Passion of Perpetua and Felicity 1

If ancient examples of faith—both testifying to the grace of God and effecting the edification of man—have for that reason been set down in writing, that by the reading of them, as by a re-presentation of the events, God may be honoured and man strengthened, why should not new testimonies, equally suited to both purposes, likewise be set down? 2. Indeed, because these too shall one day be ancient and necessary to those who come after, even if in their own present time they are accounted of lesser authority owing to the presumed veneration of antiquity. 3. But let those see to it who judge the one power of the one Holy Spirit according to the ages of the times, since the more recent things ought rather to be reckoned the greater, as being the latest, according to the superabundance of grace decreed for the final spaces of the age. 4.

'For in the last days,' says the Lord, 'I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and their sons and daughters shall prophesy; and upon my servants and my handmaids I will pour out of my Spirit; and the young men shall see visions, and the old men shall dream dreams.' 5.

And so we also, who acknowledge and honour the new prophecies and likewise the new visions alike promised, and who reckon the other powers of the Holy Spirit as an equipment of the Church (to which also that same Spirit was sent to administer all the gifts among all, as the Lord distributes to each), necessarily set them down too and celebrate them by reading to the glory of God, lest some weakness or despair of faith should suppose that the grace of the Godhead was conversant among the ancients only—whether in the dignity granted to martyrs or to revelations—since God ever works what He has promised, as a testimony to unbelievers, as a benefit to believers. 6.

We therefore also announce to you what we have heard and handled, brethren and little children, that you who were present may call to remembrance the glory of the Lord, and that you who now learn of it by hearing may have fellowship with the holy martyrs, and through them with our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is splendour and honour unto the ages of ages. Amen. There were arrested certain young catechumens: Revocatus and Felicitas his fellow-servant, Saturninus and Secundulus. Among these also Vibia Perpetua, nobly born, liberally educated, married after the manner of a matron, 2. having a father and mother and two brothers, one of them likewise a catechumen, and an infant son at the breast. 3. She herself was about twenty-two years of age.

She herself related the whole course of her martyrdom from this point on, just as she left it written by her own hand and according to her own understanding. 'While we were still,' she says, 'with the officers, and my father, out of his affection, kept striving to overthrow me with words and to cast me down: "Father," I said, "do you see this vessel lying here—a little pitcher, or whatever it is?" And he said: "I see it." 2. And I said to him: "Can it be called by any other name than what it is?" And he said: "No." "So neither can I call myself anything other than what I am: a Christian." 3. Then my father, provoked by this word, threw himself upon me as though to tear out my eyes; but he only harassed me, and departed defeated, together with the arguments of the devil. 4. Then for a few days, being free of my father, I gave thanks to the Lord and was refreshed by his absence. 5.'

'In that space of a few days we were baptized, and the Spirit dictated to me that I should ask nothing else from the water than endurance of the flesh. After a few days we were taken into the prison; and I was terrified, because I had never experienced such darkness. 6. O bitter day! The heat was violent because of the crowding, and there were the extortions of the soldiers. Last of all I was tormented by anxiety for my infant there. 7. Then Tertius and Pomponius, the blessed deacons who ministered to us, arranged by a bribe that for a few hours we should be let out and refreshed in a better part of the prison. 8. Then, going out from the cell, all were left free to themselves. I nursed my infant, now faint with hunger; anxious for him, I spoke with my mother and comforted my brother, and commended my son to them;'

'I was wasting away because I saw them wasting away on my account. 9. Such anxieties I suffered for many days; and I obtained that the infant should remain with me in the prison; and at once I recovered my strength and was relieved of the labour and anxiety for the infant, and the prison suddenly became to me a palace, so that I would rather be there than anywhere else.' Then my brother said to me: 'Lady sister, you are now in great dignity, so great that you might ask for a vision and it be shown you whether it is to be martyrdom or release.' 2. And I, knowing that I conversed with the Lord, whose great benefits I had experienced, confidently promised him, saying: 'Tomorrow I will report to you.' And I asked, and this was shown to me. 3.

