According to tradition, the story of Agia Marina (aka The Great Martyr and Vanquisher of Demons) is particularly misogynist and bloody and goes as follows...
Around the year 285 AD, during the reign of Emperor Diocletian, Marina, a beautiful young Christian woman, rejected the advances of Olymbrios, the Imperial Governor of Antioch. Furious at being spurned, Olymbrios ordered Marina to be tortured and attacked with hooks, knives and saws. Grossly disfigured, Marina was thrown in a cell to die. After Marina was restored to health by Archangel Michael, Olymbrios sought the Devil's help, and a demon appeared in Marina's cell to tempt her. Marina grabbed the demon by the hair and beat him with a hammer (this image is common on icons of Agia Marina).
Olymbrios then ordered Marina to be burned at the stake, though the flames would not harm her. After this, she was tied up and put in a pot of water to be boiled alive, whereupon the water baptised her and an earthquake overturned the pot and the ropes binding her fell away. Finally, Olymbrios succeeded in ridding himself of the woman who had rejected him by having her beheaded. Ever since, Agia Marina has been considered a role model for young women in the Orthodox Church...
The feast day of Agia Marina is on July 17th and the church may have visitors that day, so please beware of muggles and be discrete when locating this cache.
W (a.k.a. DidianRay)
