Commemorated on July 17 The Holy Great Martyr Marina was born in
Asia Minor, in the city of Antioch of Pisidia (southern Asia
Minor), into the family of a pagan priest. In infancy she lost
her mother, and her father gave her into the care of a
nursemaid, who raised Marina in the Orthodox Faith. Upon
learning that his daughter had become a Christian, the father
angrily disowned her. During the time of the persecution against
Christians under the emperor Diocletian (284-305), when she was
fifteen years old, St Marina was arrested and locked up in
prison. With firm trust in the will of God and His help, the
young prisoner prepared for her impending fate. The governor
Olymbrios, charmed with the beautiful girl, tried to persuade
her to renounce the Christian Faith and become his wife. But the
saint, unswayed, refused his offers. The vexed governor gave the
holy martyr over to torture. Having beaten her fiercely, they
fastened the saint with nails to a board and tore at her body
with tridents. The governor himself