Feast Day of Agia Sophia and her daughters Pisti, Elpida and Agapi

Feast Day of Agia Sophia and her daughters Pisti, Elpida and Agapi

On September 17, the Greek Orthodox Church celebrates the Feast Day of Agia Sophia and her three daughters Pisti (Faith), Elpida (Hope) and Agapi (Love).

These Saints were from Italy and contested for the Faith about the year 126, during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. Faith was twelve years old, Hope, ten, and Love, nine; each was tormented and then beheaded, from the eldest to the youngest. Their mother Sophia mourned at their grave for three days, where she also fell asleep in peace; because of her courageous endurance in the face of her daughters’ sufferings, she is also counted a martyr. The name Sophia means “wisdom” in Greek; her daughters’ names, Faith, Hope, and Love (Charity), are Pistis, Elpis, and Agape in Greek, and Vera, Nadezhda, and Lyubov in Russian.

Saint Sophia, also known as Sophia the Martyr, lived in the early days of the Christian Church. It is unknown exactly when she was born, but we do know that she lived in the region we now know as Italy. She is mostly associated with her three daughters and her widowhood.

Her daughters are an especially important part of her story. She was a strong Christian, and when her children were born, she named them after the three virtues that are mentioned in the Bible – Faith, Hope, and Love. They were all alive during a time when Emperor Hadrian regularly tortured Christians in order to prevent the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Despite this, her whole family was Christians.

Saint Sophia and her daughters didn’t hide their religion even though they knew that Christians were being regularly persecuted. Antiochus, a Roman official, told Emperor Hadrian that Sophia and her daughters were Christians. Hadrian ordered that they are brought to Rome in order to persuade them to denounce their Christianity.

Knowing that they were to be brought to the emperor, they prayed to Jesus Christ for strength. When the time came for them to appear to Hadrian, those witnessing it would later remark on how composed they looked. Hadrian told them to renounce their religion during the meeting, but all four of them remained true to their beliefs.

He tried to get each of the girls to make a sacrifice to Artemis, one of their pagan goddesses. The girls each refused. As a result of this, all three of the girls were tortured in gruesome ways. Hadrian’s hope is that this would then persuade Sophia to turn her back on Christ. She didn’t. She took her daughters’ bodies, buried them, and stayed by their graves until she perished. All four of them are considered to be martyrs.

Happy Name Day to everyone celebrating today! Wishing you all love, happiness, and above all, good health!
Euphimios, Eupheme, Efimios, Effie, Effy, Efy, Euphimoula, Efimoula, Foula, Lountmilla, Lountmilla, Melitinos, Melitini, Melitini, Melitis, Melita, Melina
Χρόνια Πολλά σε όλους και όλες που γιορτάζουν σήμερα! Σας ευχόμαστε αγάπη, ευτυχία και υγεία πάνω απ’όλα!
Εύφημος, Ευφημία, Εύφημη, Εύφη, Ευφημούλα, Ευφούλα, Φούλα, Λουντμίλλα, Λουντμίλα, Μελιτίνος, Μελιτινή, Μελιτίνη, Μελιτίνα, Μελίτη, Μελίτα, Μελίνα.

Today is also the name day of Sophia, Elpida, Agapi, Pistis, Sofianos, Sofiani.

Xronia Polla!

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