'I saw a ladder of bronze, of wondrous height, reaching all the way up to heaven, and narrow, so that none but one at a time could ascend it; and on the sides of the ladder every kind of iron implement was fixed. There were swords there, lances, hooks, daggers, spits, so that if anyone climbed carelessly or without looking upward, he would be torn and his flesh caught fast upon the irons. 4. And beneath the ladder itself there lay a dragon of wondrous size, who set ambushes for those ascending and frightened them away from ascending. 5. Now Saturus went up first—he who afterward, for our sake, gave himself up voluntarily (because he it was who had built us up), and at the time when we were taken he had not been present. 6. And he came to the top of the ladder, and turned, and said to me:'

'"Perpetua, I am waiting for you; but take care that the dragon does not bite you." And I said: "He shall not harm me, in the name of Jesus Christ." 7. And from beneath the ladder itself, as though afraid of me, he slowly put forth his head. And, as though I were treading on the first rung, I trod upon his head and went up. 8. And I saw an immense expanse of garden, and in the midst a man sitting, with white hair, in the garb of a shepherd, of great stature, milking sheep. And standing around him were many thousands clothed in white. 9. And he lifted up his head and looked at me and said to me: "You are welcome, child." And he called me, and from the cheese which he was milking he gave me as it were a morsel; and I received it with joined hands and ate it; and all who stood around said: "Amen." 10. And at the sound of the voice I awoke, still chewing something sweet, I know not what.'

'And I at once reported it to my brother; and we understood that it was to be martyrdom, and we began no longer to have any hope in this world.' After a few days a rumour ran that we were to be heard. My father also came up from the city, worn out with grief, and went up to me in order to cast me down, saying: 2. 'Have pity, daughter, on my grey hairs; have pity on your father, if I am worthy to be called father by you; if with these hands I have brought you up to this flower of your age, if I have preferred you to all your brothers: do not give me over to the disgrace of men. 3. Look upon your brothers, look upon your mother and your aunt, look upon your son, who will not be able to live after you. 4. Lay aside your resolve; do not destroy us all. For none of us will speak freely, if anything should befall you.' 5.

'These things he said, as a father, out of his devotion, kissing my hands and casting himself at my feet, and weeping he called me no longer daughter but lady. 6. And I grieved over my father's plight, because he alone of all my family would not rejoice at my martyrdom. And I comforted him, saying: "On that scaffold there shall happen what God shall will. For know that we are not set in our own power, but in God's." And he withdrew from me, downcast.' On another day, while we were dining, we were suddenly seized to be heard. And we came to the forum. The rumour at once ran through the parts of the city near the forum, and an immense crowd gathered. 2. We mounted the platform. The others, when questioned, confessed. And it came also to me.

'And there my father appeared on the spot with my son, and drew me down from the step, saying: "Offer the sacrifice; have pity on the infant." 3. And Hilarianus the procurator, who had then received the power of the sword in place of the late proconsul Minucius Timinianus, said: "Spare your father's grey hairs, spare the infancy of the boy. Offer sacrifice for the welfare of the emperors." 4. And I answered: "I will not do it." Hilarianus said: "Are you a Christian?" And I answered: "I am a Christian." 5. And when my father stood there to cast me down, he was ordered by Hilarianus to be thrown off and was struck with a rod. And my father's plight grieved me as though I myself had been struck; so did I grieve for his wretched old age. 6. Then he pronounced sentence upon us all and condemned us to the beasts; and joyful we went down to the prison. 7.'

'Then, since the infant had been accustomed to take the breast from me and to remain with me in prison, I at once sent the deacon Pomponius to my father, asking for the infant. But my father refused to give him. 8. And as God willed, the child no longer desired the breast, nor did the breasts inflame me, so that I should not be tormented by anxiety for the infant and by pain of the breasts.' After a few days, while we were all praying, suddenly in the midst of the prayer a voice came forth from me and I named Dinocrates. And I was astonished, because he had never come into my mind except then; and I grieved, remembering his fate. 2. And I knew at once that I was worthy, and that I ought to pray for him. And I began to make much prayer for him and to groan to the Lord. 3. Straightway that very night this was shown to me. 4.

