My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
On the 17th of July, the Holy Orthodox Church commemorates
the holy and gloriously triumphant Martyr MARINA of
Antioch in Pisidia.
Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn. Fourth Tone
O LORD Jesus, unto Thee Thy lamb doth cry with a great voice:
O my Bridegroom, Thee I love; and seeking Thee, I now contest,
and with Thy baptism am crucified and buried. I suffer for Thy sake,
that I may reign with Thee; for Thy sake I die, that I may live in
Thee: accept me offered out of longing to Thee as a spotless
sacrifice. Lord, save our souls through her intercessions,
since Thou art great in mercy.
Kontakion Hymn. Third Tone
WITH most fair virginity wast thou made comely, O virgin, and
with bright and spotless crowns wast thou crowned also, O
Martyr; reddened with martyric blood, thou, O famed Marina,
wast vouchsafed to shine forth brightly with wondrous healings,
while receiving from the right hand of thy Creator thy triumph’s
sacred rewards.
Saint MARINA, the blessed maiden and godly virgin-martyr, was from Antioch of Pisidia. The daughter of notable parents, she lived during the reign of either Emperors Claudius II (268-270 A.D.) or Diocletian (284-305 A.D.). Her father Aidesios, a solemn priest of the idols, was respected throughout the city. As her parents’ only child, Marina’s mother died a few days after giving birth to her. Aidesios then took the infant and gave her to be nursed by a certain woman dwelling outside the city, at a distance of fifteen stadia (1.72 miles).
God’s special Providence was at work here when the maiden was taken outside her home to a Christian nurse living in a Christian neighborhood. As Marina passed through the normal milestones of infancy and early childhood, when she learned to talk, she also heard certain words about the Faith of Christ in that place. By nature, she possessed a pure soul and good disposition. Moreover, she was uncommonly intelligent, wise, and prudent. She received, straightway, the word of salvation when she heard that Christ is the Good God, Eternal and Most compassionate. She learned and accepted that He became man for our salvation and was voluntarily Crucified. She believed that He rose in glory and ascended into the heavens; and that the nature of humanity is honored through Him Who sits at the right hand of Father. Hearing these and many other doctrines, the seed of Faith took in that grace-filled maiden. Marina’s faith began like a grain of mustard seed which, when cast upon the good soil of her soul, waxed into a great tree where the fowls of the air would lodge in the branches. Again, as good and fertile ground, she heard the word and understood it, which brought forth fruit a hundredfold. We speak here of her martyrdom for the Orthodox Faith.
As she increased in physical age, more so did she advance in knowledge, understanding, and prudence. The desire for Christ was aflame in her heart. Daily, she entreated our Savior that she be counted worthy to enter the community of martyrs and to partake of their contest for the Faith. The God-enlightened maiden not only in her soul meditated upon this course but also in her speech spoke of it to whomever she encountered. She confessed to everyone that she was a Christian, and rebuked idol madness. Due to her candid profession, her father according to the flesh–though certainly not in spiritual matters–despised her with all his soul. When the ruthless Aidesios heard Marina’s confession of the Christian Faith, he not only refused to look upon her countenance but he also chose to disinherit her. When her earthly and motatl father turned away from her, so much more was she received by the Heavenly and Eternal One Whom Marina loved with all her heart. Moreover, all those whom she beheld tortured, beaten, and slain for Jesus’ name, she revered and desired to be numbered among them. She, too, pondered upon witnessing for Christ, when He so dispensed by His grace. Her turn, indeed, would come; for if one believes in Christ by word and thought, one must also glorify Him with works. With this in mind, she desired to be tried for the Faith, so she might glorify Christ in His Kingdom together with the other holy martyrs. Now the manner of this holy maiden’s contest took place during the fifteenth year of her life.
At that time, the Prefect of Anatolia, name Olymvrios, was a savage and brutal man. It happened that as he was traveling through Asia Minor, he passed through Antioch of Pisidia. On the road, he espied the comely virgin Marina who was tending her father’s flock. Admiring the maiden’s exquisite beauty, his heart was consumed with carnal desire. Hence, that thrice-accursed man thought to take her as his wife. Thereupon, he ordered his men to conduct her to the judgment hall for an interview. As Marina was escorted on the road, she prayed that the Lord grant her wisdom and power to guard right-believing piety to the end. She also asked that the Lord enable her to overcome torments and to be crowned with the holy martyrs. Arriving at the palace, Olymvrios asked her name, her family, and in what deity she believed. Without fear, I am the child of freeborn parents; and I hope to become the slave of my God and Savior Jesus Christ Who made all the world. All they bystanders, while delighting in her lovely appearance, were astonished uon hearing such a daring answer. As a consequence of her candor, Marina was imprisoned. Now it so happened that , the following day, the entire city was going to celebrate a pagan festival. All were enjoined to offer sacrifice. After all gathered for the festival, the holy maiden was brought into their midst. Olymvrios observing that the Christiani maiden mocked and disdained his words, he no longer could conceal his ire. He commended the soldiers to disrobe her and beat her severely and mercilessly with rods. The rods had thorns which tore in her flesh. Christ’s martyr bore all the pain courageously without every sighing or crying.
After administering this punishment for a long time the tyrant directed that she be returned to prison. After a certain number of days, they brought Marina again to the place of judgment. She was suspended on high where they could rake her sides with iron nails. Her flesh, so torn and mutilated, left her unsightly and wasted. All the comeliness of her body was disfigured. Undaunted, she prayed with thanksgiving that the Lord count her worthy to be tormented for His love. The hater-of-good and malicious demon, beholding that his servant, the chief of that city, could not vanquish one delicate maiden and make her fall down before the demons, wished to test her himself. The devil took on the guise of a great and terrible dragon. He approached the holy maiden, appearing as a fearful spectacle. The Saint, however, was not intimidated. She did not leave off praying. Observing that she in no wise cowered, but continued to pray fearlessly, he ran up against her. Widening his mouth and distending his belly, it appeared as though the creature swallowed her. When the Saint beheld that the dragon swallowed her up to the waist, as it appeared to her she called upon the saving name of the Savior Christ. With her right hand, she traced the sign of the Cross over the entrails of the dragon. Having done so, the belly of the dragon was sundered as though by a double-edged sword. Since the dragon was fortn apart, it became invisible. The martyr remained unhurt and rejoiced, chanting unto God hymns of glorification and victory.
Saint Marina’s horrific tortures continued for some time. Then the Lord, with a multitude of holy Angels, noetically manifested Himself to the righteous maiden and said, "Take courage, Marina, and do not fear, for I have hearkened unto thine entreaties. All thou has requested shall be fulfilled at the proper time. The executioner, trembling, did not dare raise his sword. However, she encouraged him to strike off her head. Thus, the Venerable virgin-Marty Marina surrendered her soul into her Bridegroom’s hands on the 17th day of the month of July. He is now numbered with the ranks of virgins and the armies of the Martyrs, as she so much desired.
The holy relics of Saint Marina were then secretly taken up by the Christians and buried in an honorable place, as was proper. The virgin-Martyr is now interred in a church built in her honor in Athens, Greece.
By the supplications, O elect bride, dissolve thou the fetters of my faults and scatter the record of my sins!" Amen. [Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church]
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 