Saints Perpetua & Felicity: What I Learned in Seminary

0:00Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome. I'm Father Chris Elar here at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy. I've been out of commission for a couple of days, had a bad fever, real sick. I said, one of a few times in my life, I literally couldn't get off the floor. So it's nice to be back, and we're grateful that you could be with us for this first Saturday. We're coming to you live. We have a nice group of people here at the shrine today, even though there's a lot of snow out. And we're going to ask you to offer these prayers today. It's a first Saturday to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And normally I do a Mary in apparition or a Mary in devotion on first Saturday. But today is the feast day of perpetua and felicity. And this is an amazing sort of reason I'm doing this is because I said, I wanted to get through the women of the Roman canon, Eucharistic prayer one. And we've always said that, Felicity, perpetua Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia, and all the saints.

1:03Well, I've done Agatha, I've done Lucy, I've done Agnes, I've done Cecilia. But I've never done perpetua and felicity. And one was the slave of the other. This is a whole different concept of slavery that we know about. And so we're going to talk about this important day. And then after we finish with the shorter talk today, stay with us, because we'll power down for Brother Mark, we'll then come back up and we'll do the first Saturday devotion. So thank you for being with us in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Heavenly Father, we ask to the intercession of saints, felicity, and perpetua, that you help us to be pure in mind and body and heart. We ask that you give us the grace to withstand all trials and the perseverance to enter into your heavenly kingdom. We ask all this through Christ our Lord, amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.

2:05Now, did you notice the cover slide? There's a picture of the Colosseum. Okay, now they did not die in the Roman Colosseum. Perpetua and Felicity died in Carthage at an amphitheater. But I showed this because that's the Colosseum in Rome that were known for martyrs. And did you know on February 24th, there's finally hope. Instead of blasting a pride flag of all the different colors, I don't even know what colors are on the rainbow flag they've created now. I heard they took out the Merriam blue color. But they lit up the Colosseum in red and only red in honor of Christian martyrs. And so this is a little light, a bright spot in this crazy world, lighting up the White House and lighting up half a Europe in what celebrates sin.

3:06No, they actually lit it up in red to honor the Christian martyrs, especially the modern martyrs like in Nigeria that are in danger. So let us pray for these Christian martyrs. Now, among the most famous martyrs of the entire early church, are Perpetua and Felicity. They died on this day, March 7th, way back in 203. They are 203. They're some of the most beloved in the church. There's stories incredible. I've never told it before. And so this is the depth of the church. Now, they're the patron saint of mothers, expectant mothers, martyrs, catacumans, and get this, ranches and butchers. And we're going to explain that. Okay, now, earlier in 202 AD,

4:08five catacumans were preparing for baptism, and they were arrested at Carthage. Now where's Carthage? That's a big word in the history of the church. Where is Carthage? Carthage is in Tunisia, which is modern-day North Africa. Now, Carthage was a Roman city and persecuted a lot of Christians who failed to worship the Roman Emperor. Now, it was during this time of intense persecution under Emperor, I'm sorry, Emperor, except he used a severe use that this happened. Now, when those five were turned in, the teacher could have gotten away, but instead he turned himself in to the Roman authorities to face martyrdom with them. Now that's a teacher, right? So let's go to our next slide. This, I'm sorry, I didn't have Brother Mark. The first slide you should have shown was the date March 7th,

5:11that saint's perpetua and felicity. So the second slide is the picture of them with March 7th. Now let's go to the next slide, which is an old mosaic of perpetua and felicity. Now I want to show you interesting. Some places you see them as white, and sometimes you see them as black, but both are inaccurate. The actual accuracy is one was white, one was black. One was a slave, one was a noble woman, and yet they came together. This shows anybody can come together. So the first slide is the perpetua and felicity in the old kind of like the mosaics of ancient Christianity. Now, perpetua was 22 years old. She was well educated. She had an important husband. She was the mother of an infant son. So she was important. Let's go to our next slide,

6:13but here you see them portrayed as dark skinned. Here's the dark skin. Now, saint felicity was a bit younger, and she was the slave of perpetua. So in your perpetua, felicity and perpetua, felicity was the slave of perpetua, and she was pregnant at the time. Now this is why people always say, I don't want to be a Christian. I'm not going to follow that Bible that talks about slavery. You have to understand what slavery was. Felicity was the slave of perpetua, but she was part of her family. She loved her own slave and was willing to die with her. We never hear about that in the public schools. Never. And so, felicity was a bit younger. She was the slave, pregnant at the time. Now in Roman society, a noble woman and a slave would never be equals.

