De sancto Saturnino, »Perpetua
The Witness of the Martyrs
The chapter introduces the martyrdom of Saint Saturninus and the imprisonment of Perpetua and her companions.
Felicitas and other companions. Saturninus was ordained a bishop by the disciples of the apostles and sent to the city of Toulouse. But when he entered the city, the demons stopped giving their oracles, and one of the pagans said that unless they killed Saturninus, they wouldn't get anything at all from their gods. So they seized Saturninus, who refused to offer sacrifice, tied him to the feet of a bull, and drove it with goads, dragging him from the high citadel down the steps of the Capitol; in this way, with his head shattered and his brains dashed out, he successfully completed his martyrdom. Two women took his body and buried it in a deep place for fear of the pagans, but his successors later moved it to a more reverent location. There was another Saturninus, whom the prefect in Rome had worn down by a long time in prison, then ordered to be raised on the rack and beaten with whips, clubs, and scourges; finally, he had him taken down from the rack with his sides burned and ordered him to be beheaded, around the year of our Lord 286, under Maximian. There was also another Saturninus in Africa, the brother of Saint Saturus, who suffered martyrdom along with his aforementioned brother, Revocatus, Felicitas (the sister of the said Revocatus), and also with Perpetua, a woman of noble birth; their passion is celebrated especially at another time. When the proconsul told them to offer sacrifice to the idols and they refused to comply in any way, they were sent to prison. Seeing this, Perpetua's father ran weeping to the prison.
The Ladder of Heaven
Perpetua experiences a vision of a golden ladder to heaven, encouraging her companions to remain steadfast.
He asked, "Daughter, what have you done?" You have disgraced your family; no one from your family has ever been sent to prison." But when he heard she was a Christian, he lunged at her eyes with his fingers, trying to gouge them out, and then left, shouting. Blessed Perpetua saw a vision of this kind, which she told her companions the next day, saying: "I saw a golden ladder of wondrous height reaching up to heaven, which was so narrow that only one person, and a small one at that, could climb it." On both sides were fixed knives and iron swords, filed and sharpened, so that anyone climbing couldn't look around or down at all, but had to keep their gaze fixed upward toward heaven. Beneath it lay a dragon of terrible and huge size, and because of the fear it inspired, everyone was afraid to climb. She also saw Satyrus climbing to the very top, looking back at us and saying, "Don't fear this dragon, but climb up safely so you can be with me." Hearing this, they all gave thanks, for they knew they had been called to martyrdom.
Detachment and Divine Strength
Perpetua and Felicitas demonstrate holy detachment from family and earthly life in the face of the judge.
When they were brought before the judge and refused to offer sacrifice, he had Saturninus and the other men separated from the women, and he asked Felicitas, "Do you have a husband?" She replied, "I do, but I despise him." He said to her, "Have mercy on yourself, girl, so that you may live, especially since you are carrying a child in your womb." To which she replied, "Do with me whatever you want, because you will never be able to force me to your will." Meanwhile, the parents of the blessed Perpetua arrived with her husband. They brought the infant son of the blessed Perpetua, who was still nursing. When her father saw her standing before the prefect, he fell on his face and said, "My sweetest daughter, have mercy on me, on this most sorrowful mother of yours, and on this most miserable husband of yours, who won't be able to live after you are gone." But Perpetua stood motionless. Then her father threw himself at her feet, and he, her mother, and her husband all took her hands and, weeping, kissed them, saying, "Have mercy on us, daughter, and live with us." But she pushed the child away and repelled them, saying, "Leave me, you enemies of God, for I did not move for you." Seeing their resolve, the prefect had them thrown into prison after they had been beaten for a long time. The saints, however, were deeply saddened for Felicitas, who was already eight months pregnant, so they prayed for her; the pains of labor suddenly came upon her, and she gave birth to a living son. (One of the guards said to her, "What will you do when you come before the prefect, if you are suffering so severely now?")
The Final Sacrifice
The martyrs face their final suffering with the assurance that God suffers with them, ultimately meeting their death.
Felicitas replied, "Here I suffer for myself, but there God will suffer for me." They were then led out of prison with their hands tied behind their backs and their bodies exposed, and were paraded through the streets; then, when the beasts were released, Satyrus and Perpetua were attacked by the lions. They were devoured, while Revocatus and Felicitas were eaten by leopards; the blessed Saturninus, however, was beheaded with a sword around the year of our Lord 256, under the emperors Valerian and Gallienus.
Read the original Latin
Felicitate et aliis sociis.
