(NOTE: The electronic text obtained from The Electronic Bible Society was
not completely corrected. EWTN has corrected all mistakes found.)

Transliteration of Greek words: All phonetical except: w = omega; h serves
three puposes: 1. = Eta; 2. = rough breathing, when appearing intially
before a vowel; 3. = in the aspirated letters theta = th, phi = ph, chi =
ch. Accents are given immediately after their corresponding vowels: acute =
' , grave = `, circumflex = ^. The character ' doubles as an apostrophe,
when necessary.

TERTULLIAN.

APPENDIX to AD MARTYRAS

THE MARTYRDOM OF PERPETUA AND FELICITAS.
(Very possibly edited by Tertullian.)

(TRANSLATED BY THE REV. R. E. WALLIS, PH.D.)

THE PASSION OF THE HOLY MARTYRS PERPETUA AND FELICITAS.

PREFACE.[1]

   IF ancient illustrations of faith which both testify to God's grace and
tend to man's edification are collected in writing, so that by the perusal
of them, as if by the reproduction of the facts, as well God may be
honoured, as man may be strengthened; why should not new instances be also
collected, that shall be equally suitable for both purposes,--if only on
the ground that these modern examples will one day become ancient and
available for posterity, although in their present time they are esteemed
of less authority, by reason of the presumed veneration for antiquity? But
let men look to it, if they judge the power of the Holy Spirit to be one,
according to the times and seasons; since some things of later date must be
esteemed of more account as being nearer to the very last times, in
accordance with the exuberance of grace manifested to the final periods
determined for the world. For "in the last days, saith the Lord, I will
pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and their sons and their daughters
shall prophesy. And upon my servants and my handmaidens will I pour out of
my Spirit; and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall
dream dreams."[2] And thus we--who both acknowledge and reverence, even as
we do the prophecies, modern visions as equally promised to us, and
consider the other powers of the Holy Spirit as an agency of the Church for
which also He was sent, administering all gifts in all, even as the Lord
distributed to every one[3] as well needfully collect them in writing, as
commemorate them in reading to God's glory; that so no weakness or
despondency of faith may suppose that the divine grace abode only among the
ancients, whether in respect of the condescension that raised up martyrs,
or that gave revelations; since God always carries into effect what He has
promised, for a testimony to unbelievers, to believers for a benefit. And
we therefore, what we have heard and handled, declare also to you, brethren
and little children, that as well you who were concerned in these matters
may be reminded of them again to the glory of the Lord, as that you who
know them by report may have communion with the blessed martyrs, and
through them with the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and honour, for
ever and ever.[4] Amen.

CHAP. I.--ARGUMENT.--WHEN THE SAINTS WERE APPREHENDED, ST. PERPETUA
SUCCESSFULLY RESISTED HER FATHER'S PLEADING, WAS BAPTIZED WITH THE OTHERS,
WAS THRUST INTO A FILTHY DUNGEON. ANXIOUS ABOUT HER INFANT, BY A VISION
GRANTED TO HER, SHE UNDERSTOOD THAT HER MARTYRDOM WOULD TAKE PLACE VERY
SHORTLY,

   1. The young catechumens, Revocatus and his fellow-servant Felicitas,
Saturninus and Secundulus, were apprehended. And among them also was Vivia
Perpetua, respectably born, liberally educated, a married matron, having a
father and mother and two brothers, one of whom, like herself, was a
catechumen, and a son an infant at the breast. She herself  was about
twenty-two years of age. From this point onward she shall herself narrate
the whole course of her martyrdom, as she left it described by her own hand
and with her own mind.