7:17Okay, but in Christ, they faced martyrdom side by side as sisters. They even held hands. And so we're going to show you right off the bat a very quick video. It's only one minute long. But I want you to watch this video because I'm going to go in a much deeper detail. But this gives you kind of an overview of who we're talking about with these two important martyrs that survived 2000 years almost, and still in part of our liturgy. So let's have Brother Mark show the video. Today we celebrate saints, perpetua and felicity. What a story we remember today. Two young members of the early church threatened with death if they did not renounce their Christian faith. Perpechoa was a beautiful, well-educated noble woman of Carthage and the mother of an infant son. She chronicled the Christian persecution by the Emperor Septimus Severus.

8:17Felicity was an enslaved, expected mother. For their unwillingness to deny their faith, they were sentenced to death along with three male companions. Felicity gave birth to a daughter only a few days before she, perpetua and the three men met their fate at the public games in the amphitheater. The women were beheaded, the men were killed by beasts. After a period of separation from her small son, perpetua's diary notes that the two were reunited. I at once recovered by help, the young mother writes, and my prison became a palace to me. On the day of their martyrdom in the year 203, perpetua and felicity were stripped before entering the arena. The two women stood together to the end and were buried in the major basilica in Carthage. Okay, now did you notice in that video that sometimes they were presented as dark skinned

9:19and sometimes as light skinned? Notice that, but the reality, let's go to our next slide, this is actually the most accurate portrayal and it's very, rarely portrayed. Perpetua as light skinned and felicity as dark skinned. So, perpetua was lighter skinned, felicity was darker skinned. Slavery did not start in the United States with dark skinned Africans. This went 1,000 years, over 1,000 years, 1,500 years before the United States and the colonies. And so those who were trying to teach that hatred and about our country and that we started this, that's false, but here's what we have to understand. One of the striking things that is in the arena, they were treated as spiritual equals, despite social status difference. Their martyrdom became one of the earliest

10:20Christian examples of the idea expressed in Galatians 3.28. What is Galatians 3.28? There is neither slave nor free for you are all one in Christ Jesus. There is neither slave nor free. You are all one. So, while in prison, perpetua recorded these visions and reflections that she had that gave insight into early Christianity. And I'll go into more detail. Now, perpetua, and ever she's the noble woman, her younger brother, Adinokratis, denocratis, had died as a child. Now, here's something fascinating. You'll never be told this by a non-Catholic. And I bet you'd never been told this by a Catholic, but in prison she had a vision of him.

11:22He was sick, thirsty. That reminds me, I should keep the, he was sick, he was thirsty, and he was unable to drink from this pool. She saw him and prayed intensely for him. Now, he's dead. He's dead. And she prayed intensely for him. You know why? That was the Christian tradition. And when she did, Christians heard the story because later she had another vision after praying for him where he was healthy, no longer thirsty and the pool was within reach and he drank freely. These were the waters of baptism. And so Christians have long seen this as one of the earliest testimonies to prayer for the dead.

