This week in Christian history: Jesuit founder canonized, martyr killed, dozens massacred

Perpetua martyred - March 7, 203

This week marks the anniversary of when Saint Perpetua, also known as Vibia Perpetua, was killed by Roman authorities for refusing to renounce her Christian faith.

A young mother who was part of a wealthy family, Perpetua was imprisoned and later executed with a few others who lived in Carthage for converting to Christianity.  

Perpetua kept her faith, even as her pagan father tried to convince her to renounce her beliefs. While imprisoned, she recorded her experiences in a diary.

“Most of Perpetua’s text concerns her prison dreams (which she believed were prophetic) offering visions of her entry into heaven, her deceased younger brother Dinocrates, and her ordeal in the arena,” explains Encyclopedia Britannica.

“Perpetua’s diary was read annually in Carthage’s churches for centuries. It was so influential that it was praised by orthodox Christians and heretical Montanists alike, and 200 years later the Church Father Augustine (354–430) wrote sermons commenting on the young martyr’s words.”