Perpetua

SERMON: Perpetua And Felicity Have Received The Reward Of Perpetual Felicity, by Augustine

February 9, 2014

On the Birthday of the Martyrs Perpetua and Felicity 1. This day, coming round year after year, is a reminder to us, and after a certain fashion represents for us the day on which God’s holy servants, Perpetua and Felicity, adorned with the garlands of martyrdom, burst into bloom in perpetual felicity, holding onto the name of Christ in the war, and at the same time also finding their own names in the reward. We heard of the encouragement they received in divine revelations, and of their triumph in their sufferings, as it was all being read; and all those things, recounted in such glowing words, we perceived with our ears, and actually saw with our minds; we honored them with our devotion, and praised them with love. However, a [...]

SATURDAY READING: Perpetua — Memory And The Text, by Joyce E. Salisbury

February 8, 2014

From Perpetua’s Passion The analysis of Perpetua’s and Saturus’s dream records show their sacrifices were not only for their own salvation but for the benefit of the faithful left on Earth. This is why they recorded their visions and experiences. The account of the martyr Pionius, who died in Carthage in 259, during the persecution that took Cyprian, addresses this directly: “We are to share in the remembrances of the saints, fully aware that to call to mind those who have passed their lives in the faith wisely with all their hearts gives strength to those who are striving to imitate the better things.” Probably, the martyrs who were urging the recollection of their deeds imagined that the example they were setting was to [...]

SAINTS: The Visions Of Perpetua

February 6, 2014

Carthage, 203 A.D. Among a group of Christians sentenced to the beasts in the arena is a wealthy young Roman mother. While awaiting execution, she begins a diary that is completed by a witness who describes her death. The resulting text has been read for centuries. (Perpetua’s Passion, by Joyce E. Salisbury) First Vision I saw a ladder of tremendous height made of bronze, reaching all the way up to the heavens, but it was so narrow that only one person could climb up at a time. To the sides of the ladder were attached all sorts of iron weapons: there were swords, spears, books, daggers, and spikes; so that if anyone tried to climb up carelessly or without paying attention, he would be mangled and his flesh would adhere to [...]