What date is the Day of Faith, Hope and Love in 2021

Home › Holidays

History of the holidayTraditions and ritualsSigns

The Day of Faith, Hope and Love is celebrated by Orthodox Christians every year on September 30th. This holy date is dedicated to three sisters and their mother Sophia, who were tortured but did not renounce Christianity. In all churches on this day, prayer services are held in their honor; women pray at the icons of martyrs for pregnancy and the healing of sick children.

history of the holiday

Despite the fact that at that time the government of Rome persecuted Christians, the widow Sophia, along with her daughters Vera, Nadezhda and Lyubov, settled in the city during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. The woman named the girls after the main Christian virtues. When the emperor learned about the unprecedented beauty of the sisters, he himself wanted to see them. He immediately realized that they were devoted to their faith, but decided to persuade them to renounce Christ. Twelve-year-old Vera was the first to appear before the tyrant. Despite her young age, the girl said that she considers such treatment of Christians criminal. The enraged emperor ordered the girl to be undressed and scourged. Both breasts of the young martyr were cut off, but milk began to ooze from the wounds, not blood. Seeing that the terrible torment did not break Vera, the emperor ordered her to be beheaded.

The ruler failed to persuade ten-year-old Nadezhda to renounce Christ. Then, having beaten her half to death, the executioners decided to burn her alive at the stake, but the fire suddenly went out. Nadya suffered the same fate as her older sister - her head was cut off.

Despite all the torment of the sisters, Lyuba also did not renounce Christ. Then Adrian ordered the girl to be crucified on a rack, turning out all the joints, after which the crippled child was dragged to the fire, trying to be burned alive in a burning oven. But nothing came of it, and then it was decided to cut off her head.

The children were abused in front of the unfortunate mother, Sofia. She was not broken by the suffering of her children; the tyrant decided to torture her was pointless. The remains of her daughters were given to the unfortunate woman. Carefully placing them on the chariot, she left the city. Three days after burying her girls, Sofia died. Believers buried her body next to her daughters, and later they were all canonized.

The suffering of the holy martyrs Faith, Nadezhda, Lyubov and their mother Sophia

Holy martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia

During the reign of Emperor Hadrian, there lived in Rome a widow, originally Italian, named Sophia, which translated means wisdom. She was a Christian, and in accordance with her name, she led her life prudently - according to the wisdom that the Apostle James praises, saying: “the wisdom that comes from above is first pure, then peaceful, modest, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits.” [1] (James 3:17). This wise Sophia, living in an honest marriage, gave birth to three daughters, to whom she gave names corresponding to three Christian virtues: she named the first daughter Faith, the second Hope, and the third Love. And what else could have come from Christian wisdom if not virtues pleasing to God? Soon after the birth of her third daughter, Sofia lost her husband. Remaining a widow, she continued to live piously, pleasing God with prayer, fasting and almsgiving; She raised her daughters as a wise mother could do: she tried to teach them to demonstrate in life those Christian virtues whose names they bore.

As the children grew, their virtues also increased. They already knew the prophetic and apostolic books well, were accustomed to listening to the teachings of their mentors, diligently read, and were diligent in prayer and in household chores. Obeying their holy and wise mother, they succeeded in everything and rose from strength to strength. And since they were extremely beautiful and sensible, everyone soon began to pay attention to them.

The rumor about their wisdom and beauty spread throughout Rome. The governor of the region, Antiochus, also heard about them and wanted to see them. As soon as he saw them, he was immediately convinced that they were Christians; for they did not want to hide their faith in Christ, did not doubt their hope in Him and did not weaken in their love for Him, but openly glorified Christ the Lord before everyone, abhorring the godless pagan idols.

Antiochus informed King Hadrian about all this, and he did not hesitate to immediately send his servants to bring the girls to him. Fulfilling the royal command, the servants went to Sophia’s house and when they came to her, they saw that she was teaching her daughters. The servants announced to her that the king was calling her and his daughters to him. Realizing for what purpose the king was calling them, they all turned to God with the following prayer:

- Almighty God, do with us according to Your holy will; do not leave us, but send us Your holy help, so that our hearts will not be afraid of the proud tormentor, so that we will not be afraid of his terrible torment, and will not be horrified by death; Let nothing separate us from You, our God.

