Cloud of witnesses: Perpetua

The Martyrdom of Perpetua – 203 AD

The young catechumens (students of the faith) were arrested: Revocatus and Felicity his fellow-servant, Saturninus and Secundulus. With them also was Vibia Perpetua, nobly born, reared in a liberal manner, wedded honourably ; having a father and mother and two brothers, one of them a catechumen likewise, and a son, a child at the breast; and she herself was about twenty-two years of age. What follows here she shall tell herself; the whole order of her martyrdom as she left it written with her own hand and in her own words.

When, saith she, we were yet with our sureties and my father was fain to vex me with his words and continually strove to hurt my faith because of his love : Father, said I, seest thou (for example’s sake) this vessel lying, a pitcher or whatsoever it may be ? 2 And he said, “I see it.” And I said to him. “Can it be called by any other name than that which it is?” And he answered. “No.” “So can I call myself (nothing) other than that which I am, a Christian.” Then my father, moved with this word, came upon me to make me cry ; but he vexed me only, and he departed vanquished, both he and the arguments of the devil. Then because I was without my father for a few days I gave thanks unto the Lord ; and I was comforted because of his absence.

In this same space of a few days we were baptized, and the Spirit declared to me, I must pray for nothing else after that water 3 save only endurance of the flesh.

A few days after we were taken into prison, and I was much afraid because I had never known such darkness. O bitter day! There was a great heat because of the press, there was cruel handling of the soldiers. Lastly, I was tormented there by care for (my) child. Then Tertius and Pomponius, the blessed deacons (from our church) who ministered to us, obtained with money that for a few hours we should be taken forth to a better part of the prison and be refreshed. Then all of them going out from the dungeon took their pleasure; I suckled my child that was now faint with hunger. And being careful for him, I spoke to my mother and strengthened my brother and commended my son unto them. I pined because I saw they pined for my sake. Such cares I suffered for many days; and I obtained that the child should abide with me in prison; and straightway I became well, and was lightened of my labour and care for the child ; and suddenly the prison was made a palace for me, so that I would sooner be there than anywhere else.

A few days after, the report went abroad that we were to be tried. Also my father returned from the city spent with weariness ; and he came up to me to cast down my faith, saying : “Have pity, daughter, on my grey hairs ; have pity on thy father, if I am worthy to be called father by thee ; if with these hands I have brought thee unto this flower of youth—and I have preferred thee before all thy brothers ; give me not over to the reproach of men. Look upon thy brothers ; look upon thy mother and mother’s sister; look upon thy son, who will not endure to live after thee. Forbear thy resolution; destroy us not all together; for none of us will speak openly among men again if thou sufferest aught.” This he said fatherwise in his love, kissing my hands and grovelling at my feet; and with tears he named me, not daughter, but lady. And I was grieved for my father’s case because he only would not rejoice at my passion out of all my kin ; and I comforted him, saying : “Whatever God shall please shall be done at this tribunal; for know that we are not stablished in our own power, but in God’s.” And he went from me very sorrowful.

Another day as we (were eating a meal, we were suddenly) snatched away to be tried ; and we came to the forum. Therewith a report spread abroad through the parts near to the forum, and a very great multitude gathered together. We went up to the tribunal. The others being asked, confessed (their faith). So they came to me. And my father appeared there also, with my son, and would draw me from the step, saying : “Sacrifice ; have mercy on the child.” And Hilarian the procurator said, “Spare thy father’s grey hairs ; spare the infancy of the boy. Make sacrifice for the Emperors’1 prosperity.” And I answered : “I will not sacrifice.” Then said Hilarian: “Art thou a Christian?” And I answered : “I am a Christian.” And when my father stood by me yet to cast down my faith, he was ordered by Hilarian to be cast down and was smitten with a rod. And I sorrowed for my father’s harm as though I had been smitten myself; so sorrowed I for his unhappy old age. Then Hilarian passed sentence upon us all and condemned us to the beasts ; and cheerfully we went down to the dungeon. Then because my child had been wont to take suck of me and to abide with me in the prison, straightway I sent Pomponius the deacon to my father, asking for the child. But my father would not give him. And as God willed, (he did not need) to be suckled any more, nor did I take fever; (God did this) that I might not be tormented by care for the child and by the pain of my breast.

