the wife of St. Peter the apostle. Mark’s mother was “one of the Marys who followed Christ.” (p. 10).
Mark, the patriarch further states, was fluent in Hebrew, Greek and Latin and was a disciple and apostle of Jesus. (p. 95) He adds “Josephus mentions that he was a cousin of Philo.” (p. 9)
The Coptic patriarch resolves the mystery of the vaguely identified “certain youth” in Mark 14:51-52, affirming that it was in fact John Mark whom we are told is stripped of his white linen garment at the point when Jesus is being arrested. (p. 16) A scene which follows in 15:21 of Mark’s gospel involving Simon of Cyrene, who is chosen to help Jesus with his cross, shows John Mark to be fully clothed as he serves as an eye witness to the crucifixion of Jesus. John Mark, also a Cyrenean, apparently knew Simon of Cyrene, as the gospel writer names both of Simon’s sons Rufus and Alexander. Based on John Mark’s description of events associated with the crucifixion of Jesus, John Mark is arguably the only man named John at Golgotha, thereby making him a good candidate for “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” who is believed to have written the Gospel of John.
This fact, Shenouda III points out in his biography of John Mark, refutes the testimony of early church father Papias, who claimed that Mark was "neither a hearer or a follower of Jesus."
Confirming John Mark's apostolic calling, Shenouda references the book "Les Saints d'Egypte" by Father Paul Dorliane Chineau, who testified that Mark was known as "son of Mary," she being "the hostess of Christ, since Mary's home was where Jesus celebrated the last Passover with his disciples." The home with a front porch and upper room was "built on Mount Zion, on the big rock," according to Chineau. Another distinctive testimony pointed out by Shenouda III is that of Cardinal Bareaunios, a Catholic scholar in the sixteenth century, who referred to St. Mark's home as the "destination for the Lord Christ and His followers, where He celebrated the Passover with them and where they hid after His death. In its upper room, the Holy Spirit filled them, thus it became the first Christian church." The Coptic patriarch says the same was mentioned by Theodosius, a sixth-century writer, in his book "The Holy Land," which was published by Gildemeister in De Situ Terrae Sanctae. The British Encyclopedia also mentions that it was John Mark's home which served as the center of Christian life in Jerusalem, according to Shenouda III. "Because Jesus celebrated Passover in John Mark's home, some scholars have concluded that John Mark was the man who carried the water pitcher and showed the way to the upper room, where the meal was made ready, as Jesus had instructed Peter and John, the son of Zebedee, to do." (Mark 14: 13-15) and (Luke 22: 10-12) In the same room, Shenouda III writes, "the Holy Spirit filled them, and it filled the house"; "They began to speak with other tongues." (Acts 2:1-4) "Accordingly, this house witnessed the establishment of the First Church." Thus it wasn't surprising when Peter, upon gaining his freedom from the prison, went directly to this house: "He came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying." (Acts 12:12)
Shenouda III goes on to say that "throughout the years, the Coptic historians professed that St. Mark was one of the seventy apostles, as mentioned by Luke the Evangelist. (Luke 10:1-12) Our contemporary writers as well as those in the Middle Ages shared this fact. Severus Ben Al- Mokafaa, Bishop of Al-Ashmouneen, in the tenth century mentioned it in his book. Ben Kabar included John Mark's name in both the original Coptic and the Greek lists of the apostles. This was also reported by Al Maqrizi, a Muslim historian from the Middle Ages, saying that he was among the seventy. Ibn Al Salibi, Bishop of Amad, in 1149, included him among the seventy-two St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus, mentioned this fact in his book. Before him, Origen, a scholar of the second and third centuries, reported this in his book the 'Faith in God,' saying that Mark was among the seventy, who were chosen by God to be His messengers. Among the non Orthodox, we find Al Mushreki in an introduction, explaining the Gospel of St. Mark, included him among the seventy apostles and was named Theophoros, meaning the bearer of God. Chineau, who is a Catholic, in his book 'Les Saints d' Egypte,' called Mark an apostle." (p. 14)