Saint Love of Rome

Other Names

Love, Lyubov, Luba, Люба, Любовь, Αγάπη, Agape

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

Saint Love was the youngest daughter of Sophia, an Italian widow in Rome in the reign of the emperor Hadrian. She was nine. 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 Faith and Hope were killed, she was tortured and beheaded. Her mother took her body and later buried her with her sisters on a high hill outside the city.

The words of Saint Love

“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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“Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things, I am more than a conqueror through Him that loved me.” (Answering the emperor with the Apostle’s words.)

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“Great is my God Jesus Christ, but may you perish, together with Artemis!” (When they showed her the furnace.)

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“I sing to Thee, and I bless Thy much-hymned name, O Lord Jesus Christ, Who hast loved Thy handmaiden Love! Number me together with my sisters, and count me worthy to suffer for Thy name, even as they suffered.” (When she was commanded to be beheaded.)

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

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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 third offspring, my beloved child: endure to the end! You are travelling along the path which is good, and a crown has already been woven for you. The bridal chamber has been prepared and stands open for you. Remember me, your mother, in the kingdom of your Bridegroom, that He might be merciful to me and not deprive me of an inheritance and portion with you in His holy glory.” (Sophia, to Love before the last sword.)

Who stood with her

Sophia was her mother. Faith, twelve, and Hope, ten, 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 was the last child left, and she would not be parted from the love that had already taken her sisters.

We ask her prayers when love is asked to remain after the others have gone, and when the youngest in a house is told that Christ costs too much.

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 Love, pray for us.

The Great Collection of the Lives of the Saints – September 17

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

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/

Updated 09/19/2026