Marcos 4
Athanasius of Alexandria · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Marcos 4:17
Let us, therefore, following the faith of the apostles, hold frequent communion with our Lord. For the world is like the sea to us, beloved, of which it is written, "There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it."17 We float upon this sea, like wind, with everyone directing his own course with his own free will. Under the pilotage of the Word, one may safely approach the port. But, if possessed by wayward inclinations, one is in peril by storm and may suffer shipwreck. For as in the ocean there are storms and waves, so in the world there are many afflictions and trials. The unbelieving therefore, "have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away," just as the Lord said. They are not likely to endure the complications which arise from afflictions, if they are fixed upon the temporal and not confirmed in the faith. — Letter 19.7, EASTER A.D. 347
Marcos 4:36
They awakened the Word, who was sailing with them, and immediately the sea became smooth at the command of its Lord, and they were saved. They became proclaimers and teachers at the same time, attesting the miracles of our Savior, and also teaching us to imitate their example. — Letter 19.6, EASTER A.D. 347
Marcos 4:36
Even while he was asleep on the pillow, the Lord was testing his disciples, when a miracle was wrought that was calculated especially to put even the wicked to contrition. For when he arose, and rebuked the sea, and silenced the storm, he plainly disclosed two things: that the storm of the sea was not simply from winds, but from the fear of the Lord who walked upon it;2 and that the Lord who rebuked it was not a creature, but rather its creator. — LETTER 29