SAINTS PERPETUA and FELICITY

Saints Perpetua and Felicity are early Christian martyrs, among the most famous women saints of the Church.

Who they were

• Perpetua: A young noblewoman from Carthage (in modern Tunisia), well-educated, a new mother, and a catechumen (preparing for baptism).
• Felicity: Perpetua’s enslaved companion, also a catechumen, and pregnant at the time of their arrest.

 

Martyrdom

• They were arrested around AD 203 during persecutions under the Roman emperor Septimius Severus.
• Refusing to renounce Christ, they were condemned to die in the arena.
• Felicity gave birth in prison shortly before execution, so she could suffer martyrdom with the others.
• They were sentenced to death by wild beasts but the animals did not kill them and finally were murdered by the sword. 

 

Why they are important

• Their story is preserved in The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, one of the earliest Christian texts written partly by a woman (Perpetua’s own prison diary).
• They are powerful witnesses to:
  
• Faith over family and social status
• Equality in Christ (free and enslaved, noble and poor)
• Courage, motherhood, and steadfastness under persecution

 

Feast day

• March 7 (in both the Roman Catholic and many Christian calendars)

 

In Catholic tradition

• Their names are included in the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I), a rare honor showing their importance in the early Church.