Commontide
Liturgical Color: Red
The 1st Sunday in Lent
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations, and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Lent
You bid your faithful people cleanse their hearts, and prepare with joy for the Paschal feast; that, fervent in prayer and in works of mercy, and renewed by your Word and Sacraments, they may come to the fullness of grace which you have prepared for those who love you.
Most liturgical texts are from the Book of Common Prayer (2019) of the Anglican Church in North America.
The New Coverdale Psalter, © 2019 by the Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.
Martyrs at Carthage
Ecumenical Commemoration
Vibia Perpetua, a young married noblewoman of Carthage, and Felicitas, a slave, were arrested together with Revocatus, Saturninus and Secundulus in 203 while still catechumens. Saturus, not among them at the arrest, gave himself up afterward. Perpetua left a prison diary in her own hand; Felicity gave birth in prison three days before the games. They died in the amphitheatre on 7 March, and have never been commemorated apart.
Perpetua was a young married woman of high social standing, probably in her mid-twenties. Felicity was a pregnant slave-woman imprisoned alongside her. They were arrested along with several others (including Revocatus, Saturninus, and Secundulus) during the persecution initiated by Emperor Septimius Severus around 202–203.
The most remarkable source for their death is the Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis, a martyr account that includes a first-person diary section. This diary is genuinely attributed to Perpetua herself — the earliest extant autobiographical writing by a Christian woman, and among the earliest from any woman in the ancient world. Perpetua recorded her visions during imprisonment, her spiritual preparation for death, and her encounter with her pagan father in her final days. The document is unpolished, emotionally raw, and historically invaluable. A later redactor added a frame narrative describing the final combat in the arena and the deaths of Perpetua and Felicity.
Felicity, eight months pregnant at arrest, gave birth to a daughter in prison on the day before the public games. The sources confirm this fact and the tradition that she was then executed alongside the group.
Augustine of Hippo preached on Perpetua and Felicity (Sermo 280, 281) and cited them frequently as examples of divine grace working through female witnesses. The Depositio Martyrum (354) lists them prominently. Tertullian, Augustine's predecessor in North Africa, may have known them or the early tradition about them, though he does not mention them by name.
Traditionally, Perpetua's final trial is described in the redacted portion of the Passio: she and Felicity were forced to face wild animals in the arena before a crowd. A leopard attacked and killed Felicity. Perpetua was attacked by a wild cow and severely wounded; she then directed one of the gladiators' swords to her own throat to hasten death. The accounts emphasize her courage and composure, and traditions speak of heavenly visions she experienced during her ordeal. Some accounts report that the crowd recognized extraordinary spiritual power in her death.