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Martyr · 2nd century

Martyrs Sophia Faith, Hope & Love

Commemorated as

The Holy Martyrs Sophia and her three daughters Faith, Hope, and Love, at Rome

2nd century (martyred c. 137, under Emperor Hadrian)

Also known as Pistis, Elpis, Agape · Vera, Nadezhda, Lyubov (Slavonic)

A widow named Wisdom (Sophia) and her three young daughters — Faith, Hope, and Love — martyred at Rome under Hadrian; Sophia died days later at their grave

Life

Sophia, whose name means 'Wisdom,' was a Christian widow of the 2nd century, and her three daughters bore the names of the theological virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love (in Slavonic, Vera, Nadezhda, and Lyubov). According to the Passio, Sophia came originally from Milan and relocated to Rome with her daughters after distributing her possessions.

The three maidens — Faith (age 12), Hope (age 10), and Love (age 9) — were arrested and martyred at Rome during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117–138), after an official named Antiochus denounced them. Sophia herself was not put to the sword but was compelled to witness her daughters' sufferings, and died days later at their grave.

The family is venerated together in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Armenian Apostolic Church. Modern critical scholarship regards the hagiographical tradition as legendary, likely inspired by Latin inscriptions naming the theological virtues, with veneration arising around the 6th century.

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Timeline

  1. 2nd century Life at Rome Sophia, a Christian widow said to be originally from Milan, relocates to Rome with her three daughters Faith, Hope, and Love after distributing her possessions.
  2. c. 137 (reign of Hadrian) Martyrdom of the daughters Denounced by an official named Antiochus, the three maidens are tortured and beheaded at Rome under Emperor Hadrian; Sophia is made to watch.
  3. Three days later Repose of Sophia Having buried her daughters along the Via Appia, Sophia dies at their grave and is counted among the martyrs.
  4. Late 6th century First recorded veneration The family is mentioned in an inventory of holy chrisms collected on behalf of Theodelinda, queen of the Lombards.
  5. 777/778 Translation of relics to Alsace Relics are transferred to the women's convent at Eschau in Alsace, where they have since been preserved; the cult subsequently spreads into Germany.

Contributions & Legacy

Martyrdom

According to the Passio, the three daughters endured multiple forms of torture: they were burned over an iron grating, thrown into a red-hot oven, and cast into a cauldron filled with boiling tar. Love, the youngest, was additionally tied to a wheel and beaten with rods until her body was covered with bloody welts.

All three were finally beheaded, and the account relates that they bent their necks beneath the sword. Sophia was spared physical torture; instead she was forced to witness her daughters' suffering, her spiritual agony serving as her own form of martyrdom.

Sophia buried her daughters along the Via Appia. The tradition relates that she sat by their graves for three days and then gave up her soul to the Lord, and so she is reckoned to have received a martyr's crown though she shed no blood.

Veneration and Legacy

The daughters' tomb, in a crypt beneath a church afterward erected to Saint Pancratius, was long a place of pilgrimage. Veneration is first recorded in the late 6th century, when the family is mentioned in an inventory of holy chrisms collected on behalf of Theodelinda, queen of the Lombards.

Sophia came to be honored as a patroness of widows.

Critical scholarship is generally agreed that the hagiographical tradition is spurious — probably inspired by Latin inscriptions referencing the theological virtues — and that veneration most likely arose in the 6th century.

Relics & Shrines

Relics of the martyrs were transferred to a women's convent at Eschau (Elsass) in Alsace in the year 777/778, and have been preserved there in the church of Eschau since that time. From Alsace the cult spread into Germany.

Feast Days

The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates the martyrs on September 17; on the Old (Julian) Calendar the feast falls on September 30. The name days of Sophia, Hope (Elpida / Nadezhda), and Love (Agape / Lyubov) are observed on this date.

In the Western tradition, an earlier Roman Martyrology kept the feast on August 1; this feast was not incorporated into the General Roman Calendar, and the martyrs were subsequently removed from the Roman Martyrology. The Armenian Apostolic Church commemorates them on the Thursday after the third Sunday of the Transfiguration.

Related Saints

Notes

The daughters bear the names of the three theological virtues; in Slavonic, Vera, Nadezhda, and Lyubov

Sources: Synaxarion