   2. "While" says she, "we were still with the persecutors, and my
father, for the sake of his affection for me, was persisting in seeking to
turn me away, and to cast me down from the faith,--'Father,' said I, ' do
you see, let us say, this vessel lying here to be a little pitcher, or
something else?' And he said, ' I see it to be so.' And I replied to him, '
Can it be called by any other name than what it is?' And he said, 'No.'
'Neither can I call myself anything else than what I am, a Christian.' Then
my father, provoked at this saying, threw himself upon me, as if he would
tear my eyes out. But he only distressed me, and went away overcome by the
devil's arguments. Then, in a few days after I had been without my father,
I gave thanks to the Lord; and his absence became a source of
consolation[1] to me. In that same interval of a few days we were baptized,
and to me the Spirit prescribed that in the water baptism nothing else was
to be sought for bodily endurance.[2] After a few days we are taken into
the dungeon, and I was very much afraid, because I had never felt such
darkness. O terrible day !O the fierce heat of the shock of the soldiery,
because of the crowds! I was very unusually distressed by my anxiety for my
infant. There were present there Tertius and Pomponius, the blessed deacons
who ministered to us, and had arranged by means of a gratuity that we might
be refreshed by being sent out for a few hours into a pleasanter part of
the prison. Then going out of the dungeon, all attended to their own
wants.[3] I suckled my child, which was now enfeebled with hunger. In my
anxiety for it, I addressed my mother and comforted my brother, and
commended to their care my son. I was languishing because I had seen them
languishing on my account. Such solicitude I suffered for many days, and I
obtained for my infant to remain in the dungeon with me; and forthwith I
grew strong and was relieved from distress and anxiety about my infant; and
the dungeon became to me as it were a palace, so that I preferred being
there to being elsewhere.

   3. "Then my brother said to me, 'My dear sister, you are already in a
position of great dignity, and are such that you may ask for a vision, and
that it may be made known to you whether this is to result in a passion or
an escape.'[4] And I, who knew that I was privileged to converse with the
Lord, whose kindnesses I had found to be so great, boldly promised him, and
said, 'To-morrow I will tell you.' And I asked, and this was what was shown
me. I saw a golden ladder of marvellous height, reaching up even to heaven,
and very narrow, so that persons could only ascend it one by one; and on
the sides of the ladder was fixed every kind of iron weapon. There were
there swords, lances, hooks, daggers; so that if any one went up
carelessly, or not looking upwards, he would be torn to pieces and his
flesh would cleave to the iron weapons. And under the ladder itself was
crouching a dragon of wonderful size, who lay in wait for those who
ascended, and frightened them from the ascent. And Saturus went up first,
who had subsequently delivered himself up freely on our account, not having
been present at the time that we were taken prisoners. And he attained the
top of the ladder, and turned towards me, and said to me, Perpetua, I am
waiting for[5] you; but be careful that the dragon do not bite you.' And I
said, ' In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, he shall not hurt me.' And
from under the ladder itself, as if in fear of me, he slowly lifted up his
head; and as I trod upon the first step, I trod upon his head. And I went
up, and I saw an immense extent of garden, and in the midst of the garden a
white-hatred man sitting in the dress of a shepherd,[6] of a large stature,
milking sheep; and standing around were many thousand white-robed ones. And
he raised his head, and looked upon me, and said to me, ' Thou an welcome,
daughter.' 'And he called me, and from the cheese as he was milking he gave
me as it were a little cake, and I received it with folded hands; and I ate
it, and all who stood around said Amen. And at the sound of their voices I
was awakened, still tasting a sweetness which I cannot describe. And I
immediately related this to my brother, and we understood that it was to be
a passion, and we ceased henceforth to have any hope in this world.

CHAP. II.--ARGUMENT. PERPETUA, WHEN BESIEGED BY HER FATHER, COMFORTS HIM.
WHEN LED WITH OTHERS TO THE TRIBUNAL, SHE AVOWS HERSELF A CHRISTIAN, AND IS
CONDEMNED WITH THE REST TO THE WILD BEASTS. SHE PRAYS FOR HER BROTHER
DINOCRATES, WHO WAS DEAD.

   1. "After a few days there prevailed a report that we should be heard.
And then my father came to me from the city, worn out with anxiety. He came
up to me, that he might cast me down, saying, ' Have pity my daughter, on
my grey hairs. Have pity on your father, if I am worthy to be called a
father by you. If with these hands I have brought you up to this flower of
your age, if I have preferred you to all your brothers, do not deliver me
up to the scorn of men. Have regard to your brothers, have regard to your
mother and your aunt, have regard to your son, who will not be able to live
after you. Lay aside your courage, and do not bring us all to destruction;
for none of us will speak in freedom if you should suffer anything.' These
things said my father in his affection, kissing my hands, and throwing
himself at  my feet; and with tears he called me not Daughter, but Lady.
And I grieved over the grey hairs of my father, that he alone of all my
family would not rejoice over my passion. And I comforted him, saying, 'On
that scaffold(1) whatever God wills shall happen. For know that we are not
placed in our own power, but in that of God.' And he departed from me in
sorrrow.

