Saints Perpetua & Felicity

 

Perpetua was a 22-year-old mother with an infant son, Felicity was her pregnant servant. Both were discovered as converts to Christianity and arrested.

As they anxiously awaited their ordeal in the amphitheater of Carthage in 203, Felicity went into premature labor and gave birth to a daughter. Both women entrusted their babies to Christian friends and set their faces toward the arena. What could have possessed them to do such a thing? Only a deep love for Christ can account for their ardor and steadfastness.

Both were stripped, exposed to the wild beasts, and then put to the sword. 

As monks, the martyrs are our forebears in the struggle.

For our sometime half-heartedness let us pray for the Lord’s mercy.