12:26So when anybody tells you you can't pray for the dead, you can say, gee, 1300 years before you are ever told not to pray for the dead, Christians were praying for the dead. Over 1300 years before you were told not to pray for the dead, they were praying for the dead. And this is one of the examples that we have. And so this is one of the earliest testimonies of prayer for the dead and purification after death. Not forgiveness of sins after death, that has to become from repentance, but purification is different. So it's connected to the doctrine of purgatory, all early Christians prayed for the dead. And so the church has honored both felicity and perpetual from ancient times. And their names as I just looked up in the Roman canon,

13:28that means Eucharistic prayer won. The original Eucharistic prayer, we have four now plus several others, but in the part of the mass and Eucharistic prayer won, we pray and invoke the intercession of felicity, perpetual agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, and Anastasia. And so these two are important now. Why, let's start with perpetual. Why is her account of her own martyrdom significant? Now what do you mean father? How do you give an account of your own martyrdom? Okay, she kept the diary in prison of the earliest, it's the earliest known Christian writings of a woman. This is huge. The earliest known Christian writings of a woman and her diaries called the Passion of Perpetua and Felicity. And it became almost like scripture to early Christians. So if you've also been challenged, that you put too much on the saints, you could say,

14:29gee, St. Augustine had to correct early Christians because they were treating the diary of perpetual and Felicity almost equal to scripture, not equal almost, and St. Augustine had to correct them. Again, 1300 years before you were told not to invoke the saints. Interesting. And so it's important because this is a rare personal first hand narrative from an early Christian martyr. Now, as a noble woman, Perpetua martyred alongside a slave, her story demonstrates that Christianity united people across all divides. Color, social class, slave, slave owners, you couldn't get a more perfect example that what we need today, especially with the craziness going on in our world, okay?

15:32She's made, these two made all believers equal in the faith. And so that's what we need to do today. Now, equality is different from equity. People are in the dignity of human dignity in the eyes of God, we are all equal, but we are not the same. I'm not getting into that today, but it offered invaluable insights into early Christian life. And so this is the importance. Now, in the centuries before, the Bible was established. Now, the written scriptures were existing all over the place back from the earliest centuries, right? Paul, we believe wrote in the mid-60s, but the canon, that means the books compiled of the Bible, was not put together until 350 years after the death of Christ. 350 years after Christ died,

16:34do we have the Bible as we know it today? How would you talking about Father? The Bible was existed well before, 350 years after Christ. Yes, but there was also the gospel of Thomas, the gospel of Peter, the gospel of Mary, and no, they were not written by Peter, Mary, and Thomas. They were people who named them that in honor of Peter, Thomas, and Mary. But who determined that the gospel of Thomas and the gospel of Peter and the gospel of Mary were not to go into the Bible, but Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were. Who determined that, the Catholic Church, the bishops, guess what, at the councils of Carthage and Hippo? At the councils of Carthage and Hippo in 393 and 397 AD, 350 years after the death of Christ

17:35before the Bible was compiled. Yes, it existed, but the church determined what books are inspired. And so, what we have here is something very important. Now, it offered in the centuries before the Bible was fully settled on. What books went in, the 27 books. So when a non-Catholic reads one of the books from the Bible, the letter to the Galatians or the Corinthians or the gospel of Luke or Matthew, ask them where it came from. Well, it came from God. Yeah, but did it fall out of the sky already written? No, it was written by a human, guided by the Holy Spirit, but it was determined by the church which of those hundreds of books were inspired by the Holy Spirit. And so, in the centuries before this, some churches, what did they read? How did they know what books to read? Did they read the gospel of Thomas or the Acts of Pilate

18:37or the gospel of Mary? Or, before the canon was established, what did they read? Guess what they read? They read from the diary of perpetua and felicity. That's incredible. In the liturgical gatherings, similar to how the, okay, this is interesting. Some churches read the story of perpetua and felicity during liturgical gatherings, during the mass, similar to how the lives of martyrs are proclaimed and inspired by us Catholics today. So, again, when somebody tells you you can't turn to the saints it's idolatry, then ask them what did the early Christians do? This meant that many communities wanted copies. So, scribes kept reproducing this diary, the passion of felicity and perpetua. And so, it spread across the Christian world. So, the chance of losing it was very low

19:39and that's why they'd been preserved. And because they were mentioned at every mass for 1500 years, at every mass, perpetua and felicity were mentioned. So, Christians never forgot them. How sad that non-Catholic Christians have completely forgotten them. In her diary, perpetua recorded several powerful visions and dreams in prison that were told her martyrdom. St. Perpetua's visions were considered authoritative and the influenced St. Augustine. St. Augustine declared them authoritative. He said they are the saints who appear in the most ancient lists of the saints and calendars for veneration. And therefore, we need to venerate them. That's the great St. Augustine. In fact, their story was read publicly in the churches of North Africa.

