Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us And Saint Perpetua and Felicity

Stand In The Gap With Us And Saint Perpetua and Felicity 3/7/2024

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. wrote:

“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—water pot 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.’”

On March 7 the Catholic Church remembers Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, who suffered Martyrdom during the fifth persecution under Emperor Severus. This persecution greatly affected Africa where Sts. Perpetua and Felicity were from.

In the year 203, St. Perpetua was a woman raised with nobility. She was raised with great promise with one exception? Her Mother was a Catholic which was a dangerous way of life at the time because of the Roman Emperor's decree. It would not be long before St. Perpetua would be affected because of her families ties to the underground Church. Some of them, one of her Brothers especially, became a catechumen learning the faith from his sister.

St. Perpetua's father was a Pagan who loved his family but could not control them as their faith in Christ was too strong. At 22 years of age, you would think St. Perpetua, who had a small child, would have every reason to want to live, yet, her faith in Christ and the knowledge of everlasting life was even more important to her. It is believed that her husband was already a martyr, she was already a widow.