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Sts. Perpetua and Felicity
A document from the early 3rd century has been regarded as the prison diary of Vibia Perpetua, a young woman who was martyred along with St. Felicity and companions as part of a civic celebration honoring Caesar Geta. Perpetua was “well-married and had recently become the mother of a baby son, but despite her advantages, she refused to recant her faith when she was arrested with other recent converts to Christianity,” according to Oxford University Press. “Imprisoned with her was her pregnant slave, Felicity. Perpetua’s steadfastness in her belief led to her martyrdom in the amphitheater. A description of the heroic deaths of both women, and the autobiography of one of the leaders of the Christian community, Saturus, is woven into Perpetua’s diary by an anonymous editor, who tells us that, as they died, Perpetua, Felicity, and the other condemned Christians bid farewell with a kiss of peace.”
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© Fr Lawrence Lew-CC