Saint Marina the Monk, Saint. Marina (Margaret), Great Martyr, of Antioch in Pisidia

Marina, distinguished as Marina the Monk and also known as Pelagia and as Mary of Alexandria, was an 8th-century, a Christian Saint of Byzantine of Syria in the area now part of of the Country Lebanon.

Born Mariam, Marina was the daughter of wealthy Christian parents. Marina's mother died when she was very young and she was raised in devout Christian life by her father Eugenius. As her age of marriage drew near her father wished to retire to the Monastery of Qannoubine in the Kadisha Valley of Lebanon after he had found her a husband. When Marina learned of her father's plan she asked why he intended to save his own soul "and destroy mine"? When asked by her father, "What shall I do with you? You are a woman", Marina answered that she would renounce women's clothing and live as a monk, in the body she was supposed to take. She then immediately shaved the hair from her head and changed her clothes. Her father, seeing his daughter's strong determination gave all his possessions to the poor and traveled with her to the Kadisha Valley to live in monastic community life, sharing a cell with her under the name Marinus.

After ten years of prayer, fasting and worship together her father died, leaving her alone. Marina increased her level of asceticism and continued to conceal the fact that she was a woman. The other monks attributing her soft voice to long periods of prayer and strict ascetic life. One day, the abbot of the monastery sent her with three other monks to attend to some business for the monastery. As the journey was long, they were forced to spend the night at an inn. Also lodging there was a soldier of the eastern Roman front. Upon seeing the beauty of the inn keeper's daughter the soldier defiled her virginity and impregnated her, instructing the daughter to say, "It was the monk, Father Marina, who has done this to me."

After some time, it was discovered that the inn keeper's daughter was pregnant and, as was agreed, she told her father that Marina was to blame. On hearing the story, the man went furiously to the abbot of the monastery. The abbot calmed the man and told him that he would see to the matter. He called for Marina and reprimanded her severely. When she realized what was happening she fell to her knees and wept, confessing to the false accusation and asking forgiveness. The fact that there was no attempt to deny the fault made the abbot so furious that he told her to leave the monastery. She left at once and remained outside the gates as a beggar for quite a long time. When the inn keeper's daughter gave birth, he took the child and gave him to Marina. She fed the child with sheep's milk, provided by the local shepherds, and remained caring for him outside the monastery for ten years. Finally the monks convinced the abbot to allow Marina to return; he accepted but he also imposed heavy penalties upon her. She was to perform hard labour in cooking, cleaning and carrying water in addition to her regular monastic duties.

At the age of forty, Marina became ill. Three days later she died. The abbot ordered that her body was cleaned, her cloths changed and that she was transferred to the church for funeral prayers. While cleaning and sewing her, the monks discovered that she was, in fact, a woman, and became very distressed. The monks informed the abbot, who came to her side and wept bitterly for the wrongs he had done. The abbot then called for the inn keeper and informed him that Marina was actually a woman. The inn keeper went to where the body lay and also wept for the pain and suffering which he had unjustly brought upon her. During the funeral prayers, one of the monks who was blind in one eye, after he touched the Saint, received full sight again. God also allowed a devil to torment the inn keeper’s daughter and the soldier. This caused them to travel to where the Saint was buried. There they both confessed their iniquity in front of everyone and asked for forgiveness

Some Statistics on Saint Marina

Born 8th century AD

Died July 19, 750 AD +/-

Venerated in Maronite Catholic, Albanian Orthodox Church and Coptic Orthodox churches.

