Saint Sophia and Her Three Martyred daughters – Pistis (Faith) – Elpis (Hope) and Agapi (Love)

 

 

The Holy Martyrs Saint Sophia and her three daughters, Pistis (Faith), Elpis (Hope) and Agapi (Love), were born in Italy in the Second Century, AD, in the time of Emperor Hadrian.

(Agapi, love, was translated, correctly, into Latin as “caritas” and then, wrongly, into English as “charity”)

St. Sophia, whose name means wisdom, was widowed soon after the birth of her three daughters whom she had named for the three Christian virtues; Faith, Hope and Love.

 Faith was twelve years old, Hope was ten and Love was nine.

 

 

Sophia and her daughters did not hide their Christian faith but openly confessed it before everyone.

It wasn’t long before word of Sophia’s faith reached the pagan Roman Emperor, Hadrian, who at once ordered that she and her daughters be brought before him in Rome.

Upon learning that they were to be presented before the emperor and knowing what this meant, the devout Christian mother and her young daughters, prayed to Jesus Christ, begging for him to give them the strength not to fear torture and death.

 

The Interrogation

 

 

First of all, Hadrian separated Sophia from her three daughters and proceeded, at first with promises of forgiveness and then, when that had no effect, with threats of torture, to try and persuade her to renounce Christianity.

Sophia refused.

Defeated by Sophia, Hadrian then called her three daughters to be brought before him.

Again, first with promises and then threats, Hadrian implored the young girls to forsake their faith and instead, offer sacrifices to the goddess Artemis.

The tyrant Emperor was once again beaten; he realized that regardless of their young age, the girls were unshakeable in their allegiance to Christ.

Undeterred, Hadrian decided he would probably have more luck if he cross-examined the girls individually.

As an extra punishment for Sophia, the evil man also forced her to watch the suffering of her daughters.

 

The Questioning of Faith (Pistis)

 

 

 First to be questioned by Hadrian was twelve year old Faith, who categorically refused to surrender to Hadrian.

Faith’s convictions angered him so much he that ordered his men to subject the poor girl to the most unbelievably horrendous tortures.

Faith was stripped, had her hands tied behind her back and was then whipped brutally with rods.

They then sliced off her breasts, which, rather than flowing with blood, flowed with milk, astonishing her assailants who witnessed the miracle.

 As if all this wasn’t enough, Faith was laid her on a red-hot grill; however, she showed no signs of suffering, remaining unburned, much to the disgust of the tyrant Hadrian, who called for his henchmen to cover her with pitch and asphalt and return her to the grill.

All to no avail, Faith remained unharmed, raised her arms to the heavens and thanked God.

In a frenzy, Hadrian demanded they chop off her head.

Sophia accompanied her daughter Faith to her fate, all the while, encouraging her to accept her death with joy, as she was sacrificing herself for Christ.

 

The Questioning of Hope (Elpis)

 

Now it was the turn of ten year old Hope, who was also unshakeable in her faith in Christ and absolutely refused to bend to the flattery and temptations of Hadrian, who then ordered her to be lashed with cowhides and then be flung into a red-hot furnace.

 As with her sister before her, the power of God prevailed and with the invisible presence of Christ, Hope, remained unharmed.

Not willing to give up after being shamed by a ten year old girl, Hadrian had her strung up on a piece of wood, her whole body raked with iron nails before her bloodied body was tossed into a boiling cauldron full of pitch and resin.

Hope didn’t suffer at all, however, some of the boiling liquid splashed over her torturers.

 This unexpected turn only added fuel to the fires of rage burning inside the monster Hadrian, who immediately had Hope beheaded.

 

The Questioning of Love (Agapi)

 

Finally, Love, only nine years old, was brought before Hadrian.

With incredible bravery, she declared that Christ is the only true God and mercilessly mocked their pagan religion and idols.

Astonished by her indolence, Hadrian ordered the executioners to hang her up and beat her.

Love was so severely lashed that her limbs were ripped to pieces and her joints dislocated.

By the grace of God, her body was instantly mended, leaving Hadrian speechless.

Overcome with rage, he ordered her to be burnt at the stake.

By divine intervention, Love, was untouched by the flames, unlike Hadrian and his pagan followers who happened to be present, who were burned by the flames which had suddenly raged out of control.

Once again, the wicked tyrant flew into a rage and demanded Love’s body be pierced by an iron rod, of course, he knew by now, she would be left unscathed and so, he had his men at the ready to slice off her head, which is exactly what happened.

 

The Burial

 

 

Hadrian allowed Sophia to bury the remains of her three martyred daughters, Pistis (Faith), Elpis (Hope) and Agapi, after which, she remained at their graveside for three days, begging God to take her soul.

God heard her prayer and Sophia left this Earth to be reunited with her daughters in Heaven.

Believers buried her relics next to the graves of her three daughters, as an eternal testimony of the unified love of all four of them for Christ in the heavens.

Sophia may not have suffered in the flesh but she most surely suffered in her heart and God did not deprive her of a martyr’s crown.

 

The Relics of Saints Sophia, Faith, Hope and Love

 

 

Originally the relics of Saint Sophia and her three daughters were placed in a crypt in the Porta Latina (Latin – Latin Gate), a single-arched gate in the Aurelian Walls of ancient Rome, in the Cemetery of Gordianus and Epimachus, on the Via Latina (The Latin Way).

Pope Sergius II, later had the relics moved, in around 845, to the church of San Martino ai Monti, officially known as Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti (Saints Sylvester & Martin in the Mountains”), in Rome.

Since the year 777, some of the relics of Saint Sophia and her daughters, were taken by St. Remigius of Strasbourg, to the Abbey of Saint Trophime at Eschau, Alsace, France.

 

 

In the Greek Orthodox Church, their Feast Day is celebrated on the 17^th of September.