Vibia Perpetua was a young married noblewoman of about twenty-two, nursing an infant son, when she was arrested in Carthage in the year 203 along with several catechumens preparing for baptism, including her pregnant slave Felicity. Refusing her father's pleas to renounce her faith and save herself, Perpetua kept a diary during her imprisonment describing her visions and her resolve, a document that survives today as one of the earliest pieces of Christian writing by a woman.
Felicity gave birth in prison shortly before the execution, and the two women were put to death together in the arena at Carthage, facing wild animals and then the sword, alongside several companions. Their martyrdom became one of the most widely read accounts in the early Church and remains commemorated together to this day.
Feast · March 7
Saint Perpetua
Martyr of Carthage
A young Roman noblewoman and new mother martyred alongside her slave Felicity in Carthage, whose prison diary is one of the earliest surviving Christian texts written by a woman.
- Born
- 182
- Died
- 203
- Birthplace
- Carthage (in modern Tunisia)
- Died in
- Carthage (in modern Tunisia)
- Country
- Tunisia
- Century
- 3rd century
Categories
Why People Pray to Saint Perpetua
Saint Perpetua is invoked by mothers and by those who must choose between family pressure and conviction, for courage to remain faithful under difficult circumstances.
