MARINO di COSTANTINOPOLI. — An Arian bishop of Thrace, he was summoned to Constantinople in 386, upon the death of Demophilus. Shortly thereafter, however, Dorotheus of Antioch was preferred to him, and M. separated from the Arian community, organizing a sect with its own churches for liturgical services, which was called that of the Marinians or Psathirians (pastry-makers), after the trade of a certain Theotistus, one of M.’s most ardent followers.
The division became more acute when the question arose whether the title of Father should be given to God even before he had begotten the Word: whereas Dorotheus denied this, M., in order to contradict him, affirmed II. Subsequently, the sect divided again because of personal disputes with Agapius, whom M. himself had promoted to the see of Ephesus. Many, disgusted by these petty internal struggles, then returned to the Nicene faith. M.’s schism lasted approximately 25 years; in 420 an agreement was reached stipulating that the question should no longer be discussed, but union could be achieved only in Constantinople, since elsewhere the separation continued.
(from I. Lirici del Seicento e dell’Arcadio, edited by C. Cascatino, Milano-Roma 1886, pp. 55–59) MARINO, GIAMBATTISTA — Portrait. Drawing by O. Leoni (1624).