'I saw Dinocrates coming out of a dark place, where there were also many others, exceedingly hot and thirsty, with squalid attire and pallid complexion; and the wound was on his face which he had when he died. 5. This Dinocrates had been my brother in the flesh, seven years old, who through sickness died miserably with a face eaten away by cancer, so that his death was an object of loathing to all men. 6. For him therefore I had made prayer; and between me and him there was a great gulf, so that neither of us could approach the other. 7. There was, moreover, in the place where Dinocrates was, a pool full of water, having a rim higher than the boy's stature; and Dinocrates stretched himself up as though to drink. 8.'

'I grieved, because that pool had water, and yet, because of the height of the rim, he could not drink. 9. And I awoke, and knew that my brother was in distress. But I trusted that I should be of benefit to his distress; and I prayed for him every day, until we passed over into the camp prison—for we were to fight in the camp games; it was then the birthday of Geta Caesar. 10. And I made prayer for him day and night, groaning and weeping, that he might be granted to me.' On the day on which we remained in the stocks, this was shown to me. I saw the place which I had seen before, and Dinocrates with a clean body, well clothed, and refreshed; and where the wound had been I saw a scar; 2. and that pool, which I had seen before, with its rim lowered to the boy's navel;

'and he drew water from it without ceasing. 3. And upon the rim there was a golden bowl full of water. And Dinocrates approached and began to drink from it; and the bowl did not run dry. 4. And, satisfied, he went off to play with the water, in the manner of children, rejoicing. And I awoke. Then I understood that he had been removed from his punishment.' After a few days Pudens, a soldier and adjutant who was put in charge of the prison, began to hold us in high regard, perceiving that there was a great power in us; and he admitted many to us, that both we and they might be refreshed by one another. 2.

'But as the day of the games drew near, my father came in to me, worn out with grief, and began to pluck out his beard and throw it on the ground, and to cast himself down on his face, and to reproach his years, and to utter such words as might move all creation. 3. I grieved for his unhappy old age.' On the day before we were to fight, I saw in a vision this: that Pomponius the deacon had come to the door of the prison and was knocking violently. 2. And I went out to him and opened to him; he was clad in a white robe ungirded, wearing elaborate sandals. 3. And he said to me: 'Perpetua, we are waiting for you; come.' And he took my hand, and we began to go through rough and winding places. 4.

'At last, scarcely and panting, we reached the amphitheatre, and he led me into the middle of the arena and said to me: "Do not be afraid. I am here with you and labour together with you." And he went away. 5. And I looked at the immense crowd in amazement; and because I knew that I had been condemned to the beasts, I was astonished that no beasts were sent out against me. 6. And there came out against me a certain Egyptian, foul in appearance, with his helpers, to fight with me. There came also to me handsome young men, my helpers and supporters. 7. And I was stripped naked and became a man; and my supporters began to rub me down with oil, as is the custom for a contest. And opposite I saw that Egyptian rolling in the dust. 8.'

And there came out a man of marvellous stature, so tall that he overtopped the very summit of the amphitheatre. He was clad in an ungirded robe, having a purple band running down the middle of his breast between two stripes, and ornate sandals made of gold and silver; he carried a rod like a trainer of gladiators, and a green branch on which were golden apples. 9. He called for silence and said: 'This Egyptian, if he overcomes her, will slay her with the sword; but she, if she overcomes him, shall receive this branch.' 10. Then he withdrew. We drew near to one another and began to exchange blows. He kept trying to seize my feet, but I struck his face with my heels. 11. And I was lifted up into the air and began to strike him as though I were not treading upon the earth.