Saturninus ab apostolorum discipulis ) episcopus ordinatus in urbem Tolosanam directus est. Cum autem ipso ingrediente daemones a responsis cessarent, unus gentilium dixit, quod, nisi Saturninum occiderent, a Diis suis nil penitus obtinerent. Apprehendentes igitur Saturninum nolentem sacrificare ad pedes tauri ligaverunt eumque cum stimulis agitantes a summa arce per gradus capitolii praecipitaverunt sicque capite confracto et cerebro excusso martirium feliciter consummavit. Cujus corpus duae feminae rapientes in profundo loco propter metum gentilinm condiderunt, quod postea successores ejus ad-locum reverentiorem transtulerunt. Fuit alius Saturninus, quem Romae praefectus diu in carcere maceratum in equuleum levari et mervis, fustibus et scorpionibus caedi fecit, deinde lateribus adustis depositum ab equuleo decollari praecepit circa annos domini CCLXXXVI sub Maximiano. Fuit et alius Saturninus apud Africam, frater sancti Satyri, qui cum praedicto fratre suo et Revocato et Felicitate sorore dicti Revocati necnon et cum Perpetua genere nobili martirium passus est, quorum passio alio tempore potissimum recolitur. Cum ergo proconsul iis dixisset, mt ydolis immolarent et illi nullatenus assentirent, in carcerem missi sunt. Quod videns pater Perpetuae ad carcerem flens cucurrit.
dicens: filia, quid fecisti? dehonestasti genus tuum; nunquam aliquis de genere tuo in carcerem missus fuit. Cum antem audivisset, quod christiana esset, in eam cum impetu digitis irruit in ocnlos et ei oculos eruere voluit et exclamans egressus est. Vidit autem beata Perpetua hujusmodi visionem, quam in crastino sociis enarravit dicens: vidi scalam auream mirabili nltitudine usque ad coelum erectam, quae adeo angusta erat, nt nonnisi unns et parvus adscendere posset. In dextra vero et laeva erant fixi cultri et gladii ferrei limati et exacuti, ita ut adscendens circa vel infra se nullatenus respicere posset, sed semper ad coelum eum erectum stare oportebat. Sub ea draco teterrimus "et ingentis formae jacebat et prae timore quilibet adscendere formidabat. Vidit etiam Satyrum per eam adscendentem usque sursum et respicientem ad nos et dicentem: ne timeatis hunc draconem, sed securi adscendite, ut mecum esse possitis. Haec audientes omnes gratias egerunt, qnia se vocatos ad martirium cognoverunt.
Praesentati igitur judici cum sacrificare nollent, fecit Saturninum cum aliis viris a mulieribus separari et dixit Felicitati: habes vi rum? Et illa: habeo, sed contemno. Cui ille: miserere tui, puella, ut vivas, maxime cum infantem in utero habeas, Ad quem ait: fae de me, quidquid vis, quia ad tuam voluntatem nunquam me trahere valebis, Parentes autem beatae Perpetuae cum viro accurrentes. infantem parvulum beatae Perpetuae, qui adhuc lactabatur, addaxerunt et videns eam pater stantem ante praefectum, cadens in faciem dixit: filia mea dulcissima, miserere mei et hujus moestissimae matris tuae et hujus miserrimi viri tui, qui post te vivere non valebit. Perpetna vero immobilis stabat. Tunc pater filum ad collum ejus jactavit et ipse et mater et maritus ejus manus tenentes et flentes osculabantur eam dicentes: miserere nostri, filia, el vive nobiseum, At illa projiciens parvulum et illos repellens ait: discedite a- me, inimici Dei, quia non movi vos. Videns vero praefectus eorum constantiam diutissime verberatos in carcere posuit, sancti vero, dum plurimum moesti essent de Felicitate, quae octo mensibus jam praegnans erat, pro ea exoraverunt et dolores partus subito in eam irruerunt peperitque filium vivum. (Quidam vero de custodibus dixit ad eam: quid facies, cum ante praefectum veneris, si nune tam graviter cruciaris?
Respondit Felicitas: hic ege pro me patior, ibi pro me Deus patietur. Exiracti igitur de carcere ligatis post tergum manibus et nudatis natibus per plateas ducuntur et dimissis bestiis Satyrus et Perpetua à leonibus. devorantur, Revocatus et Felicitas a leopardis comeduntur, beatus vero Saturninus gladio capite truncatur circa annos domini CCLVI sub Valeriano et Gallieno imperatoribus.
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