COMMEMORATION DAY OF
St. Sophia and Her Three Daughters:
Faith, Hope, and Love
Saint Sophia was the mother, and the other three were her daughters. Their names are deeply Christian and rich in meaning:
Sophia means Wisdom.
Pistis means Faith.
Elpis means Hope.
Agape means Love.
Sophia was of noble birth, an Italian by nationality, and lived in the city of Rome. After becoming a widow, she chose not to remarry but instead devoted herself to God and to raising her three daughters in the Christian faith.
A pagan young man sought the hand of one of the daughters in marriage, but Sophia refused his proposal, saying:
"We are Christians, and we consider virginity more precious than gold or pearls."
The young man complained to Emperor Hadrian (AD 117–138). The emperor summoned the young girls and urged them to offer sacrifices to the pagan idols. They remained steadfast in their Christian faith. Enraged by their refusal, Hadrian ordered that the three young virgins be beheaded one by one.
Their mother lovingly gathered their bodies, gave them an honorable burial, and built a tomb over their graves. She then prayed to God to receive her own soul so that she might soon be reunited with her beloved children. Her prayer was granted, and she peacefully surrendered her soul to God.
The Armenian Apostolic Church commemorates Saint Sophia and her daughters—Faith, Hope, and Love—on the third Tuesday after the Feast of the Transfiguration (Vardavar).
SCRIPTURE READINGS
~ Proverbs 11:30-12:4 ~
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, but violence takes lives away. If the righteous are repaid on earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner! Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but those who hate to be rebuked are stupid. The good obtain favor from the Lord, but those who devise evil he condemns. No one finds security by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved. A good wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.
~ Hosea 14:6-9 ~
His shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like that of Lebanon. They shall again live beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom like the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon. O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; your faithfulness comes from me. Those who are wise understand these things; those who are discerning know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.
~ 2 Corinthians 4:6-14 ~
For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—"I believed, and so I spoke"—we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence.
~ Holy Gospel of St. Luke 12:2-10 ~
Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops. "I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. "And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.