At this point in the story, Perpetua had a vision at night. When she woke up she said…

And I awoke; and I understood that I should fight, not with beasts but against the devil; but I knew that mine was the victory.

Thus far have I written this, till the day before the games; but the deed of the games themselves let him write who will.

This is the end of Perpetua’s own account. At this point, a man named Saturus picks up the story. Saturus wrote of a vision that he had which encouraged and guided him. We pick up his account as he tells us about the servant girl Felicity who was imprisoned with Perpetua and the others.

As for Felicity, she too received grace of the Lord. For because she was now eight months (pregnant)(being indeed with child when she was taken) she was very sorrowful as the day of the games drew near, fearing lest for this cause she should be kept back (for it is not lawful for women that are with child to be brought forth for torment) and lest she should shed her holy and innocent blood after the rest, among strangers and (criminals). Also her fellow martyrs were much afflicted lest they should leave behind them so good a friend and as it were their fellow-traveller on the road of the same hope. Wherefore with joint and united groaning they poured out their prayer to the Lord, three days before the games. Incontinently after their prayer her pains came upon her. And when by reason of the natural difficulty of the eighth month she was oppressed with her travail and made complaint, there said to her one of the servants of the keepers of the door : “Thou that thus makest complaint now, what wilt thou do when thou art thrown to the beasts, which thou didst contemn when thou wouldst not sacrifice ?” And she answered, I myself now suffer that which I suffer, but there another shall be in me who shall suffer for me, because I am to suffer for him. So she was delivered of a daughter, whom a sister reared up to be her own daughter.

The story is now finished by an unnamed author who witnessed the martyrdom of Perpetua and the others with her.

He Who had said Ask, and ye shall receive gave to them asking that end which each had desired. For whenever they spoke together of their desire in their martyrdom, Saturninus for his part would declare that he wished to be thrown to every kind of beast, that so indeed he might wear the more glorious crown. At the beginning of the spectacle therefore himself with Revocatus first had ado with a leopard and was afterwards torn by a bear also upon a raised bridge.

Now Saturus detested nothing more than a bear, but was confident already he should die by one bite of a leopard. Therefore when he was being given to a boar, the gladiator instead who had bound him to the boar was torn asunder by the same beast and died after the days of the games ; nor was Saturus more than dragged. Moreover when he had been tied on the bridge to be assaulted by a bear, the bear would not come forth from its den. So Saturus was called back unharmed a second time.

But for the women the devil had made ready a most savage cow, prepared for this purpose against all custom ; for even in this beast he would mock their sex…Perpetua was first thrown, and fell upon her loins. And when she had sat upright, her robe being rent at the side, she drew it over to cover her thigh, mindful rather of modesty than of pain. Next, looking for a pin, she likewise pinned up her disheveled hair; for it was not meet that a martyr should suffer with hair disheveled, lest she should seem to grieve in her glory. So she stood up ; and when she saw Felicity smitten down, she went up and gave her her hand and raised her up. And both of them stood up together and were called back to the Gate of Life. There Perpetua being received by one named Rusticus, then a (student of the faith), who stood close at her side, and as now awakening from sleep (so much was she in the Spirit and in ecstasy) began first to look about her ; When, “forsooth” said she, “are we to be thrown to the cow?” And when she heard that this had been done already, she would not believe till she perceived some marks of mauling on her body and on her dress. Thereupon she called her brother to her, and that (student of the faith), and spoke to them, saying : “Stand fast in the faith, and love ye all one another ; and be not offended because of our passion.”