Having said a prayer and bowed to the Lord God, all four - mother and daughters, taking each other by the hands like a woven wreath, went to the king and, often looking at the sky. with heartfelt sighing and secret prayer, they entrusted themselves to the help of the One who commanded us not to fear “those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28). When they approached the royal palace, they made the sign of the cross, saying:

- Help us, O God, our Savior, to glorify Your holy Name.

They were led into the palace and presented before the king, who sat proudly on his throne. Seeing the king, they gave him due honor, but stood before him without any fear, without any change in face, with courage in their hearts and looked at everyone with a cheerful gaze, as if they were called to a feast; With such joy they came to the king to be tortured for their Lord.

Seeing their noble, bright and fearless faces, the king began to ask what kind of people they were, what their names were and what their faith was. Being wise, the mother answered so prudently that everyone present, listening to her answers, was amazed at her such intelligence. Having briefly mentioned her origin and name, Sophia began to talk about Christ, Whose origin no one can explain[2], but whose Name every generation should worship[3]. She openly confessed her faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and, calling herself His servant, glorified His Name.

“I am a Christian,” she said, “this is the precious name that I can boast of.”

At the same time, she said that she also betrothed her daughters to Christ, so that they would preserve their incorruptible purity for the incorruptible Bridegroom - the Son of God.

Then the king, seeing such a wise woman before him, but not wanting to enter into a long conversation with her and judge her, postponed this matter until another time. He sent Sophia along with her daughters to a noble woman named Palladium, instructing her to watch them, and three days later to present them to him for trial.

Living in Palladia's house and having a lot of time at her disposal to teach her daughters, Sophia confirmed them in the faith day and night, teaching them with words inspired by God.

“My beloved daughters,” she said, “now is the time of your feat, now the day has come for your disgrace to the immortal Bridegroom, now you, in accordance with your names, must show firm faith, undoubted hope, unfeigned and eternal love.” The hour of your triumph has come, when with the crown of martyrdom you will be married to your most gracious Bridegroom and with great joy you will enter His most radiant chamber. My daughters, for the sake of this honor of Christ, do not spare your young flesh; Do not regret your beauty and youth, for the sake of the Red One, with kindness more than the sons of men, and for the sake of eternal life, do not grieve that you will lose this temporary life. For your heavenly Beloved, Jesus Christ, is eternal health, unspeakable beauty and endless life. And when your bodies are tortured to death for His sake, He will clothe them with incorruption and make your wounds as bright as the stars in the sky. When your beauty is taken from you through torment for Him, He will adorn you with heavenly beauty, which the human eye has never seen. When you lose your temporary life, having laid down your souls for your Lord, He will reward you with endless life, in which He will glorify you forever before His heavenly Father and before His holy angels, and all the heavenly powers will call you brides and confessors of Christ. All the saints will praise you, the wise virgins will rejoice over you and accept you into their fellowship. My dear daughters! do not let yourself be seduced by the charms of the enemy: for, as I think, the king will lavish you with affection and promise great gifts, offering you glory, wealth and honor, all the beauty and sweetness of this corruptible and vain world; but you do not desire anything like this, for all this, like smoke, disappears, like dust is scattered by the wind, and like flowers and grass dries up and turns to earth. Do not be afraid when you see fierce torment, for, having suffered a little, you will defeat the enemy and triumph forever. I believe in my God Jesus Christ, I believe that He will not leave you suffering in His name, for He Himself said: “Shall a woman forget her suckling child, so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb? but even if she forgot, I will not forget you” (Is. 49:15), He will continually be with you in all your torments, looking at your exploits, strengthening your weaknesses and preparing for your reward an imperishable crown. Oh, my beautiful daughters! remember my illnesses at your birth, remember my labors in which I nurtured you, remember my words with which I taught you the fear of God, and comfort your mother in her old age with your kind and courageous confession of faith in Christ. For me there will be triumph and joy, honor and glory among all believers if I am worthy to be called the mother of martyrs, if I see your valiant patience for Christ, firm confession of His Holy Name and death for Him. Then my soul will rejoice, and my spirit will rejoice, and my old age will be refreshed. Then you too will truly be my daughters if, having listened to the instructions of your mother, you will stand for your Lord to the point of blood and die for Him with zeal.