20:41And as I said, St. Augustine himself had to clarify for the people that these accounts are not the same as scripture. That's how important the saints were to the early Christians. But yeah, we're gonna tell them they're wrong. Now, it's interesting. We've learned also from them about Roman law. Do you know that Roman law prohibited the execution of a pregnant woman based on the principle of preserving the unborn baby? Even the pagans of Rome. For Romans, the concern regarding pregnant women was less about the mother's rights and more about the unborn child. Well, I'm not gonna sit up here and preach at that's great because that's not fully how and why they viewed it that way. This protection of the unborn referred to the child's legal status as a future Roman citizen, not necessarily the importance of life.

21:42So we're not here touting it as this great thing, but Rome sanctioned the preservation of life. But you know, they also sanctioned death of unwanted babies. They sanctioned the death of deformed babies. And the pagan families had the power of life and death of her new born child. They could choose if the child died or lived. That's trying to determine what is, like the knowledge of good and evil. I can determine what is good and bad. Abortion is good. No, laws were set to prevent infanticide. Finally, in the fourth century, when Constantine legalized Christianity. No, he did not create Christianity. He legalized it. So they are all condemned. Here's what's going on now. These people are arrested in Carthage and they were all condemned to execution.

22:42But didn't I just say that they couldn't execute a pregnant woman? Felicity was free to go. They could not condemn felicity, the pregnant slave woman. So Roman law prevented this execution of any woman who was pregnant. So what happened is fascinating. So I turned to Jimmy Aiken had something on EWTN news back on this date last year. So I looked at that and he pointed out some really good things. He said, no mention is made of perpetuous husband. They believed she would already dead or he was already dead. And we learn about her companions and members of her family including her father and her brother because of her diary. And her diary show perpetuous father was remarkable and a persistent man. Now he was the only member of the family who was not Christian.

23:43This is interesting. And he made repeated attempts to get her to renounce the faith because he was suffering seeing her suffer. He didn't realize what it would mean for her to abandon the faith. But she did and so should you. To abandon the faith is worse than death. It's eternal death. So let's go to our next slide and read this quote. This is the words of her father to perpetua. Have pity, my daughter, on my gray hairs. Have pity on your father. If I am worthy to be called a father by you. If with these hands, I have brought you up to this flower of your age. If I have preferred you to all your brothers, do not deliver me up to the scorn of men.

24:47Have regard to your brothers. Have regard to your mother and your aunt. Have regard to your son who will not be able to live after you die. That's pretty powerful if your father tells you that. And she responded, I comforted him and said, on that scaffold, whatever God wills shall happen. For know that we are not placed in our own power, but in the power of God. And she said, he departed from me in sorrow. The pagan authorities then grabbed him and beat him with rods in front of her to try to get to abandon the faith. But she wouldn't. I can't imagine anything harder. I just can't.

25:47I think back to my poor mother and father in their last years and praise be to God that we have the freedom. If for all the people who want to condemn and call the United States so evil and satanic, and yeah, there are sins here that need to be rectified and need to be at home for them. We're going to do that in first Saturday. But show me in the United States where something like this, that they would beat and the government would beat my mother and father to make me condemn my faith. Doesn't happen, it didn't happen. And I'm thankful to God for that. But I can't imagine anything harder. Now, remember St. Rita? She said, Lord, I would rather you take my two sons. Then allow them to fall into mortal sin. That's true love.

