Perpetua And Felicity Courageous Martyrs
Worship
What Grace They Received
Worship Commemorations For 12 Ancient And Modern Saints
Reader 2: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."
Reader 1: So spoke Tertullian, one of the early church fathers. From time to time in the first several centuries of the church's existence, anti-Christian persecution would break out in the Roman Empire. Christians were a favorite target because they refused to make sacrifices for the welfare of the emperor, whom the state regarded as a god.
So it happened with seven young Christians in the African city of Carthage in the year 202. Six were arrested, all of them catechumens who were being prepared for Christian baptism. The seventh person was Saturus, their teacher, their catechist; he had not been with his students when they were arrested, but later turned himself in so that he could share their fate.
Vibia Perpetua was one of those arrested, along with her slave, Felicity. Perpetua kept a journal while she was in prison, as did Saturus, her chatechist. An eyewitness to their deaths as martyrs joined their two written accounts and added an introduction and conclusion of his own.
Some have claimed that this eyewitness/editor was none other than Tertullian, one of the early church fathers. If it were Tertullian, what an irony that would be! That he would be the one responsible for preserving this beautiful story of courage and love and faithfulness of a Christian woman!
Because, you see, Tertullian was an influential representative of that group of Christian theologians who held a very negative opinion of women. For example: women, through Eve, were the source of sin in the world; according to God's will, women were to be subjected to men; women were not allowed to be teachers in the church.
The story of Perpetua stands out in marked contrast to these theological views. Here is the story of a woman who has much to teach the church: about the struggle to make moral decisions, about courage, about love.
Why did the compiler put this account together? Listen to his own words:
Reader 2: "For this reason we deem it necessary to pass on this written account for the glory of God, lest anyone with a weak or despairing faith might think that supernatural faith prevailed solely among the [biblical] ancients."
Reader 1: The compiler sets the scene:
Reader 2: "Arrested were some young catechumens: Revocatus and Felicitas (both servants), Saturninus, Secundulus, and Vibia Perpetua, a young married woman about 20 years of age, of good family and upbringing. She had a father, mother, two brothers (one was a catechumen like herself), and an infant son at the breast. The following account of her martyrdom is her own, a record in her own words of her perceptions of the event."
Reader 1: So let's listen to Perpetua's own story. One of her great difficulties was her relationship with her father, a Roman nobleman and not a Christian himself. Over and over again he attempted to persuade her to make the sacrifice to the emperor and thereby gain her freedom.
Reader 3: "While I was still with police authorities my father out of love for me tried to dissuade me from my resolution. 'Father,' I said, 'Do you see here, for example, this vase, or pitcher, or whatever it is?' 'I see it,' he said. 'Can it be named anything else than what it really is?' I asked, and he said, 'No.'
"So I also cannot be called anything else than what I am, a Christian.' For a few days my father stayed away. I thanked the Lord and felt relieved because of my father's absence. At this time we were baptized and the Spirit instructed me not to request anything from the baptismal waters except endurance of physical suffering."
Reader 1: Another of Perpetua's concerns was her infant son. She felt a deep sense of responsibility and love for him. Yet if she maintained her courageous witness to Christian truth, she would lose her life and thus deprive her son of his mother.
Reader 3: "A few days later we were imprisoned. I was terrified because never before had I experienced such darkness. What a terrible day! Because of crowded conditions and rough treatment by the soldiers the heat was unbearable. My condition was aggravated by my anxiety for my babyÉ In my anxiety for my infant I spoke to my mother about him, tried to console my brother, and asked that they care for my son. Then I was granted the privilege of having my son remain with me in prison. Being relieved of my anxiety and concern for the infant, I immediately regained my strength. Suddenly the prison became my palace, and I loved being there rather than any other place."
Reader 1: Then came the day of Perpetua's trial.