   2. "Another day, while we were at dinner, we were suddenly taken away
to be heard, and we arrived at the town-hall. At once the rumour spread
through the neighbourhood of the public place, and an immense number of
people were gathered together. We mount the platform. The rest were
interrogated, and confessed. Then they came to me, and my father
immediately appeared with my boy, and withdrew me from the step, and said
in a supplicating tone, 'Have pity on your babe.' And Hilarianus the
procurator, who had just received the power of life and death in the place
of the proconsul Minucius Timinianus, who was deceased, said, 'Spare the
grey hairs of your father, spare the infancy of your boy, offer sacrifice
for the well-being of the emperors.' And I replied, 'I will not do so.'
Hilarianus said, 'Are you a Christian?' And I replied, 'I am a Christian.'
And as my father stood there to cast me down from the faith, he was ordered
by Hilarianus to be thrown down, and was beaten with rods. And my father's
misfortune grieved me as if I myself had been beaten, I so grieved for his
wretched old age.(2) The procurator then delivers judgment on all of us,
and condemns us to the wild beasts, and we went down cheerfully to the
dungeon. Then, because my child had been used to receive suck from me, and
to stay with me in the prison, I send Pomponius the deacon to my father to
ask for the infant, but my father would not give it him. And even as God
willed it, the child no long desired the breast, nor did my breast cause me
uneasiness, lest I should be tormented by care for my babe and by the pain
of my breasts at once.

   3. "After a few days, whilst we were all praying, on a sudden, in the
middle of our prayer, there came to me a word, and I named Dinocrates; and
I was amazed that that name had never come into my mind until then, and I
was grieved as I remembered his misfortune. And I felt myself immediately
to be worthy, and to be called on to ask on his behalf.(3) And for him I
began earnestly to make supplication, and to cry with groaning to the Lord.
Without delay, on that very night, this was shown to me in a vision.(4) I
saw Dinocrates going out from a gloomy place, where also there were several
others, and he was parched and very thirsty, with a filthy countenance and
pallid colour, and the wound on his face which he had when he died. This
Dinocrates had been my brother after the flesh, seven years of age? who
died miserably with disease--his face being so eaten out with cancer, that
his death caused repugnance to all men. For him I had made my prayer, and
between him and me there was a large interval,(6) so that neither of us
could approach to the other. And moreover, in the same place where
Dinocrates was, there was a pool full of water, having its brink higher
than was the stature of the boy; and Dinocrates raised himself up as if to
drink. And I was grieved that, although that pool held water, still, on
account of the height to its brink, he could not drink. And I was aroused,
and knew that my brother was in suffering. But I trusted that my prayer
would bring help to his suffering; and I prayed for him every day until we
passed over into the prison of the camp, for we were to fight in the camp-
show. Then was the birth-day of Gets Caesar, and I made my prayer for my
brother day and night, groaning and weeping that he might be granted to me.

   4. "Then, on the day on which we remained in fetters,(7) this was shown
to me. I saw that that place which I had formerly observed to be in gloom
was now bright; and Dinocrates, with a clean body well clad, was finding
refreshment. And where there had been a wound, I saw a scar; and that pool
which I had before seen, I saw now with its margin lowered even to the
boy's navel. And one drew water from the pool incessantly, and upon its
brink was a goblet filled with water; and Dinocrates drew near and began to
drink from it, and the goblet did not fail. And when he was satisfied, he
went away from the water to play joyously, after the manner of children,
and I awoke. Then I understood that he was translated from the place of
punishment.

CHAP. III.--ARGUMENT. PERPETUA IS AGAIN TEMPTED BY HER FATHER. HER THIRD
VISION, WHEREIN SHE IS LED AWAY TO STRUGGLE AGAINST AN EGYPTIAN. SHE
FIGHTS, CONQUERS, AND RECEIVES THE REWARD.

