Marina of Antioch

Saint Marina is a virgin-martyr saint in the Church.

Life

Marina lived in what is now modern-day Turkey in the early fourth century. Her father was a pagan priest, and her mother died in childbirth. The unwanted Marina was then left in the care of a nursemaid, who was then discharged of her duties and sent to work as a shepherdess. In her teen years, Marina made a vow of perpetual chastity to God. One day, while Marina was tending sheep, a Roman prefect attempted to seduce her. When she refused his advances, she was denounced as a Christian. When she refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods, she was subjected to various tortures. Among them, being forced into a cauldron of boiling oil, out of which she came unharmed, singing God's praises. Popular legend also states that in her prison cell, Satan attempted to tempt, and even physically assault, her several times. She was eventually beheaded at the age of sixteen, around the year AD 304. Her feast is celebrated in the Church on 17 July.