Reader 3: "Hilarion, the governor, who assumed power after the death of the proconsul Minusius Timinianus, said, 'Have pity on your father's grey head; have pity on your infant son; offer sacrifice for the emperor's welfare.' But I answered, 'I will not.' Hilarion asked, 'Are you a Christian?' And I answered, 'I am a Christian.'É Then the sentence was passed; all of us were condemned to the beasts. We were overjoyed as we went back to the prison cell. Since I was still nursing my child who was ordinarily in the cell with me, I quickly sent the deacon Pomponius to my father's house to ask for the baby, but my father refused to give him up. Then God saw to it that my child no longer needed my nursing, nor were my breasts inflamed. After that I was no longer tortured by my anxiety about my child or by pain in my breasts."
Reader 1: They were "overjoyed" when the sentence was passed. It is difficult for us to take that in. Yet it was considered a privilege to die for the faith. Their martyrdom would be like their second baptism. In fact, if a Christian were martyred before he had been baptized, his death was regarded as a ''baptism in blood.''
All of which is not to say that Perpetua did not at first fear her confrontation with the wild beasts. But while she was in prison she had several dreams which helped to reassure her and shore up her courage. In one of the dreams she saw a ladder, stretching from earth to heaven. At the top was a beautiful garden. She was climbing this ladder and having to fend off a fierce dragon as she did so. But she reached the top -- a symbol of God's kingdom -- and a grey-haired man dressed like a shepherd -- God, we are to presume -- said, "Welcome, my child," and offered her cheese -- the heavenly banquet?
Reader 3: "I awoke, still tasting the sweet cheese. I immediately told my brother about the vision, and we both realized that we were to experience the sufferings of martyrdom. From then on we gave up any hope in this world."
Reader 1: Our compiler gives us some further information about Felicity, Perpetua's slave, also arrested.
Reader 2: "As for Felicity, she was too touched by God's grace in the following manner. She was pregnant when she was arrested and was now in her eighth month. As the day of the contest approached, she became very distressed that her martyrdom might be delayed, since the law forbade the execution of a pregnant woman. Then she would later have to shed her holy and innocent blood among common criminals. Her friends in martyrdom were equally sad at the thought of abandoning such a good friend to travel alone on the same road to hope.
"And so, two days before the contest, united in grief they prayed to the Lord. Immediately after the prayers her labor pains began. Because of the additional pain natural of an eighth month delivery, she suffered greatly during the birth, and one of the prison guards taunted her: 'If you're complaining now, what will you do when you're thrown to the wild beasts? You didn't think of them when you refused to sacrifice.' She answered, 'Now it is I who suffer, but then another shall be in me to bear the pain for me, since I am now suffering for him.' "
Reader 1: The compiler does give us the gruesome details of the contest itself. "Contest?" Why do they call it a contest? Pitting human beings against a bear, a leopard and a wild boar is no contest. The seven were finally released from their pain and from their earthly lives by the swords of the gladiators. ButÉ
Reader 2: "É before doing so the seven kissed each other so that their martyrdom would be completely perfected by the rite of the kiss of peace."
Reader 1: The kiss of peace, which was exchanged in worship on every Lord's day, just before the Eucharist was celebrated, the foretaste of the feast to come. The kiss of peace preparing these young martyrs for the heavenly feast at God's banquet table.
Reader 2: "O brave and fortunate martyrs, truly called and chosen to give honor to our Lord Jesus Christ! And anyone who is elaborating upon, or who reverences or worships that honor, should read these more recent examples, along with the ancient, as sources of encouragement for the Christian community. In this way there will be new examples of courage witnessing to the fact that even in our day the same Holy Spirit is still efficaciously present, along with the all powerful God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom there will always be glory and endless power. Amen."
Bibliography
Marie Anne Mayeski, Women: Models of Liberation. Kansas City: Sheed & Ward, 1988. [Which contains the full text of the Passion of Perpetua and Felicity, reprinted from A Lost Tradition: Women Writers of the Early Church, translated by Rosemary Rader, University Press of America, 1981.]
Hymn Of The Day: "O Morning Star, How Fair And Bright," (especially verses 5 and 6)
Prayer Of The Day:
Gracious Lord, in every age you have sent men and women who have given their lives for the message of your love. Inspire us with the memory of those martyrs for the gospel, like your servants Perpetua and Felicity, whose faithfulness led them in the way of the cross, and give us courage to bear full witness with our lives to your Son's victory over sin and death; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayers:
In thankfulness for Perpetua and Felicity and the other martyrs of the church, that their faithful courage may be the seed of faith growing in us.
