Today, September 30, the Church remembers the martyrs Vera, Nadezhda, Love and their mother Sophiatranslated

The memory of the holy martyrs - Sophia and her three daughters - Vera, Nadezhda and Lyubov (+ c. 137) - is celebrated on September 30 by the Orthodox Church.

Saint Sophia was a Christian widow. She raised her daughters, named after three virtues, in piety and love for Christ.

The governor Antiochus reported to the Roman Emperor Hadrian (117-138) that Sophia and her daughters were openly talking about Christ. In response, Adrian ordered them to be brought to Rome.

Realizing that they were being called to trial, Sophia and her daughters began to pray to God that He would give them the strength not to be afraid of the upcoming torment and execution.

When they arrived in Rome, they were at first surprised, because... were met in a calm atmosphere, without any hint of a trial.

Adrian called Sophia's daughters to him one by one, personally convincing each of them to renounce their faith in Christ: Vera at that time was 12 years old, Nadezhda - 10 and Lyubov - 9 years old.

Finally, after the girls refused to sacrifice to the pagan goddess Artemis, Hadrian ordered them to be brutally tortured.

The holy maidens were burned on an iron grate, thrown into a red-hot furnace and into a cauldron with boiling resin, but the Lord protected them. The youngest, Lyubov, was tied to a wheel and beaten with sticks until her body turned into solid...