Saturus also at another gate exhorted Pudens the soldier, saying : “So then indeed, as I trusted and foretold, I have felt no assault of beasts until now. And now believe with all thy heart. Behold, I go out thither and shall perish by one bite of the leopard.” And forthwith at the end of the spectacle, the leopard being released, with one bite of his he was covered with so much blood that the people (in witness to his second baptism) cried out to him returning : “Well washed, well washed.” Truly it was well with him who had washed in this way. Then said Saturus to Pudens the soldier : “Farewell; remember the faith and me ; and let not these things trouble thee, but strengthen thee.” And therewith he took from Pudens’ finger a little ring, and dipping it in his wound gave it him back again for an heirloom, leaving him a pledge and memorial of his blood.

Then as the breath left him he was cast down with the rest in the accustomed place for his throat to be cut. And when the people besought that they should be brought forward, that when the sword pierced through their bodies their eyes might be joined thereto as witnesses to the slaughter, they rose of themselves and moved whither the people willed them, first kissing one another, that they might accomplish their martyrdom with the rites of peace. The rest not moving and in silence received the sword ; Saturus much earlier gave up the ghost; for he had gone up earlier also, and now he waited for Perpetua likewise. But Perpetua, that she might have some taste of pain, was pierced between the bones and shrieked out; and when the swordsman’s hand wandered still (for he was a novice), (Perpetua) herself set it upon her own neck. Perchance so great a woman could not else have been slain had she not herself so willed it.

O most valiant and blessed martyrs! O truly called and elected unto the glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ! Which glory he that magnifies, honours and adores, ought to read these witnesses likewise, as being no less than the old, unto the Church’s edification; that these new wonders also may testify that one and the same Holy Spirit works ever until now, and with Him God the Father Almighty, and His Son Jesus Christ Our Lord, to Whom is glory and power unending for ever and ever. Amen.

Closing:

We are in the midst of a sermon series on faith, and what an example of faith Perpetua and the others set for us!

This story is a perfect illustration of Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:

26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Truly, Perpetua’s faith in Jesus was greater than her love for her family. She denied the pleas of her father to abandon the faith for his sake, and she would not back down from the confession of her faith even for the sake of her nursing child. Perpetua was not abandoning her family, but rather choosing obedience and having faith that God would take care of everything.

But we also see the faithfulness of God in this story. God was faithful to each of the martyrs and provided them with everything they needed to face their final task with confidence.

1. Miraculously, Perpetua’s baby was finished nursing when her father would not allow her to have her baby back in prison with her, and Perpetua had no pain or swelling of her breasts when she stopped nursing.

2. Perpetua had a vision that gave her the assurance that her imprisonment would lead to death but also gave her the confidence that she would remain victorious in her faith to the end.

3. Felicity prematurely went into labor and gave birth at 8 months pregnant so she could face persecution with the rest of her friends.

4. Saturus prophesied that he would not be attacked by any animal but a leopard who would kill him with one bite. When he went up against a boar, the boar attacked it handler and when presented to the bear, the bear refused to leave its den. This left only the leopard who ended up mortally wounding him with one bite. And as Saturus was bleeding to death from the leopard mite, he used the fulfillment of this prophecy to evangelize to Pudens, the soldier, and challenge him to remember the faith.

What great faith these followers of Jesus possessed! Their love and devotion for the Savior was unquestioned. Without a doubt, God strengthened them and provided them with the courage and faith they needed.

We are a long way away from this level of persecution, but we should be challenged all the more to keep the faith and live holy and godly lives even when the going gets tough. There is nothing, absolutely NOTHING God cannot handle. He truly has the whole world in His hands and the one thing He calls us to is FAITHFULNESS: to choose Him no matter what. And as Perpetua knew, the reward for faithfulness is eternal life.

May the story of Perpetua challenge and encourage us to greater faith and trust in our Savior Jesus.