Christian martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia lived in Rome at the beginning of the II century. Orthodox people in churches serve prayers and liturgies in memory of these saints on September 30. The day of the angel (or name day) of the owners of these names should always be celebrated especially and with dignity. On this day, it is best to serve in the temple, partake of the Holy Mysteries and read spiritual literature. Such a date literally obliges oneself to be pious and chaste. Congratulations on the day of the angel on September 30 should also carry a spiritual meaning, since this holiday is not another fun feast. And all because the life story of these holy martyrs is unusually amazing in a literal sense.
Christian martyrs
So, we have revealed that September 30 is the day of the angel of the very young virgins Vera, Nadezhda, Lyubov and their mother Sophia. But in order to understand what these great martyrs deserved holiness , we will plunge into that cruel time for the first Christians. A hundred years have passed since the apostles dispersed throughout the earth to preach the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Studying in detail the topic “September 30 is the day of the angel of Christian martyrs”, it should be noted that in those days the most powerful state was Ancient Rome, and its population worshiped pagan gods. But then suddenly Christians began to appear, and every year they became more and more. The pagans terribly hated them and cursed. Christians were forbidden to build temples and conduct services. And then they began to retire in mountain caves or in some remote dwellings.
One of the Roman rulers, Emperor Trajan, passed a law that allowed to bring Christians to justice and even execute. Thousands of followers of the teachings of Christ were tortured, tortured by wild animals, beheaded or crucified on crosses. And one of the days when one of these executions took place in the name of religion was September 30th.
Angel Day: Faith, Hope, Love
In a difficult time for Christians, a pious woman, whose name was Sofia, lived. Her name is translated from Greek as "wisdom." She grew up in a wealthy family and could fall into any temptations and temptations, but she chose the true path for herself and always zealously preached the Christian faith. Even when Sophia married a pagan, she did not betray her faith and did not become a pagan, and a loving husband did not oppose this. She bore him three girls, who were named after the most revered Christian virtues: Pistis (Faith), Elpis (Hope) and Agape (Love). She began to educate them in full love for the Lord and taught them not to become attached to earthly goods. Young ladies grew up in complete obedience and work, they prayed a lot and read spiritual books.
Rome
When Sofia gave birth to a third girl, her husband died. Possessing considerable means, Sofia began to help the poor, and then she moved to Rome with her children. She devoted all her care and attention to children. The girls were still very young, but they knew the Bible well, prayed and helped their mother around the house.
Their godly mother obeyed everything. And since they were unusually beautiful by nature and prudent in education, many paid attention to children.
The rumor about the unusually wise and beautiful girls crawled around the neighborhood and reached Praetor Antiochus, who immediately ordered them to be brought to him. They appeared before his eyes and openly preached their faith in Christ. Then the angry Antiochus decided to send them to the emperor Andrian (117-138), who wanted to look at them and force them to renounce their faith.
Test
Sophia knew what awaited them for disobeying the emperor, and was very worried about her children, because the eldest Vera was only 12 years old, Nadezhda - 10, and the youngest Lyubov - 9. She already foresaw the martyrdom of her children and was very worried if they would stand in his confession. The holy virgins began to pray earnestly and earnestly to God that he would send them strength and patience in the face of torment and death itself.
The whole environment of the emperor was amazed at the calmness of the girls, as if they had come to a celebration party, and not to court.
In turn, the emperor questioned the sisters and wished them to make a sacrifice to Artemis, but the children were adamant. Andrian was surprised by their courage and decided to send them to a noble eloquent pagan, so that she persuaded them to renounce Christ.
Torture
However, everything was in vain: a few days later the holy virgins again appeared with the emperor. He was angry more than ever and ordered the girls to be tortured. They were beaten, torn to pieces, burned on a hot grill and thrown into boiling tar, but the Lord kept their spirit unbroken. The sisters accepted death with dignity. The bodies for burial were given to their mother, in order to thus prolong her mental torment. Sophia buried her children, did not leave their grave for three days, and there she soon betrayed her soul to God.
Angel Day September 30th. Great love and holiness
Believers Christians buried the body of the mother next to her children. An example of this family showed how much people can be strengthened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, that they may not even be afraid of terrible bodily torment.
Knowing all these feats of Christian saints, you begin to truly understand how important is the day of the angel on September 30, not only for those who have a birthday, but for every Orthodox Christian. Hope and faith in salvation must always be present in man.
The holy relics of mother Sofia and her three daughters are today in the Benedictine Abbey in Alsace (district of France).
Name days Agathoclius, Nile, Zinon, Elijah, Pelius, Patermufia
September 30 is the day of an angel not only of Faith, Hope, Love and Sophia. On this day, the name of the holy Christian martyr Agathoclios is revered. She was a slave in the house of the evil mistress of the pagan Pavlina, who constantly tortured her for practicing the Christian faith. She forced her to walk on sharp stones barefoot, and once even broke her ribs with a hammer and cut her tongue out. But Agathocles did not deny Christ. Then the hostess began to starve her, but the pigeons began to bring food to the poor woman. As a result, the mistress brutally killed Agathoclius with an iron crowbar.
The holy martyrs Nile, Pelius, Egyptian bishops Zinon, Elijah, Patermufy and many other Christians (151 people) who were subjected to cruel torture, were beheaded, and some were burned for preaching the Gospel under the ruler Maximian Galeria (305-311) .
There were a huge number of victims for believing in Christ, and September 30 was the day of the symbol of great courage and strength, therefore a prayer is needed at this moment, which will not be left unheard of by these great martyrs.