Many
Catholics today are familiar with the names of Saints Perpetua and Felicity.
The two women martyrs, as well as the names of many other saints, are included
in the Eucharistic Prayer I[1],
said at the mass. Apart from the names however, how many people actually know
much, if anything about the two saints? For me, they were just names connected
to the mass, I knew that they were martyrs but I did not know much besides
that. They share the feast day of March 6th,[2]
with many other saints, and are often not celebrated, allowing St. Colette to
be known for the day.[3]
The
Passion of the Holy Martyrs was primarily written by St. Perpetua. It was
written centuries ago, while Catholics in Rome were still being persecuted for
their faith. It documents the tale of St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, as well as
many others, few of whom were actually mentioned by name, and the trials and
temptations they endured before their martyrdom.
Throughout
the rather short story, only hitting about six chapters, one can easily
identify the faith which these martyrs had. Each chapter, rather than receiving
a simple title, received a rather brief description of what was covered within
the pages of the chapter. The temptations touched upon within the story were
fascinating. Had any of the martyrs chosen to follow through with any
temptation it appeared as though they would have been granted peace from Rome.
If they had denied their faith they would never have had to endure martyrdom.
Perpetua
was in constant battle, first she had to make peace with denying her father, a
rather well off Roman citizen who begged her to return home to care for her
son, and then had to follow through with what she knew God was calling her to
participate in. More than once it appeared that if she were to renounce her
faith and turn to her father she would be spared. Christ kept her strong
throughout these temptations, and blessed her with visions reminding her of His
plan.
Saint
Felicity had an equally beautiful faith. The story was documented by Saint
Perpetua, so what we hear of Saint Felicity, is rather small, though not
unimportant. Felicity is quite obviously the other main martyr of the book. A servant
girl[4],
condemned for not denying her faith. She sees the beauty in suffering and longs
to meet Christ, and share in His suffering. It becomes quite evident how deeply
she longs to be united to God through this act of faith and sacrifice. She,
like Perpetua, had to deal with temptations, and in her case, the possible
prevention of her martyrdom for a period of time.
This
book does not meet the normal criteria of describing the author, or the index.
The book is really just a documentation of what St. Perpetua experienced,
whether it is the trials, the visions, the temptations to renounce God, the
struggles of her friends and fellow martyrs, or the final piece of the tale,
the actual martyrdom. It is a true testament to faith, and sacrifice. It leads
the reader to reflect on how far they would be willing to follow God. Would it
be to the death, or would the temptations win out? Would the pressure of
family, friends, and society as a whole, would that be enough to make you fold
on something as important as our God and our faith? I would like to say no, but
deep down I know, after reading this book that there is still a lot I must
learn and accept, I’m weak, and I take the fact that I can more or less freely
practice my faith for granted. If it came down to it, would I be able to stand
up for what I believe? These are the questions which managed to hit my heart
while reading this beautiful book. I recommend reading it. The writing is deep,
but short, well worth the read.
[1]
The magnificat
[2] Alban Butler, Butler's Lives of the Saints, concise ed., ed. Michael J. Walsh (San Francisco: Harper
& Row, 1985), 451.
[3] Ibid
(Pg. 69)
[4] Phillap Schaff, ed., Anf03. Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian, accessed June 25, 2014,http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.vi.vi.iii.html.
No comments:
Post a Comment