But when I saw that there was a delay, I joined my hands so as to interlock my fingers, and seized his head; and he fell upon his face, and I trod upon his head. 12. And the people began to shout, and my supporters to sing in triumph. Then I went up to the trainer and received the branch. 13. He kissed me and said to me: 'Daughter, peace be with you.' And I began to go in glory to the Gate of Life. Then I awoke. 14. And I understood that I should fight not against beasts but against the devil; yet I knew that the victory would be mine. 15. This much I did up to the day before the contest; but as for what happened at the contest itself, let whoever wishes write it. Moreover, the blessed Saturus also related this vision of his own, which he himself recorded. 2.

He said: We had suffered, and had departed out of the flesh, and we began to be borne by four angels toward the east, whose hands did not touch us. 3. We went, however, not lying on our backs facing upward, but as though ascending a gentle slope. 4. And when we had passed beyond the first world, we saw an immense light; and I said to Perpetua (for she was at my side): 'This is what the Lord promised us: we have received the promise.' 5. And while we were being carried by those same four angels, a great open space appeared before us, which was like a garden having rose-trees and every kind of flower. 6. The height of the trees was after the manner of the cypress, and their leaves fell without ceasing. 7. There in the garden were four other angels, more radiant than the rest:

who, when they saw us, paid us honour, and said to the other angels with wonder: 'Behold, here they are! here they are!' And those four angels who were carrying us were filled with awe and set us down. 8. And on foot we crossed by a broad way to a stadium. 9. There we found Jocundus, Saturninus, and Artaxius, who in the same persecution had been burned alive, and Quintus, who himself also had died a martyr in prison. And we were asking about them, where they might be. 10. The other angels said to us: 'Come first, enter in, and greet the Lord.' And we came near a place whose walls were as though built of light; and before the door of that place four angels stood, who clothed those who entered in white robes. 2.

And we entered in, and heard a united voice saying without ceasing: 'Holy, holy, holy.' 3. And we saw seated in that same place one like an aged man, having snow-white hair and a youthful countenance, whose feet we did not see. 4. And on his right and on his left were four elders, and behind them stood many other elders. 5. And entering in with wonder, we stood before the throne, and four angels lifted us up and we kissed him, and with his hand he passed over our faces. 6. And the other elders said to us: 'Let us stand'; and we stood and made peace. And the elders said to us: 'Go and play.' 7. And I said to Perpetua: 'You have what you desire.' And she said to me:

'Thanks be to God, that as I was joyful in the flesh, so now here I am yet more joyful.' And we went out and saw before the gates Optatus the bishop on the right and Aspasius the presbyter and teacher on the left, standing apart and sorrowful. 2. And they cast themselves down at our feet and said: 'Make peace between us, for you have departed and so left us.' 3. And we said to them: 'Are you not our father the bishop, and you the presbyter, that you should cast yourselves down at our feet?' And we were moved and embraced them. 4. And Perpetua began to speak with them in Greek, and we drew them apart into the garden under a rose-tree. 5. And while we were speaking with them, the angels said to them: 'Allow them to be refreshed; and if you have any dissensions among you, forgive one another.' 6.

And they confounded them, and said to Optatus: 'Correct your people, for they come together to you as though returning from the circus and quarrelling over the factions.' 7. And so it seemed to us as if they wished to close the gates. 8. And there we began to recognize many of the brethren, and martyrs too. We were all sustained by an indescribable fragrance which satisfied us. Then I awoke rejoicing. These are the more notable visions of the most blessed martyrs themselves, Saturus and Perpetua, which they wrote down. 2. As for Secundulus, God called him out of the world by an earlier departure while he was still in prison—not without grace, that he might escape the beasts. 3. Yet, though his soul did not, his flesh at least felt the sword. As for Felicitas, the Lord's grace touched her in this manner. 2.

