When we think of the early church, our minds focus
on the Church Fathers.
Sadly, we sometimes fail to consider the Church Mothers. Let us not forget the godly women who heroically
waged spiritual warfare against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Their losses
and their victories, their pain and their joy, their walk with Christ and their
journey with one another are all an inheritance from which we learn lessons for today.
Vibia Perpetua (181-203) heads that company. The
early Church preserved her manuscript, The Martyrdom of Perpetua,
because it is one of the oldest and most descriptive accounts of death for
Christ. It is also the earliest known document written by a Christian woman, Perpetua, coauthored by Saturus, the one who led her to Christ. It is believed that a redactor later supplied the
introduction and conclusion to the book.
Perpetua lived in Carthage in North Africa during
the persecution of Christians under Septimius Severus. At the time of her
arrest in 202 AD, she was a twenty-one-year-old mother of an infant son. Born
into a wealthy, prominent, but unbelieving family, she was a recent convert
with a father who continually attempted to weaken her faith and a husband who
was, for reasons unknown to us, out of the picture. Nothing in Perpetua’s
situation or background prepared her for the titanic spiritual struggle God
called her to face.
Perpetua, Felicitas, both women, Perputua's brother, and
two other new converts were discipled by Saturus. We learn from Perpetua’s
writings about the arrest of all these faithful followers of Christ. Perpetua
candidly faced her fears and expresses her suffering: “I was terrified because
never before had I experienced such darkness. What a terrible day! Because of
crowded conditions and rough treatment by the soldiers the heat was unbearable.
My condition was aggravated by my anxiety for my baby.”
On the day of Perpetua’s final hearing before being
martyred for her faith in 203 AD, the guards rushed Perpetua to the prisoners’
platform. Her father appeared with her infant son, and begged Perpetua to have
pity on her son. He caused such an uproar, that the governor Hilarion ordered
him to be thrown out, and he was beaten with a rod. Perpetua writes of this
horrible incident. “My father’s injury hurt me as much as if I myself had been beaten.
And I grieved because of his pathetic old age.”
Felicitas,
the other young woman was in her eighth month of pregnancy. As the day of martyrdom
approached, two days, united in grief they prayed to the Lord. Immediately
after their prayers, her labor pains began and Felicitas gave birth to a girl
whom one of her sisters reared as her own.
Eye
witnesses record the entire group's witness for Christ to the very end. “The day of their
victory dawned, and with joyful countenances they marched from the prison to
the arena as though on their way to heaven. If there was any trembling, it was
from joy, not fear. Perpetua followed with a quick step as a true spouse of
Christ, the darling of God, her brightly flashing eyes quelling the gaze of the
crowd.” To the crowd the women were nothing but entertainment. But to Christ they
were His brides.
As
the group was led through the gates, they were ordered to put on different
clothes. The men were to wear those of the priests of Saturn, the women, those
of the priestesses of Ceres. But the noble Perpetua stubbornly resisted even to
the end. She said, ‘We’ve come this far voluntarily in order to protect our
rights, and we’ve pledged our lives not to recapitulate on any such matter as
this. We made this agreement with you.’ Injustice bowed to justice and the guard
conceded that they could enter the arena in their ordinary dress.
At the demand of the mob they were first scourged; then a boar, a
bear, and a leopard, were set at the men,
and a wild cow at the women. Wounded by the wild animals, they gave each other the kiss of peace and were then put to the sword.
This is a moving account of true devotion to Jesus in the
face of severe suffering, loss and agony. Most of us would give anything to
preserve our families, and yet they lost everything - including their family and infant kids - to gain the glory of Jesus. They remind us of Jesus'
words in the Gospel of Matthew: "Whoever loves father or mother more than
me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me. Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of
me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake
will find it." (Matthew 10:37-39).
Women mentioned here are found no less to men in shedding their blood which we know became the
foundation of the Church. Is there a tendency in us to take Church for granted, today? What is going to be our contribution to the building of His Church and Kingdom?
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