St. Sophia “Holy Wisdom” Mother of Saints Faith, Hope and Love

Feast Day: September 17; also, May 15; August 1; September 30 Born: in Italy Died: 138 A.D. (Anno Domini, means in the year of our Lord)

Patron: Widows Sophia, whose name means Holy Wisdom, lived in Rome during the early part of the 2nd century. Her husband died leaving behind Sophia and their 3 daughters who were named after the 3 theological virtues: Faith, Hope and Love; the fruits of Christian Wisdom. Sophia instructed her children in Scripture. They were well educated, fair, and wise. Others took notice of them including the Emperor Hadrian who ruthlessly persecuted Christians. Sophia and her 3 daughters were summoned before the emperor. Knowing the reason that they had been called, they held hands and went forth praying, “O Almighty God, do with us according to Thy holy Will…” They were very brave, remembering the commandment in Mt 10:28, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Witnesses said that Sophia and her daughters showed no fear. Instead they were radiant with joy, willing to suffer torment for the Lord. The emperor questioned Sophia and saw that she was firmly rooted in the Christian faith. He did not dare try to persuade her to worship false gods. Instead, he tried to make her suffer by taking her daughters away enticing them with lavish gifts to come live with him as his own daughters and he would be their father. He promised them a high and honorable place in his kingdom so that everyone would praise them. But Faith, Hope and Love responded that they did not wish for him to be their father, that they already had God as Father and wished to be loved only by Him. Faith, age 12, was the first to be ordered to worship a false god. She was beaten mercilessly; parts of her body were cut off yet instead of blood, milk flowed from her wounds. Then she was placed on a red-hot grid. Miraculously, Faith was not burned. She was placed in a cauldron of boiling oil. She remained unharmed, singing to the Lord. Finally, the soldiers took a sword to her neck. Hope, 10 years old, was next. Emperor Hadrian tried to persuade her to leave the Christian faith. Hope interrupted him, saying that it is no use for him to try to entice her. She said she is prepared to die as her sister did. The soldiers beat Hope until they grew tired. Yet, Hope did not show signs of being in pain. She was thrown in fire but miraculously was not burned. She was scraped with iron claws and her flesh ripped. A beautiful fragrance emanated as she bled. She told Hadrian that she is unharmed because she has the help of the one True God in Jesus Christ who is waiting for her in Paradise; but the demons that he worships are waiting for him in Gehenna. Hadrian was enraged and Hope was beheaded. Love, age 9, was next to be called by the emperor. When he failed to entice Love to renounce the True Faith, Hadrian was filled with hate and rage at losing this battle to little girls. His torments toward Love were particularly long and horrible. He had her body stretched on a wheel until her limbs ripped. She was beaten bloody with iron rods. When placed before a fiery furnace, the emperor tried again to get Love to renounce Christ. She did not wait another moment and walked into the furnace herself. Witnesses saw other radiant figures in the furnace with Love and they were singing and rejoicing. Love remained in the furnace until the fire burned itself out. She was unharmed. The emperor made another attempt to cajole Love to leave Christ. He had soldiers drill holes into her body. At last she was beheaded. St. Sophia took the bodies of her 3 daughters and reverently buried them on a high hill. For 3 days she knelt by the side of their grave, praying fervently to God. On the third day, she died at their graveside. She is considered a martyr though it was not her body but her heart that suffered torment until death for the sake of Christ.