Carlos Mwangi from Nairobi has a Powerful Heavenly Vision

On 2010, Carlos Mwangi, from Nairobi, Kenya, fell into a trance and was shown that when the rapture occurs, it will be at around 6pm on a Saturday. 

It just so happens that First-fruits, on also falls on a Saturday -The 7th of May 2016.

When it's 6:00pm on the 7th of May in Nairobi, it will also be 6pm on the 7th of May 2016 in Jerusalem as well! This means that the Lord is going to wait until the very Last Watch, on First-fruits, before He gathers up His saints into heaven to attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

The Following is Carlos's Story...

"...I was in the city center of Nairobi city, I had been sent by my mother to do some errands and I was now on my way back home.

As I was crisscrossing shoulder to shoulder I suddenly looked down for I felt very uneasy with my left shoe so I bent down to adjust it.

I was very aware of my surroundings suddenly standing up I just froze and looked up and then leveled my head where I could see cars.

They all began crashing simultaneously and there were people falling at the same time because all over, graves were opening.

Directly above, to the direction I was facing, I saw a big angel with big triangular curved elegant wings with a golden trumpet standing in front of the other angels, and the line of these angels stretched back as far as I could see and he blew the trumpet a second time.

Then I turned to the opposite direction and I saw people flying towards a center and there was JESUS with Angel Michael at his side.

It's then that I realized that the heavenly citizens were on opposite sides of the sky. The music from the trumpet was sweet and loud and did not hurt my ears. I don't remember the tune but it was inviting pulling me up to the clouds.

The Archangel who had the trumpet in front seemed to blow it continuously blowing a long key and the others behind him seemed to play Music but it was pure harmony all the same..the sky light was so bright like golden yellowish color.

It was 6:00 PM on a Saturday

I noticed that people seemed confused at the noise, others were hysterical, as if demon possessed, because they held their ears and screamed in agony.

It then vanished as quick as it had started...I closed my eyes and started shaking my head. I seemed to have stepped into eternity. Even though I was very much aware of everyone else. That's when I realized that people were looking at me. Then it hit me! I was standing right in the middle of the path as if in a trance.

 

When I got home I prayed to the Father to let me know everything. He let me know that it was my expectancy that was beaming in my spirit ever since I started fellowship with my FB family, talking about the rapture and the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.

Then later, that's when it came to my realization, ONLY THOSE WHO ARE READY will hear the Trumpet sound as music. But the unbelievers, due to the commotion with the earthquake and the crashing of everything around them, will be confused with hysteria, the Trumpet will sound like bomb explosions going off all around them. 

The rapture itself will also not take too long in this “time existence” I was made to understand that it will take less than 5 seconds. It will happen so fast and everything will go quiet again. 

To those who will be flying it will be an eternal moment. For eternity has been placed in our hearts according to the Scriptures. But I'm guessing, for those who are left here, it will be the longest 5 seconds of their entire existence. I saw everything happening so fast, yet through their eyes I saw everything happening in slow motion, like a never ending nightmare.

Soon people, very soon, its going to happen. 

So get ready!"

A Life Well Lived Saint Angela Merici

Saint Angela Merici had just returned from a trip to the Holy Land. On the way there she had fallen ill and become blind. Nevertheless, she insisted on continuing her pilgrimage and toured the holy sites with the devotion of her heart rather than her eyes. On the way back she had recovered her sight. But this must have been a reminder to her not to shut her eyes to the needs she saw around her, not to shut her heart to God's call.

 
All around her hometown she saw poor girls with no education and no hope. In the fifteenth and sixteenth century that Angela lived in, education for women was for the rich or for nuns. Angela herself had learned everything on her own. Her parents had died when she was ten and she had gone to live with an uncle. She was deeply disturbed when her sister died without receiving the sacraments. A vision reassured her that her sister was safe in God's care -- and also prompted her to dedicate her life to God. 


When her uncle died, she returned to her hometown and began to notice how little education the girls had. But who would teach them? Times were much different then. Women weren't allowed to be teachers and unmarried women were not supposed to go out by themselves -- even to serve others. Nuns were the best educated women but they weren't allowed to leave their cloisters. There were no teaching orders of sisters like we have today. 

 

But in the meantime, these girls grew up without education in religion or anything at all.
These girls weren't being helped by the old ways, so Angela invented a new way. 

She brought together a group of unmarried women, fellow Franciscan tertiaries and other friends, who went out into the streets to gather up the girls they saw and teach them. These women had little money and no power, but were bound together by their dedication to education and commitment to Christ. 

Living in their own homes, they met for prayer and classes where Angela reminded them, " Reflect that in reality you have a greater need to serve [the poor] than they have of your service." They were so successful in their service that Angela was asked to bring her innovative approach to education to other cities, and impressed many people, including the pope. 


Though she turned him down, perhaps the pope's request gave her the inspiration or the push to make her little group more formal. Although it was never a religious order in her lifetime, Angela's Company of Saint Ursula, or the Ursulines, was the first group of women religious to work outside the cloister and the first teaching order of women. 

 

It took many years of frustration before Angela's radical ideas of education for all and unmarried women in service were accepted. They are commonplace to us now because people like Angela wanted to help others no matter what the cost. Angela reminds us of her approach to change: "Beware of trying to accomplish anything by force, for God has given every single person free will and desires to constrain none; he merely shows them the way, invites them and counsels them." 


