Who said Women Can't be Monks?

GoingByzantine said:

That is a good question, some sources like the Maronite Catholic Institute suggest she wanted to stay with her father. However there also seems to be this theme that she wanted more than her prescribed station in life...if I was a woman in that era, I wouldn't blame her.

I wonder if female monasticism was not common in the levant at that time.

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GoingByzantine said:

It's not really imposing. The fact is, this Saint chose to dress and live as a man. That is indicative of someone who was deviating from cultural norms.

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GoingByzantine said:

This is the story of Mariam (Marina), the woman who became a monk.​

In the 7th Century, a young Catholic woman named Mariam was born to a wealthy family in Lebanon. She would later be known as Marina. Her mother died when she was just a little girl, and her father took up raising her on his own. Eventually when she became a teenager her father planned to marry her off, and then retire to a monastery where he would live out his remaining years as a monk.

Marina was very upset, she wanted control of her own destiny, she didn't want to be married. Her father had no idea what to do with his rebellious daughter. He asked her, "what shall I do with you? You are a woman."

A determined Marina shaved her head right in front of her father, and then dawned men's clothing. She would rather lead a holy life as a monk, equal with her father, than be forced into a marriage she did not want. After seeing his daughter's determination, Marina's father donated all of her families possessions and decided to live as a monk at the side of his daughter. They went off to a desert cell to begin the monastic life.

(Mariam and her father entering the desert monastery, with Marina disguised as a man.)​

Life as a female Monk​

Mariana instantly fell in love with the monastic life, she devoted her life to Christ. After spending 10 years of her life as a monk with her father, he suddenly passed away. Marina was able to maintain her facade, and the other monks simply thought she was a soft spoken man.

One night, she was staying at an inn with a few of her fellow monks when something life altering happened to her. A soldier, also staying at the inn impregnated the inn keepers daughter and blamed it on Marina. The innkeepers daughter, fearful of getting caught, claimed that Marina had defiled her. Nobody knew that Marina was actually a woman.

The abbot of the mastery was furious at Marina, he lashed out at her over breaking her vow of celibacy. Of course, he also did not realize that she was indeed a woman. He kicked her out of the monastery, and gave her the child to raise. She wandered around the countryside, homeless and destitute. She raised the child as her own, even though it wasn't.

The other monks, feeling bad for their "brother" convinced the abbott to allow Marina back at the monastery. He eventually did allow her to return, though her "sin" caused other to treat her unfavorably.

(Marina kicked out of the monastery, with the child of the lying soldier.)

Saint Marina the Female Monk​

Eventually Marina fell ill and passed away in her sleep. The abbot told the other monks to prepare her body for funeral services. When they removed her clothes they were surprised to find that she was a woman! The abbott of the Monastery prayed to God for forgiveness, for he now knew he tossed an innocent person out into the cold and punished her for a crime she did not commit. The innkeeper likewise wept before her and asked God for forgiveness.

At Marina's funeral, a blind elderly monk touched her, and instantly he was healed of his blindness. It was obvious that the holy spirit was with her, as we know from the Bible, God loves those who struggle but always keep faith.

By popular acclaim she became venerated as a Saint, well known and beloved by the local population as "Saint Marina the Monk".

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GoingByzantine said:

I don't think she ever intended to diminish fatherhood, or the role of men in society. She did seek a monastic lifestyle that she could not get locally as a woman, so she had to become a monk, even if it meant pretending to be a man.

The Church did not condemn her afterwards, in fact she became venerated as a Saint.

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LivingWordUnity said:

She did it because she wanted to be with her father. That's not anything like the modern day feminist movement. In fact, it's the opposite since the modern feminist movement is hostile toward men and fatherhood.

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GoingByzantine said:

In an old Syriac writing it says:

3.When she did not find a convent for women to live chastely within its cloister,
She dressed as a man and joined the monks.
No one of the human race knew about her.
Except her father who accepted her in the monastery where he was*

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