Novena of Grace of St. Francis Xavier (Day 4) Monday 7th March 2011 Ss Perpetua and Felicity

There are eight women mentioned in the Roman Canon or the Eucharistic Prayer I. The first woman is mentioned before the consecration. “In union with the whole Church, we honour Mary, the ever-virgin Mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God”. This evening we celebrate two of the other seven: Perpetua and Felicity.

They were five of them martyred together in the 3rd Century. It sounds a bit distant from Apostolic times till you realise that they were martyred at latest circa AD210, a hundred years or so after John’s Gospel was written. Who were they?

According to a historical account, violent persecutions broke out during the reign of Emperor Severus. [With a name like Severus, how could it not be severe, you ask yourself]. Five catechumens were detained for the faith in Carthage. [Present-day Carthage is a ruin in the capital city of Tunisia]. Today we celebrate the memorial of both Perpetua and Felicity. The details of their martyrdom have reached us through a contemporary account—namely of Perpetua herself. It came from her own diary. She was of noble rank. Her companion, Felicity was a slave. Perpetua had just given birth and was suckling. Felicity was with child but gave birth just two days before the games—the day their execution took place. Both were baptised whilst in captivity.

They remained faithful to the teachings of the Apostles even though they were catechumens and for that reason they are relevant to us.

Consider the circumstances surrounding their ordeal. All through her imprisonment, Perpetua was tempted in the person of her father for he consistently begged her to apostatise. However, she was concerned for the well being of her infant and upon knowing that the child was in good hands she said, “The prison has been made a palace for me”. Imagine Felicity, who was rather apprehensive that she would not be granted the grace of martyrdom since Roman law forbade the execution of pregnant women. In the end, she was able to give up her child to a Christian woman.

The details of their martyrdom as described by Perpetua herself are not what we are accustomed to. Would you not consider Felicity’s apprehension a bit bizarre? But, that is fundamentally what it entails when one remains faithful. The teaching of the Apostles is more or less set, in the sense that it is there. It is being faithful that exacts a price to be paid. Are we willing to pay the price or is Christian martyrdom a dead language?

We may or may not be aware that martyrdom is alive. Not a few days ago, Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s Minister for Minorities, a Catholic, was gunned down. In different parts of the world, Christians have had to pay the ultimate price for their faith in Jesus Christ. According to the Vatican, between 2001 and 2008, more than 130 Catholics, who are known, have shed blood for the faith. Many more could be hidden.

If Christian martyrdom is not a dead language, perhaps, our not being acquainted with it, explains why it remains unreal for many of us. Yet, according to those attuned to it, Christian martyrdom today remains one of the greatest untold stories. John Paul II himself described that at the end of the last century, the Church had once again become a Church of the martyrs.

For us to appreciate martyrdom, we really need to hear more stories of Christian struggles. Unfortunately, we top the mock list and to be fair, in some cases we do deserve it. But, in the category of fair recognition, not so much for the sake of triumphalism, we come in last. It means that the media is often silent in the case of Christians dying heroically. The stories of Christian struggle are often told in silence.

Perhaps, the readings themselves may help us understand why it is that we are not so acquainted with martyrdom. They basically tell us that it does not pay to be good. Poor Tobias, despite his goodness, still went blind. The landowner, in his kindness leased out his land, only to have his son killed. In short, it does not pay to sacrifice.

Negative media and the lack of heroism have contributed to a dampening of our spirit of sacrifice. Furthermore, we also shy away from sacrifice because sacrifice takes the shape of suffering. Unless we accept this, the idea of dying for someone else, let alone for Christ remains unreal.

The last few days I have been speaking about holiness and how a notion that we often associate with those who are far removed from reality is really accessible to all of us. So, here by speaking of the martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity, am I backtracking? Because, by all appearances, martyrdom seems to be inaccessible. But, au contraire, martyrdom and holiness are essentially linked. Although holiness comes within the reach of every Christian, it comes with a price. That price is martyrdom. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian put to death by the Nazis, once said that grace is not cheap. Every day when we decide to live a life of holiness, when we draw lines and resist compromising, we enter into the territory of martyrdom for that is what it really means: witnessing. There is something about holiness that is beautiful; likewise martyrdom. Its beauty can never be hidden. That is when we move from private Christian living to public Christian holiness. I believe all the martyrs recognise this beauty. To the world it may seem like a valueless piece of stone. But, to the enlightened, the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Hence, sanguis martyrum - semen christianorum, the blood of martyr is the seed of faith.