Saint Sophia

Description

Saint Sophia and her three daughters Faith, Hope and Love were martyred during the years of Emperor Hadrian (117 – 138 AD). The three daughters of Agia Sophia took their names from the passage of the New Testament: “faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”Saint Sophia, an honest and God-fearing woman, quickly became a widow and came to Rome with her three daughters. There they were denounced as famous Christians.Then the emperor was informed that the four women were Christians and ordered their arrest.After isolating the mother, they began interrogating the daughters. Twelve-year-old was first presented to the king. With tempting reasons, Andrianus tried to convince Pistis to deny Christ and would grant her everything, to live a happy life, but he faced the young woman’s inflexible attitude.The words of the Holy Bible were a dynamic response of Faith: “by faith I live in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” i.e. “I live inspired by my faith in Christ, who loved me and gave himself for my salvation”.Then, after torture, they beheaded her.The ten-year-old Elpida also answered with the words of the Holy Bible, when she was asked if she deserved to be subjected to such torture: “We hope in the living God, who is the savior of all people, even believers.” That is, “yes, because we have placed our hopes in the living God, who is the savior of all men, and especially of believers.” Immediately then she too was beheaded.But the nine-year-old Agapi did not fail to respond. He said that her existence is directed “toward the love of God and the patience of Christ.Of course, it didn’t take long for them to decapitate her as well.Proud of her children, Sophia buried her daughters with honor and remained for three days at their graves, begging God to take her to him. God heard her prayer and Sophia gave up her spirit next to her children’s graves.The Church honors their memory on September 17.