26:47I'm not telling you to do that. But that's when we say, well, I can't tell somebody they're wrong because that hurts their feelings. It's either their feelings or their salvation. And so I can't imagine how hard that must have been. But she refused to recant her faith. And knowing not only would she go to heaven for it, but her father would go to heaven for it. You know what? If I knew that my mom and dad could go to heaven after just a beating on this earth, I'd beat them myself if I knew that it got them to heaven. And I would let you beat me if I knew it would get me and you to heaven. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I absolutely do. It is way more important to have eternal life than temporal happiness. Now that does not mean we're supposed to invoke all this suffering and pain. No, even Christ Himself said, take this chalice away from me.

27:49But not your will be done. I'm sorry, not my will be done. Your will be done. Now, felicity. So that was perpetua. Felicity, the slave, was also eager to go to heaven. And she did not want to be delayed by being martyred later. She was only in her eighth month of pregnancy. So instead of aborting the baby or getting out of the martyred, you know what they did? Felicity and her companions prayed that she would deliver the baby early so that she could be martyred with the rest of the group. So they prayed hard that God would deliver the baby early. And soon as they finished their prayer, Felicity went into labor and she gave birth to the baby. She delivered a little girl and the girl was given to one of the sisters.

28:50They called that the fellow Christian women were called sisters to raise as her own. So this Christian sister raised Felicity's little baby girl. The day of their victory was now set. They proceeded from the prison into the amphitheater. If, if it was almost like an assembly, they were joyful. There was brilliant attitudes, joy, not fear. Felicity was able now to be martyred with her fellow Christians. That's just amazing. So how did they die? Propecial when her companions were martyred by being thrown to wild beasts. The men were subjected to leopards, bears, and boars.

29:52And let's go to our next slide. Have Brother Mark and show it. Felicity and Perpetua were stripped and bound with nets and thrown to a very fierce cow or an ox. Now you might not think that's the most fierce of the animals. Do you know my dad said, as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, when he said there was a lot of danger all the time, but you know the closest he came to death. He was never, he never got shot or shot down. The closest he came to death is when they were on patrol and they came across a water buffalo with a baby. And that water buffalo charged at my dad. He said snarling, spitting out of its nostrils. My dad had to run up a brush pile and that mother buffalo tried for an hour

30:57to get to my father to kill him. And my dad said he knew to this day if that mother buffalo would have got him, she would have killed him. And there he was on top of this giant brush pile and the mother buffalo couldn't get to him. Finally she gave up. So don't think that that's not the bad animal because this is similar, this enraged cow or oxen. And so the crowd shuddered as they saw this young woman, one of a delicate frame, perpetua, the other with breasts still drooping from her recent childbirth to meet this beast so they actually sent them back to put on more clothes because they had stripped them. So they sent them back to put on more clothes. So even amongst the pagans, there was a sense of modesty.

31:58So on their second time out, perpetua was flung by the cow and she landed in a way. I don't mean to be improper here, but I just find it interesting how they described it that her middle was exposed. Nowadays they would use much more bad graphic details, but it said her middle was exposed. So in the middle of being martyred, she covered herself. She stood up with the cow staring at her, ready to tear apart and she covered her body, mentioning the modesty. Even in the heat of this moment of being killed, who would worry about their modesty? A Christian. That's what made the Christians different and the people saw this. She was called back out and then she fixed her hair. Oh, that's vanity, father.

33:00No, for it was not becoming for a martyr, she said, to suffer with disheveled hair. Why? Unless she would appear to be mourning during her time of glory. So if your hair is down its mourning and she was appearing to be mourning, no, not during her time of glory. So she and Felicity were ultimately mortally wounded by this bull, this cow, this oxen, yet perpetua was in such a state of ecstasy. She felt nothing. Their companions too had felt uninjured, though they were gourd. You know, I don't want to get graphic here. But a while ago, somebody sent me a video that was not on YouTube, YouTube would have banned it.