   1. "Again, after a few days, Pudens, a soldier, an assistant
overseer(1) of the prison, who began to regard us in great esteem,
perceiving that the great power of God was in us, admitted many brethren to
see us, that both we and they might be mutually refreshed. And when the day
of the exhibition drew near my father, worn with suffering, came in to me,
and began to tear out his beard, and to throw himself on the earth, and to
cast himself down on his face, and to reproach his years, and to utter such
words as might move all creation. I grieved for his unhappy old age.(2)

   2. "The day before that on which we were to fight, I saw in a vision
that Pomponius the deacon came hither to the gate of the prison, and
knocked vehemently. I went out to him, and opened the gate for him; and he
was clothed in a richly ornamented white robe, and he had on manifold
calliculae.(3) And he said to me, 'Perpetua, we are waiting for you; come!'
And he held his hand to me, and we began to go through rough and winding
places. Scarcely at length had we arrived breathless at the amphitheatre,
when he led me into the middle of the arena, and said to me, 'Do not fear,
I am here with you, and I am labouring with you;' and he departed. And I
gazed upon an immense assembly in astonishment. And because I knew that I
was given to the wild beasts, I marvelled that the wild beasts were not let
loose upon me. Then there came forth against me a certain Egyptian,
horrible in appearance, with his backers, to fight with me. And there came
to me, as my helpers and encouragers, handsome youths; and I was stripped,
and became a man? Then my helpers began to rub me with oil, as is the
custom for contest; and I beheld that Egyptian on the other hand rolling in
the dust.(5) And a certain man came forth, of wondrous height, so that he
even over-topped the top of the amphitheatre; and he wore a loose tunic and
a purple robe between two bands over the middle of the breast; and he had
on calliculae of varied form, made of gold and silver; and he carried a
rod, as if he were a trainer of gladiators, and a green branch upon which
were apples of gold. And he called for silence, and said, 'This Egyptian,
if he should overcome this woman, shall kill her with the sword; and if she
shall conquer him, she shall receive this branch.' Then he departed. And we
drew near to one another, and began to deal out blows. He sought to lay
hold of my feet, while I struck at his face with my heels; and I was lifted
up in the air, and began thus to thrust at him as if spurning the earth.
But when I saw that there was some delay I joined my hands so as to twine
my fingers with one another; and I took hold upon his head, and he fell on
his face, and I trod upon his head? And the people began to shout, and my
backers to exult. And I drew near to the trainer and took the branch; and
he kissed me, and said to me, 'Daughter, peace be with you:' and I began to
go gloriously to the Sanavivarian gate.(7) Then I awoke, and perceived that
I was not to fight with beasts, but against the devil. Still I knew that
the victory was awaiting me. This, so far, I have completed several days
before the exhibition; but what passed at the exhibition itself let who
will write."

CHAP. IV.--ARGUMENT. SATURUS, IN A VISION, AND PERPETUA BEING CARRIED BY
ANGELS INTO THE GREAT LIGHT, BEHOLD THE MARTYRS. BEING BROUGHT TO THE
THRONE OF GOD, ARE RECEIVED WITH A KISS. THEY RECONCILE OPTATUS THE BISHOP
AND ASPASIUS THE PRESBYTER.

   1. Moreover, also, the blessed Saturus related this his vision, which
he himself committed to writing:--" We had suffered," says he, "and we were
gone forth from the flesh, and we were beginning to be borne by four angels
into the east; and their hands touched us not. And we floated not supine,
looking upwards, but as if ascending a gentle slope. And being set free, we
at length saw the first boundless light; and I said, 'Perpetua' (for she
was at my side), 'this is what the Lord promised to us; we have received
the promise.' And while we are borne by those same four angels, there
appears to us a vast space which was like a pleasure-garden, having rose-
trees and every kind of flower. And the height of the trees was after the
measure of a cypress, and their leaves were falling(1) incessantly.
Moreover, there in the pleasure-garden four other angels appeared, brighter
than the previous ones, who, when they saw us, gave us honour, and said to
the rest of the angels, 'Here they are! Here they are!' with admiration.
And those four angels who bore us, being greatly afraid, put us down; and
we passed over on foot the space of a furlong in a broad path. There we
found Jocundus and Saturninus and Artaxius, who having suffered the same
persecution were burnt alive; and Quintus, who also himself a martyr had
departed in the prison. And we asked of them where the rest were. And the
angels said to us, 'Come first, enter and greet your Lord.'

