March 7: Memorial of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas

Although many of us will already be looking forward, to the beginning of Lent, the sanctoral cycle today invites us to look back and to celebrate the witness of two early Christian women martyrs, Saints Perpetua and Felicitas.

The two women – a Roman matron and her slave – were catechumens who suffered martyrdom together in Carthage, North Africa, on this day in A.D. 203. Their memory lives on not least because their martyrdom was documented early on (The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas). Intriguingly, this story of the womens’ martyrdom includes a first-person account, written by Perpetua while imprisoned. The text is one of a handful of writings by early Christian women themselves.

The Roman Canon is a witness to the importance of these two martyrs: Saints Perpetua and Felicitas are among the seven women saints who are mentioned by name in the Roman Canon.

Teresa Berger

Teresa Berger is Professor of Liturgical Studies at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School in New Haven, CT, USA, where she also serves as the Thomas E. Golden Jr. Professor of Catholic Theology. She holds doctorates in both theology and in liturgical studies. Recent publications include an edited volume, Full of Your Glory: Liturgy, Cosmos, Creation (2019), and a monograph titled @ Worship: Liturgical Practices in Digital Worlds (2018). Earlier publications include Gender Differences and the Making of Liturgical History (2011), Fragments of Real Presence (2005), and a video documentary, Worship in Women’s Hands (2007).

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4 responses to “March 7: Memorial of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas”

  1. David Scholl

    I’m a university parish liturgist who has been immersed in preparations for Ash Wednesday and Lent for the past few weeks. Thanks for the reminder to not lose sight of the present!

    Reply
  2. Karl Liam Saur

    http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/perpetua.html

    Reply
  3. Rita Ferrone

    If anyone is interested in learning more about Perpetua and Felicity, I recommend Joyce Salisbury’s book, Perpetua’s Passion: The Death and Memory of a Young Roman Woman.

    The book offers a great deal of detail about the times, customs, and specific features of Perpetua’s story. It’s not hagiography but scholarship, yet it takes nothing away from their saintliness. As a person of faith I felt I was meeting these women for the first time when I read this book.

    One of the aspects of the story that I never knew before was that there were several men who met the same fate as Perpetua and Felicity, in the same “entertainment” in the arena. But their stories are not remembered. It interests me that these two women captured the imagination of the Christian people in a way that was lasting. I find myself impressed with them and in awe of their courage. What happened to their infant children? No one knows. (Perhaps their descendents are among us!)

    Reply
  4. Rita Ferrone

    Another reason why I find Perpetua and Felicity important today is the revival of the adult catechumenate. The stories of “catechumen saints” should be shared with catechumens I think.

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