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St. Perpetua and St. Felicity
March 7, Martyrs


Source: Holyspiritinteractive.net



Roman Martyrology:  Martyrs. Perpetua was a 22 year old married Christian woman who lived in Carthage during the first century. She had given birth to a son a few months before she was arrested for her faith, under the persecutions of Septimus Severus. A pregnant slave, Felicity, with her husband Revocatus and six other African Christian men were also arrested. The group was kept together in a house for several weeks, during which time Felicity had her baby. Around this day in 202, they were gathered together and taken to the games. Contemporary accounts say they left joyfully 'as though they were on their way to heaven'.


Etymology:  
Perpetua: from Latin perpetuus meaning "continuous".
Felicity: From the English word felicity meaning "happiness", which ultimately derives from Latin felicitas "good luck".

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Perpetua and Felicity lived in Carthage, North Africa, in the third century. It was the time of the fierce persecution of Christians by Emperor Septimus Severus.

“When my father in his affection for me was trying to turn me from my purpose by arguments and thus weaken my faith, I said to him, ‘Do you see this vessel—waterpot or whatever it may be? Can it be called by any other name than what it is?’ ‘No,’ he replied. ‘So also I cannot call myself by any other name than what I am—a Christian.’”




So writes the twenty-two-year-old Perpetua, young, beautiful, well-educated, a noblewoman of Carthage in North Africa, mother of an infant son and chronicler of the persecution of the Christians by Emperor Septimius Severus.
While growing up, she had received everything she wanted. But she realized that she loved Jesus and her Christian faith more than anything the world could offer. For this she found herself a prisoner on the way to execution.


Perpetua's father was a pagan. He did everything possible to persuade his daughter to give up her Christian faith. He tried to convince her of the importance of saving her life. But the woman would not give in, even though she knew that she would have to leave behind her husband and baby.

Felicity, Perpetua's Christian maid, had been a slave. She and Perpetua were great friends. They shared their belief in and love for Jesus. Felicity, too, was willing to sacrifice her life for Jesus and for her faith. For this she also found herself a prisoner on the way to execution.

Despite threats of persecution and death, Perpetua, Felicity and three companions, Revocatus, Secundulus and Saturninus, refused to renounce their Christian faith. For their unwillingness, all were sent to the public games in the amphitheater.

Felicity was also a young wife. While in prison for her faith, she became a mother as well. Her little baby was adopted by a good Christian woman. Felicity was happy because now she could die a martyr.

 Hand in hand, Perpetua and Felicity bravely faced martyrdom together. In the public games, Perpetua and Felicity were beheaded, and the others killed by beasts.


In her diary, Perpetua describes her period of captivity: “What a day of horror! Terrible heat, owing to the crowds! Rough treatment by the soldiers! To crown all, I was tormented with anxiety for my baby.... Such anxieties I suffered for many days, but I obtained leave for my baby to remain in the prison with me, and being relieved of my trouble and anxiety for him, I at once recovered my health, and my prison became a palace to me and I would rather have been there than anywhere else.”

They are both considered patrons of nurturing mothers and expecting mothers.

 








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