Category: WOmen

Last week I gave the cultural and Christian context for martyrdom, particularly of women, and mothers at that. I also gave the context of choice, highlighting the difference between Perpetua's and Felicity's grisly end in the arena, and Paula's "living" martyrdom of poverty and self-denial for the sake of Christ. This week I look at the context of their children.

The translation of Perpetua's first-hand account (in Greek) of the weeks leading up to her martyrdom, her visions, and that of one of her companions, of the loss of her son, and the loss of her servant's daughter, is available in the public domain following this link. It is only six pages long, the last page written posthumously by someone of her Christian assembly who was there to watch her die in the arena that day.

Perpetua's visions had a great impact on the martyrs who came after her, as well as our understanding of life after death. Her first vision is described in Part One. Today are the rest of Perpetua's visions.

I came across the story of Perpetua and Felicitas during my studies at Portland Seminary. She was an early Christian martyr, notable because she was a woman, of noble birth, and she died just as the second century came to a close.