Commemoration of Sts. Perpetua and Felicitas, Martyrs

Intro:  The First Part is from the bio in Festivals and Commemorations by Rev. Philip H. Pfatteicher.  The Second Part is a citation from the Passion of Perpetua and Felicity as quoted by Rev. Pfatteicher in the same book.   The Third Part is my reflection.  Peace in the Christ, Pr. Schroeder

First Part:

No saints are more uniformly honored in all the early calendars and martyrologies than these African martyrs. In 202 the emperor Septimus Severus forbade conversions to Christianity and harsh per­secution ensued. Arrested in Carthage were Vibia Perpetua, a noble­woman from Thuburbo, twenty-two years old; her infant child; Felic­ity, a pregnant slave; Revocatus, a slave; Saturninus; Secundulus­all catechumens. Later their catechist, Saturus, was arrested also. While under house arrest they were baptized.

Perpetua’s father urged her to renounce the faith, but she refused, and was imprisoned. In prison, she had a vision of a golden ladder guarded by a dragon and sharp weapons that prevented ascent, but nonetheless she walked over the dragon and reached a beautiful place. Her father repeated his plea in vain and repeated it again before the people in the arena.

The steadfast Christians were condemned to be given to wild beasts at a celebration in honor of Caesar Geta. Perpetua had another vision, this time of her seven year old brother Dinocrates, who had died of cancer, in heaven. Felicity was not to have been executed with the others since it was illegal to execute a pregnant woman, but three days before the spectacle Felicity gave birth prematurely to a girl, who was adopted by a Christian family, and gladly joined the others in martyrdom. After scourging, they were led to the amphitheater, and according to the apparently contemporary account of the mar­tyrdom, were mangled by the beasts, but survived to be beheaded with a sword.

The record of the Passion of Perpetua and Felicity is one of the most ancient reliable histories of the martyrs extant. Part of the Pas­sion is said to have been written by Perpetua herself as a kind of diary record of her visions, and part by Saturus. The introduction and the conclusion are by an apparent eyewitness, said by some to have been the church father Tertullian. The Passion, which recalls the bib­lical book of Revelation, is an important document in understanding early Christian ideas of martyrdom, providing a vivid insight into the beliefs of the young and vigorous African church. It was enormously popular, and St. Augustine, who quotes it often, had to warn against it being put on the same level as Holy Scripture. Perpetua and her companions were very popular in Carthage, and a basilica was erected over their tomb.

Second Part:  From the Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas

The day of their victory dawned, and they marched from the prison to the amphitheatre joyfully as though they were going to heaven, wit

h calm faces, trembling, if at all, with joy rather than fear. Per­petua went along with shining countenance and calm step, as the beloved of God, as a wife of Christ, putting down everyone’s stare by her own intense gaze. With them also was Felicitas, glad that she had safely given birth so that now she could fight the beasts, going from one blood bath to another, from the midwife to the gladiator, ready to wash after the childbirth in a second baptism.

They were then led up to the gates and the men were forced to put on the robes of priests of Saturn, the women the dress of the priestesses of Ceres. But the noble Perpetua strenuously resisted this to the end. “We came to this of our own free will, that our freedom should not be violated. We agreed to pledge our lives provided that we would do no such thing. You agreed with us to do this.”

Even injustice recognized injustice. The military tribune agreed. They were to be brought into the arena just as they were. Perpetua then began to sing a Psalm: she was already treading on the head of the Egyptian. Revocatus, Saturninus, and Saturus began to warn the onlooking mob. Then when they came within sight of Hilarianus, they suggested by their motions and gestures; “You have condemned us, but God will condemn you” was what they were saying. At this the crowds became enraged and demanded that they be scourged before a line of gladiators. And they rejoiced at this that they had obtained a share in the Lord’s sufferings.

First the heifer tossed Perpetua and she fell on her back. Then sit­ting up she pulled down the tunic that was ripped along the side so that it covered her thighs, thinking more of her modesty than of her pain. Next she asked for a pin to fasten her untidy hair: for it was not right that a martyr should die with her hair in disorder, lest she might seem to be mourning in her hour of triumph.Then she got up. And seeing that Felicitas had been crushed to the ground, she went over to her, gave her her hand, and lifted her up. Then the two stood side by side.. . . but the mob asked that their bodies be brought out into the open that their eyes might be the guilty witnesses of the sword that pierced their flesh. And so the martyrs got up and went to the spot of their own accord as the people wanted them to go, and kissing one another they sealed their martyrdom with the ritual kiss of peace. The others took the sword in silence and without moving, especially Saturus, who being the first to climb the stairway, was the first to die. For once again he was waiting for Perpetua. Perpetua, however, had yet to taste more pain. She screamed as she was struck on the bone; then she took the trembling hand of the young gladiator and guided it to her throat. It was as though so great a woman, feared as shewas by the unclean spirit, could not be dispatched unless she herself were willing.