Having listened with tenderness to such instruction from their mother, the girls experienced sweetness in their hearts and rejoiced in spirit, awaiting the time of torment as the wedding hour. For, being holy branches from the holy root, they desired with all their souls what their wise mother Sophia instructed them to do. They took all her words to heart and prepared themselves for the feat of martyrdom, as if they were going to a bright palace, protecting themselves with faith, strengthening themselves with hope, and kindling within themselves the fire of love for the Lord. Encouraging and affirming each other, they promised their mother to actually implement all her soul-helping advice with the help of Christ.

When the third day came, they were brought to the lawless king for judgment. Thinking that they could easily obey his seductive words, the king began to speak to them like this:

- Children! Seeing your beauty and sparing your youth, I advise you, like a father: bow to the gods, the rulers of the universe; and if you listen to me and do what you are commanded, then I will call you my children. I will call the chiefs and rulers and all my advisers, and in their presence I will declare you my daughters, and you will enjoy praise and honor from everyone. And if you do not listen and do not fulfill my command, then you will cause great harm to yourself, and you will upset your mother’s old age, and you yourself will perish at a time when you could have the most fun, living carefree and cheerful. For I will give you over to a cruel death and, having crushed the members of your body, I will throw them to be devoured by dogs, and you will be trampled under foot by everyone. So, for your own good, listen to me: for I love you and not only do not want to destroy your beauty and deprive you of this life, but I would like to become a father for you.

But the holy virgins unanimously and unanimously answered him:

- Our Father is God who lives in heaven. He provides for us and our lives and has mercy on our souls; we want to be loved by Him and want to be called His true children. We worship Him and keep His commandments and commandments, we spit on your gods, and we are not afraid of your threat, for all we desire is to suffer and endure bitter torment for the sake of the sweetest Jesus Christ our God.

Having heard such an answer from them, the king asked mother Sophia what the names of her daughters were and how old they were.

Saint Sophia answered:

— My first daughter’s name is Vera, and she is twelve years old; the second - Nadezhda - is ten years old, and the third - Love, which is only nine years old.

The king was very surprised that at such a young age they had courage and intelligence and could answer him like that. He began again to force each of them to his wickedness and first turned to his elder sister Vera, saying:

- Make a sacrifice to the great goddess Artemis.

But Vera refused. Then the king ordered her to be stripped naked and beaten. The torturers, striking her without any mercy, said:

- Devour to the great goddess Artemis.

But she silently endured the suffering, as if they were hitting not her body, but someone else’s. Having achieved no success, the tormentor ordered her virgin breasts to be cut off. But instead of blood, milk flowed from the wounds. Everyone who looked at Vera’s torment marveled at this miracle and the patience of the martyr. And, shaking their heads, they secretly reproached the king for his madness and cruelty, saying:

“What has this beautiful girl done wrong, and why is she suffering so much?” Oh, woe to the madness of the king and his brutal cruelty, inhumanly destroying not only the elders, but even small children.

After this, an iron grate was brought and placed over high heat. When it became hot like a hot coal and sparks were flying from it, they placed the holy maiden Vera on it. She lay on this grate for two hours and, calling out to her Lord, did not get scorched at all, which led everyone to amazement. Then she was put in a cauldron, standing on a fire and filled with boiling resin and oil, but she remained unharmed in it, and sitting in it, as if in cool water, she sang to God. The torturer, not knowing what else to do with her, how he could turn her away from the faith of Christ, sentenced her to beheading with a sword.

Hearing this sentence, Holy Vera was filled with joy and said to her mother:

“Pray for me, my mother, so that I can finish my procession, reach the desired end, see my beloved Lord and Savior and enjoy the sight of His Divinity.”

And she said to her sisters:

- Remember, my dear sisters, To whom we made a vow, To whom we were carried away; you know that we are sealed with the holy cross of our Lord and must serve Him forever; Therefore we will endure to the end. The same mother gave birth to us, raised and taught us alone, therefore we must accept the same death; as half-sisters, we must have one will. Let me be an example for you, so that you both follow me to our Bridegroom who calls us.

