Sts Perpetua and Felicitas
Glorious Martyrs.
The martydom of Perpetua and Felicitas, which the Church celebrates on March 7, is one of the most well documented martyrologies in the Church. New Advent has a brief, yet detailed history of the martyrs and their passion. They were martyred with three other companions at Carthage in North Africa in the year 203. Perpetua was of the nobility, married with at least one child. At the time of their arrest, her Christian slave Felicitas was with child and in her eighth month. Therefore the martyr Felicitas feared she would be exempt from being put to death for the Lord, since according to Roman law, pregnant women were not allowed to be executed. Nevertheless, she gave birth beforehand and her child was adopted by a Christian woman.
As the two women awaited death by a ravenous beast, they embraced and exchanged the kiss of peace. Sadly, this has been exploited in contemporary iconography, thus giving credence to a lesbian myth that the women were homosexuals. The implication is nothing less than outrageous. Both women were obviously heterosexual, mothers and wives. Separated by their station in life, they were united in faith and the shedding of their blood in witness to Christ and the Gospel.
A gay website has this to say about their death, thus contributing to the gay imagination that the women were lesbians:
“The popularity of the story of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas…was largely due to the appeal of love between two women. Five Christians were martyred together at Carthage on March 7, 203, suffering death at the hands of wild animals and the sword, but only Perpetua and Felicitas captured the fancy of the Christian community, apparently because of the tale of the two women comforting each other in jail, suffering martyrdom together as friends, and bestowing upon each other the kiss of peace as they met their end, charmed the tastes of the age.” - I’m not giving the source.
Kind of twisted to get they were lesbians out of that, don’t you agree? Yet as with the myths surrounding St. Sebastian, homosexuals are looking for indications that some saints were gay. There is no evidence these two women were lesbians. To mistake normal feminine intimacy, that is, holding hands or embracing, what have you, in an effort to comfort and support one another is a ludicrous fantasy.
Are there gay saints?
While in the monastery, I once asked a holy priest if he thought there were any saints who had been homosexual. He said he never heard of any. He went on to clarify that every saint endured numerous and various temptations, therefore some saints surely endured the temptation or proclivity for same sex attraction. Nevertheless, this does not constitute homosexuality. He insisted that no saint would have accepted homosexuality as something compatible with the way of perfection.
Indeed, if a person is living as an active homosexual, or if one happens to live with the inclination towards homosexuality - although struggling with it - these have no need to search for a saint who suffered likewise. Much less any need to invent gay myths and ascribing these to various saints. The fact is, the saints are in glory now, abiding in the fullness of truth and perfect charity, open to all who seek their intercession. The witness of their lives, their spiritual combat and martyrdom, as well as their ardent love of God, compels them to the deepest compassion for any and every person caught in any sin whatsoever.
Inventing, or misinterpreting a saint’s life to suit a disorder modern culture seeks to legitimize is nothing but a delusion.
However, if one insists a particular saint had been gay, then my advice is this:
Go ahead, cultivate a devotion to the particular saint, follow their example, live devoutly according to the teachings of the Church, frequent the sacraments, and I’m certain that saint will aid in the conversion of the one striving for holiness, while correcting that person’s earlier, albeit misguided, conviction.
For the conversion of homosexuals, St. Perpetua and Felicitas, pray for us.
March 6th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
Just a quick clarification–Perpetua is a virgin. The way you wrote it makes it sound like they were both mothers.
Here is the text for their Act (which is a fantastic read–but good scholarship says not in fact written by Tertullian):
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/tertullian24.html
March 6th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
NAB - My research informs me that Perpetua was a wife and mother. I may be mistaken that Felicity was her slave however, and perhaps simply a friend who was a slave.
From the source you link to, there is this:
“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. ”
March 7th, 2007 at 12:36 am
You’re so right. Mea culpa! Felicity being her maid servant is what I was taught though, with you.
March 7th, 2007 at 9:10 am
Neither were virgins. Perpetua had a small sone, and Felicity had just given birth. When she was in labor in prison the guards mocked her cries and asked her how she would endure the sport in the arena. The saint replied: “Now I suffer for myself, but then Another shall suffer in me.” Many of the spectators were shocked to see a woman who had obviously just given birth being put to death.
Lesbian myth? Really! I never heard of that. Terrible. Why can’t they leave the saints alone?
March 7th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
Terry: Excellent post. The lesbian lobby is trying to grab my saint: Catherine of Alexandria too.
September 15th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Dear God,
I pray now for all of the bigots who interpret the words, written by men for money and power, as Your actual Holy Gospel.
I pray for all of the confused people who have been jaded by this world into thinking that they actually know more than others, completely forgetting that they know nothing about You or your mystery.
I pray for all the people who have lost sight of the big picture, Your main rule: Love thy neighbor, because they are too busy “preaching” and “converting” Your other children into their own idea of what You want. Isn’t that a sin? Pride?
When we meet, Dear Lord, I know that you will open Your arms to me and lovingly accept me as the beautiful, courageous, generous soul that I was on earth and will continue to be in Your Kingdom.
No, I’m not a lesbian but I accept all of Your children.
And Terry, you better believe there were saints who were gay. It’s closer than you think. It’s in your own family, though you may not know it. Open your eyes to love and acceptance, so you can really see the true path of the Lord.
It’s not your job to judge, it’s your job to love.
K, I’m glad we cleared this all up.