Saint Perpetua 3rd C. Martyr and Noblewoman

Saint Perpetua lived and died in the third century in the Roman Empire. She was born in 182 and was martyred on March 7, 203. At the time, the noblewoman had an infant son. Saint Perpetua was martyred in Carthage and is linked with Saint Felicity, a slave, who was martyred with her. She was just married, educated well, and was a noblewoman. Saint Perpetua is said to have been 22 years old at the time of her death, and a mother of an infant son she was nursing. Do you think her dying so young is a tragedy?

Saint Perpetua Biography

The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity tells of their death, which is where we get most of the details of Saint Perpetua’s brief life. According to this text, five people were arrested and executed in military games in Carthage to celebrate Emperor Septimius Severus’s birthday. Along with Felicity and Saint Perpetua, these included two free men, Saturninus and Secundulus, and an enslaved man named Revocatus.

Saint Perpetua’s account begins with a conflict between her and her father, who desires that she recant her belief. Perpetua says she cannot and is soon baptized before being taken to prison. She was imprisoned in the days leading up to her martyrdom. She described these days and what she endured in her diary.

She described the torments that she endured in prison before her martyrdom. She suffered physically due to the heat in North Africa, rough prison guards, and the cessation of regular breastfeeding. Her physical torment was also eased somewhat after she was able to breastfeed her child. Saint Perpetua described bodily ailments in detail, and the most common in her narrative was the cycle of pain and relief she would feel.

The day before her martyrdom, she envisions herself defeating a savage Egyptian and interprets this to mean that she would have to do battle not merely with wild beasts, but with the Devil also. There are many ways in which Saint Perpetua is venerated. For example, in Carthage, a basilica was erected over the tomb of the martyrs.

The feast day of the saints is March 7th. The feast day was celebrated across the Roman Empire, and in the fourth-century calendar of martyrs, was venerated publicly in Rome. When Saint Thomas Aquinas’s feast was inserted into the Roman calendar, for celebration on the same day, Saint Perpetua was commemorated. Thankfully, there was a diary that Perpetua gave to a fellow prisoner just before she died. When you think about it, this was a prescient decision. Were it not for the diary, we would not know about her.

Conclusion

Saint Perpetua’s diary, which is rich with detail of her life, was read annually in Carthage’s churches for centuries. It was so influential that it was praised by orthodox Christians and heretical Montanists alike, and 200 years later, the Church Father and Doctor of the Catholic church, Saint Augustine, wrote sermons commenting on the words of the saint. The text, with its powerful, personal voice, continues to draw readers. It is the case that if there is a written record of a saint, it is a great deal easier for us to remember them.

On the evening before her martyrdom, Perpetua gave her diary to another Christian, who continued the story of the martyrdom of Perpetua and her fellow Christians, doing us a great service. That Christian described how one of Perpetua’s companions, the pregnant slave Felicity, gave birth while in prison; he also wrote of the young Christians’ bravery in the arena when they were attacked by wild beasts and, finally, of Perpetua’s voluntary acceptance of death by the sword.