St. Mark

If you ever go to Venice (in the north of Italy) and visit the main square, you'll see (unless you're blind) the great basilica of St. Mark. St. Mark the Evangelist is the patron of Venice, and his remains, according to tradition, are kept in an urn underneath the main altar in the basilica.

Now, if you ever go to Rome, you'll find that at (more or less) the center of the city, and very close to the ancient area where Rome was founded in the 8th century B.C., there is a large square called Piazza Venezia (Venice Square).  And right next to Piazza Venezia is - you guessed it - (okay, you may have guessed it) the church of St. Mark. That's where this morning's Stational Mass was.

The church, built in the 4th century, was re-decorated in the Baroque style, as many of the old churches in Rome were.  The first church on the site was built by Pope St. Mark (surprise, surprise!), whose relics rest in the great urn under the main altar.

In the 9th century, there was a great flood that damaged much of the church, but Pope St. Gregory IV provided for its restoration.  This Pope is depicted in the mosaic in the apse, next to St. Mark the Evangelist (who wraps a friendly arm around the Pope's shoulder).  One interesting thing to note - and you probably can't see it because the picture is too small - is that Pope Gregory is pictured in the mosaic (at far left inside the curve) with a halo, but the halo isn't round, like most haloes.  It's square. That indicates that Pope Gregory was still living at the time the mosaic was created.  He must have been widely known as a holy man, if they put a halo on him while he was still living!