The year 203 marked the martyrdom of a unique pair of women. Perpetua was a 21-year-old noblewoman in the city of Carthage (in modern-day Tunisia). Neither her parents nor her husband were Christians. She would seemingly have everything to lose by mixing with this “sect”: wealth, status, and a one-year-old son. Yet Perpetua did come to faith and joined the church through the influence of her servant and dear friend, Felicitas.
When Emperor Severus came to power, he saw Christianity as a scourge that was incompatible with Roman patriotism, which required at least nominal worship of Roman emperors and deities. And so he outlawed any conversion to the way of Christ.
Felicitas, her husband Revocatus, Perpetua, and two others from their church were discovered meeting together and were arrested. Upon hearing of this, the one who had first shared the gospel with all of these young people, a man named Saturus, also turned himself in so that he could help shepherd them through what awaited. At the trial, Saturus spoke out to the crowd saying, “Note our faces well, that you may see us on the Day of Judgment.”
Because Felicitas was pregnant, the group’s sentence of death in the arena was delayed. After the child was born in prison and given to other Christians to raise, Felicitas told a guard, “Now my sufferings are only mine. But when I face the beasts there will be another who is alive in me, and whose sufferings will be for me, since I shall be suffering for Him.”
Perpetua’s nursing child had already been taken from her by her father, after she had repeatedly refused his pleas to obey him and to think first of her son. Her husband also had utterly abandoned her. Yet in prison, both Perpetua and Saturus received vivid dreams that gave them courage from the Lord and assured them that the “conqueror’s crown” would be theirs.
Because of Perpetua’s social status, officials gave her multiple chances to perform token gestures of deference to Rome; but in each case, she refused to deny her Lord. She was also recorded as saying, “This dungeon is to me a palace.”
One of the group – a man named Secundulus – died in prison. The remaining five were brought out to the packed arena where they faced crazed bulls, wild boars, and leopards. Saturus, Revocatus, and a slave girl named Blandina would all eventually be killed by these beasts. As for Felicitas and Perpetua, a bull tossed them both and then stood still. Perpetua was fairly unharmed. Seeing that a horn had pierced Felicitas, she ran over to raise up her friend and hold her.
When none of the animals further approached the women, gladiators were sent in to finish them off. Perpetua’s hair had fallen during the bull toss. Loose hair in that culture was a sign of mourning, so she asked to be able to put it up again, because “this was to be a day of celebration.” The gladiator who was assigned to Felicitas completed his deed quickly. But a young and nervous gladiator stood in front of Perpetua. She cried out loudly as he hesitantly stabbed her twice through the ribs, but neither of these wounds was immediately mortal in nature. Uncertain and afraid, his hand was shaking. Perpetua then calmly took the end of the sword and helped it toward her throat. He finished the task.
The crowd had never seen courage like this. Several spectators converted to Christianity as a result of what they had witnessed. One account says that the Roman governor even converted, while another says that the prison warden did. Whatever the case, it’s certainly true that these two sisters of ours inspired generations of Christians to fear only God, and not “those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Matt. 10:28).
How do Felicitas and Perpetua inspire you? If it became clear that your Lord was asking you to pass through a door to glory, would you be able to walk away from all else, trusting his purposes and celebrating what awaits you? If not, what will it take to reorder your priorities? Part of the good news of our gospel is that this world is only the beginning, and that we are children and heirs – “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him, in order that we may also be glorified with him. For…the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us!” (Rom. 8:17-18).