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I was reading one of His Holiness' books and H.H. gave an example using St. Marina and how she spent some time in repentance for a sin she did not commit - fathering a child. How does one repent for a sin that was not committed?

To answer your question, you need to know the background of St Marina:

St Marina the Virgin is not to be confused with St Marina the martyr who was killed in Antioch during the reign of Diocletion. While St Marina was an infant, her mother died and her father retired to a monastery and became a monk. After a short while he longed for his daughter. The father represented the child to the Abbott of the monastery as a boy, "Marinus" and obtained permission to bring "him" to live in the monastery. She  passed as a boy and lived with her father. Her father advised her to never disclose her sex type  and to live a devout life.

St Marina's father died when she was 17. She continued to live as a monk. Because of her poor health,, she was often required to do the least wanted chores of the monastery. She frequently pushed a cart down to the harbor to bring  goods for the monastery, which required spending the night at the local inn by the dock. One day the innkeeper’s daughter became pregnant and she accused  Marinus of being the father of her unborn child.

St Marina was immediately dismissed from the monastery and lived as a beggar by its gates bearing all the shame of false accusation. When the innkeeper's daughter gave birth to  the son, she took the child to St Marina to look after him.

St. Marina did so with patience and humility. The Abbott was so impressed by her example that Marinus was readmitted to the monastery along with her son. But the Abbott imposed upon "him" severe penance and the lowest of services of which Marinus used to ask for "double."

When Marinus died, the brethren came to prepare the body and discovered the sex. The Abbott was overcome with great remorse and yet with admiration for the heriosm of the woman. Marina was buried with respect and lamentation. The accuser confessed and asked for her intercession.

The morale of the story is that St Marina believed in overcoming evil through prayers, fasting and humility.

In her time of trouble, she remembered that our Lord and Savior Himself suffered and died on the Cross in order to save us, sinners. She did not deny that this was not a deed of her doing. Yet I do not believe that she confessed to her confessor that she actually did the deed, as this would have been a lie.

St Marina is loved by everyone today and is also known as the "beardless brother."

May the intercessions of this beloved saint be with us all.