   2. "And we came near to place, the walls of which were such as if they
were built of light; and before the gate of that place stood four angels,
who clothed those who entered with white robes. And being clothed, we
entered and saw the boundless light, and heard the united voice of some who
said without ceasing,(4) Holy! Holy! Holy!'(2) And in the midst of that
place we saw as it were a hoary man sitting, having snow-white hair, and
with a youthful countenance; and his feet we saw not. And on his right hand
and on his left were four-and-twenty elders, and behind them a great many
others were standing. We entered with great wonder, and stood before the
throne; and the four angels raised us up, and we kissed Him, and He passed
His hand over our face. And the rest of the elders said to us, 'Let us
stand;' and we stood and made peace. And the elders said to us, and enjoy.'
And I said, 'Perpetua, you have what you wish.' And she said to me, 'Thanks
be to God, that joyous as I was in the flesh, I am now more joyous here.'

   3. "And we went forth, and saw before the entrance Optatus the bishop
at the right hand, and Aspasius the presbyter, a teacher,(3) at the left
hand, separate and sad; and they cast themselves at our feet, and said to
us, 'Restore peace between us, because you have gone forth and have left us
thus.' And we said to them, 'Art not thou our father, and thou our
presbyter, that you should cast yourselves at our feet?" And we prostrated
ourselves, and we embraced them; and Perpetua began to speak with them, and
we drew them apart in the pleasure-garden under a rose-tree. And while we
were speaking with them, the angels said unto them, 'Let them alone, that
they may refresh themselves;(4) and if you have any dissensions between
you, forgive one another.' And they drove them away. And they said to
Optatus, 'Rebuke thy people, because they assemble to you as if returning
from the circus, and contending about factious matters.' And then it seemed
to us as if they would shut the doors. And in that place we began to
recognise many brethren, and moreover martyrs. We were all nourished with
an indescribable odour, which satisfied us. Then, I joyously awoke."

CHAP.V.--ARGUMENT. SECUNDULUS DIES IN THE PRISON. FELICITAS IS PREGNANT,
BUT WITH MANY PRAYERS SHE BRINGS FORTH IN THE EIGHTH MONTH WITHOUT
SUFFERING, THE COURAGE OF PERPETUA AND OF SATURUS UNBROKEN.

   1. The above were the more eminent visions of the blessed martyrs
Saturus and Perpetua themselves, which they themselves committed to
writing.(5) But God called Secundulus, while he has yet in the prison, by
an earlier exit from the world, not without favour, so as to give a respite
to the beasts. Nevertheless, even if his soul did not acknowledge cause for
thankfulness, assuredly his flesh did.

   2. But respecting Felicitas (for to her also the Lord's favour
approached in the same way), when she had already gone eight months with
child (for she had been pregnant when she was apprehended), as the day of
the exhibition was drawing near, she was in great grief lest on account of
her pregnancy she should be delayed,--because pregnant women are not
allowed to be publicly punished,--and lest she should shed her sacred and
guiltless blood among some who had been wicked subsequently. Moreover,
also, her fellow-martyrs were painfully saddened lest they should leave so
excellent a friend, and as it were companion, alone in the path of the same
hope. Therefore, joining together their united cry, they poured forth their
prayer to the Lord three days before the exhibition. Immediately after
their prayer her pains came upon her, and when, with the difficulty natural
to an eight months' delivery, in the labour of bringing forth she was
sorrowing, some one of the servants of the Cataractarii(1) said to her,
"You who are in such suffering now, what will you do when you are thrown to
the beasts, which you despised when you refused to sacrifice?" And she
replied, "Now it is I that suffer what I suffer; but then there will be
another in me, who will suffer for me, because I also am about to suffer
for Him." Thus she brought forth a little girl, which a certain sister
brought up as her daughter.

