Perpetua and Felicity

Saints Perpetua and Felicity (died in 203)

I recently got a book on saints, and had never heard of them before that.

Their story is cool.

Perpetua was a wife and mother. Felicity was her servant. They were Christians, back in the day when Christians were murdered left and right.

Naturally, they were imprisoned for practicing their faith. The catch is that Perpetua had newborn son, and Felicity was 8 months pregnant.

While they were imprisoned, Perpetua started writing about it and her feelings and such. How she missed her son. How her father nagged her to denounce her faith, how her breasts hurt because she could not nurse her baby . . .

Eventually, they did allow her son to stay with her. In the meantime, an execution date was set and Felicity still did not have her baby! So, they had an all night prayer vigil, and she had the baby the day before her execution. It was a girl, which was adopted by a trust worthy friend.

The women were given the worst death imaginable, to fight with wild beasts in the arena. They were stripped (and then given their clothing back out of respect for their motherhood). They hugged each other and then were attacked. . They survived. Then they were stabbed by a solider, who apparently missed Perpetua. She actually helped direct the sword.

Perpetua's memoirs were completed by fellow Christians, and were read by the early church, almost as much as the Gospels. I admire their conviction. How easy we have it . . . . .or do we?

-Jamie Dillon