Wednesday 7 March 2018

# Saints

Saints Felicitas and Perpetua


The 7th of March is the feast day of Saints Felicitas, also known as Felicity and Perpetua.

They died in 203 A.D. and were friends living in Carthage, North Africa. Both were catechumens, who were preparing to receive the Sacraments of the Church. Perpetua was a noblewoman who was married and nursing her first child. Felicity was pregnant and a Christian slave working as a household servant. Christianity was forbidden and they were both arrested with their catechists and another companion. Perpetua baptism was hastened due to her arrest and she prayed for the strength to withstand her trials that were to come. She kept a diary of her sufferings and visions while in prison, her writings became one of the oldest and treasured writings of early Christianity. Her father was a pagan and pleaded with her to deny her faith and brought her infant to persuade her. She refused and Felicity also remained faithful to the Church, giving birth in prison to a daughter, a few days before her execution. They were condemned to be torn apart in the arena by wild animals. Saint Perpetua said that the contest was not with animals but with the Devil. They were both mauled and then beheaded on the 7th of March 203.

Links

WebApp