Spiritual Women In both The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicity and Appeal to the Christian Women of the South, the women in the stories are using scripture to explain and justify the claims they make about their faith and the faith of others. They do this by sharing stories about their life and events in their lives to show how the spirit has been moved into them. Both texts describe how these women see themselves as readers of the Bible, what religious authority each is claiming, and what new social reality each woman is arguing that is in keeping of God’s will for human beings. In The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Perpetua shows us that she is a reader of the Bible through the different visions that she has. Her brother …show more content…
She is a spiritual woman who is able to express her faith and faith led life through the stories she writes down in this diary. She claims to be a Christian woman in all of these stories. “And Hilarianus the procurator, who at that time had received the right of capital punishment in the place of the dead proconsul Minucis Timinainus, said, “Spare the white hairs of your father, spare your infant son. Perform the rite for the health of the emperors!” And I responded: “I will not do it.” HIlarianus said: “Are you a Christian?” And I responded: “I am a Christian”” (Perpetua). This dialogue shows that even in a time where her father and her child were on the line, she would still claim in front of the forum that she is a Christian. This is extremely important, because many people would be likely to hide their faith to save their family members, while she thought it was more important to express her faith …show more content…
It is when we turn away from what is pulling us down, even if that means we have to sacrifice our family or ourselves, and keep praying towards things getting better. She shows this in the many stories that she wrote in her diary and through the visions she had. Perpetua said, “And he kissed me and said to me: “Daughter, peace be with you.” And I began to go with glory toward the Sanaviarian gate. And I woke up. And I understood that I was not going to fight against wild beasts, but against the devil; but I knew that victory would be mine.” (Perpetua). These words that Perpetua said show her confidence that she can take down the devil in her faithful actions. She was brought to an amphitheater in her vision where she was to fight. Upon her arrival she was made into a man. If she were beaten in this fight the man would kill her, but if she won she would get his branch. She took the man and threw him on the ground and stomped on his head. This signified her taking the devil by his horns, throwing him on the ground, and stomping on his head. These actions lead her toward the victory and the branch in which showed she could also take down the devil. She uses the scripture to help her justify the knowingness she has about how evil the devil is and how by reading and reciting these passages against the evil in our lives, she is able to fight back against evil and live a great life. The
For the author, the fact that Perpetua is a woman strengthens her sacrifice for her faith. This is due to the societal norms and customs she disobeys and overcomes to become a martyr. In ancient Rome, they lived in a patriarchal society. This will make her disobedience of her father more noteworthy as it violates the cultural custom. In her writing, Perpetua talks of her father coming to her in the prison. She says “He came up to me to cast down my faith saying: Have pity, daughter, on my grey hairs; have pity on your father, if I am worthy to be called father by you” (The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas 5). Multiple times, her father comes to her in prison, begging that she say she is not a Christian so she may live. Through this interaction with her father, we can see his fatherly love as he tries to prevent her death. We also see a sort of disgrace that comes from a daughter’s disobedience, she writes that her father says “give me not over to the reproach of men” (The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas 5). This show of direct disobedience of her father portrays Perpetua as a stronger martyr. She is not only giving her life for her faith, but going against society and customs, saying her beliefs are more important than both. This is a strong example to encourage conversion to Christianity. When Perpetua is in prison, her father tells her to “look upon your son, who will not endure to live after you” (The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas 5). This leads to another point concerning Perpetua as a woman. If she dies for her faith, she will abandon her child and give up being a mother. In ancient times, much of a women’s identity was in her ability to be a good mother. With her martyrdom, Perpetua will choose faith over this key part of her life and legacy. This, yet again, shows why, by being a woman, Perpetua is a strong example in the author’s purpose to convert
believes in Christ; however Vianne is not the least bit afraid of showing her very
The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity The document, “The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity,” shows just how mighty and fearless the faith of the martyrs were in Rome around 203 A.D. in which our story takes place. During the rule of Diocletian, Christianity was not the religion of popular belief. Many of Romans practiced polytheism. As a result, numerous Christian believers were persecuted for their divine faith in God.
Perpetua, one of the earliest female martyrs, lived in a time where gender limited her abilities to exert power and influence towards her family and society. The only place she found to exert any influence was in her new found religion, Christianity. Christianity was relatively new and mysterious and very much illegal in the third century of the Roman Empire. Being a daughter influenced Perpetua more than the other roles that she held. While under the direction and guidance of her father and then the heavenly Father, Perpetua’s decision making and visions to become a martyr were deeply rooted in being a daughter and following the guidance of that father to be placed where she wanted to be, heaven.
For that reason, she will repent and confess her sins which to secure rebirth and to proclaim purity. Therefore, she is interpreted as the sensuous woman.
