Marilena Carpathia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marilena Carpathia is the mother of Nicolae Carpathia in the Left Behind series of books. The beginning of The Rising (Book #13 in the Left Behind series; #1 in the Before They Were Left Behind series) has her uneventfully married to her university colleague Sorin Carpathia. Their marriage was devoid of the romance and love that husband and wife share, rather Marilena regarded Sorin more as a close companion with whom she could have intellectual discussions. Marilena dreams of having a child, though she has had to suppress it amidst the wishes of her husband. Sorin eventually reveals to Marilena that he is homosexual and is in a relationship with fellow lecturer, Baduna Marius but because of the melancholiness of their marriage this comes as little shock to her and is in fact genuinely happy for Sorin. She is introduced to Viviana Ivinisova (aka Viv Ivins), who tells Marilena that her wish of having a child will come true, and tells her that her child will change the face of the world. Viv also reveals herself as a member of a secret organization dealing in Luciferianism and invites Marilena to join to help fulfill her dream.
Unknown to Marilena, she is a chosen vessel, one that will unknowingly give birth to the greatest evil the world has ever known: the Antichrist. Also unknown to her was the near-equally well kept and horrifying secret that Sorin was actually hired by the organisation to marry her (so Nicolae would inherit the Carpathia name, an important factor) and that he and Baduna provided the genetic material for Nicolae's conception. As Nicolae grows, she questions who her soul truly belongs to; Lucifer or God. She is murdered near the end of The Rising by one of Viv Ivins's followers, masquerading as a doctor, when her son Nicolae Carpathia becomes of age. As she lays dying, Marilena renounces Lucifer and begs God to forgive her for what she has done.
