Commemoration of Saints Symphorosa and Her Seven Sons, Martyrs
III Class; Lauds Commemoration
Scriptural Texts for Meditation:
“Wonder not, brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not, abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer… hereby we have known the charity of God: because He hath laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
(1 John 3:13–16)
“This is My commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends… I have called you friends: because all things whatsoever I have heard of My Father, I have made known to you.”
(John 15:12–16)
I. Love in the Face of Hatred
On this day when Holy Church recalls the burning charity of Saint Camillus de Lellis, who nursed the sick and dying with a supernatural tenderness, the Epistle and Gospel speak in unison of a love that does not falter in the face of suffering — a love conformed to Christ crucified.
Saint John writes, “Wonder not, brethren, if the world hate you,” (1 Jn 3:13) — a word that seems to hang over every age. The Church Fathers are unanimous: this hatred is not merely social or political, but spiritual — the enmity between the seed of the serpent and that of the Woman (cf. Gen. 3:15). Saint Augustine comments:
“Do not marvel, he says, if the world hates you. The world hates Christ; and it will hate those who are Christ’s. You are not of the world, even as Christ was not of the world. Therefore, the world hateth you because you are not of it.”
— In Epist. Ioannis ad Parthos, Tract. 5
And what is the answer to such hatred? Not retreat, not vengeance — but love. And not just love in words, but in sacrificial deeds. Saint Camillus, who called the sick his “lords and masters,” manifested the Gospel truth that we “ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” Not in sentimentalism, but in heroic action.
II. The Charity of the Cross
The Gospel proclaimed today brings us back to the Upper Room, to the night of the Lord’s betrayal, where He gave a “new commandment” not based on sentiment, but imitation: “Love one another, as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12). How did He love us? Unto death.
Saint Gregory the Great sees in this love the measure of true sanctity:
“There are some who love their neighbor only in word, and not in deed. But true charity is proved by the action of laying down one’s life — not only in death, but by daily sacrifices, by the patient bearing of infirmities, by long-suffering toward others’ weaknesses.”
— Homiliae in Evangelia, Hom. 27
Thus did Saint Camillus pour himself out for the bodies of the afflicted — and their souls. He did not serve mere human need, but he saw in the dying Christ crucified, and in the sick a chance to offer all as reparation and charity. Saint John Chrysostom, interpreting these words, says:
“Christ calls them friends not only because they know His secrets, but because they share in His work — for He gave His life, and so do they. Those who are united to Christ must imitate His death, in suffering and in love.”
— Hom. on John, 76.1
III. The Martyrs and the Measure of Love
Today we also commemorate the holy martyr Symphorosa and her seven sons, who suffered under Hadrian’s cruelty. They, too, bore witness to this love stronger than death — each one offering his life rather than deny Christ. Saint Bede the Venerable writes:
“In the holy mother and her seven sons is fulfilled the law of Christ: ‘Greater love hath no man.’ She bore them unto natural life, and in martyrdom bore them again unto eternal life.”
— Comment. in Acta Martyrum
What is the connection between the confessor who serves in hospitals and the martyr who bleeds in the amphitheatre? Charity. That virtue which does not count the cost, because it is rooted in God. Both Saint Camillus and the Martyr Saints were animated by the same flame of divine love — caritas Christi urget nos — “the charity of Christ presseth us” (2 Cor. 5:14).
IV. The Call for Today
We who live in an age of comfort and distraction must confront the sharp edge of these words: “He that loveth not, abideth in death.” The charity of Christ is not optional. It is the mark of regeneration. As Saint John Damascene wrote:
“The life of the Christian is nothing else than the imitation of Christ, especially in love: love that gives, that suffers, that is crucified.”
— De Fide Orthodoxa, IV.9
Let us, then, take up anew the works of mercy — corporal and spiritual — and strive to love not in word only, but “in deed and in truth” (1 Jn 3:18), after the example of Saint Camillus. Let us pray for that fire of charity that made him fearless in the face of plague, contagion, and death — and for the intercession of Saints Symphorosa and her sons, that we too may be faithful unto death.
Collect of Saint Camillus de Lellis
O God, Who didst adorn blessed Camillus, Thy Confessor, with a singular gift of charity toward the sick: pour forth, we beseech Thee, upon us, by his merits and intercession, the spirit of Thy love; that by serving Thee in our brethren on earth, we may, at the hour of our death, be found worthy to be received by Thee into everlasting joy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commemoration of the Holy Martyrs
Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that as we never fail to celebrate the heavenly birthday of Thy holy Martyrs Symphorosa and her Seven Sons, so we may ever rejoice in their intercession. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.