Homily on the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope and Love and their Mother Sophia
By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov
(Delivered in 1964)
By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov
(Delivered in 1964)
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Holy Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Martyrs Faith (Vera), Hope (Nadezhda) and Love (Lyubov) and their mother Sophia, honoring their suffering for their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
To understand the nature of the suffering of the Holy Martyrs, it is necessary to recall the time and circumstances in which their martyrdom took place. Saint Sophia lived in the city of Rome, Italy, during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. Having lost her husband in her youth, she took on the upbringing of her young children — her daughters Vera, Nadezhda, and Lyubov. Vera was the eldest, twelve years old; Nadezhda was ten; and Lyubov was nine. Being a pious and zealous Christian herself, she strove to instill in her daughters the same spirit of piety, faith, and love for our Lord Jesus Christ. Having ample material resources, Saint Sophia devoted herself entirely to Christian philanthropy, helping the poor. Her children, who are generally drawn to good examples, saw in her life a good role model, and so it is not surprising that they were quite pious.
"My children," Saint Sophia told them, "you must above all be worthy of your high Christian calling and adorn yourself with the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and love, in keeping with your names." They — both mother and daughters — had a fervent faith in God, glorified in the Trinity, and in the future blessed life that God promises to give to all who love Him with all their souls. But greater love than this, that one lay down one's life for Christ, is not found on earth. Martyrdom for Christ stands at the very pinnacle of Christian virtue. At that time, a terrible persecution of Christians arose; there were many martyrs in Rome, and Saint Sophia often spoke about them with her daughters.
But then an informer emerged who, seeing her pious life, reported her to Antiochus, the governor of Rome, who summoned Saint Sophia and her daughters to stand trial before Emperor Hadrian. The Saint understood well what awaited her at this trial if she firmly confessed the Christian faith, but she was not concerned about this. Sophia was concerned only for her daughters, whom she knew the judges would not hesitate to hand over to torture. Whether they would stand firm in their confession — that was what troubled her. Believing that the Lord could strengthen them, the four of them prayed to the Lord, saying, "O God, our Savior! Help us for the glory of Your name." Then, crossing themselves, they set out for Emperor Hadrian's palace.
The latter was amazed at their calm and fearlessness and, after questioning them about their faith, did nothing to them this time, sending them away for three days to the home of a noble Roman woman in the hope that she would be able to dissuade them. But the holy family was steadfast. They spent the entire allotted time in prayer, preparing themselves for the torments that awaited them. "My dear children," Saint Sophia said to her young daughters, "the day is near when you will be crowned with martyrdom in Heaven and, like brides, will appear before your Bridegroom and joyfully enter His bright chamber. Do not regret sacrificing your youthful bodies and your blooming beauty for your faith in the Savior, and do not regret your temporal life. The Lord Jesus Christ will restore everything to you: your wounds will heal and your bodies will glow with heavenly beauty. This temporary life will be replaced by endless blessedness in the Kingdom of Heavenly Glory." Saint Sophia understood well that the pagans would try to force her children to renounce Christ with promises of gifts and all sorts of pleasures in this life, so she tried to portray these earthly joys and comforts as unworthy of a Christian, for whom blessedness in Heaven was destined. She implored them to remain faithful to Christ. "Do not fear torment," she continued, "I believe that the Savior will not abandon you amidst your suffering. He will be with you constantly, strengthening you with His grace, weaving for you unfading crowns." After this and similar exhortations, the sisters were inflamed with even greater love for the Lord Jesus Christ and expressed a strong desire to openly confess Him as God before the pagans.
Three days later, the Holy Family was again summoned to the Emperor's court. Seeing that they remained steadfast in their Christian faith, he decided that he would be more successful in forcing the sisters to renounce Christ by speaking to each of them individually.
Vera was the first to be summoned. When asked to offer homage to the gods, she refused. They began to beat her mercilessly on her naked body, marveling at her supernatural patience, for she uttered not a single groan or complaint. Then the torturers intensified her suffering, specifically by cutting off her breasts, a move that provoked indignation and condemnation even from the pagans themselves. They then placed her on a red-hot iron grate, but the Martyr suffered no harm. Then they immersed her in boiling tar and oil — and here, amidst the most severe suffering, the Lord and Savior protected His servant.
Then the torturers, enraged and furious, sentenced her to death by beheading. When Vera heard this sentence, she joyfully said to her mother, "Pray for me, my mother, that I may complete my course and reach my desired end and behold my beloved Lord and Savior." Her mother replied, "You, Vera, reward me well. Go to your Bridegroom and remember me before Him, and pray for your sisters." And thus, Saint Vera glorified God with the same death as Saint John the Forerunner of the Lord.
After this, the torturers dealt with Nadezhda and Lyubov, also putting them to death by beheading. During this time, their holy mother, Sophia, endured unbearable spiritual suffering. She was a true martyr without shedding blood. The pagans did not wish to subject her to physical torture; instead, they permitted her to bury her daughters outside the city. Without leaving their graves, she quietly shed tears, beseeching the Lord to join her soul to that of the Holy Martyrs. The Lord granted her request, and on the third day she peacefully reposed at the grave of her daughters. Christians buried her in the same grave and venerated Saint Sophia as a martyr of Christ, for she was tormented no less than her beloved children, though she did not suffer bodily harm like them.
Dear brothers and sisters, Saint Sophia, possessing a profound faith in God and in the future eternal life, urged her daughters not to value their blossoming youth, their temporary life, for the sake of acquiring the future life, and in this way she showed them her greatest love. We too must view this short, fleeting life in the same way, preferring nothing to the future eternal life, which will never end. Our earthly life is like vapor that appears, then vanishes, and is no more. A person is born, blossoms with health and beauty, then ages and dies — and the person is no more. And if this is so, then sacrificing one's temporary life for higher goals is a praiseworthy deed. If laying down one's life for one's neighbor is a high degree of virtue, then sacrificing it for Christ is a martyr's feat, which will be crowned by the Lord Himself. For His word also says: "Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it" (Mark 8:35). "Do not fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). "Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32). "Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me" (Matthew 10:37). Thus, the Lord demands from us sacrificial love for Him, love in deeds, just as the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love, and their mother Sophia testified to it by offering their lives to Him.
Therefore, dear ones, let us remember that our life is short and that it is given to us to prepare ourselves for eternity, which will surely come with the Resurrection and the future eternal life. Let us arrange our earthly lives so as not to defile ourselves with any vice, so that, together with the Holy Apostle Paul, each of us can say: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. Therefore, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day" (2 Tim. 4:7–8). This also I desire to be worthy of for myself and for all of you through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
