On the thirtieth day of September, it is time to remember the patrons of the entire female family - the saints Faith, Hope, Lyubov and their mother Sophia. Sophia and her three daughters showed unheard-of firmness during the persecution of Christianity and refused to renounce their faith even in the face of death.
Martyrs for the faith
This story took place in the II century in Rome, during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. The ruler of the empire was known far beyond its borders for his intransigence towards those who profess the faith of Christ. At that time, stories about the Son of God threatened the preachers with torture and death. Yet there were those who were not afraid of persecution.
Among them was a pious Christian woman named Sophia (translated from Greek - "wisdom"), the mother of three daughters. She named the girls after the most important virtues - Faith, Hope, and Love - and raised them in righteousness and love for Christ. Sophia's daughters grew up smart, beautiful and a real adornment of the Christian community.
Once a rumor about this family reached the emperor, and he wished to see the righteous women. Sofia and her daughters knew that a difficult test awaited them in the palace of Hadrian, and on the way there they prayed to the Lord, asked to give them courage and fortitude. Legend has it that the Savior heard their prayer: when they appeared before the formidable emperor, the mother and the girls were so calm, as if they were to take part in the holiday, and not terrible torture.
Adrian ordered the girls to be brought to him one by one, hoping that, deprived of the support of loved ones, they would be weakened in spirit. Each he ordered to bow to the pagan goddess Artemis and recognize the triumph of paganism over the faith of Christ. Faith, Hope and Love refused to bow before the pagan idol, without showing any fear.
Then the angry Adrian ordered to torture the rebellious daughters of Sophia in order to force them to renounce Christ. But no matter how they tormented the girls, they only praised the Lord. Sophia was not subjected to physical torture, but she endured the hardest suffering for her mother - she looked at the torment of her daughters, whose heads were cut off after all the torture.
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The emperor allowed the unfortunate mother to take the bodies of her children. Sofia transported them to a high hill outside the city, buried them, prayed for three days at the grave of her daughters, and then she herself died, without ceasing to call on Christ. The brothers in the community buried righteous Sophia next to their daughters, and since then the grave of the martyrs has become a place of pilgrimage for Christians.
Travels of holy relics
Over the next centuries, the holy relics of Vera, Nadezhda, Lyubov and their mother Sophia had to repeatedly move from place to place. By order of the Pope in the 8th century, one part of the relics was transferred to the newly built church of St. Sylvester, and the other was donated to the monastery of St. Juliana, which was located in the city of Brescia. However, less than a decade later, at the request of the Strasbourg bishop Remigius, the relics of the martyrs were transferred to the convent of St. Trofim in the small town of Esho. The saints were so respected by Christians that Esho soon became a pilgrimage center where believers from all over Europe flocked. For those wishing to bow to the grave of Sofia and her daughters, they even had to rebuild a large hotel.
Unfortunately, the Great French Revolution destroyed the monastery in Esho. The monastic economy was completely ruined, the temple was sold at an auction (buyers adapted it for a tavern), and the relics of the holy martyrs disappeared without a trace. There is a version that, saving the relic from the revolutionary soldiers, the nuns hid it on the monastery churchyard.
Apparently, there the relics rest to this day, but the exact place of their burial is unknown. Only at the end of the 19th century, the ruins of the monastery were recognized as a historical monument and little by little they began to restore it. Then it turned out that particles of the relics of Saint Sophia were preserved in Rome, and two of them were brought to Esho. One of the particles was placed in a tomb, where the relics of the saints remained until their disappearance, and the other was placed in a reliquary along with a part of the life-giving cross of the Lord.
On the day of commemoration of the saints Faith, Nadezhda, Lyubov and their mother Sophia, Orthodox believers go to church to bow to the icon of the martyrs and ask for help in worldly affairs. Prayers to these saints help in achieving family peace and love, women ask for the birth of healthy offspring and for deliverance from female ailments. In addition, Sophia and her daughters strengthen Christians on the path of virtue, affirm faith, hope and love in their souls.