   3. Since then the Holy Spirit permitted, and by permitting willed, that
the proceedings of that exhibition should be committed to writing, although
we are unworthy to complete the description of so great a glory; yet we
obey as it were the command of the most blessed Perpetua, nay her sacred
trust, and add one more testimony concerning her constancy and her
loftiness of mind. While they were treated with more severity by the
tribune, because, from the intimations of certain deceitful men, he feared
lest thay should be withdrawn from the prison by some sort of magic
incantations, Perpetua answered to his face, and said, "Why do you not at
least permit us to be refreshed, being as we are objectionable to the most
noble Caesar, and having to fight on his birth-day?(2) Or is it not your
glory if we are brought forward fatter on that occasion?" The tribune
shuddered and blushed, and commanded that they should be kept with more
humanity, so that permission was given to their brethren and others to go
in and be refreshed with them; even the keeper of the prison trusting them
now himself.

   4. Moreover, on the day before, when in that last meal, which they call
the free meal, they were partaking as far as they could, not of a free
supper, but of an agape; with the same firmness they were uttering such
words as these to the people, denouncing against them the judgment of the
Lord, bearing witness to the felicity of their passion, laughing at the
curiosity of the people who came together; while Saturus said, "To-morrow
is not enough for you, for you to behold with pleasure that which you hate.
Friends today, enemies to-morrow. Yet note our faces diligently, that you
may recognise them on that day of judgment." Thus all departed thence
astonished, and from these things many believed.

CHAP. VI.--ARGUMENT. FROM THE PRISON THEY ARE LED FORTH WITH JOY INTO THE
AMPHITHEATRE, ESPECIALLY PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. ALL REFUSE TO PUT ON
PROFANE GARMENTS. THEY ARE SCOURGED, THEY ARE THROWN TO THE WILD BEASTS.
SATURUS TWICE IS UNHURT. PERPETUA AND FELICITAS ARE THROWN DOWN; THEY ARE
CALLED BACK TO THE SANAVlVARIAN GATE. SATURUS WOUNDED BY A LEOPARD, EXHORTS
THE SOLDIER. THEY KISS ONE ANOTHER, AND ARE SLAIN WITH THE SWORD.

   1. The day of their victory shone forth, and they proceeded from the
prison into the amphitheatre, as if to an assembly, joyous and of brilliant
countenances; if prechance shrinking, it was with joy, and not with fear.
Perpetua followed with placid look, and with step and gait as a matron of
Christ, beloved of God; casting down the luster of her eyes from the gaze
of all. Moreover, Felicitas, rejoicing that she had safely brought forth,
so that she might fight with the wild beasts; from the blood and from the
midwife to the gladiator, to wash after childbirth with a second baptism.
And when they were brought to the gate, and were constrained to put on the
clothing--the men, that of the priests of Saturn, and the women, that of
those who were consecrated to Ceres--that noble-minded woman resisted even
to the end with constancy. For she said, "We have come thus far of our own
accord, for this reason, that our liberty might not be restrained. For this
reason we have yielded our minds, that we might not do any such thing as
this: we have agreed on this with you." Injustice acknowledged the justice;
the tribune yielded to their being brought as simply as they were. Perpetua
sang psalms, already treading under foot the head of the Egyptian;
Revocatus, and Saturninus, and Saturus uttered threatenings against the
gazing people about this martyrdom. When they came within sight of
Hilarianus, by gesture and nod, they began to say to Hilarianus, "Thou
judgest us," say they, "but God will judge thee." At this the people,
exasperated, demanded that they should be tormented with scourges as they
passed along the rank of the venatores.(3) And they indeed rejoiced that
they should have incurred any one of their Lord's passions. 2. But He who
had said, "Ask, and ye shall receive,"(1) gave to them when they asked,
that death which each one had wished for. For when at any time they had
been discoursing among themselves about their wish in respect of their
martyrdom, Saturninus indeed had professed that he wished that he might be
thrown to all the beasts; doubtless that he might wear a more glorious
crown. Therefore in the beginning of the exhibition he and Revocatus made
trial of the leopard, and moreover upon the scaffold they were harassed by
the bear. Saturus, however, held nothing in greater abomination than a
bear; but he imagined that he would be put an end to with one bite of a
leopard. Therefore, when a wild boar was supplied, it was the huntsman
rather who had supplied that boar who was gored by that same beast, and
died the day after the shows. Saturus only was drawn out; and when he had
been bound on the floor near to a bear, the bear would not come forth from
his den. And so Saturus for the second time is recalled unhurt.