After this, she kissed her mother, then, hugging her sisters, she also kissed them and went under the sword. The mother did not grieve at all for her daughter, for love for God overcame her heartfelt sadness and maternal pity for her children. She only lamented and cared about this, lest any of her daughters be afraid of torment and retreat from her Lord.

And she said to Vera:

“I gave birth to you, my daughter, and because of you I suffered illnesses.” But you reward me for this with goodness, dying for the name of Christ and shedding for Him the very blood that you received in my womb. Go to Him, my beloved, and stained with your blood, as if clothed in purple, appear beautiful before the eyes of your Bridegroom, remember your poor mother before him and pray to Him for your sisters, so that He may strengthen them too in the same patience that you show You.

After this St. Faith was truncated into an honest chapter and went to its Head, Christ God. The mother, hugging her long-suffering body and kissing it, rejoiced and glorified Christ God, who accepted her daughter Vera into His heavenly palace.

Then the wicked king put another sister Nadezhda in front of him and said to her:

- Dear child! Take my advice: I say this, loving you just like your father, bow to the great Artemis, so that you too do not perish, as your elder sister perished. You saw her terrible torment, saw her difficult death, do you really want to suffer the same way? Believe me, my child, that I pity your youth; if you had listened to my orders, I would have declared you my daughter.

Holy Hope answered:

- Tsar! Am I not the sister of the one you killed? Wasn’t I born from the same mother as her? Wasn’t I fed with the same milk and didn’t I receive the same baptism as my holy sister? I grew up with her and from the same books and from the same instructions from my mother I learned to know God and our Lord Jesus Christ, to believe in Him and to worship Him alone. Do not think, king, that I acted and thought differently, and did not want the same thing as my sister Vera; no, I want to follow in her footsteps. Don’t hesitate and don’t try to dissuade me with many words, but it’s better to get down to business and you will see my like-mindedness with my sister.

Hearing this answer, the king handed her over to be tortured.

Having stripped her naked, like Vera, the royal servants beat her for a long time without any pity - until they got tired. But she was silent, as if not feeling any pain at all, and only looked at her mother, blessed Sophia, who stood there, courageously looking at the suffering of her daughter and praying to God that He would grant her strong patience.

By order of the lawless king St. Hope was thrown into the fire and, remaining unharmed like the three youths, glorified God. After this, she was hanged and she was whittled with iron claws: her body fell in pieces and blood flowed in a stream, but a wonderful fragrance emanated from the wounds, and on her face, bright and shining with the grace of the Holy Spirit, there was a smile. St. Nadezhda also shamed the tormentor that he was unable to overcome the patience of such a young girl.

“Christ is my help,” she said, “and not only am I not afraid of torment, but I desire it as the sweetness of heaven: suffering for Christ is so pleasant for me.” For you, tormentor, torment awaits you in fiery Gehenna along with the demons, whom you consider to be gods.

Such speech irritated the tormentor even more, and he ordered the cauldron to be filled with tar and oil, set on fire and the saint thrown into it. But when they wanted to throw the saint into a boiling cauldron, it immediately melted like wax, and the resin and oil spilled and scorched everyone around. So the miraculous power of God did not leave St. Hope.

The proud tormentor, seeing all this, did not want to know the true God, for his heart was darkened by demonic charm and destructive delusion. But, ridiculed by the little girl, he felt great shame. Not wanting to endure such a shame any longer, he finally condemned the saint to be beheaded by the sword. The young woman, hearing about the approach of her death, joyfully approached her mother and said:

- My mother! May peace be with you, be healthy and remember your daughter.

The mother hugged and kissed her, saying:

- My daughter Nadezhda! Blessed are you from the Lord God Most High because you trust in Him and for His sake you do not regret shedding your blood; go to your sister Vera and together with her come to your Beloved.

Nadezhda also kissed her sister Lyubov, who was looking at her torment, and said to her:

“Don’t stay here and you, sister, we will appear together before the Holy Trinity.”

Having said this, she approached the lifeless body of her sister Vera and, lovingly hugging him, out of the inherent nature of human pity, she wanted to cry, but out of love for Christ she changed her tears to joy. After this, bowing his head, St. Hope was cut off by the sword.

