Holy Martyrs Saint Sophia and her Daughters Faith, Hope and Love

Faith, Hope and Love were the daughters of a widow named Sophia (the name means wisdom) in Rome under Emperor Hadrian, and were twelve, ten and nine years old. According to their Life, the governor Antiochus reported them as Christians who would not hide their faith, and the emperor had the four summoned. The girls refused to sacrifice to Artemis.

The Life tells of terrible tortures, which the girls survived with unnatural calm, and says that each was finally beheaded, the eldest first. Sophia buried them outside the city and, according to tradition, died three days later at their grave. The dates are uncertain: the calendar gives c. 137, but some scholars think the story has legendary elements.