Commemorated September 17 (New Calendar) September 30 (Old Calendar)

Saint Hope was the second daughter of Sophia, an Italian widow in Rome in the reign of the emperor Hadrian. She was ten. Her mother raised her openly as a Christian and named her for the virtue she was to keep. She refused to sacrifice to Artemis. After her sister Faith was killed, she was tortured and beheaded. Her mother took her body and later buried her on a high hill outside the city.

The Great Collection of the Lives of the Saints (September 17)

(Please forgive me for any mispronounciation of words in this reading. God Bless!)

The words of Saint Hope

“O Almighty God, do with us according to Thy holy will, and forsake us not, but rather grant us Thy holy aid, that our hearts be not frightened by the proud tormentor, that we be not terrified by his fearful tortures nor terrorized by bitter death, and that nothing might separate us from Thee, our God.” (With her mother and sisters, when the emperor’s servants came to take them.)

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“Help us, O God our Saviour, for the sake of the glory of Thy holy name!” (At the palace doors, as they signed themselves with the Cross.)

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“O Emperor, was it not my sister whom you put to death? Were we not born of the same mother? Were we not fed with the same milk? Did I not receive the same Baptism as my holy sister?” (When Hadrian tried to speak to her as a father after Faith’s death.)

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“Having Christ’s help, I fear no torments; rather, I desire them as I desire the sweet things of paradise, so sweet is my Lord to me.” (After she was hung and scraped with iron claws.)

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“Peace and salvation to you, mother: remember your child!” (To Sophia, before she went to the sword.)

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“Do not linger here, sister, but hasten, that we might enter the presence of the Holy Trinity together.” (Kissing Love before she bowed her head to the sword.)

The words of others in the reading

“You know, my dear sisters, to Whom we have promised ourselves and to Whom we have been betrothed. Therefore, let us endure unto the end. A single mother has borne us, so let us accept a common death since we are sisters and share a single will.” (Faith, to Hope and Love before she was beheaded.)

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“My beloved daughters, the time has now come for you to contend for Christ; the hour has arrived for you to be betrothed unto your immortal Bridegroom. In accordance with your names, may you display firm faith, undoubting hope, and unfeigned and never-failing love.” (Sophia, instructing her daughters in the house of Palladia.)

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“My daughter Hope, you are blessed by the Lord God on high in Whom you trust and for Whose sake you have not spared your blood. Go now to your sister Faith, to stand in the presence of our Beloved.” (Sophia, after Hope was beheaded.)

Who stood with her

Sophia was her mother. Faith, twelve, and Love, nine, were her sisters. Their father died soon after Love’s birth; his name is not kept in this reading. Antiochus denounced the household. Palladia, a noblewoman, was charged to watch them. Believers later buried Sophia beside her daughters.

She would not take a different road from the sister already killed.

We ask her prayers when hope is asked to stand after someone we love has already fallen, and when a child is told that Christ is not worth the next blow.

Pray for us

Troparion, Tone 4 “The Church celebrates and rejoices in the feast of the three daughters: Faith, Hope, and Love and their Mother Sophia, named for her wisdom: For in them she gave birth to the three godly virtues. Now they eternally behold their bridegroom, God the Word. Let us rejoice spiritually in their memory and cry: O our three Heavenly Protectors, establish, confirm and strengthen us in Faith, Hope and Love.”

Kontakion, Tone 1 “The holy branches of noble Sophia, Faith, Hope, and Love, confounded Greek sophistry through Grace. They struggled and won the victory and have been granted an incorruptible crown by Christ the Master of all.”

Saint Hope, pray for us.

Sources

St. Demetrius of Rostov, Lives of the Saints, September 17. https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Dmitrij_Rostovskij/zhitija-svjatykh/796

Orthodox Church in America, Martyr Sophia and her three daughters at Rome. https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/09/17/102638-martyr-sophia-and-her-three-daughters-at-rome

This site is a lamp, not a parish. Listen to the life. Then find a living Orthodox church and ask a priest to pastor you. https://pieceofhumanity.com/find-a-parish/

Other Names

Hope, Elpis, Nadezhda, Nadya, Надеждa