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Old Calendar: St. Thomas Aquinas, confessor and doctor ; Other Titles: St. Felicitas
The account of the martyrdom of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity forms one of the finest pages of the history of the first centuries of the Church. It shows us clearly the wonderful sentiments of these two women when they heard that they had been condemned to the wild beasts. Knowing their own weakness but relying on the strength of Christ, who was fighting with them, they went to their martyrdom as to a triumphant celebration, to which they were invited by Christ. They were exposed to the fury of wild beasts in the amphitheater at Carthage, A.D. 203, and finally killed by the sword. Their names are still mentioned together in the Roman Canon of the Mass.
According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas which is now celebrated in the Ordinary Form on January 28.
Sts. Perpetua and FelicityVibia Perpetua, a well-to-do young woman and mother, and Felicitas, a slave who gave birth to a child three days before suffering a martyr's death, were catechumens. Against such prospective converts the persecution of Septimius Severus was particularly severe. These two holy women suffered death on the seventh of March in Carthage. The Breviary relates the following touching episode:
Now the day had arrived when they were to be thrown to the wild beasts. Felicitas began to be sorrowful because she feared she would have to wait longer than her companions. For eight months she had been pregnant and therefore, according to Roman law, could not be executed before the birth of the child. But the prayers of her fellow sufferers hastened her time and she gave birth to a baby girl.
While she was suffering from the pains of childbirth, one of the guards called out to her, "If you are suffering so much now, what will you do when you are thrown to the wild beasts?" "Now I suffer," she answered, "but there Another will be in me, who will suffer for me, because I will suffer for Him." When she was in travail she had sorrow, but when she was set before the wild beasts she rejoiced (Martyrology).
Finally, on the seventh of March, these heroic women were led into the amphitheatre and severely scourged. Then they were tossed about by an exceptionally wild cow, gored, and thrown to the ground.
Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
Patron: Perpetua Cattle, death of children, martyrs. Felicity Death of children; martyrs; sterility; to have male children; widows.
Symbols: Perpetua Wild cow; spiked ladder guarded by a dragon. Felicity Seven swords; cauldron of oil and sword; sword with seven heads; eight palms.
Things to Do:
The Station, at Rome, is in the church of St. Sisto Vecchio. It was built in the 4th century, and was one of the first parish churches in Rome and was known as the Titulus Crescentianae. Tradition claims that it was founded by Pope Anastasius I.
Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs (Optional Memorial)
I have come . . . to fulfill. (Matthew 5:17)
Jesus clarified it for his disciples: he had not come to abolish the Law or the prophets. He did not want to get rid of anything. He came to fulfill. Lets pray today and thank Jesus for the ways he brings everything to fulfillment:
Jesus, thank you that you came to fulfill the Law! You were flawless in the way you loved God and loved your neighbors. You loved so deeply that you offered yourself on a cross so that we could be reconciled with our Father in heaven.
Thank you, Lord, that you didnt stop there. You also showed us how to follow the heart of the Law. Every one of your teachings showed us how we could love God and love our neighbors just as fully as you did. You healed and forgave, you reached out to the outcasts, you obeyed your Fathers will. You fulfilled the Law, and you taught us how to do it too.
Not only that, Lord, but you perfectly fulfilled the words of the prophets. You are the yes to every one of Gods promises. You are Emmanuel, God with us, conceived by the Virgin. You are the Son of David, born in Bethlehem, who comes to bring an eternal kingdom of peace. You are Gods chosen servant, who brings justice and healing to all!
Jesus, you even came to fulfill me! Thank you that you made me with awesome potential. You have given me the capacity to know you; you have given me specific gifts and talents to glorify you. You help me each day to discover them, and you teach me how to develop them. You help me overcome sin so that I can see your gifts in other people. You teach me how to pray and love God so that I can grow to be the person you made me to be.
Jesus, I give you thanks and praise! You have come to fulfill—everything. Thank you that you have gone so far as to promise to fulfill me as well. You have made me. You love me. You long for me to be all that you made me to be!
Lord, I want to find my fulfillment in you!
Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9
Psalm 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20