Marina of Aguas Santas

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"Liberata" redirects here. For the folk saint with this name, see Wilgefortis.

Saint Marina
Santa Marina, by Francisco de Zurbarán.
Born	119 AD
Died	139 AD
Feast	July 18
Saints Portal

Saint Marina of Aguas Santas (Marina of Orense) (119–139 AD) is a Spanish saint. She is a virgin martyr associated with the town of Aguas Santas, in the province of Ourense. The story of her life as it has been preserved is a mixture of fact and fiction. She is venerated as one of nine sisters, one of whom is Saint Liberata (Santa Librada).

1 Legend
2 Veneration
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Legend

She is said to have been born in Balcagia (today Baiona) to Lucius Castelius Severus, Roman governor of Gallaecia and Lusitania, and Calsia, his wife. Marina was one of nine daughters. Calsia, frightened that her husband would interpret this multiple birth as a sign of infidelity, ordered her servant Sila to drown the girls in the Miñor River.

Disobeying her mistress, Sila, secretly a Christian, left Calsia's daughters in the care of several families. Marina and her sisters were baptized by the bishop Saint Ovidius (Ovid, Ovidio) and brought up in the Christian faith. When they were twenty, they were accused of being Christians and brought before their father the governor. He recognized them as his own daughters, and asked them to renounce their faith, promising them luxuries.

The sisters refused and were imprisoned. They managed to escape and were ultimately martyred for their faith. A spring of water gushed out of the spot where they were beheaded; the spot was called Aguas Santas ("Holy Waters").

[edit] Veneration

Marina's legend is similar to that told of another Spanish saint, the virgin martyr Quiteria. Her legend was sometimes also confused with that of Margaret of Antioch, who was sometimes also called Marina. Due to a confusion with the popular figure of Wilgefortis, Liberata is sometimes represented as martyred on a cross.

The Roman Martyrology describes her as: Gallaeciae in Hispania sanctue Marinae virginis et martyris.^[1]

The spread of her cult is attested by the fact that many churches were dedicated to her not only in Galicia and Astorga, but also at Córdoba and Seville.^[1] The friar and historian Juan Muñoz de la Cueva was an ardent protector of the cult of Marina of Aguas Santas.^[2]

Popular devotion traditionally places the date of death for Marina and Liberata (one of her sisters) on January 18, 139. Liberata's feast day is celebrated on July 20, which is the date for the translation of her relics from the city of Sigüenza to Baiona in 1515. Liberata (in Spanish Librada) is the patron saint of Sigüenza, after bishop Bernard of Toledo brought her relic from his native Aquitaine. There is a chapel dedicated to her in the city's cathedral.