July 17: Saint Marina, Nun of Qannoubine

There are many traditions about the story of this saint. Some say she was from Lebanon, where her story is told, and others say she was from Egypt. But the substance is the same: a devout man had a daughter named Marina.

After his wife died, this man wanted to become a monk. His daughter begged him not to leave her and asked him to dress her in a monk’s habit so that she could serve him in the monastery. And so it was: she took the name Marinos. After her father died, she stayed in the monastery, regarded as a monk. Once the superior sent Brother Marinos on an errand to a village, and he had to spend the night with a friend of the monks. This man had a young daughter who had fallen into sin and whose pregnancy had begun to show. She falsely told her father that Brother Marinos had abused her on the night he stayed with them. So Marina was accused of sinning with a woman and expelled from the monastery, and she had to raise the child said to be hers far from the monastery. When she died, the monks discovered she was a woman, and her reputation for holiness spread. It is said that she lived in a cave near the monastery of Qannoubine. Her tomb was placed in a cave in the Holy Valley, and it became a source of graces and healings. The Maronite Church celebrates her on July 17. May her prayer be with us. Amen.