Life
In the 2nd century, the pious and noble widow Sophia lived in Rome with her three daughters, who were named by her in honor of the three Christian virtues - Faith, Hope and Love. These three names entered the Roman-Hellenic world at the dawn of Christianity, testifying to values unknown and alien to the pagans. The 2nd century was a time of persecution of Christians, when the Roman emperors, wanting to destroy Christianity, tortured and killed followers of Christ. Sofia, despite this, was not afraid to raise her children in the Christian faith and piety. Vera was 12, Nadezhda 10, and Lyubov only 9 years old when rumors about the virtuous family reached Emperor Adrian, who personally wished to see Sophia and her daughters. Foreseeing the purpose for which they were being taken to the emperor and that they might have to suffer for their faith, Saint Sophia was not afraid, did not allow the thought of renouncing Christ and thereby saving the lives of herself and her children, but began to exhort her children to stand firmly in the faith even to death. She said: This will be my honor and glory if I can be called the mother of martyrs. Then my soul will rejoice, and you will be my true children when you obey to the end. When the martyrs appeared before the emperor, he began to affectionately persuade them to renounce Christ, promising to make them his beloved daughters, to which the young girls replied: Our father is the Lord, and we are his children. We don’t need another love, we are ready to die for him! Undoubtedly, such an answer infuriated the king, who expected an easy victory over the weak girls. The holy martyrs were given up one by one to cruel tortures in front of their mother. But all of them, without uttering a word, bravely endured the suffering, and in the end each of them was beheaded with a sword. The cruel emperor did not kill Sophia, considering that there was no greater torment for her than seeing the death of her children. He gave her the bodies and heads of the holy martyrs for burial. Sofia buried her children with honors on a hill outside the city, and she herself remained sitting at their graves. On the third day she died quietly. Believers buried her next to the graves of her holy girls. The courage of these children and their mother is amazing. Weak in body, strengthened by the grace of God, they showed tremendous strength of spirit by their martyrdom. They pray to the holy martyrs for the preservation of teenagers from the temptations of the world and for love between parents and children.
Martyr Love of Rome, young woman
Lives of the martyrs Faith, Nadezhda, Lyubov and their mother Sophia
In the 2nd century, during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117–138), the pious widow Sophia lived in Rome (the name Sophia means “wisdom”).
She had three daughters who bore the names of the main Christian virtues: Faith, Hope and Love. Being a deeply religious Christian, Sophia raised her daughters in the love of God, teaching them not to become attached to earthly goods. The rumor that this family belonged to Christianity reached the emperor, and he wished to personally see the three sisters and the mother who raised them. All four appeared before the emperor and fearlessly confessed their faith in Christ, risen from the dead and giving eternal life to all who believe in Him. Surprised by the courage of the young Christian women, the emperor sent them to a pagan woman, whom he ordered to convince them to renounce their faith. However, all the arguments and eloquence of the pagan mentor were in vain, and the Christian sisters, flaming with faith, did not change their convictions. Then they were again brought to Emperor Hadrian, and he began to insistently demand that they make a sacrifice to the pagan gods. But the girls indignantly rejected his order. “We have a Heavenly God,” they answered, “we want to remain his children, but we spit on your gods and are not afraid of your threats. We are ready to suffer and even die for the sake of our dear Lord Jesus Christ.”
Then the angry Adrian ordered the children to be subjected to various tortures. The executioners started with Vera. In front of her mother and sisters, they began to beat her mercilessly, tearing parts from her body. Then they placed her on a hot iron grate. By the power of God, the fire did not cause any harm to the body of the holy martyr. Maddened by cruelty, Adrian did not understand the miracle of God and ordered the girl to be thrown into a cauldron of boiling tar. But by the will of the Lord, the cauldron cooled down and did not cause any harm to the confessor. Then she was sentenced to beheading with a sword.
“I will gladly go to my beloved Lord the Savior,” said Saint Vera. She courageously bowed her head under the sword and thus surrendered her spirit to God.
The younger sisters Nadezhda and Lyubov, inspired by the courage of their older sister, endured similar torments. The fire did not harm them, then their heads were cut off with a sword. Saint Sophia was not subjected to physical torture, but she was doomed to even more severe mental torment from separation from the tortured children. The sufferer buried the honest remains of her daughters and did not leave their grave for two days. On the third day, the Lord sent her a quiet death and accepted her long-suffering soul into the heavenly abodes. Saint Sophia, having endured great mental anguish for Christ, together with her daughters was canonized by the Church. They suffered in 137. The eldest, Vera, was then 12 years old, the second, Nadezhda, was 10, and the youngest, Lyubov, was only 9 years old.
Thus, three girls and their mother showed that for people strengthened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, lack of bodily strength does not in the least serve as an obstacle to the manifestation of spiritual strength and courage. With their holy prayers, may the Lord strengthen us in the Christian faith and in a virtuous life.
See also: “ The suffering of the holy martyrs Faith, Hope and Love, and their mother Sophia” as presented by St. Demetrius of Rostov.
Usually by the word “love” people mean vital love. Vital love is the desires of the mind, desires for oneself are the cause of much suffering. This word often denotes affection for a person. Such passions and hopes are most often based on the expectation of reward. Unlike ordinary love, Holy Love does not imply any reward. Holy Love is the wish for spiritual growth to every living being; these are wishes that all our neighbors, acquaintances, friends and relatives become acquainted with Holy Love, practice it and purify their bodies, speech and thoughts through it... By developing Holy Love, a person takes the path leading to the realization of the unity of himself and others. The practice of Holy Love is work on oneself; it leads to the renunciation of the Egoistic consciousness “for me”. The practice of Holy Love is a prayer that our relatives, acquaintances, and friends begin to engage in spiritual self-improvement through love. With all your heart, sow Love in all souls. “Let all people become truly happy, and for this they master the Teaching of Love and Forgiveness, and come to understand the inner worlds of all people, gain the experience of all-encompassing love.