34:01But they said, Father, you have to know what's going on in Iraq. And I turned it on and they were holding down a Christian in his orange jumpsuit. And they had a knife and I thought, well, the video's not going to show this. And the video showed the complete decapitation. I couldn't watch it. I couldn't not watch it. I was in a state of shock. But what was amazing that will ever be etched in my memory was that Christian that was being beheaded, was smiling, and never peeped. How could any of, if I even get a staple in my finger, ah, it's, if I get a shot, I still have to turn away at the doctor's office

35:05because I do not like needles. That much of a wimp, but here this man, his life being ended. And he was smiling at such peace, and I couldn't stop watching it. And I'm like, Lord, I'm sorry, like I shouldn't be watching this, but look at the faith of this man. As the knife is going through him, he's not screaming, he's not yelling, he's not, he's smiling. I never saw anything like it in my life. And it humbled me to realize I'm so far from that. Lord, help me. To love you and to be willing to die for you like that. That was one of the most intense, three minutes I can ever remember.

36:13Seeing that. And how this man was dying for Christ, I believe he didn't even feel it. You know, they say when St. Lawrence was burned at the stake, they could smell baking bread. And he said, turn me over, I'm done on this side. Who could do that in the middle of fire? I would be screaming until I have less voices than this. And so it's a testament to how these people were. Amazing. So, when it was time for them, okay, so this is what happened. So in the midst of their bloody trial, martyrs encouraged other catacumans who were looking on in the crowd, not to be troubled, not to be discouraged,

37:15but to be confirmed in their faith. When the time then was for them to be slaughtered by the sword because the animals didn't kill them. So the emperor said they had to be killed by the sword, which has been common with many martyrs. The martyrs did something. They gave each other the kiss of peace. Now, the kiss of peace is not required in the mass. I personally do not do it unless it's a special event with our brothers, because I think it distracts from Christ on the altar. I think it distracts, and we're turning around, and we've lost our focus, which our focus should be right here. But you know, I'm going to have to pray on this, because it was after they gave the kiss of peace

38:15right before they were slain by the sword that the church adopted way back in the second century, the mass to have the kiss of peace. Now, I think it's in the wrong place. I don't agree, disagree that the kiss of peace shouldn't be in the mass. But after Vatican II, I believe it was put in the wrong place. That's why I choose not to do it. But this is so eye-opening that when it came time for them to be killed, they gave the kiss of peace, and then that became part of the mass. And they awaited their heavenly reward. Now, this was the note from perpetual. We're almost done. This is the last page. That she might taste some pain being pierced between the ribs,

39:15cried out loudly, and she herself placed the wavering right hand of the gladiator to her throat. Possibly such a woman could not have been slain unless she herself had wielded it, because she was feared by the evil one. Now, let's go to our next slide. This is a famous image in Christianity at Brother Mark and Show. There is St. Perpetua. The soldier tradition says couldn't kill her. He couldn't do it. Tradition says she grabbed the sword and placed it up to her throat. And then she was killed. This is a famous picture of the slaying of Perpetua. According to this account, Perpetua guided the trembling hand of the soldier. His hand was trembling, and she guided it to her throat.

40:21Now, it's reported that she and her companions experienced the pains of martyrdom in a kind of ecstasy. This is amazing. As if someone else were suffering for them. That's why I think back to that video of that Christian in Iraq. It was almost like Christ was the one suffering for him. As they died, they exhorted the others there to find salvation in Christ. Their serenity and their courage deeply increased many who witnessed it, including even the soldiers. That's a witness. Now, many of us, most of us, never will be asked to be red martyrs. But we can't even handle being white martyrs. Their martyrdom account quickly spread across the church. But yet now, Christians reject the saints.

41:23Crazy. Early Christians read it during the liturgy, as I said, and it affected Christianity even centuries later in the Roman canon. We read it. We read their names, Felicity Perpetua. You know, the Bill Silica in Washington, D.C.? You ever been there? I used to go down to their chapel. They're crypt and down there. That has Perpetua and Felicity. If you're ever in D.C., visit there. Prior to their arrest, the women had been studying the scriptures and were preparing for baptism. Well, father, did they die without baptism? Actually, remember, a while ago, I told you about their teacher. When they were caught and arrested, he decided to turn himself in. Well, guess what? He baptized them in prison. They were baptized by their teacher, who voluntarily gave himself up to be with them. Their prison warden was so inspired when he saw this that he converted.

