Saint Marina the Great Martyr

 

Life:
Saint Marina the Great Martyr was born in Antioch   in the middle of the third century AD.Both her parents were idol worshippers. Her mother died a few days after her birth.
Her father was a priest. He gave his daughter away to a woman in a nearby village to bring her up. The woman was  a secret Christian and at the age of 12 Marina was secretly baptised into the faith by her adopted father.
Marina grew strong in the faith. At the age of 15 she decided to confess to her father that she was a Christian. When he visited her one day, she told him, and she begged him to convert to the true faith himself. He refused, and at first tried to persuade Marina to renounce her faith. When he saw that this was no good, he decided to renounce her to the authorities.

He did not get a chance to do this. One day, the new local prefect was passing throgh the village.He saw Marina at a well, and was dazzled by her beauty. He got off of his horse and asked Marina her name and where she lived. She, out of shyness, ran home.The prefect sent his men to find her, and invited her to his palace. There he asked her to marry him. She refused, saying she was married to Christ. The prefect hid his anger for a few days, and tried to change Marina's mind. When he saw she was strong in her faith, he ordered her to be whipped and thrown into prison. They scraped her skin with steel claws. At night she prayed and her wounds were healed. After three days, the prefect ordered her to be brought before him.He was furious when he saw Marina's wounds were healed. He ordered her to be beheaded.

We celebrate her name day on 17th July .

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Last published: :12/5/07
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