"Tearful" ritual
In Russia, the day of Faith, Hope, Love and Sophia was called the All-World Woman's Name Day. Along with the birthday girls bearing the names of the saints, on September 30, all the fair sex began to celebrate. Men traditionally freed them from any work, presented them with wreaths of late flowers, new clothes and delicacies. The birthday girls were supposed to be fed up with pies and presented with amulets or icons depicting Sophia and her daughters. Girls born on the last day of September were considered endowed with special feminine wisdom, capable of creating comfort in the house and, under any circumstances, maintaining love and harmony in the family. Interestingly, the boys who were born on the "women's" day, on the contrary, were distinguished by a selfish and absurd disposition.
But, surprisingly enough, on the morning of the holiday, loud and desperate women's sobs, called by fathers and husbands "universal woman's howl," came from all the peasant households. The tradition, which has a clear pagan connotation, was called upon to remember the suffering of Saint Sophia, who mourned the plight of her daughters. Every woman ought to cry and lament according to her unhappy lot, even if, in fact, she lived quite well. In an extreme case, if there was absolutely nothing to mourn, one could grieve for relatives and friends up to the tenth generation. The strictly observed "tearful" ritual was supposed to serve as a kind of protection for the family, for the next year to protect household members from troubles and ailments.
On September 30, the girls cut their hair and nails, also with loud crying, in order to laugh more and enjoy life in the future.
For young people in the villages on a festive evening, the so-called "village calendar" was started. At vechorka, you could show yourself to your peers from the best side, and at the same time take a closer look, whether you would have someone to your liking. Those who have already spied out for themselves a betrothed or betrothed, thought that their feeling was mutual, so that love “would not burn in fire, would not drown in water”. And they believed that what was conceived would certainly come true.
And married women for the sake of a harmony in the house bought three candles in the temple, two of which were lit in the church in front of the face of Christ, and one was carried home. With the onset of midnight, each hostess put fresh bread on the table, placed a candle in the center of it, lit it and repeated the plot over it forty times so that evil would leave the house forever, and goodness and love would arrive every day. In the morning, it was necessary to feed the family members with the "spoken" loaf (but in no case give a crumb to anyone from outsiders), and all that remains of the meal, crumbled for poultry.
Autumn magic
Some holiday traditions are already outdated - it is unlikely that a modern woman with the proper skill will be able to lament over her fate for a long time. Other rituals of the day of St. Sophia and her daughters are quite suitable today.
For example, the last day of September is considered in occult circles to be especially suitable for removing the evil eye, damage and for reading conspiracies from all sorts of troubles. To shed less tears, you should take spring water into a bowl, add a little holy water to it, stand with a bowl by the window and say: “A willow grows in a dense forest, weeping, I went to her, gave all my tears. Let them guard them, don't let them come to me, I will thank her for that, I will give her a present”. Then you need to wash with water three times, pour the remains under the roots of the nearest willow tree, and tie a ribbon or a small scarf on the willow branch.
It must be said that only women can engage in divination on this day, while a man who undertakes to bewitch runs the risk of incurring trouble. On the contrary, it is useful for a woman to “torture her fate” on a holiday. To find out whether life will be full, she must put a freshly baked pie on a dish in the evening and put on the table. The knife should be dipped in holy water, wiped with a clean napkin and thrust into the center of the cake. After that, the fortuneteller should go to bed, and in the morning check what happened to the knife. If it still stands level, well-being will remain the same. If you leaned towards the exit from the house, money will flow away to no one knows where. If the knife tilts towards the window, the monetary profit is not far off.
The weather signs of this autumn day are also considered correct. Rainy weather means imminent warming and early spring next year. A dry day promises a late arrival of winter. Cranes flying away to warm regions warn of the onset of frost no later than Pokrov (October 14). And two rainbows, simultaneously appearing in the sky, can please mushroom pickers - the outcome of the "quiet hunt" will certainly be successful and mushroom harvests - abundant.
Anna NOVGORODTSEVA