martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
.
She is identified in hagiographical tradition with the figure of
Sophia of Milan
Saints Faith, Hope and Charity ( la, Fides, Spes et Caritas), are a group of Christian martyred saints, venerated together with their mother, Sophia ("Wisdom").
Although earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology commemorated Saints Faith, Hope ...
, the mother of
Saints Faith, Hope and Charity
Saints Faith, Hope and Charity ( la, Fides, Spes et Caritas), are a group of Christian martyred saints, venerated together with their mother, Sophia ("Wisdom").
Although earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology commemorated Saints Faith, Hop ...
, whose veneration is attested for the sixth century.
However, there are conflicting hagiographical traditions; one tradition makes Sophia herself a martyr under the
Diocletian Persecution
The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights ...
(303/4).
This conflicts with the much more widespread hagiographical tradition ( BHL 2966, also extant in Greek, Armenian and Georgian versions) placing Sophia, the mother of Faith, Hope and Charity, in the time of Diocletian (early fourth century) and reporting her dying not as a martyr but mourning for her martyred daughters.V. Saxer, "Sophia v. Rom" in: ''Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche'' vol. 9 (1993) 733f. /ref>
Her relics are said to have been translated to the convent at
Eschau
Eschau is a market community in the Miltenberg district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. It has a population of around 3,800.
Geography
Location
Eschau lies in the Bavarian Lower Mai ...
,
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
in 778, and her cult spread to Germany from there.
''
Acta Sanctorum
''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...
'' reports that her feast day of 15 May is attested in German, Belgian and English breviaries of the 16th century.
Roman Catholic hagiography of the early modern period attempted to identify the Saint Sophia venerated in Germany with various records of martyrs named Sophia recorded in the early medieval period, among them a record from the time of
Pope Sergius II
Pope Sergius II ( la, Sergius II; died 27 January 847) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from January 844 to his death in 847. Sergius II's pontificate saw the Arab raid against Rome as well as the city's redevelopment.
Rise
...
(9th century) reporting an inscription mentioning a virgin martyr named ''Sophia'' at the high altar of the church of
San Martino ai Monti
San Martino ai Monti, officially known as Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti ("Saints Sylvester & Martin in the Mountains"), is a minor basilica in Rome, Italy, in the Rione Monti neighbourhood. It is located near the edge of the Parco del Colle ...
.Carnandet (ed.), ''
Acta Sanctorum
''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...
'' vol. 16 (1866) p. 463 Saxer (2000) suggests that her veneration may indeed have originated in the later sixth century based on such inscriptions of the fourth to sixth centuries.
Based on her feast day on 15 May, she became one of the "
Ice Saints
The Ice Saints are St. Mamertus (or, in some countries, St. Boniface of Tarsus), St. Pancras, and St. Servatius. They are so named because their feast days fall on the days of May 11, May 12, and May 13 respectively, known as '' the blackthor ...
", the saints whose feast days are traditionally associated with the last possibility of frost in Central Europe.
She is known as ''kalte Sophie'' "cold Sophia" in Germany, and in Slovenia as ''poscana Zofka'' "pissy Sophia" or ''mokra Zofija'' "wet Sophia".
She is depicted on a column in the nave of St. Stephen's Cathedral in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
; it dates from the 15th century.
Churches
Churches dedicated to Sophia of Rome include:
* St. Sophia in Erbach, Odenwald, Germany
* St. Sophia in
Brüssow
Brüssow is a town in the Uckermark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 16 km southeast of Pasewalk
Pasewalk () is a town in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. Located on t ...
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, Germany
* St. Sophie in Randau,
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...
, Germany
*
Santa Sofia d'Epiro
Santa Sofia d'Epiro ( aae, Shën Sofia e Epirit) is an Arbëresh town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.
The town is bordered by Acri, Bisignano, San Demetrio Corone
San Demetrio Corone (Arbë ...
Ille-et-Vilaine
Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019.
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Russia
*Church of Saints Sofia and Tatiana of Rome at Filatov Pediatric Clinical Hospital, Moscow, Russia
See also
*
Saints Faith, Hope and Charity
Saints Faith, Hope and Charity ( la, Fides, Spes et Caritas), are a group of Christian martyred saints, venerated together with their mother, Sophia ("Wisdom").
Although earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology commemorated Saints Faith, Hop ...
*
Holy Wisdom
Holy Wisdom (Greek: , la, Sancta Sapientia, russian: Святая София Премудрость Божия, translit=Svyataya Sofiya Premudrost' Bozhiya "Holy Sophia, Divine Wisdom") is a concept in Christian theology.
Christian theology ...
Sophienkirche
The Sophienkirche (Saint Sophia's Church) was a church in Dresden.
It was located on the northeast corner of the Postplatz (post office square) in the old town before it was severely damaged in the Dresden bombing in 1945 and subsequently destr ...