Bulgarians honor the Saints Faith, Hope, Love and Sofia

Today, the church honors the memory of the holy martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and Sofiaand pays tribute to the Christian virtues whose names they bear.

Legend has it that in the second half of the 1st century a pious Christian woman lived in Rome. Her name was Sofia and she had three daughters who bore the names of Christian virtues - Faith, Hope and Love. She raised them in love for Jesus Christ. The mother and her daughters did not hide their faith in Christ and confessed it openly. On learning this, the emperor Hadrian (117-138) tried to persuade them to renounce their faith, and when he failed, he put them to death.

Three days after the children's death, their mother also died, who was also buried with them. The Church also honors Saint Sofia as a martyr, because as a mother she experienced with her heart the terrible tortures for Christ of her beloved daughters. The relics of the holy martyrs Sofia, Faith, Hope and Love have been resting since 777 in Alsace, France.

Father Sava Kokudev from the capital's Saint Sofia Church told the National Radio about their martyrdom.

"Their death becomes a center of eternal life and this refers to the other meaning of the holiday - which is wisdom. It is believed that the wisdom of God is one of the names of the very son of God Christ, the same one in whose name they choose death. That is, it is the same dedication again."

The name of the Bulgarian capital Sofia, whose holiday Bulgarians celebrate today, is directly related to the history of the capital's church "Saint Sofia".

"Here, at the Council of Serdicia in 343, they confirmed the Orthodox teaching and Saint Athanasius of Alexandria was present at this council, and there the teaching that Jesus Christ is a true god was confirmed," Father Sava Kokudev also said.

Today's holiday is celebrated most solemnly by people with the names Vyara, Verka, Nadezhda, Nadia, Lyubov, Lyuba, Lyuben, Lubomir, Lubomira, Lubomil, Sofia, Sofka.

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