Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 

teens or early twenties, when Peter and Mark fled for Rome. Mark was too young, soon after arriving in 

Rome, to go the Egypt and found a community of Christians.

644

    The 15th year after Christ's Ascension (

A.D.

 34) was the year of the Virgin Mary's Dormition, Resurrection, 

and Assumption, according to Saint Bridget and Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (see chapter 10). 

According to Blessed Anne Catherine, Peter attended the Dormition of the Virgin Mary and John Mark 

accompanied him.

645

 An ancient source, The History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church of Alexandria, states that 

Mark decided, because of a revelation from God, to make his missionary journey to Alexandria in the 15th 

year after the Ascension of Christ.

646

 But notice that this source does not say that Mark arrived that year, but 

only that he came to his decision that year. 

    The 15th year after the Ascension of Christ was a likely time for Mark to be inspired to leave Peter and 

undertake a missionary journey of his own. It was by then the 9th year of Claudius' reign. Mark had been 

Peter's student and assistant for over seven years, since journeying with Peter from Jerusalem to Rome during 

the spring of Claudius' 2nd year. He had also followed Paul and Barnabas on some of their missionary 

journeys. And he had attended the Dormition of the Virgin Mary at Ephesus, along with the remaining Eleven 

of the Twelve Apostles. Perhaps the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, as well as her Resurrection and 

Assumption, inspired Mark to take the next step in following Christ, to go on his own to a distant land and 

preach the Gospel. 

    Now it was the faithful of Rome who delayed Mark's missionary journey so that he would first write down 

the teachings of Christ for them. But the Gospel of Mark must have taken more than a few days or weeks to 

write. Peter and Mark probably went to Ephesus to attend the death of the Virgin Mary on relatively short 

notice (unless they knew long in advance the date of Mary's departure). They also had something of a deadline 

for beginning this journey. Therefore, this was not the journey that was delayed at the request of the faithful of 

Rome so Mark could write his Gospel. Yet at least one ancient source places Mark's decision to go to Egypt in 

that same year, the 15th since the Ascension. 

    For the above reasons, I conclude the following. Mark returned to Rome after the Assumption of the Virgin 

Mary. He was greatly inspired by the Virgin Mary's Dormition, Resurrection, and Assumption, and he may 

have also received some kind of revelation concerning God's will for him. The result was that he then decided 

to undertake his mission to preach the Gospel in Egypt. His journey to Egypt became associated with the 15th 

year after the Ascension because that was the year of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and the year of his 

decision. But the faithful of Rome, knowing that he might never return from this mission to Egypt, delayed his 

journey by convincing him first to write the Gospel. Mark then took the Gospel, which he himself had recently 

written, to Egypt and founded the first community of Christians there, at Alexandria. In fact, the phrasing 

used by both Eusebius and Saint Jerome seems to imply that Mark had written his Gospel not long before 

journeying to Egypt:  So, taking the gospel which he himself composed, he went to Egypt . 

647

 Eusebius also 

mentions the writing of the Gospel of Mark in the same sentence in which he tells us of Mark's journey to 

Egypt.

648

 The Gospel of Mark was most likely written just prior to Mark's journey to Egypt and about the time 

of the 15th year after Christ's Ascension. 

    When did Mark actually arrive in Egypt? He could not have arrived in the same year as the Assumption of 

the Virgin Mary, which was the 15th since the Ascension of Christ and the 9th year of Claudius' reign (

A.D.

34). The Assumption occurred in mid August in Ephesus (see chapter 10). But Mark wrote his Gospel in 

Rome, prior to leaving for Egypt. Mark must first have traveled back to Rome from Ephesus, a journey that 

may have taken a month or more, even in good weather. Mark could have arrived back in Rome in September 

or early October. He reached his decision to undertake a missionary journey to Egypt at the time of the 

Assumption, or soon after. 

    There is not enough time between late September and the end of the season for safe travel on the 

Mediterranean (Nov. 11, according to Pliny

649

; see also Acts 27:9ff) to account for Mark's journey to Egypt 

and the preceding events. First, the faithful of Rome made numerous appeals to Mark to convince him to 

write, then Mark spent some length of time writing the Gospel, and, when he finally departed, Mark's journey 

to Egypt from Rome must have taken at least a couple of months. Therefore, the most reasonable conclusion is 

that Mark wanted to journey to Egypt soon after returning from the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, but the 

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