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St. martyrs Faith, Nadezhda and Lyubov and their mother Sophia A truly miraculous manifestation of Christian moral strength is the suffering of the holy martyrs Sophia and her young daughters Faith, Nadezhda and Lyubov, remembered by the Church today. On the one hand, one is struck by the spiritual maturity of the children, who at such an early age - (the eldest of them was 12 years old, and the youngest - 9) - were already so imbued with Christian feeling, so firm in the power with which it acts in natural human weakness, that they did not hesitate in the face of the most terrible tortures, capable of frightening even strong, mature people, of which there were examples at different times in the person of the unfortunate, not sufficiently inspired by their convictions... On the other hand, the firmness of the mother, who did not retreat from the torture of her children even until their death, is no less striking, when you imagine the depth of what is incomparable with any human feelings - the feeling of maternal love for children. Who can measure all the heartache of a mother, naturally filled with pity for her children, at the sight of the suffering and death of all her children... It is immeasurable. Meanwhile, she too yields to the boundless depth of the feeling of love for Christ, when the heart knew Him and surrendered to Him, and was filled with His sweet and sovereign presence, which has since governed all its movements, instilling in it all good understanding and strengthening this heart with irresistible firmness. In this true love for God - Christ - the Holy Spirit there is an explanation of the wonderful beauty, and height, and spiritual strength shown by weak beings, in whose weakness the power of God could be perfected, because they loved Him. In what way, when applied to everyday conditions, did this power grow, crushing all earthly trials? Sophia was not only a Christian in name, but in deeds, therefore, she was filled with piety, expressed in good deeds, an example of which she raised her children. What they saw, they were filled with; what kind of food their souls fed on, from that they were formed, and, growing up with their mother - a true Christian, and they themselves became true Christians from a very young age. And when their mother, a widow who lived in Rome, was demanded to go to trial with them during the persecution of Christians around the year 137, they found themselves, despite their young years, already ripe for the highest spiritual achievement; they already had love for God, which could not allow them to renounce Him; they had faith that earthly suffering is nothing in comparison with the eternal happiness that awaits those who suffer for the sake of their love for God; they had hope that God would help them in this terrible trial with His power. Their mother, who did not waste precious time idly, who did not miss a single minute to instill in her children the saving truths, managed to early nurture in them a precious vessel, ready to receive the glorious crown of martyrdom. - "God! Do not leave us, but help us Yourself not to be afraid of torment, not to be afraid of death! Help us, our Savior, not to retreat from You!” - these future ascetics, called to judgment by the persecutors of Christ, cried out in prayer. And, having prayed, they calmly went, surrendering themselves to the will of Him, Who did not command us to be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul... At the trial, when asked about the origin and faith of Sophia, she fearlessly answered that she was a servant of Christ, whose inscrutable name should be worshiped by all those created by Him on earth... “And my children,” she continued, “I betrothed to God Christ, so that they would preserve their incorruptible purity - for the incorruptible Bridegroom, the Son of God”... Taken with her children to a pagan woman named Palladium, who was entrusted with convincing her not to sacrifice her children and their happiness for the sake of faith in the crucified Christ, Sophia spent the three days given to her before the new trial in prayer and exhorting her children to be ready for martyrdom. -My dear children! - she said to her daughters, - now the time has come for our heroism for the sake of Jesus Christ. Do not be afraid to suffer for Him and lose your temporary life for the sake of eternal life in His Kingdom! Do not be afraid if they torture your bodies: God will heal your wounds and give you imperishable beauty... Do not be deceived if you are promised rich gifts and all sorts of earthly honors. All this disappears like smoke, like dust is scattered by the wind and withers like grass. Only God's gifts are eternal. Do not be afraid of any evil: God will not leave you, He Himself promised those who believe in Him that a mother would sooner forget a child than He would forget His people. Oh, children, remember that I gave birth to you in suffering, raised you in labor, remember how I taught you the love and fear of God, and comfort my old age with a firm confession of Christ. Give me the joy of being called the mother of the martyrs of Christ! Then my soul will be magnified when I see my children dying for the sake of our Lord! The souls of Christian girls were deeply penetrated by this exhortation of their mother; as if it had imprinted the upbringing he had given her, and the seeds that had been sown by their mother in their hearts since childhood suddenly blossomed into wondrously beautiful fruit. When they were again called to court, they fearlessly confessed their faith in Christ, did not renounce this faith for the sake of all kinds of earthly joys promised to them, did not retreat from terrible torment, and one after the other - the eldest - Faith, the second - Nadezhda, the youngest - Love, 237, convincing each other and encouraged by their mother, they endured both arson on a red-hot iron grate and burning in a boiling water. tar, and planing with a sharp iron, and nailing to a wheel, and beating with sticks, so that the wounded body fell into pieces... And, for the sake of the manifestation of the glory of the Lord, remaining unharmed among all these torments, they were finally beheaded with a sword. What pain all these fierce torments with which her children were tormented in her eyes must have resonated in Sophia’s heart. There are no words in human language to express that pain. There are no words to express that unearthly consolation that could overcome such pain... And so, Sophia suffered the torment and death of her children. She was not subjected to any other test, perhaps out of a cruel calculation that, having left her life, they also left her hopeless grief over the loss of her children... After all, the pagans could not understand her Christian consolation... But the Lord Himself soon completely consoled Sophia, who suffered for Him, if not in the flesh, then in the heart. Having buried her children in one grave, she remained in it relentlessly in prayer, and on the third day she calmed down with eternal sleep, uniting her with her children in the Kingdom of God with the love with which she herself loved and taught her children to love Him... Relics of St. The martyred women were released in 777 by Pope Adrian to Bishop Remigius of Strasbourg in Alsace, where their stone coffin is shown in the Eschau Church. In the glorification of the holy martyrs, the Church keeps up: “The honorable most sacred branches of Sophia - Faith, Hope and Love - appeared, the wisdom was filled with Hellenic grace, and the victim - the victorious woman appeared, tied with an incorruptible crown from all the Lord Christ” (Troparion). The slave of a certain Nicholas and his wife Pavlina, who left Christianity, were forced by them to follow their example. For eight years her masters tormented her and subjected her to various tortures; Finally they cut out her tongue and the mistress killed her with a red-hot iron crowbar. She named these names in St. Sophia baptized her children, probably so that these names would awaken in them eternal remembrance of the three main Christian virtues.