Miyazya 8 — April 16

Three Holy Friends: Agali, Erani, and Susnonya

Today we remember three young women who were the best of friends. Their names were Agali, Erani, and Susnonya. They lived long ago in a city called Thessalonica, and their mothers and fathers loved God very much.

The three friends loved God too. They made a promise together to follow Jesus all their lives. They prayed, they sang, and they did kind things for other people. They were gentle and good, like little lambs in God's flock.

In those days a ruler named Maximianus did not want people to worship the one true God. So the three friends went to live quietly on a mountain, inside a cave, a cozy hollow space tucked into the side of the hill, where they could keep praying in peace.

A kind old woman helped them. Every week she walked up the mountain to bring them food and everything they needed. The friends made things with their hands, and the old woman sold them and shared the money with people who were poor. What a helpful, loving friend she was!

One day the ruler's helpers found the three friends and asked them, "Do you really follow Jesus?" The friends were not afraid. They said yes, loud and clear, because they loved God with all their hearts. They stayed faithful right to the end, and then they went home to live with God forever, each one given a beautiful crown in heaven.

We say thank you to Agali, Erani, and Susnonya for their brave love, and a big thank you to the kind old woman who took such good care of them.

The three friends made a promise together to follow Jesus all their lives.

One Hundred and Fifty Faithful Hearts

On this day we also remember one hundred and fifty people who loved God. That is a very big group. Imagine a whole school full of people who all believed in God together!

A king from a faraway land called Persia took these people to his country. He wanted them to bow down to the sun and the moon and the stars instead of God. But they knew that the sun, moon, and stars are only things God made. They would not bow to them. They worshipped only the God who made everything.

Even though it was hard, all one hundred and fifty stayed faithful to God. They were not afraid, because they trusted that God was holding them close. When their time on earth was finished, every single one of them received a crown of joy in heaven, where God wiped away every tear.

We say thank you to these brave one hundred and fifty friends of God, who chose the true God above everything else.

They worshipped only the God who made the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Timothy the Archbishop

Today we also remember a good church leader named Timothy. He was an archbishop, a shepherd-leader who takes care of many churches and helps God's people.

Timothy spent his life teaching people about God's love and praying for them. He looked after his church family with a kind and gentle heart, the way a good shepherd looks after the sheep.

We thank God for faithful leaders like Timothy, who help us learn to love God and one another.