De septem fratribus, qui fuerunt filii
The Steadfast Mother and Her Seven Sons
Felicitas and her seven sons are brought before the prefect and endure martyrdom with unwavering faith.
The seven brothers were the sons of the blessed Felicitas, and their names were Januarius, Felix, Philippus, Silvanus, Alexander, Vitalis, and Martialis. By order of Emperor Antoninus, the prefect Publius summoned them all, along with their mother, and urged her to have mercy on herself and her sons. She replied, "I cannot be enticed by your flattery, nor broken by your threats; I am secure in the Holy Spirit whom I possess, because I will overcome you while I live, and I will conquer you even more thoroughly once I am killed." Turning to her sons, she said, "Look to heaven and gaze upward, my dearest ones, for Christ is waiting for us there; fight bravely for Christ and show yourselves faithful in his love." When the prefect heard this, he ordered her to be struck with slaps. Since the mother and her sons appeared most steadfast in the faith, they were all put to death by various tortures while the mother watched and encouraged them.
A Martyrdom Beyond Measure
Gregory the Great reflects on the spiritual significance of Felicitas's sacrifice, describing her as more than a martyr.
Gregory calls this blessed Felicitas more than a martyr, because she suffered seven times in her seven sons and an eighth time in her own body. Gregory says in his homilies: "Blessed Felicitas, who by believing became a handmaid of Christ, also became a martyr of Christ by preaching. She feared to leave her seven sons alive in the flesh after her, just as carnal parents are accustomed to fear that they might send their children ahead of them in death. She gave birth in the Spirit to those she had borne in the flesh, so that by preaching she might bring forth to God those she had borne to the world in the flesh. She could not see her sons, whom she knew to be her own flesh, dying without pain; but there was a power of interior love that overcame the pain of the flesh." I would rightly call this woman more than a martyr, because she was extinguished so many times in her sons, and with such longing. For while she obtained a manifold martyrdom, she also surpassed the palm of martyrdom itself, because in her love for Christ, her own death alone was not enough for her. They suffered around the year of our Lord 110.
Read the original Latin
Septem fratres fuerunt filii beatae Felicitatis, quorum nomina sunt Januarius, Felix, Philippus, Silvanus, Alexander, Vitalis et Martialis. Hos omnes cum matre jussu imperatoris Antonii Publius praefectus ad se vocari fecit suasitque matri, ut sui ct filiorum suorum misereri deberet. Quae ait: neque blanditiis tuis potero allici, nec terroribus frangi; secura enim sum de spiritu sancto, quem habeo, quia te superabo viva et melius vincam occisa. Et conversa ad filios ait: videte, filii, in coelum et snrsum adspicite, carissimi, quia ibidem Christus nos exspectat, fortiter pro Christo pugnate et fideles vos in Christi amore exhibete. Quod praefectus audiens eam alapis caedi jussit. Cum ergo mater et filii in fide constantissimi apparerent, omnes matre vidente et confortante diversis sunt suppliciis peremti. Hanc beatam Felicitatem vocat Gregorius plus quam martirem, quia septies passa est in septem filiis et octavo in corpore suo. Gregorius in homiliis: beata Felicitas, quae eredendo exstitit ancilla Christi, praedicando etiam facta est martir Christi, septem quoque filios sic post se relinquere timuit vivos in carne, sicut carnales parentes solent metuere, ne mortuos praemittant; parturivit spiritu, quos carne pepererat, ut praedicando pareret Deo, quos carne pepererat mundo; filios suos, quos carnem suam esse noverat, sine dolore non poterat morientes videre, sed erat vis amoris interior, quae dolorem vinceret carnis.
Recte ergo hanc feminam ultra martirem dixerim, quae totiens in filiis est et tam desideranter exstincta. Dum enim multiplex martirium obtinuit, ipsa quoque martirii palmam vicit, quia et amore Christi sola mors sua ei minime suffecit. Passi sunt circa annos domini CX.
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