Felicity

About Felicity

Felicity (also called Felicitas) was a young enslaved woman, pregnant when arrested alongside her mistress Perpetua and fellow catechumens in Carthage around 203 AD. Her story is intertwined with Perpetua's, and both are commemorated together as martyrs who demonstrated extraordinary faith and courage.

At the time of her arrest, Felicity was eight months pregnant. Roman law prohibited executing pregnant women, which meant she would be separated from her companions and executed later with common criminals—something she deeply wished to avoid. She and the other prisoners prayed fervently that she would give birth before the scheduled execution.

Three days before the games, Felicity went into premature labor. The birth was extremely painful, and when the guards mocked her suffering, asking how she would endure being thrown to the beasts if she couldn't bear childbirth, she replied: "Now I suffer what I suffer; but then another will be in me who will suffer for me, because I too am to suffer for him."

Felicity gave birth to a daughter, who was adopted and raised by a Christian woman. Just days after giving birth, still recovering physically, Felicity was taken to the amphitheater with Perpetua and the others on March 7, 203.

The account describes how she and Perpetua were stripped and placed in nets to be attacked by a mad heifer. The crowd was horrified to see a woman who had just given birth (milk still dripping from her breasts) being exposed this way, so they were given tunics. After surviving the animal attack, they were eventually killed by gladiators.

Felicity's willingness to endure martyrdom so soon after the agonies of childbirth, and her profound statement of faith that Christ would suffer in her, exemplify complete trust in God's presence in suffering. Her witness continues to inspire those facing persecution and difficulty.