The Word Among Us

May 2016 Issue

A Heroic Human Duo

How the story of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity became my story.

By: Hallie Riedel

A Heroic Human Duo: How the story of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity became my story. by Hallie Riedel

“Holy martyrs, Perpetua and Felicity, pray for us.” Though I often have heard Perpetua and Felicity mentioned in litanies of saints and in prayers of the Church, I never used to give them much thought. I did have a vague sense that they must have been important to be singled out. But they seemed distant and exalted, far removed from my ordinary life as a wife and mother.

Then I came across the description of their martyrdom and the events that led up to it. Dating from the early third century, this...

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