Marina of Bithynia | The Monk | Mary of Alexandria

● Orthodox Remembrance Day: February 12, June 18
● Name means: Woman of the Sea (Latin.)
● Monk
● Patroness: against pain
● Attributes: from Polistena at Reggio Calabria; with child in front of the monastery gate
● Born in Bithynia, Turkey
● Died in Syria in the 5th century
Legend has it that as a girl abandoned by her mother, she followed her father Eugene to the
monastery under the name Marinos by dressing up as a boy. She lived as a monk — no one
recognized her true gender — until one day a woman accused her of being the father of her
illegitimate child. Marina was expelled from the monastery and now took care of her child in
front of the monastery walls. Only after her death did the truth come out.
There is a Sicilian legend about Marina. Accordingly, she went from there to Syria; on the
crossing she was thrown into the sea by the sailors, because they suspected a lot of money with
her and wanted to rob it; But Marina was wonderfully saved and then lived for three years
under the name Marinus in a men’s monastery in Syria. After her return, she died in Sicily.