Sts. Perpetua and Felicity
March 7
Saints Perpetua and Felicity were two martyrs from the early Church who died in A.D. 203 in Carthage, today known as Tunis, Tunisia. Together with other companions, they were imprisoned for their Christian faith when the governor of Carthage enforced an edict by the Roman emperor forbidding conversion to Christianity or Judaism. Sts. Perpetua and Felicity are best known for their joy and calm amid terror and horrendous suffering.
We can observe details of their plight by reading St. Perpetua’s diary, “The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity,” in which she recounts her trial and imprisonment. After her death, St. Perpetua’s journal was continued by a contemporary who documents how she and St. Felicity died in an amphitheater by the sword after facing a rabid heifer in the arena. Perpetua’s last words were, “Stand fast in the Faith and love one another.”
St. Perpetua’s journal expresses her joy while suffering for Christ as follows:
“The day of their victory dawned, and they marched from the prison to the amphitheater joyfully as though they were going to heaven, with calm faces, trembling, if at all, with joy rather than fear. Perpetua went along with shining countenance and calm step, as the beloved of God, as a wife of Christ, putting down everyone’s stare by her own intense gaze.”
After their arrest and before they were imprisoned, St. Perpetua and St. Felicity were baptized together with other arrested catechumens. Both saints are also to be admired for their concern for their infant children. While in prison, St. Perpetua’s mother and her brother, a catechumen, visited the two women. Her mother brought to St. Perpetua her little son, whom she was permitted to nurse and retain in prison with her. St. Felicity, who, at the time of her incarceration, was eight months pregnant, was concerned that she would not be permitted to suffer martyrdom like the others per a law forbidding the execution of pregnant women. However, two days before the amphitheater games, she rejoiced that she had given birth to a daughter, who then was adopted by a Christian woman.
St. Perpetua is also known for remaining steadfast in her faith despite the continual protests of a family member, her pagan father. At one time, she told him, “We lie not in our own power but in the power of God.” And no matter how many times her father tried to get her to renounce her faith, St. Perpetua remained strong and stood fast even though her decision meant she was to be thrown to wild beasts in the amphitheater.
Famous for a series of visions involving the afterlife and her struggle, St. Perpetua also prayed for the soul of her young brother Dinocrates, who had died as a pagan. When at first she saw him in a vision even more alone, in a dark place, and hot and thirsty, she began praying for him despite being put in stocks herself each day. Finally she had another vision in which she saw her brother healed and clean and drinking from a golden bowl that never emptied.
Reflection
Dear Jesus, may I never let any adversity nor human respect ever separate me from faith in you no matter how horrible or divisive it may be. May I rejoice in knowing I am always loved by you and use any time of trial to pray for those in even greater need such as the poor souls in purgatory.
Prayer
O God, at the urging of whose love
the martyrs Sts. 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.
