Martyrs · Remembered on March 7
Sts. Perpetua and Felicity
Sts. Perpetua and Felicity is remembered on March 7 in Bless’s calendar of saints. Traditionally invoked as patron of mothers and expectant mothers.
| Remembered on | March 7 |
|---|---|
| Title | Martyrs |
| Died | c. 203 |
| Patron of | mothers, expectant mothers |
| Next on Bless’s Today screen | None left in the published calendar (through December 31, 2028) |
Life
Vibia Perpetua, a twenty-two-year-old noblewoman of Carthage with a nursing baby, and Felicity, her pregnant slave, arrested together as catechumens. Perpetua’s prison diary — the earliest Christian writing we have from a woman’s hand — records her father’s pleading, her visions, and her calm refusal to be called anything other than what she was, a Christian.
Felicity gave birth two days before the games and went from childbirth to the amphitheater, from one shedding of blood to another. The two women, tossed by a mad heifer, exchanged the kiss of peace before the sword. Their names stand side by side in the Roman Canon.
Patron of
Tradition invokes Sts. Perpetua and Felicity as patron of mothers and expectant mothers.
Saints with the same patronage
- Sts. Joachim and Annemothers · July 26
- St. Monicamothers · August 27
Patronages are traditional, not an official list. All patron saints in Bless, A to Z.
In the calendar
The upcoming dates, through December 31, 2028, when Bless’s Today screen shows Sts. Perpetua and Felicity. Where the US calendar keeps another celebration that day, it is named instead and no rank is given.
Readings
No dates are left in Bless’s published calendar, which runs through December 31, 2028. Sts. Perpetua and Felicity keeps March 7 in Bless’s calendar of saints: see the saints of March.
All the saints of March Born on March 7? A saint for every day
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