Marina the Monk

Marinos the Monk was a Christian saint from part of Asian Byzantium, generally said to be present-day Lebanon. Born female, he became a monk at a young age and lived as a man for the rest of his life. Not wanting to reveal his birth sex, he chose to raise a child he was accused of fathering. Details of his life vary. Marinos probably lived in the 5th century, his first biographical account was probably written sometime between 525 and 650; it is preserved in several manuscripts, including one from the tenth century.

Early life Marina was the child of wealthy Christian parents and was born in Al-Qalamoun, near Tripoli, in present-day Lebanon.

After ten years of prayer, fasting and worship together, Eugenius died. Now alone, Marinos became only more intently ascetic and continued to conceal his sex. One day, the abbot of the monastery sent four monks including Marinos to attend to some business for the monastery. As the journey was long, they were forced to spend the night at an inn. Also lodging there was a soldier of the eastern Roman front. Upon seeing the beauty of the innkeeper's daughter, who was working there, the soldier seduced her and took her virginity, instructing her to say, "that the young monk, Father Marinos, did that to me" should she conceive a child. Enraged, the abbot told Marinos to leave the monastery; he did so at once and remained outside the gates as a beggar for several years. When the innkeeper's daughter gave birth, she gave the child to Marinos, who chose to raise it. Marinos fed the child with sheep's milk, provided by the local shepherds, and remained caring for him outside the monastery for ten years. Finally the monks convinced the abbot to allow Marinos to return; he accepted but he also imposed heavy penalties upon Marinos, who was to perform hard labor in cooking, cleaning and carrying water in addition to regular monastic duties and caring for the child. and the Coptic Orthodox Church. Today, Coptic Orthodox Christians claim that Marinos' body is kept at Saint Mary Church and has not decomposed. It is displayed to the public on his feast day, on Mesra 15.

In 2022, Marinos (as Marina the Monk) was officially added to the Episcopal Church liturgical calendar with a feast day on 17 June.

Marina the Monk is also honoured among the Druze, who call him "Al-Sitt Sha'wani'". The shrine of "Al-Sitt Sha'wani'" is located in Amiq on the slopes of Mount Barouk (Jebel el-Barouk) to the east, overlooking the Bekaa Valley and offering views of the much higher Mount Hermon to the south. He is considered a part of LGBTQ+ history and has gained recent attention especially among Christians, the LGBTQ+ community, and LGBTQ+ Christians.