Thiebaux, in her book, appear to explain the events involving women but on a more religious matter. The first chapter in Thiebaux’s book discusses a woman named Vibia Perpetua. She is another woman from our past whose actions on being subjective based on religion, not only leads to her death but also spread inspiration and encouragement to the minds of other women. For example, her and four other women were considered martyrs, but Thiebaux called them “the first heroes of Christianity” (Thiebaux 4). From what I read about Perpetua, and the sections from within the chapter, they basically explain how she lived with her life which leads to her death. She and her friends were sentenced to death based upon their faith in Christianity, though Perpetua had a chance to save herself but she chose to remain faithful; “refusing to worship the Emperor and honor the religion of the Roman state” (4). Roman religion and its emperor had a law to ban Christianity but her faith in her religion led Perpetua and her companions to be executed. Her death was by the hand and sword of a gladiator, all because she chose to remain faithful to her religion.
The intriguing myth of Perseus shows many archetypes that are shared with countless other stories. These archetypes include the task, which is situational, light vs. darkness, which is a symbolic archetype, and the hero, which is a character archetype. To better understand these, the myth itself must be understood.
One of the central events of the text is a chain of visions Perpetua and some of the others receive. Many of Perpetua visions had some familiar element to them, example familiar faces, such as the vision about her brother . In Perpetua’s last visions and throughout her persecution the author portrays Perpetua as a warrior. In the text, visions seem like a welcome element to Carthage’s Christian society. Also the visions seem to be a source of answers and comfort for the martyrs.
Perpetua’s dreams were a great motivation to him because those dreams contained messages which may have been direct or indirect in the sense that people from the past would have been able to translate her dreams and learn from them or her dreams would have been confusing back then but through time, people have been able to get something inspiring from her dreams. In fact the thing is, dreams straight from God are a good way for us a humans to stay faithful because you know that God is with you so since Perpetua kept having dreams, it meant that she knew that God was with her and she knew she had to stay strong even if in the end of everything her life would also come to an
She is very judgemental and does not always treat people nicely whether it be directly or indirectly. Her cousins, Susan and JoAnne, are attending the convent and when they come to visit for the weekend she does not treat them nicely. She does not want to entertain them so she first suggests the boarder’s boyfriend. This is an insult to the boarder and her cousins. Next she gets some not so attractive neighborhood boys to do the job. They come to dinner, but she goes to the kitchen to eat because she does not want to eat with them, because she thinks they were below her. That night the girls attend the fair, with the boys, but the unnamed girl does not go because she feels she is too good. When she returns with the cousins to the convent she does not want to go into the sanctuary or have the nuns touch her. When she is finally inside kneeling to pray she is thinking ugly thoughts. This is a moment of grace for her. She is in church thinking ugly thoughts, how inappropriate. She thinks to herself “Hep me not to be so mean, Hep me not to give so much sass and Hep me not to talk like I do” (O’Connor 101)because she was in the presence of God in his house. She changes her thinking as she is in there, realizing how unchristian like it is, and she is supposed to be a temple of the holy spirit. She accepts the grace at this time, but on the way home her mind starts thinking some of the
Saint Sophia was a good Catholic that had a lot of faith in God. In the end, she really give her life defending her faith. She never gave in and denied God like they wanted her to and neither did her daughters. Saint Sophia’s faith is a good example of undying faith in God.
The book Under the Feet of Jesus by Helena Maria Viramontes shows you the story of Estrella and her family and the struggles they face as migrant workers. Among all the symbolism in the book the one that stand out the most is Petra’s statue of Christ, which symbolizes the failure of religion and the oppressive nature of the Christian religion especially in minorities. Throughout the book, Estrella’s mother, Petra relies on superstitions and religion to get her through the hardships in life. In tough times, she turns to the statue and prays for guidance. Her thirteen-year-old daughter Estrella is the first of her family to realize that she needs to stop relying on religion and take control of her life. This brings in a wave of self-empowerment, not only for Estrella but eventually for all the characters as well. In the book, you’re able to see how religion exemplifies the failures of religion in minorities and how it hinders the growth of the characters while helping some of them.
Abraham, Susan, and Elena Procario-Foley. "Redeeming Christ: Imitation or (Re)citation?." In Frontiers in Catholic feminist theology: shoulder to shoulder. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009. 119-140.
In her essay "In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens," Walker ponders the histories and legacies of black American women who found, somehow, even in the bondage of slavery, an inextinguishable need and ability to create. Walker refers to these women not as slaves, or Africans, or Americans, or even women-she calls them saints: "these crazy saints stared out on the world, wildly, like lunatics..." (Walker 695). I'd read the essay twice before I began to understand the resonance of Walker's choice of words. Walker's women are saints not because they were named by the pope after the documentation of two miracles of their performance and the paying of the appropriate bishops-but because of the way they looked at the world...perhaps with the special clarity of lunacy.
“Saint Joan” is filled with many religious characters but the only one who truly believes they are doing God's work is Joan. Even though there is no proof that Joan is hearing these voices...