Women of Faith · Week 2 · Grades 9–12
Guided Notes: Sts. Perpetua and Felicity
- Name
- Date
- Class
Follow along as your teacher presents. Fill in each section when its slide is on the screen.
Sts. Perpetua and Felicity
A voice from Roman Africa
In 203, under the emperor Septimius Severus, a group of catechumens, people preparing for blank 1, was arrested near Carthage in Roman North Africa.
Among them were Vibia Perpetua, about 22, educated, from a respected family and nursing an infant son, and Felicity, an enslaved woman eight months pregnant. With them were blank 2, Saturninus and Secundulus. Their teacher Saturus joined them by choice.
The account we have, the blank 3 of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, is unusual. Its core is Perpetua’s own diary. Saturus added a section, and an unnamed editor framed the whole and described their deaths.
From Carthage to the Canon
Write what happened at each point.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 193 | Write your answer |
| 203 | Write your answer |
| 203 | Write your answer |
| 203 | Write your answer |
| March 7, 203 | Write your answer |
| c. 400 | Write your answer |
| Today | Write your answer |
What she would not say
Perpetua’s father came to her several times, and his grief is one of the most moving parts of the diary. He begged her to think of him and of her child.
She pointed to a jar and asked whether it could be called by any name other than what it was. Neither, she said, could she be called anything but a Christian.
She also recorded dreams, including a tall ladder reaching to heaven. Felicity feared her pregnancy would separate her from the group, since blank 4 law did not allow a pregnant woman to be executed. She gave birth in prison, and a Christian woman raised her daughter.
Reading the Passion closely
Write one detail for each card.
| Card | The detail |
|---|---|
| Whose words? | Write your answer |
| The charge | Write your answer |
| Rank set aside | Write your answer |
| Martyr means witness | Write your answer |
| Honored, not worshipped | Write your answer |
Apply it
Perpetua’s point about the jar is mainly a claim about what? Circle one.
- A Obedience: children owe parents nothing
- B Courage: fear is a sign of weak faith
- C Identity: a name must match the reality
- D Politics: Roman law had no authority
Why is that the right answer?
Apply it
Which online habit comes closest to Perpetua’s refusal to be called something she was not? Circle one.
- A Posting your beliefs as often as you can
- B Keeping the same convictions on every account
- C Blocking everyone who disagrees with you
- D Staying anonymous so no one can judge you
Why is that the right answer?
Virtues they lived
For each virtue, write how the saint lived it and one way you can practice it.
| Virtue | How the saint lived it | How I can practice it |
|---|---|---|
| Fortitude | Write your answer | Write your answer |
| Integrity | Write your answer | Write your answer |
| Solidarity | Write your answer | Write your answer |
Take a side
Perpetua’s father begged her to think of him and of her infant son. Resolved: a person’s duty to conscience outranks even the deepest duties to family.
My side: ☐ Agree ☐ Disagree
- The Church teaches both that we must honor our parents and that we must never deny Christ. What happens when those collide?
- Perpetua was asked to perform an act of worship she believed was false. Does that differ from simply disagreeing with a parent?
- She arranged care for her son and grieved for her father. Does that change how you judge her choice?
- Could she have said the words without meaning them? What would that have cost?
- Where do smaller versions of this conflict show up now, including what families expect you to post, share or stay silent about?
My strongest reason, with evidence from the slides:
The best argument for the other side, and my response:
Let us pray
Lord God, you gave Perpetua and Felicity courage to bear your name.
Make us truthful about who we are, in every place and on every screen.
Bind us to one another across every divide.
Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, pray for us.
Amen.
My own prayer or intention:
Called by your true name
Their names have been spoken at the altar for centuries, side by side. Their feast day is March 7.
One thing I learned today:
One question I still have:
How could the example of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity shape the way I live, online and offline?
Challenge: For seven days, be the same person in every space you enter: at home, at school and on every account. Note one moment when that was hard.