perpetua and felicitas
Giving Their All
The time was around AD 200 in North Africa. Rome was under the rule of Septimus Severus. As emperor, he proposed to bring all citizens under syncretism, which meant the acceptance of all gods under the worship of Sol invictus—the Unconquered Sun. But two groups would not conform to this type of religion: Jews and Christians. Severus decided to stop the spread of both, and persecution of Christians (as well as Jews) quickly increased.
But within this religious culture a strong Christian community existed. Perpetua, a young, educated, well-to-do woman, had become a Christian. She lived with her husband, her infant son, and her beloved slave, Felicitas, in Carthage.
Though she was still nursing her infant son, Perpetua and Felicitas were arrested by Roman officials, who threw them into prison. Quickly, Perpetua’s father went to rescue her. He knew she was in danger of losing her life and that there was an easy escape: deny she was a Christian.
She responded, “Father, do you see this vase here?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Could it be called by any other name than what it is?”
“No.”
“I cannot be called anything other than what I am—a Christian.”
The word angered her father. He pleaded, “Think of your mother, your brother, your aunt. Please, Perpetua, think of me, your aging father. But most of all, think of your little baby!”
She agonized over her father’s pain, but she knew there was no turning back. Young women did not deny their fathers’ pleas in that patriarchal society. Perpetua’s choice to remain faithful to God had disgraced her family. Finally, her father left her and Felicitas to suffer the consequences of their decision: being devoured by beasts.
Two deacons, Tertius and Pomponius, tried to take care of Perpetua and Felicitas while they awaited their death sentence. The two men bribed the prison soldiers to give Perpetua permission to nurse her baby. The young mother wrote in her journal: “My prison had suddenly become a palace, so that I wanted to be there rather than anywhere else.”
Felicitas was expecting a child at the time of the arrest. During her eighth month of pregnancy, the faithful slave gave birth. She told the jailers, “Now my sufferings are only mine. But when I face the beasts there will be another who will live in me, and will suffer for me since I shall be suffering for him.” Providentially, Felicitas’s child was adopted by a Christian woman.
Perpetua saw the profound grief her decision was causing her brother. He said, “Dear sister, you are greatly privileged; surely you might ask for a vision to discover whether you are to be condemned or freed.” Faithfully, she asked the Lord for a vision.
She then saw a bronze ladder reaching to the heavens. It was narrow and looked as if only one person could climb the steps. On the side of the ladder were many weapons—swords, spears, hooks, and spikes. Perpetua knew that if she were to try to climb the ladder without caution and care, she would be mangled. At the bottom of the ladder lay a dragon, waiting to attack anyone who would try and climb the ladder. Perpetua then saw Saturus, the mentor who taught her about Christianity, beckoning her to follow him to the heavens. She sensed the dragon was afraid of her and dreaded her strength. Once she had witnessed this vision, she told her brother that she believed she must suffer for the faith and not go free.
One morning, Roman guards hurried Perpetua and Felicitas to their hearing. Her father appeared, pleading with her one final time to have mercy on her baby and burn incense to the gods. The governor asked Perpetua to have pity on her father and offer the sacrifice for the welfare of her family.
“I will not!” she vehemently cried.
“Are you a Christian?” asked the governor.
“Yes, I am.”
When her father continued to plead for Perpetua to renounce her faith, the governor ordered her father to be beaten. She felt as if the blows actually landed on her body. Finally, Perpetua and Felicitus were condemned to the beasts. They returned to their cell knowing their sentence, yet in high spirits.
On March 7, 203, marching to the amphitheater with calm hearts, the women trembled with joy rather than fear. Perpetua’s countenance was one of peace, testifying to her love for God. The two sisters in Christ were led to the gates, where they were forced to wear the robes of the god Ceres. Perpetua begged for the freedom to declare Jesus as Lord. The officials finally complied with her request and she began to sing hymns to the Lord, rejoicing that she had fellowship with the sufferings of Christ.
The two young women were stripped naked, and the officials set loose a mad heifer to devour their flesh. The crowd was horrified to see that a young girl and a nursing mother were to die, so the officials gave them tunics to cover their bodies.
The mad animal violently tossed Perpetua and crushed Felicitas. The Christian men to be martyred entered the stadium, and Perpetua encouraged them to stand strong to the end despite the savage death they faced.
Shortly after the death of these women, Christian persecution subsided for a time. Perhaps the Roman world glimpsed its own savagery and was repelled by the cruelty of the human heart. Maybe the spectators who witnessed the testimony of the young women saw a glimpse of Jesus as the windows of heaven opened and He welcomed them with loving arms.
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
(Galatians 2:20)