Orethapedia

Black History Month gives us the opportunity to celebrate the beauty of faith.

Just after the death of Pope St. Victor I, St. Perpetua and St. Felicity underwent their martyrdom in Carthage, around 203.

St. Perpetua was a young, well-educated noblewoman and mother living in Carthage in North Africa. Her mother was a Christian and her father was a pagan. Perpetua followed the faith of her mother. Despite the pleas of her father to deny her faith, Perpetua fearlessly proclaimed it.At the age of 22, she was jailed for her faith. While in prison she continued to care for her infant child and put up with tortures designed to make her renounce her faith. Perpetua remained steadfast until the end. St. Perpetua was sacrificed at the games as a public spectacle.

St. Felicity was a pregnant slave girl who was imprisoned with her. Little is known about her life because, unlike Perpetua, she did not keep a diary. After imprisonment and torture, Felicity was also condemned to die at the games.Only a few days before her execution, Felicity gave birth to a daughter, who was secretly taken away to be cared for by some of the faithful.

They share the feast day of March 7, and their names are forever mentioned together in the Roman Canon of the Mass.

Perseverance. That is what you embrace when studying these two. They held steadfastly to their faith. They valued it.

Whatever endeavors you pursue, when armed with the virtue of perseverance your success is almost guaranteed.An unwavering faith and a strong belief will ensure you have the motivation to continually strive towards heaven regardless of what obstacles you come up against.

Struggle, setbacks and short-term failures don’t have to drain your motivation. They don’t have to make you want to quit before you’ve put in enough time and effort.

Faith takes work. Work builds your walk. Persevere.