42:29The warden of the jail. And so a note from the editor at the end of Perpetua's diary. She wrote most of it. But there was a part in the beginning and the end that she didn't write. Says this. The day of their victory dawned. And they marched from the prison to the amphitheater, joyfully, as though they were going to heaven with calm faces, trembling, if at all, with joy rather than fear. Perpetua went along with shining continents and calm step, as the beloved of God, as the wife of Christ, putting down everyone's stare by her own intense gaze at Christ. She's the bride of Christ. This is what I teach you all the time what is going on in the mass. Perpetua and Felicity were thrown into a reen of wild animals, but the animals didn't kill them. Tragically, then, the emperor commanded that they be put to death by the sword.

43:32This is all in the crypt church in DC. Then, Franciscan media had a thing that I was looking and I'd like to share with some of you. Let's go to our next slide. I want to read you this. When my father in his affection for me was trying to turn me from my purpose, my arguments, and thus weakened my faith, I said to him, do you see this vessel, water pot, or whatever it may be? Can it be called by any other name than what it really is? No, he replied. So also, I cannot call myself by any other name than what I am, a Christian. Now, this woman is willing to die for that truth, and yet we're being forced to call a boy a girl and a girl a boy.

44:34That is not what they are. And she said, you can't call even a water pot, anything other than what it is. And her father said, I agree. Yet, we're calling a man a woman and a woman a man. This is God's little way of letting us try to realize the absurdity of something that goes against the truth without having to lose our lives for it. And yet, we are, we're heading to lay down our reputations. We're called bigots and haters because we won't call a man a woman or a woman a man. This is very, I mean, this was all coming together for me last night. Like I said, the reason I continue to do these talks is they are much time consuming and they are very, very, they're very, very hard, a lot of work. But I love going back reviewing my seminary notes.

45:35A lot of what I learned about this here is from seminary. It's mainly to bring you closer to Jesus Christ, but I also do it because it brings alive my own faith within my own heart. And that's what I was thinking last night. Lord, you're showing us this today without us having to go before wild animals. And yet, we still don't learn the truth. Well, we have to end up going before wild animals before we then learn the truth. Maybe. So, in her to die, her diary, perpetual describes her period of captivity. Listen to this. What a day of horror, terrible heat from the crowds, rough treatment by the soldiers. To crown it all, I was tormented with anxiety for my baby. Such anxieties I suffered for many days. But I then obtained leave for my baby to remain in the prison with me. And being relieved of my trouble and anxiety for the baby,

46:39I at once recovered my health. And my prison became a palace. My prison became a palace to me. And I would rather have been there than anywhere else in the world. That's amazing. Remember the diary of Ann Frank? I told you before when somebody said, you read the diary of St. Faustines. The only diary I've ever heard of was the diary of Ann Frank. Well, the diary of Ann Frank says something interesting I found last night. Ann Frank says it's twice as hard for us young ones today to hold our ground. And maintain our faith and opinions in a time when all ideals are being shattered and destroyed. That's what's happening now. When people are showing their worst side, Pius XII said mankind is more sinful today than he was at the time of the flood. And that was in the fifties. And they do not know whether to believe in truth and right and God.

47:44She says it becomes hard. So the point I read this is because yes, it's going to be hard to hold to your faith. But we must. So on Catholicmom.com there is a great little summary of the passion of perpetual felicity. I'd like to read it. It's real short. During this time, perpetual's brother asked her to ask God in prayer if they would be released. Or if the imprisonment should result in death. Perpetua was given a vision of a golden ladder, laden with iron weapons leading to heaven with a dragon crouching at the bottom. And I want to tell you something. We're now beginning a ministry where we make these rosaries. They're called the Jacob's Ladder rosary because she was talking about the ladder. And Jacob's ladder connects heaven with earth than the most beautiful rosaries have ever seen. And maybe I'll start even bringing them here to the Saturday talks. I take them on the road with me.

