Mark of Ephesus

Life events

1. Born — 1392

   Born Manuel Eugenikos in Constantinople around 1392. His father George Eugenikos was sakellarios of Hagia Sophia and an Orthodox deacon; his mother Maria was daughter of a doctor named Luke.

2. Educated

   After his father's early death, Mark studied under John Chortasmenos (later Metropolitan Ignatius of Selymbria) and under the mathematician and philosopher Gemistus Pletho.

3. Tonsured

   Took monastic vows in Constantinople, adopting the name Mark. As a monk he became a prolific hymnographer and follower of Gregory Palamas' hesychast theology.

4. Consecrated

   Consecrated Metropolitan of Ephesus. He was subsequently appointed delegate for the Patriarch of Alexandria at the Council of Ferrara–Florence, making him one of the most prominent Eastern voices at the synod.

5. Council — 1439

   At the Council of Ferrara–Florence (1438–1439), Mark refused to sign the act of union with Rome. He was the only Eastern bishop who declined, holding that Latin teachings — including the Filioque clause and the doctrine of Purgatory — were inconsistent with the decrees of the Ecumenical Councils.

6. Wrote

   Authored a series of theological works including Ten Arguments Against the Existence of Purgatory, Summa of Sayings on the Holy Spirit, Chapters Against the Latins, Confession of Faith, and On the Time of the Transubstantiation, as well as extensive hymnography and treatises in defense of the Palamite essence–energies distinction.

7. Died — 1444

   Died on June 23, 1444, aged 52, in Constantinople after two weeks of intestinal illness. On his deathbed he urged his former pupil Georgios Scholarios — later Patriarch Gennadius of Constantinople — to guard Orthodoxy from Western entanglement. He was buried at the Mangana Monastery in Constantinople.

8. Other — 1734

   Formally canonized in 1734 when Patriarch Seraphim I of Constantinople presided over the Holy Synod of the Church of Constantinople and solemnly glorified Mark, adding six new liturgical services to the two already in use.

Relationships

Documented claims

• The Orthodox Church groups Mark of Ephesus with Photius the Great and Gregory Palamas as a 'Pillar of Orthodoxy'; Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain called him 'the Atlas of Orthodoxy' in his liturgical service to the saint. (certain)
• An account preserved in Eastern Orthodox tradition records that the terminally ill sister of Demetrios Zourbaios was healed after a bishop appeared to her in a vision, washed her at a fountain, and identified himself as 'the Metropolitan of Ephesus, Mark Eugenikos.' She subsequently made an icon of the saint and lived for another 15 years. (plausible)
• Mark's feast day of January 19 commemorates the translation of his relics to the monastery of Lazarus in Galata, not the date of his death (June 23, 1444). (likely)
• Despite his opposition to the Union of Florence, Mark cited Augustine of Hippo, Bernard of Clairvaux, and even Thomas Aquinas' Summa contra Gentiles in support of Eastern Orthodox positions, buying Augustine manuscripts at Florence for his own use. (likely)
• Mark refused to sign the council documents after a debate with John of Montenero, who asserted a distinction in the divine persons according to 'dignity' (Latin: dignitas) — which Mark interpreted as Trinitarian subordinationism on the part of the Thomists. (likely)