Reader 1: So spoke Tertullian, one of the early church fathers. From time to time in the first several centuries of the church's existence, anti-Christian persecution would break out in the Roman Empire. Christians were a favorite target because they refused to make sacrifices for the welfare of the emperor, whom the state regarded as a god.
So it happened with seven young Christians in the African city of Carthage in the year 202. Six were arrested, all of them catechumens who were being prepared for Christian baptism. The seventh person was Saturus, their teacher, their catechist; he had not been with his students when they were arrested, but later turned himself in so that he could share their fate.
Vibia Perpetua was one of those arrested, along with her slave, Felicity. Perpetua kept a journal while she was in prison, as did Saturus, her chatechist. An eyewitness to their deaths as martyrs joined their two written accounts and added an introduction and conclusion of his own.
Some have claimed that this eyewitness/editor was none other than Tertullian, one of the early church fathers. If it were Tertullian, what an irony that would be! That he would be the one responsible for preserving this beautiful story of courage and love and faithfulness of a Christian woman!
Because, you see, Tertullian was an influential representative of that group of Christian theologians who held a very negative opinion of women. For example: women, through Eve, were the source of sin in the world; according to God's will, women were to be subjected to men; women were not allowed to be teachers in the church.
The story of Perpetua stands out in marked contrast to these theological views. Here is the story of a woman who has much to teach the church: about the struggle to make moral decisions, about courage, about love.
Why did the compiler put this account together? Listen to his own words:
Reader 2: "For this reason we deem it necessary to pass on this written account for the glory of God, lest anyone with a weak or despairing faith might think that supernatural faith prevailed solely among the [biblical] ancients."
Reader 1: The compiler sets the scene:
Reader 2: "Arrested were some young catechumens: Revocatus and Felicitas (both servants), Saturninus, Secundulus, and Vibia Perpetua, a young married woman about 20 years of age, of good family and upbringing. She had a father, mother, two brothers (one was a catechumen like herself), and an infant son at the breast. The following account of her martyrdom is her own, a record in her own words of her perceptions of the event."
Reader 1: So let's listen to Perpetua's own story. One of her great difficulties was her relationship with her father, a Roman nobleman and not a Christian himself. Over and over again he attempted to persuade her to make the sacrifice to the emperor and thereby gain her freedom.
Reader 3: "While I was still with police authorities my father out of love for me tried to dissuade me from my resolution. 'Father,' I said, 'Do you see here, for example, this vase, or pitcher, or whatever it is?' 'I see it,' he said. 'Can it be named anything else than what it really is?' I asked, and he said, 'No.'
"So I also cannot be called anything else than what I am, a Christian.' For a few days my father stayed away. I thanked the Lord and felt relieved because of my father's absence. At this time we were baptized and the Spirit instructed me not to request anything from the baptismal waters except endurance of physical suffering."
Reader 1: Another of Perpetua's concerns was her infant son. She felt a deep sense of responsibility and love for him. Yet if she maintained her courageous witness to Christian truth, she would lose her life and thus deprive her son of his mother.
Reader 3: "A few days later we were imprisoned. I was terrified because never before had I experienced such darkness. What a terrible day! Because of crowded conditions and rough treatment by the soldiers the heat was unbearable. My condition was aggravated by my anxiety for my babyÉ In my anxiety for my infant I spoke to my mother about him, tried to console my brother, and asked that they care for my son. Then I was granted the privilege of having my son remain with me in prison. Being relieved of my anxiety and concern for the infant, I immediately regained my strength. Suddenly the prison became my palace, and I loved being there rather than any other place."
Reader 1: Then came the day of Perpetua's trial.
Reader 3: "Hilarion, the governor, who assumed power after the death of the proconsul Minusius Timinianus, said, 'Have pity on your father's grey head; have pity on your infant son; offer sacrifice for the emperor's welfare.' But I answered, 'I will not.' Hilarion asked, 'Are you a Christian?' And I answered, 'I am a Christian.'É Then the sentence was passed; all of us were condemned to the beasts. We were overjoyed as we went back to the prison cell. Since I was still nursing my child who was ordinarily in the cell with me, I quickly sent the deacon Pomponius to my father's house to ask for the baby, but my father refused to give him up. Then God saw to it that my child no longer needed my nursing, nor were my breasts inflamed. After that I was no longer tortured by my anxiety about my child or by pain in my breasts."
