Saint of the Day

01 · Read · A life to discover

St. Felicity of Carthage

Felicity was an enslaved Christian catechumen killed at Carthage in 203 with Perpetua and their companions. Their surviving Passion offers a rare, vivid account of imprisonment, family relationships, and martyrdom in early Christianity.

She was pregnant when arrested. Because the execution of a pregnant woman was prohibited, she feared being separated from her companions at their death. The narrative describes her giving birth in prison shortly before the group entered the arena.

Her daughter was entrusted to another Christian woman. This detail is important to Felicity's individual story: her motherhood, enslavement, and reliance on the community remain visible beside the better-known first-person narrative associated with Perpetua.

Felicity and Perpetua were exposed to violence in the arena and eventually killed. Their text contains both material presented as Perpetua's prison recollections and an editor's description of the final events. Its religious interpretation accompanies its historical testimony. No reliable basis establishes that Felicity was Perpetua's personal slave, so that common assumption should be avoided. Their March 7 memorial honors distinct women joined by a common imprisonment and faith.

This saint is included on this recurring date in the U.S. Roman Rite calendar published by the USCCB. This reading guide gives U.S. calendar saints priority; the Mass celebrated on a particular year’s date can differ because of Sundays, seasons or higher-ranking celebrations.