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Saints Perpetua and Felicitas

Perpetua and Felicitas were Christian women who lived in Roman-controlled Carthage in North Africa in the late second and early third centuries. Perpetua was a young, married noblewoman and new mother; Felicitas was a slave, who was pregnant when she was arrested. The two were catechumens, part of a group of newly converted Christians preparing for Baptism who were arrested for their illegal faith. Christianity was seen as anti-social by the Roman government, who enforced a polytheistic paganism that blended together lots of cultures’ native religions, in an attempt to keep the peace across their huge empire.

Perpetua’s father, who was not a Christian, visited her in prison three times to convince her to renounce her faith and save her life. He tried violence to scare her, he tried asking her to think of him and of her infant son, he tried grieving and great shows of emotion. Perpetua was deeply upset, but she refused to change course: She confessed that she was a Christian, prayed for and tried to comfort her father, and still refused to offer sacrifices to Caesar or renounce Jesus. For this, Felicitas and the others were condemned to the wild beasts in the amphitheater games held in honor of the emperor’s birthday. During their time in prison awaiting their fates, Perpetua was baptized, and Felicitas gave birth while in prison. It was illegal to execute a pregnant woman, and Felicitas had been worried that she would not be able to face martyrdom with her friends. She went into labor a month early, and so faced death alongside her brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Christians eventually went to their deaths in the colosseum with quiet joy and courage, in sure hope of Christ’s love and His promise of resurrection. While facing down the wild animals, Perpetua stopped to fix her hair, so that she would not appear disheveled or in mourning, and helped Felicitas back on her feet after she was trampled. They ultimately died by the gladiator’s sword. The editor of Perpetua’s prison diary describes the Christians’ deaths, noting that, before they died, they kissed one another with the kiss of peace.

(Adapted from The Lutheran Witness; “Our Great Heritage: Perpetua and Felicitas”, by Molly Lackey)

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Eulogius of Cordoba, Martyr

The story of Eulogius is one of constant, faithful Christian confession under the hand of Muslim persecution. By the middle of the ninth century, the Muslim Moors had taken over almost the whole of Spain. Christians were allowed some latitude to remain in their faith, as long as they did it quietly and didn’t offend the name of Muhammed (which would carry the death penalty). However, they were heavily taxed, mocked, and otherwise poorly treated. Eulogius was a priest in Cordoba, Spain at the time–a devout, gentle, reverent, well-educated priest steeped in the Sacred Scriptures–who cared deeply about the plight of the Christian people. During this time, an increasing number of young people began to have a more passionate zeal for the Christian Faith, to the extent that they were growing weary of having to keep quiet about it. They saw it as disingenuous to keep their faith secret. After all, Jesus said, “Whoever confesses me before men, I will confess before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I will deny before my Father in heaven.” As their passion for the faith grew, the threat of martyrdom grew also. In fact, many of these young “radical” Christians were willing and even glad to die a martyr’s death for the sake Christ. Eulogius advised them and, at times, protected them. As time went on, he would also accompany them to their execution and later write the story of their faith and life. Dozens upon dozens of Christians were killed in Cordoba alone during this time (the 850s). They were accused of insulting Muhammad or something similar. Eulogius wrote many of their stories, showing the bravery and steadfastness with which they confessed their hope in Jesus. Eventually, Eulogius himself was taken prisoner and condemned to death. According to Butler’s Lives of the Saints, “arriving at the place of execution, he knelt down, extended his arms, made a large sign of the cross, prayed silently, and offered his neck to the sword.” Eulogius was put to death March 11, 859.”