Perpetua and Felicity
Perpetua and Felicity (c. 182 – c. 203) were Christian martyrs of the third century. Vibia Perpetua was a recently married, well-educated noblewoman, said to have been 22 years old at the time of her death, and mother of an infant son she was nursing. Felicity, a slave woman imprisoned with her and pregnant at the time, was martyred with her. They were put to death along with others at Carthage in the Roman province of Africa.
The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity narrates their death. According to this text, five people were arrested and executed in military games to celebrate the birthday of Caesar Geta, the son of emperor Septimius Severus. Along with Felicity and Perpetua, these included two free men, Saturninus and Secundulus, and an enslaved man named Revocatus; all were catechumens (Christians being instructed in the faith but not yet baptized). To this group of five was added a sixth, Saturus, who voluntarily went before the magistrate and proclaimed himself to be Christian. Perpetua's first-person narrative was published posthumously as part of the Passion.
In the Martyrology
- March 7 Saints Perpetua and Felicity, martyrs