Taking her body, the mother glorified God, rejoicing at the courage of her daughters, and encouraged her youngest daughter to the same patience with her sweet words and wise admonitions.

The tormentor called on the third girl, Love, and tried with affection to persuade her, like the first two sisters, to retreat from the Crucified One and bow to Artemis. But the efforts of the seducer were in vain. For who can suffer so firmly for His beloved Lord if not Love, since the Scripture says: “love is strong as death... Great waters cannot extinguish love, and rivers cannot drown it” (Song. 8:6- 7).

The many waters of worldly temptations did not extinguish the fire of love for God in this young woman, nor did the rivers of troubles and suffering drown her; her great love was especially clearly visible from the fact that she was ready to lay down her life for her Beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ, and after all, there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends (John 15:13).

The tormentor, seeing that nothing could be done with caresses, decided to give Love over to suffer, thinking with various torments to distract her from love for Christ, but she answered, according to the Apostle:

-Who will separate us from the love of God: sorrow, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? (Rom.8:15).

The torturer ordered, stretching her across the wheel, to beat her with a stick. And she was stretched out in such a way that the members of her body were separated from their joints and she, being struck with a stick, became covered with purple blood, with which the earth was watered, as if from rain.

Then the stove was lit. Pointing at her, the torturer said to the saint:

- Girl! just say that the goddess Artemis is great, and I will let you go, and if you don’t say this, then you will immediately burn in this kindled furnace.

But the saint answered:

“Great is my God Jesus Christ, Artemis and you will perish with her!”

The tormentor, enraged by such words, ordered those present to immediately throw her into the oven.

But the saint, without waiting for anyone to throw her into the oven, she herself hastened to enter it and, being unharmed, walked through the middle of it, as if in a cool place, singing and blessing God, and rejoiced.

At the same time, a flame flew out of the oven onto the infidels surrounding the oven, and burned some to ashes, and scorched others and, reaching the king, burned him too, so that he fled far.

In that oven, other faces shining with light were visible, rejoicing along with the martyr. And the name of Christ was exalted, and the wicked were put to shame.

When the stove went out, the martyr, the beautiful bride of Christ, came out of it healthy and cheerful, as if from a palace.

Then the tormentors, by order of the king, drilled her limbs with iron drills, but God strengthened the saint with His help in these torments, so that she did not die from them either.

Who could endure such torment and not die instantly?!

However, the beloved Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, strengthened the saint in order to put the wicked to shame as much as possible, and to give her a greater reward, and so that the mighty power of God would be glorified in the weak vessel of man.

The tormentor, sick from the burn, finally ordered to behead the saint with a sword.

She, hearing about this, rejoiced and said:

“Lord Jesus Christ, who loved Thy servant Love, I sing and bless Thy much-sung name for the fact that Thou hast punished me together with the sisters, making me worthy to endure for Thy name the same thing that they endured.”

Her mother St. Sophia, without ceasing, prayed to God for her youngest daughter, that He would grant her patience to the end and told her:

“My third branch, my beloved child, strive to the end.” You are walking the good path and a crown has already been woven for you and the prepared palace has opened, the Bridegroom is already waiting for you, looking from above at your feat, so that when you bow your head under the sword, he will take your pure and immaculate soul into his arms and rest you in peace. your sisters. Remember me, your mother, in the kingdom of your Bridegroom, so that he will show mercy to me and not deprive me of participating and being with you in His holy glory.

And immediately St. Love was cut off by the sword.

The mother, having accepted her body, placed it in an expensive coffin along with the bodies of saints Faith and Hope and, having decorated their bodies as it should, placed the coffin on a funeral chariot, drove them out of the city some distance and buried her daughters with honor on a high hill, crying from joy. While at their grave for three days, she fervently prayed to God and herself rested in the Lord. Believers buried her there along with her daughters. Thus, she did not lose her participation with them in the Kingdom of Heaven and the martyrdom, because if not with her body, then with her heart, she suffered for Christ.

Thus, the wise Sophia ended her life wisely, bringing her three virtuous daughters Faith, Hope and Love as a Gift to the Holy Trinity.

