Great Martyr
Great Martyr Marina of Antioch
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The young virgin who rejected idolatry and remained faithful to Christ through imprisonment and torture.
Core account checked against Orthodox Church in America — Greatmartyr Marina of Antioch, The Prologue from Ohrid — July 17. Additional ecclesiastical references appear below.
Life and Witness
Life and Historical Setting
Saint Marina was born in Pisidian Antioch and learned the Christian faith while still young. She openly confessed Christ before the governor, refused sacrifice to idols and endured severe torments before receiving the crown of martyrdom.
Miracles, Relics and Places of Veneration
Antioch of Pisidia is the traditional setting of her martyrdom. Numerous Orthodox communities preserve portions attributed to her relics; because their histories differ, the article does not present a single modern location as possessing the complete body.
Iconography and Spiritual Meaning
Orthodox iconography presents the saint with the Cross of confession. The image does not glorify suffering by itself; it proclaims fidelity to Christ, forgiveness of persecutors and the victory of resurrection over death.
Feast Day
July 17 — Great Martyr Marina of Antioch.
From the Orthodox Synaxarion
The Prologue from Ohrid presents Marina as a young woman who learned the faith apart from her pagan father and chose Christ over the governor’s promises. Her endurance is commemorated as victory through fidelity, not through earthly force.
Historical Record and Ecclesiastical Tradition
Marina of Pisidian Antioch is the saint known in much of the West as Margaret, but the page follows the Greek Orthodox name, feast and Synaxarion. Her virginity, refusal of the governor and martyrdom form the stable account, while the dramatic prison encounters and successive deliverances are identified as hagiographical narration rather than independently documented civil history.
Biographical information on this page is based exclusively on the Orthodox ecclesiastical sources listed below.
Orthodox Church in America — Greatmartyr Marina of AntiochThe Prologue from Ohrid — July 17