Saints Felicity & Perpetua (181-203 AD)

Perpetua and Felicity, patrons of expectant mothers, were martyrs of the early Church . . .

Felicity and Perpetua were vibrant young women who lived in Carthage, North Africa. Shortly after they were converted in 203, a persecution erupted in the Roman Empire. The women and three men, all catechumens ready for baptism, were arrested because they refused to worship the emperor. Saturus, their catechist, voluntarily joined them in prison and baptized them. Perpetua was a 22-year old noblewoman and the mother of an infant son. Her mother and brother took care of her baby. Felicity was eight months pregnant at that time.

We know more about this group of young martyrs than most Christians of their time because of a diary recounting their final days, including the actual words of Felicity, Perpetua and their friends.

The young women and their friends were tried before an angry mob, and the judge condemned them to fight wild beasts. Felicity feared that her pregnancy might prevent her from suffering with her friends. But they prayed for her, and she immediately delivered a baby girl who was adopted by a Christian woman. When a guard said that the beasts would cause her more pain than her delivery, she famously replied: “What I am suffering now, I suffer by myself. But then another will be within me, who will suffer for me.”

At the emperor’s birthday celebration, Perpetua, Felicity and their companions marched courageously into the arena. A wild cow tossed the women to the ground, but did not kill them. Soldiers were ordered to finish the women off by slitting their throats. When a novice soldier awkwardly struck Perpetua with his sword, she guided it to her own neck. “Perhaps so great a woman,” observed an eyewitness, “could not be dispatched unless she herself were willing.” Perpetua and Felicity are patrons of expectant mothers.

This column is produced for Legatus Magazine by Bert Ghezzi. He writes and speaks frequently about saints. Ghezzi’s books include “Voices of the Saints,” “Mystics and Miracles,” and “Saints at Heart.” Online: bertghezzi.com