   3. Moreover, for the young women the devil prepared a very fierce cow,
provided especially for that purpose contrary to custom, rivalling their
sex also in that of the beasts. And so, stripped and clothed with nets,
they were led forth. The populace shuddered as they saw one young woman of
delicate frame, and another with breasts still dropping from her recent
childbirth. So, being recalled, they are unbound.(2) Perpetua is first led
in. She was tossed, and fell on her loins; and when she saw her tunic torn
from her side, she drew it over her as a veil for her middle, rather
mindful of her modesty than her suffering. Then she was called for again,
and bound up her dishevelled hair; for it was not becoming for a martyr to
suffer with dishevelled hair, lest she should appear to be mourning in her
glory. So she rose up; and when she saw Felicitas crushed, she approached
and gave her her hand, and lifted her up. And both of them stood together;
and the brutality of the populace being appeased, they were recalled to the
Sanavivarian gate. Then Perpetua was received by a certain one who was
still a catechumen, Rusticus by name, who kept close to her; and she, as if
aroused from sleep, so deeply had she been in the Spirit and in an ecstasy,
began to look round her, and to say to the amazement of all, "I cannot tell
when we are to be led out to that cow." And when she had heard what had
already happened, she did not believe it(3) until she had perceived certain
signs of injury in her body and in her dress, and had recognised the
catechumen. Afterwards causing that catechumen and the brother to approach,
she addressed them, saying, "Stand fast in the faith, and love one another,
all of you, and be not offended at my sufferings."

   4. The same Saturus at the other entrance exhorted the soldier Pudens,
saying, "Assuredly here I am, as I have promised and foretold, for up to
this moment I have felt no beast. And now believe with your whole heart.
Lo, I am going forth to that beast, and I shall be destroyed with one bite
of the leopard." And immediately at the conclusion of the exhibition he was
thrown to the leopard; and with one bite of his he was bathed with such a
quantity of blood, that the people shouted out to him as he was returning,
the testimony of his second baptism, "Saved and washed, saved and
washed."(4) Manifestly he was assuredly saved who had been glorified in
such a spectacle. Then to the soldier Pudens he said, "Farewell, and be
mindful of my faith; and let not these things disturb, but confirm you."
And at the same time he asked for a little ring from his finger, and
returned it to him bathed in his wound, leaving to him an inherited token
and the memory of his blood. And then lifeless he is cast down with the
rest, to be slaughtered in the usual place. And when the populace called
for them into the midst, that as the sword penetrated into their body they
might make their eyes partners in the murder, they rose up of their own
accord, and transferred themselves whither the people wished; but they
first kissed one another, that they might consummate their martyrdom with
the kiss of peace. The rest indeed, immoveable and in silence, received the
sword-thrust; much more Saturus, who also had first ascended the ladder,
and first gave up his spirit, for he also was waiting for Perpetua. But
Perpetua, that she might taste some pain, being pierced between the ribs,
cried out loudly, and she herself placed the wavering right hand of the
youthful gladiator to her throat.(5) Possibly such a woman could not have
been slain unless she herself had willed it, because she was feared by the
impure spirit.

   O most brave and blessed martyrs! O truly called and chosen unto the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ! whom whoever magnifies, and honours, and
adores, assuredly ought to read these examples for the edification of the
Church, not less than the ancient ones, so that new virtues also may
testify that one and the same Holy Spirit is always operating even until
now, and God the Father Omnipotent, and His Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
whose is the glory and infinite power for ever and ever. Amen.


Taken from "The Early Church Fathers and Other Works" originally published
by Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. in English in Edinburgh, Scotland beginning in
1867. (ANF 3, Roberts and Donaldson). The digital version is by The
Electronic Bible Society, P.O. Box 701356, Dallas, TX 75370, 214-407-WORD.

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