Today is March 7, the Friday after Ash Wednesday.
Today, the Church celebrates two Roman martyrs: St. Perpetua and St. Felicity. One of my favorite details from the account of their martyrdom is related to our gospel today. In the midst of Perpetua’s martyrdom, she is thrown around by the wild beasts. In the midst of this, Perpetua “bound up her disheveled hair; for it was not becoming for a martyr to suffer with disheveled hair, lest she should appear to be mourning in her glory.”
This detail is reminiscent of the words of Jesus. In today’s Gospel, when the Pharisees ask Jesus why his disciples do not fast, Jesus answers them: “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast” (Mt 9:15).
In the arena, Perpetua found that her time of fasting and mourning were at an end. In suffering, she knew that her Bridegroom was drawing close to her and glory was opening up before her. Knowing this, what did she do? In confidence and self-possession, Perpetua bound up her hair. That’s when you know the fighting is about to get fierce! Then, Perpetua reached down for Felicity and pulled her up. Side-by-side, they stood facing the raucous crowd calling for their deaths.
The path to glory
In Lent, we face our own enemies calling for our downfall. Fasting brings us into the arena of fighting these enemies and suffering to overcome them. Suffering leads us to glory.
The time for fasting is here but our Bridegroom is near, and glory is moments away. It is in the arena of our hearts, fighting and overcoming passions and temptations, that our mourning turns into joy. As we overcome flesh and demon, world and weakness, we know that the victory will be ours in Christ Jesus.
Let us pray,
O God, at the urging of whose love the Martyrs Saints Perpetua and Felicity defied their persecutors and overcame the torment of death, grant, we ask, by their prayers, that we may ever grow in your love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
