Marina the Monk

Marina was a Christian saint from part of Asian Byzantium, variously said to be Syria or Lebanon. Her mother died when Marina was very young, so Marina was raised as a devout Christian by her father Eugenius. As Marina approached marriageable age, her father intended to find his child a husband and then retire to the Monastery of Qannoubine in the Kadisha Valley of Lebanon. When Marina learned of his plan, she asked why he intended to save his own soul and destroy mine. She then shaved her head and changed into men’s clothes.

About Marina the Monk in brief

Summary Marina the MonkMarina was a Christian saint from part of Asian Byzantium, variously said to be Syria or Lebanon. She was the child of wealthy Christian parents. Her mother died when Marina was very young, so Marina was raised as a devout Christian by her father Eugenius. As Marina approached marriageable age, her father intended to find his child a husband and then retire to the Monastery of Qannoubine in the Kadisha Valley of Lebanon. When Marina learned of his plan, she asked why he intended to save his own soul and destroy mine. Marina answered that she would live as a monk with him: she then shaved her head and changed into men’s clothes.

She took the name Marinos and the other monks attributed his soft voice to long periods of prayer, or else believed their new brother was a male eunuch. Marina became ill at the age of forty, and died from the illness. The abbot ordered that Marina’s body be cleaned, her clothes changed and that she be transferred to the church for funeral prayers. One of the monks said to have received full sight again after he touched the body.