St. Marina of Antioch
St. Marina was born in the third century in Antioch of Pisidia in Asia Minor, the daughter of a pagan priest, and came to faith in Christ as a young girl after being raised by a Christian nurse.
At fifteen she refused the marriage proposal of the governor Olymbrius, boldly confessing herself a Christian, and for this she was beaten, burned, and imprisoned, where tradition recounts that she vanquished a demon who appeared to her. She remained steadfast through every torture and was beheaded, and her veneration as a great-martyr and deliverer from evil spread quickly through both East and West, where she is known as St. Margaret.
I will not bow down nor offer sacrifice to the breathless and dead idols who do not recognize themselves, nor do they know that we honor or dishonor them. I will not give them that honor which belongs only to my Creator.
Troparion
O Lord Jesus, unto Thee Thy lamb doth cry with a great voice: O my Bridegroom, Thee I love; and seeking Thee, I now contest, and with Thy baptism am crucified and buried. I suffer for Thy sake, that I may reign with Thee; for Thy sake I die, that I may live in Thee: accept me offered out of longing to Thee as a spotless sacrifice. Lord, save our souls through her intercessions, since Thou art great in mercy.
Kontakion
Arrayed in the beauties of virginity, O virgin Marina, thou wast crowned with imperishable crowns; and stained with the blood of thy martyrdom, O martyr, thou hast received the trophy of victory for thy suffering, piously shining forth miracles of healing.
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