The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity, is an account of the martyrdom of two of the most famous martyr saints in history, St. Perpetua and St. Felicity. It is more than just a simple narrative of their deaths, or a list of historical facts of their martyrdom, but it is a testimony to the faith. Instead of being a simple account by a bystander who witnessed the event, it peers into the mind and emotions of the great saints from the journal entries written by the twenty-two-year-old St. Perpetua.
In a similar fashion of the 1928 silent film, The Passion of Joan of Arc1, the reader is thrown straight into the action. With little deliberation and no hesitation, we find ourselves in the prison chamber of Perpetua, Felicity, and the other catechumens that were captured with them. Perpetua anguishes over the health of her nursing child, who she was separated from, as her very own father urges her to apostatize for the sake of her child and her family. Felicita herself is pregnant only adding to the gloom and darkness of the situation.
What is fascinating that in such a dark environment, which many of us would have given into, St. Perpetua and the other soon-to-be martyrs have in no way lost hope. Their strength comes from the fact that the Lord encourages them through visions. St. Perpetua records her visions and her dreams and in each one she sees herself being lead to heaven along with her companions. They do not fear death but rejoice in the fact that they will be martyred as if it were a great honor. St. Felicita, along with the others, pray for her child to be born so that she can be killed with her companions, since law dictated that pregnant women could not be publicly slain, and their prayer is answered. Saturninus even prayed for a certain kind of death to be “thrown to all the beasts; doubtless that he might wear a more glorious crown”2, and just like Felicity his prayer would be answered.
The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity, is a short read that can be read through in ten to twenty minutes. In no way does its short length take away from the greatness of its content, but rather it enhances it as you are placed in the shoes of the martyrs and can experience their emotions. In such a short reading the reader is kept breathless and at the edge of their seats, there is no time to rest because death is right around the corner there is no time to breath because even in dreams the enemy is waiting to destroy you. However, you are not afraid, but rather you are eager to be able to be fed to the beasts and pierced by the sword. You go into the arena as an Olympic champion up on to the pedestal, waiting for the crown of glory to be bestowed on you as the reward you so courageously earned through the shedding of your own blood.
1 "The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicity." CHURCH FATHERS: Passion of Perpetua and Felicity. Accessed March 09, 2018. http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0324.htm.
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