MARINUS, SS.

Marinus is the name of several saints mentioned in the martyrologies.

Marinus of San Marino, patron of the Republic of San Marino, Italy; b. on an island near Dalmatia; d. San Marino, fourth century. According to a 10th-century legend, Marinus and Leo (Feast Day: Aug. 1) were Dalmatian Christians who were condemned to work on the walls of Rimini during the diocletian persecution (c. 304), and used the opportunity to preach the Gospel successfully in that city. Later they became hermits—Marinus on Mt. Titano, and Leo at Montefeltro—and were raised to orders by St. Gaudentius of Rimini in 359.

Feast: Sept. 4 (Roman martyrology); Sept. 3 (San Marino).

Marinus of Anazarbus, in Asia Minor; d. c. 305. He is said to have been decapitated in the Diocletian persecution.

Feast: Aug. 8.

Marinus of Caesarea, in Palestine; d. c. 262. Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. 7.15) mentions him as an officer in the Roman legion stationed at Caesarea who suffered martyrdom in the valerian persecutions. He does not seem to be identified with the St. Marinus cited by the martyrology of jerome for March 3.

Marinus of Rome; d. 283. The story of St. Marinus, connected with the son of a Roman senator and put to death in the Numerian persecution, is sheer legend.

Feast: Dec. 26 (Roman martyrology).

Bibliography: a. garosci, "La formazione del mito di San Marino," Rivista Storica Italiana 71 (1959) 21–47. r. knopf and g. krÜger, Ausgewählt Märtyrerakten (3d ed. Tübingen 1929). j. l. baudot and l. chaussin, Vies des saints et des bienheureux selon l'ordre du calendrier avec l'historique des fêtes (Paris 1935–56). 12:683–684. r. burigana, La leggenda "Sancti Marini": una storia religiosa tra Rimini e il monte Titano (San Marino 1992), legends.

[j. van paassen]