They lived and suffered in Rome
in the time of the Emperor Hadrian. The wise Sophia (as her name -
Sophia - wisdom, indicates) was left a widow and, as a Christian,
steeped herself and her daughters in the Christian faith. At the time
that Hadrian's persecuting hand stretched out over the virtuous house of
Sophia, Vera was twelve, Nada ten and Lubov nine.
The four of them were brought
before the Emperor, with their arms entwined 'like a woven wreath',
humbly but firmly confessing their faith in Christ the Lord and refusing
to offer sacrifice to the goddess Artemis.
At the moment of their passion, the mother
urged her valiant daughters to endure to the end: 'Your heavenly
Lover, Jesus Christ, is eternal health, inexpressible beauty and
life eternal. When your bodies are slain by torture, He will clothe
you in incorruption and the wounds on your bodies will shine in
heaven like the stars.' The torturers inflicted harsh torture on
Vera, Nada and Lubov one by one.
They beat them, stabbed them
and threw them into fire and boiling pitch, and finally beheaded them
one after the other. Sophia took the dead bodies of her daughters out of
the town and buried them, and stayed by their grave in prayer for three
days and nights, then gave her soul to God, hastening to the heavenly
company where the blessed souls of her daughters awaited her.
