Why is our parish named after St. Sophia and Her Three Daughters, Faith, Hope and Love?...For Their Love of Christ, Expressed in Their Courage and Martyrdom!
The Holy Martyrs Saint Sophia and her Daughters Faith, Hope and Love were born in Italy in the Second Century, AD.
The mother, St. Sophia, was a pious Christian widow who named her daughters for the three Christian virtues, which are faith, hope and love. Faith was twelve, Hope was ten, and Love was nine. St. Sophia raised them in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. The mother and her daughters did not hide their faith in Christ, but openly confessed it before everyone.
An official named Antiochus denounced them to the emperor Hadrian (117-138), who ordered that they be brought to Rome. Realizing that they would be taken before the emperor, the holy virgins prayed fervently to the Lord Jesus Christ, asking that He give them the strength not to fear torture and death. When the holy virgins and their mother came before the emperor, everyone present was amazed at their courage and composure. They looked as though they had been brought to some happy festival, rather than to torture. Summoning each of the sisters in turn, Hadrian urged them to offer sacrifice to the goddess Artemis. The young girls remained unyielding.
Then the emperor ordered them to be tortured. He also subjected St. Sophia to another grievous torture: the mother was forced to watch the suffering of her daughters. She displayed adamant courage, and urged her daughters to endure their torments for the sake of the their love for Jesus Christ. All three maidens were beheaded, and joyfully bent their necks beneath the sword.
In order to intensify St. Sophia's inner suffering, the emperor permitted her to take the bodies of her daughters. She placed their remains in coffins and loaded them on a wagon. She drove beyond the city limits and reverently buried them on a high hill.
St. Sophia sat there by the graves of her daughters for three days, and finally she gave up her soul to the Lord. Even though she did not suffer for Christ in the flesh, she was not deprived of a martyr's crown. Instead, she suffered in her heart. Believers buried her body there beside her daughters.
Why did these Saints willingly subject to these tortures and why does the Orthodox Christian Community in Bellingham dedicate our parish to them? Because of their love of Jesus Christ and the extreme courage that sprung from this love. We hold their lives to be examples of true Orthodox Christian faith. This is the kind of life that we admire and hope to imitate!
The Holy Martyrs Saint Sophia and her Daughters Faith, Hope and Love were born in Italy in the Second Century, AD.
The mother, St. Sophia, was a pious Christian widow who named her daughters for the three Christian virtues, which are faith, hope and love. Faith was twelve, Hope was ten, and Love was nine. St. Sophia raised them in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. The mother and her daughters did not hide their faith in Christ, but openly confessed it before everyone.
An official named Antiochus denounced them to the emperor Hadrian (117-138), who ordered that they be brought to Rome. Realizing that they would be taken before the emperor, the holy virgins prayed fervently to the Lord Jesus Christ, asking that He give them the strength not to fear torture and death. When the holy virgins and their mother came before the emperor, everyone present was amazed at their courage and composure. They looked as though they had been brought to some happy festival, rather than to torture. Summoning each of the sisters in turn, Hadrian urged them to offer sacrifice to the goddess Artemis. The young girls remained unyielding.
Then the emperor ordered them to be tortured. He also subjected St. Sophia to another grievous torture: the mother was forced to watch the suffering of her daughters. She displayed adamant courage, and urged her daughters to endure their torments for the sake of the their love for Jesus Christ. All three maidens were beheaded, and joyfully bent their necks beneath the sword.
In order to intensify St. Sophia's inner suffering, the emperor permitted her to take the bodies of her daughters. She placed their remains in coffins and loaded them on a wagon. She drove beyond the city limits and reverently buried them on a high hill.
St. Sophia sat there by the graves of her daughters for three days, and finally she gave up her soul to the Lord. Even though she did not suffer for Christ in the flesh, she was not deprived of a martyr's crown. Instead, she suffered in her heart. Believers buried her body there beside her daughters.
Why did these Saints willingly subject to these tortures and why does the Orthodox Christian Community in Bellingham dedicate our parish to them? Because of their love of Jesus Christ and the extreme courage that sprung from this love. We hold their lives to be examples of true Orthodox Christian faith. This is the kind of life that we admire and hope to imitate!
