Sophia the Martyr

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the 4th century martyr, see Sophia of Rome.

Saint Sophia the Martyr
Saint Sophia and her three daughters: Faith, Hope and Love (Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow)
Born	Italy
Died	~137 AD, Rome
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast	September 17
Attributes	A woman accompanied by her three small daughters. Often she or all of them will hold crosses
Saints Portal

Saint Sophia the Martyr (d. 137 AD) is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church on September 17. Born in Italy, Sophia had three daughters: Faith (age 12), Hope (age 10) and Love (age 9), who were named after virtues mentioned by Saint Paul in 1 Corinthians 13.^[1]

They are said to have been martyred during the reign of Hadrian (117-138). The guards took Sophia's daughters one by one, from the eldest to the youngest and beat and tortured them to death. Sophia buried her daughters' bodies and remained by their graves for three days until she died herself.

In the year 777 their relics were interred at El'zasa, in the church of Esho.

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.

[edit] Notes

^ Sophia's name means "wisdom" in Greek. Her daughter's names are rendered in Greek as Pistis, Elpis, and Agape. In Russian, they are called Vera, Nadezhda, and Lyubov.