Oh, holy and righteous Sophia! What woman was saved through childbearing[4] like you, who gave birth to such children who were ignorant of the Savior and, having suffered for Him, now reign with Him and are glorified? Truly you are a mother worthy of wonder and good memory; since, looking at the terrible, severe torment and death of your beloved children, you not only did not grieve, as is typical for a mother, but, consoled by the grace of God, you rejoiced more, you yourself taught and begged your daughters not to regret this temporary life and to shed their blood without mercy for Christ the Lord.

Now enjoying the vision of His most radiant face together with your holy daughters, send wisdom to us, so that we, preserving the virtues of faith, hope and love, may be worthy to stand before the Most Holy, Uncreated and Life-Giving Trinity and glorify Her forever and ever. Amen.

Kontakion, tone 1:

Sophia's honorable most sacred branches, Faith, and Hope, and Love, appearing, filled the wisdom with Hellenic [5] grace: both the sufferer and the victorious woman appeared, tied with an incorruptible crown from all the Lords.

How to celebrate

On this day, it is customary to go to church, where a prayer service is held, to light candles for the repose of the souls of the martyrs - Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia. On this day, temples are festively decorated with flowers. It is also customary to congratulate loved ones and those named in honor of the holy martyrs on their name days.

Since ancient times, on a holy day, village boys and girls gathered, organizing shows for each other. Married women attended church and lit candles for the repose of their relatives, after which they took a break from household chores. The day before, it is customary to prepare Easter cake, decorate the baked goods with nuts and icing. The delicacy must be eaten at midnight by the whole family.

Note!

You cannot treat anyone with baked goods - it is believed that with the treat you are giving away a piece of your happiness.

If you don’t have an icon of Faith, Hope and Love at home, you need to purchase it from a church shop and place it at the head of the bed and, discarding bad thoughts, pray for the health of your loved ones.

Soulful teaching

Faith, Hope and Love are the three initial virtues on which the spiritual desire for perfection and salvation of the soul is built.

“By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

This is what the Savior bequeathed to us before His suffering on the cross. But nowadays we often have to complain that it is love and mutual understanding that is most lacking now, even between our own brothers and sisters in Christ. There is not enough sympathy and mercy, sometimes just a little support, a sincere, kind word in an hour of embarrassment and mental grief. The lives of the first Christians already seem amazing, when “the multitude of those who believed had one heart and one soul; and no one called anything of his property his own, but they had everything in common” (Acts 4:32). On the contrary, as love cools, a feeling of rivalry and a desire for superiority begins to appear, the dark passions of envy and slander increase, leading the souls under their control to eternal destruction. And if such relationships take place among brothers of the same faith, then what can we say about outsiders who may be sincerely interested and strive to understand the Christian faith, but do not find the proper cordiality and participation when they try to turn to the church environment? Some may object to this that strangers are most often guided only by idle curiosity and with their presence only distract those praying. But it should be remembered that only the Lord knows and judges the human heart for sure: an accident can serve as a reason for decisive changes in life, an unintentional meeting can transform the entire inner spiritual world of a person. And then it is very important what impression this meeting makes: after all, it is not without reason that St. Macarius the Great teaches us “that a good word can make a bad person good, and, on the contrary, an evil word can make a good person evil.” From the life of St. Pachomius the Great is known, for example, that he, being a pagan and a warrior of the emperor, was deeply touched by the mercy of the Christian settlers, who unselfishly, in the name of love for their neighbor, shared all their food supplies with the soldiers. So, unexpectedly for himself, he discovered Christianity and subsequently became one of the most famous desert-dwelling ascetics. Today, when what is most often asked of us is not material assistance, which indeed not everyone may have on reserve, but only spiritual attention and goodwill, will we be able to find it in ourselves to share with others? If not, then most likely we should carefully reconsider our inner self and habitual principles in order to think: are we really on the right path? And here it will never be amiss to once again carefully re-read and comprehend, especially on this special day, the holy words of the Apostle Paul, which he laid for all centuries as the foundation of our salvation:

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, then I am a ringing gossamer or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and have all knowledge and all faith, so that I could move mountains, but do not have love, then I am nothing. And if I give away all my property and give my body to be burned, but do not have love, it will be of no benefit to me. Love is patient, merciful, love does not envy, love is not arrogant, is not proud, is not rude, does not seek its own, is not irritated, does not think evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; covers everything, believes everything, hopes everything, endures everything. Love never fails, although prophecy will cease, and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will be abolished. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; when the perfect comes, then that which is in part will cease. When I was a baby, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, reasoned like a child; and when he became a husband, he left behind his children. Now we see as if through a dark glass, fortune-telling, but then face to face; Now I know in part, but then I will know, even as I am known. And now these three remain: faith, hope, love; but love is the greatest of these.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-13).

