Th Holy Martyrs Sophia and her three daughters Faith, Hope and Charity, at Rome (137)

Sophia was a widow in Rome in the time of the Emperor Hadrian, and raised her three daughters in the Faith. When the four of them were brought before the persecutors, Faith was twelve years old, Hope was ten, and Charity was nine.

Ordered to make sacrifice to the goddess Artemis, all of them humbly refused. All three daughters were tortured, then executed, before their mother's eyes. Sophia buried their bodies and mourned at their grave for three days and nights, then fell asleep in peace. For her steadfastness and solidarity with her daughters' sufferings she is counted as a martyr along with them. Sophia means "wisdom" in Greek; the three daughters' names in Greek are Pistis, Elpis, and Agape; in Russian, Vera, Nadezhda, and Lyubov.



Synaxarion Reading
Now the Church of Christ greatly rejoices
For she has you and your holy children
As her pride and joy, and cries out extolling you,
"My sacred boast are you, O wise Saint, together with
The holy relics of your daughters, which we all revere
Glorious Martyrs, Sophia, Faith, Hope and Love,
To Christ our God pray fervently, entreating him to save our souls.

Troparion of St. Sophia and her 3 daughters (Tone 5)
Thou didst blossom in the courts of the Lord as a fruitful olive tree, O holy Martyr Sophia; in thy contest thou didst offer to Christ the sweet fruit of thy womb, Love, Hope and Faith. With them intercede for us all.