Only through this can one find absolute happiness!” Sending Love begins with one person, with the one you prefer over all others.
Open your heart and surround yourself with love, and then imagine a ray of love coming from your glowing Heart up to your head center. Now imagine how from your eyes a beautiful Golden ray of love goes straight into the eyes of your loved one. Continue to see this and at the same time imagine another beautiful Golden Ray of Love coming from your heart center straight into the heart of your loved one. Wish mentally: “May he become truly happy!
Let it truly become harmonious! Let him become truly free!” Stay calm and continue this action for as long as you like, you can also do this at any time of the day, and as often as you like.
Remember that love is unconditional and there are no controlling factors involved. The more you do this, the more connected you will be with the energy of love. Don't be too surprised if you suddenly know what he or she is going to say before the words are spoken. When your heart is open, when you are filled with love and radiating love, you will know exactly what to do. Just follow these inner guidance and trust that love can work miracles - all we have to do is just a little effort. Imagine next to your loved one, father, mother, children, close friends, say: “Let them become truly happy!
Let them truly become harmonious! Let them become truly free!” We can send love and surround the person with love.
It is also possible to fill the room in which this person might be now with love. This works extremely well under a variety of circumstances, such as a party that isn't going well. Just shower everyone present with love and you will likely find that the overall mood will quickly change. It also works great for business meetings or a job interview or even meeting a friend. It’s as if you are wrapping people in a warm blanket of love. From your loved ones as the center, promote the practice more and more, and ultimately spread your love to all people, to the entire planet. “Let all people meet True Love!
Let the suffering go away! Let there be only joy!” - a pleading state of mind. Think lovingly of all living beings, wish that they become truly happy, find true peace, true freedom and true joy. Wish everyone around you to develop Virtues, open Hearts, awaken Consciousness, engage in spiritual practices... Rejoice from the bottom of your heart when someone does all this. This practice gives our soul softness and breadth, thanks to which we will be loved by many in this World. Wishing everyone love and happiness should become your state. Always, in any conditions, under any circumstances, wish all people only goodness, love and light. And then you will stop worrying about your loved ones, since worrying about others is based on the fear that the worst case scenario will happen. Where there is Holy Love, there is no place for fears.
Unconditional love
Love is a State. Osho Disunity of Hearts. Paul Ferrini Holy Love. Unity of Souls. The energy of the soul is LOVE. Osho. Don't refuse love. Paul Ferrini. “Searching for your soul mate” - Anatoly Nekrasov. Soul mates. Twin flame. Real relationships. "Borders" - Thomas Trobe. Ideal relationship. Miguel Ruiz.
Copyright © 2015 Unconditional love
Day of Remembrance
For many decades, miraculous events were collected first by the priest of the Cathedral of St. Boris and Gleb in Ryazan by Hieromonk Abel (Makedonov), then they were recorded with his blessing by nun Seraphima (Masalitinova). On January 12, 1987, Blessed Lyubov of Ryazan was glorified for local veneration. Her memory is celebrated:
February 21 (8th century) – day of death;
June 23 (10th century) - commemoration of the Council of Saints of the Land of Ryazan.
Icon
Blzh. Lyubov Ryazanskaya
Is novelty necessary in icon painting?
There is no need to confuse new and “new”. “New” usually aims to engage, entertain, and gather an audience. But the Church is not an exhibition hall or a theater, it is a holy place. The new appears there as a miracle, as a revelation, as an inspiration, which arises not for the public’s needs, but according to the inner intuition of a master immersed in eternity.
To depict the Holy Trinity in a new way, you need to have a vision of the Holy Trinity - no more and no less, as was the case with the Monk Andrei Rublev.
New things most often appear as a response to the movement of church history. For example, in the twentieth century many new martyrs appeared. Each time it is a new personality, a new situation that requires comprehension. Let us recall, as a striking example, the iconography of the Royal Passion-Bearers - the image of the last emperor with his wife and children. This is a completely new and very significant theme of modern church art.
But if you try “from the wind of your head” to compose something original in order to receive some kind of award or recognition for it, this is strange, absurd and essentially of no use to anyone.
An example is the composition “First Steps”. This is a claim to new iconography, since the first steps of the Mother of God were previously depicted (the icon “The Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple - editor’s note), but not the Savior. The Church has always observed special caution regarding any images of the Lord Jesus Christ. In particular, there was a rule according to which any image was possible only if there was at least someone who saw the event (or person) being depicted. There must be at least apocrypha.
But no one saw the infancy of Christ, his first steps were not mentioned anywhere. That is, such an image is a figment of fantasy. But fantasy is daydreaming; a dream is an illusion that has nothing to do with spiritual experience. And spiritual experience is true knowledge of oneself through deep cleansing of the heart and mind. Only then is spiritual vision gained, allowing one to at least partially understand the higher world.
In the matter of recognition of new iconography, it is desirable that difficult cases be resolved by the conciliar consciousness of the Church. We need a permanent commission of high professionals, representatives of the clergy, theologians, which will consider new ideas in church art. This commission could make recommendatory decisions, which over time would receive approbation by the Church.