Reader 1: They were "overjoyed" when the sentence was passed. It is difficult for us to take that in. Yet it was considered a privilege to die for the faith. Their martyrdom would be like their second baptism. In fact, if a Christian were martyred before he had been baptized, his death was regarded as a ''baptism in blood.''
All of which is not to say that Perpetua did not at first fear her confrontation with the wild beasts. But while she was in prison she had several dreams which helped to reassure her and shore up her courage. In one of the dreams she saw a ladder, stretching from earth to heaven. At the top was a beautiful garden. She was climbing this ladder and having to fend off a fierce dragon as she did so. But she reached the top -- a symbol of God's kingdom -- and a grey-haired man dressed like a shepherd -- God, we are to presume -- said, "Welcome, my child," and offered her cheese -- the heavenly banquet?
Reader 3: "I awoke, still tasting the sweet cheese. I immediately told my brother about the vision, and we both realized that we were to experience the sufferings of martyrdom. From then on we gave up any hope in this world."
Reader 1: Our compiler gives us some further information about Felicity, Perpetua's slave, also arrested.
Reader 2: "As for Felicity, she was too touched by God's grace in the following manner. She was pregnant when she was arrested and was now in her eighth month. As the day of the contest approached, she became very distressed that her martyrdom might be delayed, since the law forbade the execution of a pregnant woman. Then she would later have to shed her holy and innocent blood among common criminals. Her friends in martyrdom were equally sad at the thought of abandoning such a good friend to travel alone on the same road to hope.
"And so, two days before the contest, united in grief they prayed to the Lord. Immediately after the prayers her labor pains began. Because of the additional pain natural of an eighth month delivery, she suffered greatly during the birth, and one of the prison guards taunted her: 'If you're complaining now, what will you do when you're thrown to the wild beasts? You didn't think of them when you refused to sacrifice.' She answered, 'Now it is I who suffer, but then another shall be in me to bear the pain for me, since I am now suffering for him.' "
Reader 1: The compiler does give us the gruesome details of the contest itself. "Contest?" Why do they call it a contest? Pitting human beings against a bear, a leopard and a wild boar is no contest. The seven were finally released from their pain and from their earthly lives by the swords of the gladiators. ButÉ
Reader 2: "É before doing so the seven kissed each other so that their martyrdom would be completely perfected by the rite of the kiss of peace."
Reader 1: The kiss of peace, which was exchanged in worship on every Lord's day, just before the Eucharist was celebrated, the foretaste of the feast to come. The kiss of peace preparing these young martyrs for the heavenly feast at God's banquet table.
Reader 2: "O brave and fortunate martyrs, truly called and chosen to give honor to our Lord Jesus Christ! And anyone who is elaborating upon, or who reverences or worships that honor, should read these more recent examples, along with the ancient, as sources of encouragement for the Christian community. In this way there will be new examples of courage witnessing to the fact that even in our day the same Holy Spirit is still efficaciously present, along with the all powerful God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom there will always be glory and endless power. Amen."
Bibliography
Marie Anne Mayeski, Women: Models of Liberation. Kansas City: Sheed & Ward, 1988. [Which contains the full text of the Passion of Perpetua and Felicity, reprinted from A Lost Tradition: Women Writers of the Early Church, translated by Rosemary Rader, University Press of America, 1981.]
Hymn Of The Day: "O Morning Star, How Fair And Bright," (especially verses 5 and 6)
Prayer Of The Day:
Gracious Lord, in every age you have sent men and women who have given their lives for the message of your love. Inspire us with the memory of those martyrs for the gospel, like your servants Perpetua and Felicity, whose faithfulness led them in the way of the cross, and give us courage to bear full witness with our lives to your Son's victory over sin and death; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayers:
In thankfulness for Perpetua and Felicity and the other martyrs of the church, that their faithful courage may be the seed of faith growing in us.
