Perpetua and Felicity | |
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.jpg) The martyrdom of Perpetua, Felicitas, Revocatus, Saturninus and Saturus from theMenologion of Basil II (c. AD 1000) | |
| Martyrs | |
| Born | c. 182 |
| Died | c. 203 (aged 20–21) Carthage,Roman province of Africa |
| Venerated in | |
| Canonized | Pre-congregation |
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| Patronage |
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Perpetua andFelicity (Latin:Perpetua et Felicitas;c. 182[5] –c. 203) wereChristian martyrs of the third century.Vibia Perpetua was a recently married, well-educatednoblewoman, said to have been 22 years old at the time of her death, and mother of an infant son she was nursing.[6] Felicity, aslave woman imprisoned with her and pregnant at the time, was martyred with her. They were put to death along with others atCarthage in theRoman province of Africa.
ThePassion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity narrates their death. According to this text, five people were arrested and executed in military games to celebrateemperorSeptimius Severus's birthday. Along with Felicity and Perpetua, these included two free men, Saturninus and Secundulus, and an enslaved man named Revocatus; all werecatechumens (Christians being instructed in the faith but not yetbaptized). To this group of five was added a sixth, Saturus, who voluntarily went before themagistrate and proclaimed himself a Christian. Perpetua's first-person narrative was published posthumously as part of thePassion.[7][8]
Perpetua's account opens with conflict between her and her father, who desires that sherecant her belief. Perpetua refuses, and is soon baptized before being moved to prison. Perpetua was imprisoned in Carthage in the days leading up to her martyrdom. She described these days and what she endured in her diary.[6]
Perpetua described the physical and emotional torments that she suffered in the prison leading up to her martyrdom. Perpetua suffered physically due to the heat, rough prison guards, and the cessation of regular breastfeeding. Perpetua also described how the prison conditions improved after she was able to bribe the guards so that she and the other martyrs were moved to another part of the prison, with her infant. Her physical torment was also eased after she was able to breastfeed her child.[9] Perpetua described bodily ailments in detail and the most common in her narrative was the cycle of pain and relief she would feel in her breasts.
At the encouragement of her brother, Perpetua asks for and receives a vision, in which she climbs a dangerous ladder to which various weapons are attached. At the foot of a ladder is a serpent, which is faced first by Saturus and later by Perpetua. The serpent does not harm her, and she ascends to a garden. At the conclusion of her dream, Perpetua realizes that the martyrs will suffer.
The day before her martyrdom, Perpetua envisions herself defeating a savage Egyptian and interprets this to mean that she would have to do battle not merely with wild beasts, but with the Devil as well.
In Carthage abasilica was erected over the tomb of the martyrs, the Basilica Maiorum, where an ancient inscription bearing the names of Perpetua and Felicitas has been found.
Saints Felicitas and Perpetua are among the martyrs commemorated by name in the RomanCanon of the Mass.
Thefeast day of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas, 7 March, was celebrated across the Roman Empire and was entered in thePhilocalian Calendar, the fourth-century calendar of martyrs venerated publicly in Rome. When SaintThomas Aquinas's feast was inserted into the Roman calendar, for celebration on the same day, the two African saints were thenceforth only commemorated. TheTridentine calendar, established byPope Pius V, continued to commemorate the two until 1908, whenPope Pius X brought the date for celebrating them forward to 6 March.[10] In the1969 revision of theGeneral Roman Calendar, the feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas was moved, and that of Saints Perpetua and Felicity was restored to their traditional 7 March date.[11]
Other churches, including theLutheran Church and theEpiscopal Church, commemorate these two martyrs on 7 March, never having altered the date to 6 March. TheAnglican Church of Canada, however, historically commemorated them on 6 March (The Book of Common Prayer, 1962), but have since changed to the traditional 7 March date (Book of Alternative Services, 1985).
Perpetua and Felicity areremembered in theChurch of England and theEpiscopal Church on 7 March.[12][13]
In theEastern Orthodox Church the feast day of Saints Perpetua of Carthage and thecatechumens Saturus, Revocatus, Saturninus, Secundulus, and Felicitas is1 February.[14][1][2]
Perpetua is commemorated by the church on March 7.
She was "of good family, recently married, and well educated with an infant son at her breast."
Perpetua | |
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| Felicity | |
