The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity

       The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity is the story about their martyrdom along with three other Christian converts.  The bulk of the story appears to have been written in the first-person by Vibia Perpetua, but has a vision by Saturus interjected, and an unknown author writing the introduction and actual martyrdom accounts.  The author and translator of the edition I read, Thomas J. Heffernan, places this story in the genre of “the  ὑπóμνημα  with other genres, e.g., influences from the peripatetic tradition, from the literature of consolation referred to as the  exitus illustrium virorum, and from the epistolary tradition.”¹  This is to say, it contains elements of many different genres and cannot therefore, be classified in just one, though some, as the title proclaims, place it in the Passion genre.²

       Perpetua and Felicity were two of a group of five new converts to Christianity, in the early third century, who suffered martyrdom, due to Roman persecution, along with their catechist, who voluntarily turned himself in to be with them.  Altogether, their names were Vibia Perpetua, Felicity, Revocatus, Saturninus, and Secundulus, and Saturus—their catechist.³  Their martyrdom and homecoming to the Lord happened on March 7, 203 in the arena of Carthage, in North Africa.⁴

The Roman Emperor, Septimius Severus, had signed a decree that prohibited conversion to Christianity, and this was the cause of their persecution.  This is the common story, but Heffernan believes the issuing of this decree is backed by little evidence; he states that if it were issued, it would have had to be in the year 199.⁵  He does not however, deny the historicity of the actual martyrdom.⁶

The book opens with a word of encouragement regarding “old examples of the faith, which testify to the grace of God and lead to the edification of men...”⁷  This introduction seeks to remind us of the strength God gave to the ancients, specifically the holy martyrs, and that His grace will always be with us and will continue to strengthen each new generation in the faith—helping us to stand in spite of opposition.⁸  After this, the unknown author gives a quick overview of the arrest of the catechumens and a few details about them.  The author states that Revocatus and Felicity were slaves, and also that Perpetua was a twenty-two year old, well born, educated, married woman, who had a son still being breast fed.⁹  The author then hands the baton to Perpetua.

She accounts the main events of the story as follows:

1. It starts with Perpetua’s Father trying to convince her to deny her new faith.¹⁰
2. After his attempt fails, he leaves her alone for a few days - in which time, her and the other catechumens are baptized.¹¹
3. They are then, thrown in the dungeon; eventually her son is allowed to stay with her and be nursed.¹²
4. After being asked by her brother to inquire of God as to whether she will be set free or not, Perpetua has a vision.  Through her vision, God makes known to her that she will be martyred.¹³
5. Perpetua’s father arrives before her trial and tries, once more, to convince her to deny her faith for her families sake; Perpetua tells him that God’s will shall be done.¹⁴
6. The catechumens are taken before Hilarianus, the procurator, and are asked to make a sacrifice to the emperor.  When they refuse, they are asked if they are Christians, to which they all confess and are sentenced to death by being thrown in with wild beasts during the games for Geta Caesar’s birthday.¹⁵
7. A few days after this, while they were praying together, Perpetua suddenly cries out the name of her brother, Dinocrates, who had died when he was seven from a cancer that deformed his face.  She had a vision of him in a place of suffering, and began praying for him everyday thereafter.  She then, had another vision of him with his face restored except for a scar and he was no longer suffering.¹⁶
8. Perpetua’s father visits her once more before the games, but she, still being unmoved, seems even more detached from her father except that she is “grieved for his unhappy old age.”¹⁷
9. Perpetua has another vision on the day before the games.  In this vision she becomes a man and fights against an evil-looking Egyptian man.  After winning the fight she realizes it is the devil she will actually be fighting instead of the beasts.¹⁸
10. The very next part is the vision Saturus has, in which he, himself relays.  In his vision, they are all taken to heaven where they see other Christians who had been martyred before them.  They were then, taken to the throne of God, where they gave Him a kiss and, being at peace, began to rejoice.

11. Here ends Perpetua and Saturus’s accounts.

12. Hereafter, the unknown author finishes their story, beginning with the death of Secundulus, who died while they were still in prison²⁰
13. Next, Felicity, being only 8 months pregnant, gives birth to a baby girl after they all prayed for her to go into labor early and therefore, be able to join with her companions in their martyrdom, and not be killed later with criminals.²¹
14. On the day before the games they ate their last meal while people walked by to gawk at them before their deaths.²²
15. The day of their martyrdom arrived.  They were whipped first before having the animals released on them.  Saturninus and Revocatus were attacked by a leopard and then a bear, Saturus was tied to a wild boar and then attacked by a leopard, and Perpetua and Felicity were attacked by a wild heifer.  After this, they gave each other the kiss of peace and were given their final death blow by the sword.²³

This is the layout of the story and I have given some details.  However, there is much more depth to this story, including details to the visions which make it a very interesting and worthwhile read—not to mention the scholarship and background information that Heffernan adds.  The text of the  story is only about ten pages long, which is another plus if your short on time.  The main draw, however, is that this does appear to be a historical narrative, and the extent that these Christian heroes went to show their love for Christ is awe-inspiring.  

May God fill us with the same grace and strength he gave them, so that we too may stand against the powers of darkness in this world and be able to walk through the Gate of Life and receive a branch from the King of Kings, Who is above any Emperor.  Also, Perpetua and Felicity are patron saints of mothers and expectant mothers, and their feast day is on March 7^th.  Perpetua and Felicity, pray for us.

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¹Thomas J. Heffernan, The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 4.

²“Saints Perpetua and Felicity,” YouTube video, Posted by breski1 on 7 March 2011, at https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=XTKRT8yNsBA. 

³Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 126.

⁴Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 65.

⁵Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 70-71.

⁶Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, Preface-X.

⁷Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 125.

⁸Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 125-6.

⁹Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 126.

¹⁰Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 126.

¹¹Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 126.

¹²Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 126.

¹³Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 127.

¹⁴Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 128.

¹⁵Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 128-9.

¹⁶Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 128-9.

¹⁷Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 129.

¹⁸Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 130.

¹⁹Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 131.

²⁰Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 131-2.

²¹Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 132.

²²Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 132-3.

²³Heffernan, Perpetua and Felicity, 133-35.

All images from Google images: The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity, https://www.google.com/search?q=the+passion+of+perpetua+and+felicity&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjEnvWO-vbgAhVKSq0KHZ1XBEEQ_AUIECgD&biw=1517&bih=695.