Saint of the day: Saints Perpetua and Felicità

Saint of the day: Saints Perpetua and Happiness: “When my father in his affection for me was trying to distance me from my purpose with arguments and thereby weaken my faith, I said to him: 'See this jar, jar of water or whatever be? Can it be called by any name other than what it is? "No," he replied. 'So I too cannot call myself by a name other than what I am: a Christian' ".

Thus writes Perpetua: young, beautiful, cultured, noblewoman of Carthage in North Africa, mother of a newborn son and chronicler of the persecution of Christians by Emperor Septimius Severus.

Perpetua's mother was a Christian and her father a pagan. He continually begged her to deny her faith. She refused and was jailed at 22.

In her diary, Perpetua describes her period of imprisonment: “What a day of horror! Terrible heat, because of the crowds! Harsh treatment from the soldiers! To top it all off, I was tormented from anxiety for my baby…. I suffered from such anxieties for many days, but got permission for my baby to stay in prison with me, and being relieved of my problems and anxiety for him, I quickly recovered my health and my prison became a palace for me and I would have preferred to be there than anywhere else “.

Despite threats of persecution and death, Perpetua, Felicita - a slave and pregnant mother - and three companions, Revocatus, Secundulus and Saturninus, refused to give up their Christian faith. Due to their reluctance, all were sent to public games in the amphitheater. There Perpetua and Felicita were beheaded and the others killed by beasts.

Saints Perpetua and Happiness

Felicita gave birth to a baby girl a few days before the games started. The report of Perpetua's trial and imprisonment ends the day before the games. "Of what has been done in the games themselves, let me write who will do it." The diary was finished by an eyewitness.

Reflection: Persecution for religious beliefs is not limited to Christians in ancient times. Consider Anne Frank, the Jewish girl who with her family was forced into hiding and later died in Bergen-Belsen, one of Hitler's death camps during World War II. Anne, like Perpetua and Felicity, endured hardship and suffering and ultimately death because she committed herself to God. In her diary, Anne writes: “It is twice as difficult for us young people to hold our position and hold our opinions, in a time when all ideals are shattered and destroyed, when people show their worst side and don't know it. whether to believe in truth and law and God “.