Since she was already eight months gone with child (for she had been pregnant when she was arrested), as the day of the spectacle drew near she was in great distress, lest on account of her pregnancy she should be deferred—for it is not lawful for pregnant women to be brought out to punishment—and lest she should later shed her holy and innocent blood among other criminals. 3. Her fellow-martyrs too were grievously saddened, lest they should leave behind so good a companion, as it were a fellow-traveller, alone on the road of the same hope. 4. And so with one united groan they poured out a prayer to the Lord, three days before the contest. 5. Immediately after the prayer her labour-pains came upon her. And as she suffered, labouring in the natural difficulty of an eighth-month birth, one of the servants of the prison-keepers said to her:

'If you suffer so now, what will you do when you are thrown to the beasts, which you despised when you refused to sacrifice?' 6. And she answered: 'Now I suffer what I suffer; but there, Another will be in me who will suffer for me, because I too am to suffer for Him.' 7. So she gave birth to a girl, whom a certain sister reared as her own daughter. Since, therefore, the Holy Spirit permitted, and by permitting willed, that the order of the contest itself should be recorded—though we are unworthy to set down the supplement of so great a glory—nevertheless, as though fulfilling the charge, indeed the trust, of the most holy Perpetua, we carry it out, adding one testimony concerning her constancy and the loftiness of her soul. 2.

When the tribune chastised them too harshly, because, owing to the warnings of certain most foolish men, he feared lest they should be spirited out of prison by some magical incantations, Perpetua answered him to his face: 3. 'Why do you not at least permit us, the most noble of the condemned—Caesar's own, indeed—and those who are to fight on his birthday, to be refreshed? Or is it not to your own glory if we are brought out the better-nourished for it?' 4. The tribune shuddered and blushed; and so he ordered them to be treated more humanely, so that opportunity was given for her brothers and the rest to come in and be refreshed with them—the prison-warden himself by now also a believer.

On the day before, too, when they were eating that last meal which is called 'the free banquet'—although, so far as in them lay, they made it not a free banquet but an agape—with the same constancy they hurled forth words to the people, threatening the judgment of God, attesting the blessedness of their suffering, and deriding the curiosity of those who flocked together. Saturus said: 2. 'Is tomorrow not enough for you? Why do you gladly look upon what you hate? Today friends, tomorrow foes. Yet note our faces carefully, that you may recognize us on that Day.' 3. And so they all departed thence astonished, and of these many came to believe. The day of their victory dawned, and they went forth from the prison into the amphitheatre as though into heaven, joyful, with comely faces—if perhaps trembling, then trembling for joy and not from fear. 2.

Perpetua followed with a radiant countenance and a calm step, like a matron of Christ, like one beloved of God, casting down the gaze of all by the vigour of her eyes. 3. Likewise Felicitas, rejoicing that she had safely given birth so that she might fight against the beasts—from blood to blood, from the midwife to the net-fighter, about to be washed after childbirth in a second baptism. 4. And when they had been led to the gate and were being compelled to put on the dress—the men that of the priests of Saturn, the women that of those consecrated to Ceres—that noble woman resisted to the very end with constancy. 5. For she said: 'For this very reason we came to this of our own accord, that our liberty might not be overborne; for this we pledged our lives, that we might do no such thing; this we agreed with you.' 6. Injustice acknowledged justice: the tribune yielded.

—that they should be brought in simply, just as they were. 7. Perpetua sang psalms, already treading upon the head of the Egyptian. Revocatus, Saturninus, and Saturus threatened the watching crowd. 8. Then, when they came beneath the gaze of Hilarianus, they began by gesture and nod to say to Hilarianus: 'You judge us,' they said, 'but God you.' 9. At this the people, enraged, demanded that they be afflicted with scourges along the line of the beast-hunters; and they indeed gave thanks that they had obtained something even of the Lord's sufferings. But He who had said, 'Ask and you shall receive,' had given to those who asked the very end which each had desired. 2.