48:44But these are handmade and fine gemstones. And they are the exact example of what was talked about here. This ladder to heaven. The two ascended successfully in the vision. And after perpetual related this to her brother, they decided that it meant that this imprisonment would lead to their martyrdom and not their release. But they accepted that. The Lord arranged that each should die according to their own desire. Well, thanks God. You know, that seems kind of like, okay, that's hard. But let's go to our last slide. Earlier, the group had been discussing their martyrdom. And one of the companions mentioned that he wanted to battle all the beasts so that he may earn a more illustrious crown. And I just got two more paragraphs. And indeed, he and his servants did just that.

49:46Then one considered bearers abominable. And imagine that he would rather die by a leopard. This too is what exactly happened. The bear wouldn't touch him. Because he was from Chicago. He died by a lion from Detroit. And I'm just kidding. Just a little levity. So the other animals would not come close to him. But St. Perpetua, she gave the inspiration for all of this. Felicity, a slave, gave the inspiration. Can you imagine the owner and the slave holding hands, willing to die for each other? A slave willing to die for her master? Are you kidding me? A master willing to die for her slave? Are you kidding me? This is why when you read about slavery in the Bible, you've got to understand the context. Don't condemn the Bible. Yes, we condemn slavery, but you don't condemn the Bible because it mentions it.

50:50You have to understand the context. And so St. Perpetua is the patron saint now of widows and mothers of deceased sons. And so, for all those who have lost a loved one, pray today to these saints. This is a great opportunity for grace. The saints are important, and the Christians have been leaning to them for thousands of years. Let us not say they were wrong. Let's rather follow their example. So let's finish with a prayer in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. So let's go to our last slide. Dearest Perpetua and Felicity, we pray for your intercession. That we might face our daily trials with joyful courage, convinced of Jesus' immense love for us, so that we might join you one day in our Lord's heavenly home.

51:52Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So before we break for the first Saturdays, but the mark is going to ramp down. We're going to end this video and then join us right here on the same channel. We're going to come back right now in just a second for the first Saturday devotion. But I would like to show, I've mentioned to you before, you know, as a proud Father, the only time I groan is when I get the seminary bill. And the seminary bill is about enough to put me in the hospital. And so I have to find creative ways to be able to pay for our men to be sent to seminary and to be made new priests. And so I have discovered the best way is through nativity tours. The wonderful owner has said, Father, I will give the proceeds to the Marian Fathers to pay for your seminarians to go through seminary. So I'm trying to do as many pilgrimages I can. I am not doing these for vacations.

52:52I'm not doing these spending, our donor's money. We're being paid to do these. So we'd love it if you could join us to help our seminarians by attending. By being with us, we can meet you, have a beautiful time and some of these real quick on your screen. The next one coming up is to Poland and St. Fostina, the footsteps of St. Fostina. This is the Mercy Congress. I will be in Lithuania speaking at the Royal Apostolic Congress on Mercy. I was invited by the Bishop of Vilnius that's June 7th through the 17th. Then we will be going to the Holy Land. I know there's a lot of concerns right now. We're monitoring it daily. I was just there. It was completely safe. But things change. We'll keep watching it. But right now it's all ago. That's September 14th through the 23rd. But we'll change that if needed. Then I'm doing Jordan, Mount Sinai and Egypt and an Old Testament pilgrimage teaching you all about the Old Testament.

53:53That's September 23rd through October 3rd. And then if you wish you can join us on the Nile River for the end on that extension. And then in 2027 we'll be going to Croatia, Medjugorje and Croatia. As I'm going back to the birthplace of my grandfather's. So we want you to join us on that trip if you can as well. We're getting a lot of notes from Croatia saying they're big fans of the Marians. And so this is a way to unite the world. But a better way to unite the world is what Saint Felicity and Perpetua did. The willingness to give their life for Christ. That's what we'll bring uniting rather than division. God bless you guys. And so we're going to break now. But the mark is going to wrap down. And then I'll be back up in literally just two minutes. And we will begin the first Friday. First Saturday devotions. Thank you and God bless you.