Traditions and rituals of the Orthodox holiday

The Day of Faith, Hope and Love has its own traditions, some of which are still observed today:

1. Family women attend church in the morning and pray to Sofia for the health of their relatives, and for her daughters to have the strength to survive adversity and grief in order to cope with all problems.
2. It is customary to pay special attention to children - to care for them, to cherish them, this is especially true for girls.
3. It is customary to spend this day with family and postpone visiting for another day. It is advisable not to receive guests at your place.
4. In order to protect children from diseases, it is customary to pour warm water on them at the doorstep through a sieve.
5. On this day it is highly undesirable to do housework and gardening. It's better to do everything in advance. Prepare and clean up. If possible, also postpone washing dishes until the next day. When wondering when the Day of Faith, Hope and Love is celebrated in 2021, you need to remember: it is not customary to organize noisy gatherings and feasts.

Note!

It is also better to postpone weddings to a later date.

Origin of the martyrs

In the second century AD, there lived a pious widow in the city of Rome. Her name was Sophia , which means “God’s wisdom.” She named her three daughters after Christian virtues and raised them in the faith.

In those days, the wicked Emperor Hadrian ruled. He persecuted Christians. When he was informed that a noble widow had raised her daughters in Christianity, he sent messengers to bring them to the palace. The emperor ordered the girls to bow to the pagan goddess Diana. But they refused to do this, confessing their faith in the One God.

Then he ordered one pagan woman to “reason” with the naughty girls. For some time they listened to what the woman told them, but did not take her words to heart. Then the emperor called them to him again. He promised them great riches and honors if they renounce Christ. But the courageous girls refused, wishing to accept death rather than worship the pagan gods .

The emperor was sorry to destroy such young creatures, and he persuaded them to the last. But they were firm in their conviction.

Signs of the Day of the Holy Martyrs

It is believed that on this day, most often it is already quite cold and rainy, and after Vera, Nadezhda, Lyubov and Sofia, the first frosts begin.

If the cranes fly on September 30, then there will be frost on Pokrov (October 14), and if not, then winter will come later. Usually they shouted after the cranes: “The road is on the road,” so that they would return to their native lands in the spring.

Rain on this day promises an early and not very cold spring.

If on the day of the holy martyrs there is also thunder, then autumn will last a long time, but will be warm and windless.

What you can and cannot do on this day

On the Day of Faith, Hope and Love, September 30, people, in addition to rites and rituals, have several more prohibitions. It is better to give up things that repel luck and prosperity. As on most church holidays, it is not worth:

1. girls and women to do housework and work;
2. swear, insult, especially women and children;
3. play weddings;
4. have fun and get drunk;
5. to speak foul language, to be rude.

This is not just an unfavorable date, but also a tragic one; women should refuse any type of housework. The only thing that is allowed is baking a muffin or a loaf, which is served on the table; Family discord should not be allowed.

On September 30, as on other days, a woman acts as the guardian of home comfort. A serious mission rests on her shoulders. Representatives of the fair sex are allowed to cry.

This psychological ritual will save the soul from suffering and frighten away evil spirits. It is believed that evil spirits will not disturb the household after this.

What not to do on September 30

On Women's Day, according to tradition, they tried to spare women from hard work, with the exception of cooking. It was believed that the Mother of God could inflict punishment on a man who offended his wife on this day, or on a young man who deceived his bride, including serious illness and death. If a husband hits his wife and she complains to the Mother of God, the offender’s hand may wither, so it was strictly forbidden to offend women on a woman’s name day.

It was also forbidden to swear and scold women: the Mother of God could send muteness to foul language.

On this day, women tried not to go alone into the forest; it was considered dangerous.