Ah, most valiant and blessed martyrs! Truly are you called and chosen for the glory of Christ Jesus our Lord! And any man who exalts, honors, and worships his glory should read for the consolation of the Church these new deeds of heroism which are no less signifi­cant than the tales of old. For these new manifestations of virtue will bear witness to one and the same Spirit who still operates, and to God the Father almighty, to his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom is splendour and immeasurable power for all the ages.

Amen.

The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, ed. and tr. Herbert Musurillo, 129-131. © Oxford University Press 1972. Used by permission of Oxford University Press.

Third Part:  Reflection

An early Christian writer, Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 220) famously penned “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”  This was literally so in the building of the first church structures:  they were erected over the sites of martyrdom, as was the case of Perpetua and Felicitas (see bio above), after Christianity became a legal religion after AD312.  We erect church buildings in our day after a church building committee has taken in consideration all sorts of factors but this one is major:  visibility, with good parking.  Now parking is important and convenient.  But it is a sobering reminder that the first basilicas, etc. were not built on convenient locales.  Martyrdom is not convenient, only expedient for the persecutor, or  so such a person, government etc. thinks. Though  I will hazard a guess that the sites of church buildings on the locales of martyrdoms met the visibility requirements:  coliseums, courts etc.  The martyrs were publicly executed in a “high traffic area”, a crossroads of civilization.  The martyrs let their light so shine before others, even in death, that others might see their good works and give glory to our Father in heaven (see Matthew 5:15-17).  The word “martyr” in New Testament Greek is literally “witness”.  We are to be prepared to give our witness at any time (see   1 Peter 3:14-16) even when not convenient.  I am no expert at witnessing, but the faith to so witness  comes  not from within but from with out:  in the Lord,  in the Holy Spirit (see Matthew 10:19-21).   The martyrs who witnessed by their blood give us good courage so that others might call upon the Name of the Lord and be saved.  The martyrs, contrary to other ‘martyrs’ in our day and time, did not destroy themselves to take others with them and so die.   They died so that the we might live in Christ Jesus, in His Church, by faith and in love, and indeed:  “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”

Let us pray:

O God the King of saints, who strengthened your servants Perpetua and Felicitas and their companions to make a good confession, staunchly resisting, for the cause of Christ, the claims of human affection, and encouraging one another in their time of trial: Grant that we who cherish their blessed memory may share their pure and steadfast faith, and win with them the palm of victory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Encouragement for Today: “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3: 13, NIV)

The Gospel for Ash Wednesday is usually St. Matthew  6: 1—6,   16—21 .  This is Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount preaching on fasting, almsgiving praying.  The refrain is:  “And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”  This Word suggests both solitude and promise, the Lord’s promise to reward us.  Reward us with what?  I think Himself and not the acclamation of the world for our piety, for “then we have our reward”.  Solitude is key.

“Oh, you’re pouring?  Yes, I’ll have another cup of coffee” Then holding out the cup in hand, it moves and so risking 2^nd degree burns.  “Please, put the cup down…thanks”.  Resting on  a sure foundation so the host can fill your cup.  A moving cup can not be filled. The Lord will fill us by His Word but like a cup we need to be still for the Lord to fill, to clean the cup of the stain of sin and fill us with His Word, Himself, His forgiveness, the blood of the new testament.  “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46: 10). The Gospel writers tell us that Jesus prayed and so stayed the course.  He needed to be still to hear His Father’s will.  So us.   Still, alone, with the Lord He will reward us, in secret and yet not alone.  During the day, we all need to be monks, alone with Him alone. Then His Word, stable and sure like a table, like an altar’ so  that the fragile coffee cup is steadfast, resting in Him alone, He can fill us.  The hunger in our stomach to remind us the hunger in our soul that only the Lord can fill, the emptiness of our neighbor that our love in Christ can fill, the fullness of prayer to the Lord who prays for His Church.

Alone but with the Church, His Body, our brothers and sisters in the Lord, each one of us crucial.  Pr. Dietrich Bonhoeffer makes this so clear in Life Together:

Is the invisible presence of the Christian fellowship a reality and a help to the individual? Do the intercessions of others carry him through the day? Is the Word of God close to him as a comfort and a strength? Or does he misuse his aloneness contrary to the fellowship, the Word, and the prayer? The individual must realize that his hours of aloneness react upon the community. In his solitude he can sunder and besmirch the fellowship, or he can strengthen and hallow it. Every act of self-control of the Christian is also a service to the fellowship. On the other hand, there is no sin in thought, word, or deed, no matter how personal or secret, that does not inflict injury upon the whole fellowship. We are members of a body, not only when we choose to be, but in our whole existence. Every member serves the whole body, either to its health or to its destruction. This is no mere theory; it is a spiritual reality.

We do not go to ‘church’, we go as the Church, Christ’s Body.  As Pr. Bonhoeffer makes plain, we are not alone even in secret, but are ever walking in Thy sight, O Lord and with His brothers and sisters in His Church.  This is seen by God so His love may be seen by many in the world in the preaching and teaching of His Word.

Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word.                                                    (Martin Luther)

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