Feast June 18

Solemnity of Saint Peter and Saint Paul - 2016

Maronite Icon of Saint Peter and Saint Paul

We remember today Saints Peter and Paul who guided the early church just after the time of Jesus. Both died as martyrs for the faith in Rome, in the early years after Jesus' Death and Resurrection, sometime around the yeas of 50-60 A.D.,  just thirty years after the death of Jesus. Peter was crucified upside down in the courtyard to the left of St. Peter’s Basilica (in the courtyard behind the arch where the Swiss Guards stand on duty)  at his request as he did not want to be looked upon as his death in the same way as Jesus, and Paul was beheaded between Rome and the sea, in a place now called Tre Fontane (Italian for three fountains after the legend that the three springs in the spot mark the three places where Paul’s head bounced after being beheaded). Paul did not receive the same death as Peter, as Paul was a Roman Citizen and could not be crucified.  Peter was buried in the nearest cemetery which was on top of Vatican Hill and St. Peter’s Basilica was later built on top of Peter’s tomb, the main altar being directly on top of his tomb.  Paul was also buried in the nearest cemetery and the Basilica of St. Paul’s outside the Walls was later build on top of his tomb, the main altar being directly on top of his tomb.

Each of these two saints is important for different reasons. Peter is important because he was the first Pope and kept the church united which was growing very rapidly in the years following Pentecost. In the first years after Pentecost it was the Jews who accepted Jesus as the Savior and so the early church was a very Jewish church. But as time went on Paul began to preach also to non-Jews, the Gentiles as they were called. All of us are Gentiles. His preaching was very successful and he brought huge numbers of non-Jews into the church, so much so that the number of Jews in the church was greatly outnumbered by non-Jews. It is because of Paul that we are now in the Church. So both Peter and Paul had very important tasks in the early church, Peter maintaining the unity in the church which during his lifetime had already spread throughout the Middle East and Europe, and Paul who taught the Jews that Jesus is the fulfillment of their Old Testament hopes and taught the non-Jews that Jesus is the Savior. Whenever you see statues of Peter and Paul, usually Peter is holding a key, symbolizing his duty as head of the church, and Paul is holding the Bible, symbolizing his preaching.

In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul tells us something of the difficulties in his preaching journeys (2 Cor 11:24-25,27):

Five times I have been given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews; three times I have been beaten with sticks; once I was stoned; three times I have been shipwrecked, and once I have been in the open sea for a day and a night; I have worked with unsparing energy, for many nights without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty, and often altogether without food or drink; I have been cold and lacked clothing.

Three times Paul set out from Syria where he was based and preached all over what we now call Turkey, and in his second and third journeys he preached all over Greece also. Although not one of the Twelve Apostles we call him an apostle of the nations.

It is interesting to note the personalities of both Peter and Paul. Peter was impetuous, telling Jesus that he would die with him on Holy Thursday night if necessary (John 13:37) but later that night he denied he knew him. We also remember Peter’s objection to Jesus’ prediction that he would suffer and die in Jerusalem and Jesus said ‘Get behind me Satan because they way you think is man’s way and not God’s way’ (Matt 16:23). Yet what made Peter a suitable candidate for Jesus’ call was his love, so three times Jesus asked him if he loved him and asked him to look after the flock.

Paul was a controversial character in his own way. He had a fiery personality. In his early life he channeled that fire towards persecuting the Christians in Jerusalem, even witnessing the death of Stephen, the first martyr for Jesus (Acts 8:1). After his conversion Paul’s preaching was fiery and upset the churches. In Acts we read that Paul then returned to Tarsus, and the next sentence says it all, “the churches throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria were left in peace” (9:31). Paul spent 10 years back in Tarsus before he began his preaching. It was a time for him to cool down and learn what the death and resurrection of Jesus meant for us all. Why did God call Paul? Paul was a highly educated Pharisee and it would be only someone like him who could see that faith in Jesus demanded a totally new relationship with God for Jews, and also he had a very strong personality which he needed to help the Jews to accept that Jesus was the Savior of all peoples, and that because of Jesus there is no difference between Jew and non-Jew. Paul had the strong personality needed for that daring challenge and the insight to see that faith in Jesus the fulfillment of their Old Testament hopes was now required for salvation.

As we look at the personalities of Peter and Paul, we see that God called them to use their personalities to spread the Gospel, Peter to use his impetuous love to look after the flock, and Paul to use his training as a Pharisee and his strength of character to ensure that the non-Jews would be welcomed into the church. It is a reminder to us that our talents and our weaknesses too can become God’s means of helping others, if we allow. We don’t have to be perfect for God to work through us, God can work through us, faults and all, as he did with Peter and Paul.