For whenever they conversed among themselves about the wish of their own martyrdom, Saturninus indeed declared that he wished to be exposed to all the beasts, that he might thereby wear a more glorious crown. 3. And so at the opening of the spectacle he and Revocatus first faced a leopard, and were then also mauled by a bear upon the platform. 4. Saturus, however, abominated nothing more than a bear; but he reckoned that he would be finished off by a single bite of a leopard. 5. And so, when he was being offered up to a boar, the beast-hunter who had bound him to the boar was rather gored by that same beast and died after the days of the games; Saturus was only dragged. 6. And when he was bound to a bear on the bridge, the bear refused to come out of its cage. And so a second time Saturus was recalled unharmed.

But for the girls the devil had prepared a most savage cow, procured for this very purpose contrary to custom, rivalling their sex even in the choice of beast. 2. And so they were stripped and clothed in nets and brought out. The people shuddered, beholding the one a delicate girl, the other newly come from childbirth with her breasts still dripping. 3. So they were recalled and clothed in loose tunics. Perpetua was tossed first and fell upon her loins. 4. And when she sat up, she drew back the tunic that had been torn from her side, to cover her thigh, mindful rather of modesty than of pain. 5. Then, looking for a pin, she fastened up her scattered hair; for it was not fitting for a martyr to suffer with dishevelled hair, lest she should seem to mourn in her hour of glory. 6.

So she rose, and when she saw that Felicitas had been knocked down, she went to her, gave her a hand, and raised her up. And both stood up together. 7. And the hardness of the people being overcome, they were recalled to the Gate of Life. 8. There Perpetua was received by a certain catechumen named Rusticus, who was attached to her, and as though awakened from sleep (so deeply had she been in the spirit and in ecstasy), she began to look about her and, while all stood amazed, she said: 'When,' she said, 'are we to be brought out to that cow, whatever it is?' 9. And when she heard that it had already happened, she did not believe it until she had recognized certain marks of the violence upon her body and dress. 10. Thereupon she summoned her brother and that catechumen, and addressed them, saying:

'Stand fast in the faith, and love one another all of you, and be not scandalized by our sufferings.' Likewise Saturus, at another gate, was exhorting the soldier Pudens, saying: 'In sum,' he said, 'assuredly, just as I presumed and foretold, I have felt no beast at all up to now. And now believe with all your heart: behold, I am going out yonder, and by a single bite of the leopard I shall be consummated.' 2. And straightway, at the close of the spectacle, being exposed to the leopard, by a single bite he was so drenched with blood that the people, as he returned, cried out to him in testimony of his second baptism: 'Well washed! well washed!' 3. Plainly indeed he was saved who had washed in this manner. 4. Then he said to the soldier Pudens: 'Farewell, and remember the faith and me; and let these things not disturb you, but confirm you.' 5.

And at the same time he asked for the little ring on his finger, and, dipping it in his own wound, gave it back to him as an inheritance, leaving him a pledge and a memorial of his blood. 6. Thereupon, now lifeless, he was laid out with the rest at the accustomed place for the cutting of their throats. 7. And when the people demanded that they be brought into the middle, so that as the sword pierced into their bodies they might add their own eyes as companions of the killing, they rose of their own accord and moved themselves to where the people wished, having first kissed one another, that they might consummate their martyrdom through the solemn rites of peace. 8. The rest indeed received the steel motionless and in silence—much more Saturus, who, having also climbed up first, was also the first to render up his spirit; for he had been supporting Perpetua too. 9.

But Perpetua, that she might taste something of the pain, cried out as she was pierced between the bones, and herself guided to her own throat the wavering right hand of the novice gladiator. 10. Perhaps so great a woman, who was feared by the unclean spirit, could not otherwise have been slain unless she herself had willed it. 11. O most valiant and most blessed martyrs! O truly called and chosen unto the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Whoever magnifies, honours, and adores that glory ought assuredly to read these examples too, no less than the ancient ones, for the edification of the Church, so that new manifestations of power may bear witness that one and the same Holy Spirit is at work even unto this day, together with God the almighty Father and His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom belong brightness and immeasurable power for ever and ever. Amen. This text is taken from The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, ed. H. Musurillo. Oxford 1972. p.106-130. Italicised words are quotations from Scripture.