The Feast of St. Sophia

Happy name day, Sophia, and happy feast day to St. Sophia!  Honestly, I just think both Saints Sophia remind me of my little one, so I have a hard time choosing which to celebrate: St. Sophia, Mother of Orphans (6/4) or St. Sophia, the Martyr (9/17).  But since Bobby's name day is September 17th and I kind of feel like Sophia would have liked St. Sophia of Ainos, today wins! :)

Today is the feast day of St. Sophia of Ainos.  A wife and mother of 6, she lost her husband and children to the plague.  In spite of modest wealth, she turned her sites on a more ascetic life and became a mother to all those orphaned and in need.  It is said that she adopted hundreds of children in her lifetime.

This saint reminds me of our Sophia in her adoption of orphans.  Adoption, clearly, is very close to my heart, but I felt so much like an orphaned parent after Nick and Sophie (and later Alex) died.  I'd like to think that it was Sophia, embracing this spirit of a patron, who adopted us in our orphanedness and gave us the strength to go on.

Holy Wisdom. Sophia means "wisdom" in Greek, and our Sophia's full name means "wisdom of the world". I often think that behind her eyes would have rested the secrets of the universe, if she would have had the voice to speak them. Perhaps that was her gift, in and of itself. An unspoken truth, a hidden wisdom. The wisdom of the world. She's the wisdom of my world, no doubt.

Happy Saints day, my sweet little Sophia.  Tonight, we'll have your kielbasa and pierogi, and celebrate the joy that you brought- and still bring- to our lives!