Roman Emperor Septimius Severus forbade conversions to Judaism and Christianity in 202 AD.
In North Africa, Vivia Perpetua, Felicitas and several other new converts to Christianity were imprisoned and eventually sentenced to be killed by wild beasts in the arena at Carthage.
Their execution was delayed until Felicitas gave birth to a baby girl after eight months of pregnancy. In The Passion, an account of the martyrdom of these women, the 22 year old Perpetua, a well-educated wife and nursing mother, described her faith and her life in prison, concluding, "The dungeon became to me a palace."
Perpetua was a woman "privileged to converse with her Lord." Her dungeon-bound days were marked by prayer meetings, a word of knowledge and several visions. On the eve of her martyrdom prisoners celebrated an "agape feast".
Then, approaching the arena, Perpetua sang Psalms, facing the beasts "in the Spirit" and in an ecstasy. She joined a companion whose bloody slaying was accompanied by the crowd's mocking baptismal chant, "Saved and washed, saved and washed."
Are the crowds around us even aware that we are saved and washed? May Perpetua's example give us boldness.
A Christian martyr is one who chooses to: suffer death rather than to deny Christ or His work...sacrifice something very important to further the Kingdom of God...endure great suffering for Christian witness.
Source: The Voice of the MartyrsServing the persecuted Church, the Mission works in over 50 countries. To help and support, you may contact the Australian mission by email on:
[email protected]or write to them:
The Voice of the Martyrs
PO Box 598
Penrith NSW 2751
Australia
For more information on Bible studies available, visit the Churchlink site on the World Wide Web at http://www.churchlink.com.au/churchlink. Enquiries to: [email protected]
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