OrthodoxWiki:Italiano/Marco d'Efeso

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San Marco d'Efeso

Il nostro Padre tra i Santi Marco d'Efeso o noto anche come Marco Eugenico (in greco: Μάρκος Ευγενικός), Metropolita di Efeso, fu famoso per la sua coraggiosa difesa dell'Ortodossia al Concilio di Firenze (1439) nonostante l'Imperatore bizantino Giovanni VIII Palaeologo e il papa  di Roma Eugenio IV volessero unire la Chiesa Ortodossa a quella di Roma. Fu l'unico vescovo  ortodosso a rifiutarsi di firmare i decreti del concilio, accusando Roma d'essere scismatica ed eretica per aver accettato ed aggiunto il Filioque  al Credo Niceno-Costantinopolitano  e per la pretesa di giurisdizione universale del papato sulla Chiesa. Si spense il 23 giugno 1444. Sul letto di morte S. Marco il Confessore affidò la fiamma dell’Ortodossia al suo discepolo Giorgio Scolarios che, in seguito, divenne Patriarca di Costantinopoli col nome di Gennadios II. Per i suoi sforzi nella difesa dell'Ortodossia al Concilio di Firenze, è considerato un santo dalla Chiesa Ordodossa  ed è chiamato Pilastro dell'Ortodossia. Viene festeggiato il 19 gennaio.

Quotations

"It is impossible to recall peace without dissolving the cause of the schism—the primacy of the Pope exalting himself equal to God." [1]

"The Latins are not only schismatics but heretics... we did not separate from them for any other reason other than the fact that they are heretics. This is precisely why we must not unite with them unless they dismiss the addition from the Creed filioque and confess the Creed as we do." [2]

"Our Head, Christ our God... does not tolerate that the bond of love be taken from us entirely." [3]

"We seek and we pray for our return to that time when, being united, we spoke the same things and there was no schism between us." [4]

"The Symbol of the Faith must be preserved inviolate, as at its origin. Since all the holy doctors of the Church, all the Councils and all the Scriptures put us on our guard against heterodoxy, how dare I, in spite of these authorities, follow those who urge us to unity in a deceitful semblance of union—those who have corrupted the holy and divine Symbol of Faith and brought in the Son as second cause of the Holy Spirit" (s.v. Jan 19th in The Synaxarion, ed. Hieromonk Makarios of Simonas Petra, and trans. Christopher Hookway; Ormylia: Holy Convent of The Annunciation of Our Lady, 2001).

"The souls of the departed can indeed benefit to their 'advancement,' and even the damned to a relative 'relief' of their lot, thanks to the prayers of the Church and through the infinite mercy of God; but the notion of a punishment prior to the Last Judgment and of a purification through a material fire is altogether foreign to the tradition of the Church" (ibid.).

Death, Miracle and Canonization

He died peacefully at the age of 52 on June 23, 1444, after an excruciating two-week battle with intestinal illness. On his death bed, Mark implored Georgios Scholarios, his former pupil, to be careful of the snares of the West and to defend Orthodoxy. According to his brother John, his last words were "Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, into Thy hands I commit my spirit." Mark was buried in the Mangana Monastery in Constantinople.

There is an account of a posthumous miracle performed by St. Mark of Ephesus. Doctors gave up on trying to save the life of the terminally ill sister of Demetrios Zourbaios, after their efforts had worsened her condition. After losing consciousness for three days she suddenly woke up to the delight of her brother, who asked her why she woke up drenched in water. She related that a bishop escorted her to a fountain and washed her and told her, "Return now; you no longer have any illness." She asked him who he was and he informed her, "I am the Metropolitan of Ephesus, Mark Eugenikos." After being miraculously healed, she made an icon of St. Mark and lived devoutly for another 15 years.

In 1734 the Holy Synod of the Church of Constantinople under Patriarch Seraphim I glorified Mark of Ephesus as a saint, stating:

"All of us of the holy Eastern Church of Christ acknowledge the holy Mark Evgenikos of Ephesus. We honor and receive this saintly, God-bearing and righteous man as a zealot of ardent piety, who was a champion of all our sacred dogmas and correct piety. He is an emulator and equal to the holy theologians, and those that adorned the Church of ancient times." (The Lives of the Pillars of Orthodoxy, p. 500, via [5])


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Hymns

Troparion

Panoplia invitta, ricolmo di senno divino
L'arroganza abbattesti della superbia occidentale.
Organo del Paraclito, campione dell'Ortodossia sei divenuto
E per questo che a gran voce ti gridiamo: "Gioisci o Marco, degli ortodossi vanto!"
Succession box:
Italiano
Preceded by:
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Arcivescovo Metropolita di Efeso
1438-1444
Succeeded by:
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en:Mark of Ephesus