Saint Angela Merici reassured her Sisters who were afraid to lose her in death: "I shall continue to be more alive than I was in this life, and I shall see you better and shall love more the good deeds which I shall see you doing continually, and I shall be able to help you more." She died in 1540, at about seventy years old. 

In Saint Angela Merici's Words...

Take a look around you. Instead of just driving or walking without paying attention today, open your eyes to the needs you see along the way. What people do you notice who need help but who are not being helped? What are their true needs? Make a commitment to help them in some way.

There is No Choice but Life

 

 

 

 

Our Lady of the Pillar

Miguel Juan Pellicer was born in the early 17th century to a Catholic family in the small agricultural community of Calanda, Spain. In 1637 when he was 20 years old, he was working on his uncle’s farm when a terrible accident occurred: he was riding a mule pulling a cart and accidentally fell off, and the cart ran over his right leg, breaking his tibia (also known as one’s shin – ouch!).

He received some treatment at a local hospital but soon decided to go to a special hospital in the city of Zaragoza dedicated to Our Lady of the Pillar. He, like many Catholics in Spain, had a strong devotion to her, and he hoped to benefit from her intercession.

 

Unfortunately, by the time he arrived, his leg was so gangrenous that it was black. The only option left was amputation. Two expert surgeons removed most of the lower half of his right leg from just below his knee. They cauterized the wound with fire.
Now, keep in mind that this was the mid-17th century, so there was no anesthesia. They gave him alcohol and other drugs to try to numb the pain, but Pellicer nonetheless experienced incredible pain. One witness later wrote: “In his torment the young man called upon the Virgin of the Pillar, unceasingly and with great fervor.” They then buried his amputated leg in the hospital’s cemetery, as was the custom.


A few months later, he was released with a wooden leg and crutch. Apparently, he was also able to get some sort of license for begging (I didn’t know that kind of thing even existed) at the Sanctuary of the Pillar. He was able to survive from begging and, since it’s a popular pilgrimage destination, was seen by thousands if not millions of people. He also got regular checkups with his doctor at the hospital.

Unflappable Faith

But he didn’t lose hope that God still might heal his leg, as impossible as it seemed. In an act of faith, every night he would request some oil from the sanctuary, rub it on his stub, and pray for the intercession of Our Lady.

After about two years, with the health of his leg seemingly stable, he finally decided to return home. He arrived in the midst of the 2nd week of Lent (sometime around March 11-14) in 1640. Unable to help on the farm, he took up begging again, and many people in the surrounding towns saw his stub leg.
Then, about two weeks later on March 29th, the miracle happened.

 

It was around 10 p.m. and he was ready to go bed. A soldier was temporarily staying in his family’s home and was sleeping in his bed, so Pellicer plopped down in an extra bed in his parent’s room instead. About an hour later, his mother walked in and saw two feet sticking out of the covers. Thinking the soldier had gone to sleep in the wrong room, she called her husband to resolve the misunderstanding.
But when her husband came and lifted the blanket, he was shocked at what he found: it was their son, and he had both of his legs!

They tried to wake him up right away, but he was in a deep sleep and it took a while. Once they finally were able to shake him awake, he explained that he had been having a vivid dream in which he was at the Sanctuary of the Pillar and was rubbing his stub with the oil as he used to do.  The three of them rejoiced, praised God, and thanked the Lady of the Pillar for her intercession!
 

The Church Investigates

 

News of the miracle spread like wildfire in the surrounding towns, and both government and ecclesiastical officials came to their house to see his healed leg for themselves. Three weeks later, Pellicer and his parents made a pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of the Pillar to give thanks, and many people there who had known him with his stub leg were amazed to see him with both legs.

The story became such a sensation that the local archbishop conducted an extensive investigation of the miracle. When they dug up the box that he been buried with his amputated leg in the hospitals’ cemetery, it was apparently undisturbed – but empty. Regarding eye-witness testimony, there were obviously thousands of people who had clearly seen his stub leg before the miracle.

 So investigators asked two dozen of the most respected witnesses to testify in the court proceedings, including doctors who had treated him. No doubters of the miracle could be found.
A year later, the archbishop finally issued a judgement: the miracle was authentic.

 

excerpted from: https://churchpop.com/2016/01/12/god-cured-amputee-the-astonishing-miracle-of-calanda/

Kobe Bryant is Catholic

Kobe Bryant is only one of the best basketball players ever. And he recently announced he plans on retiring at the end of this season.
 
What most people don’t know, though, is that he’s Catholic. And that, according to a recent interview, his Catholic faith helped him through one of the darkest times of his life.

Born in 1978 in Philadelphia, Kobe (he’s known by his first name) was raised in a Roman Catholic family. When he was six, his family moved to Italy, to a small town an hour outside of Rome. Because of this, Kobe speaks fluent Italian to this day.

 

He was drafted into the NBA right out of high school, the first time a guard had ever been drafted that young, and he quickly became a star. Soon people were speculating about whether he was “the next Michael Jordan.”

In 2001, when he was 23, he married 19 year old Vanessa Laine, who is also Catholic. The wedding was held at St. Edward Roman Catholic Church in Dana Point, California. Two years later in 2003, their first child was born.

The year 2003 was also when something else happened that changed his life forever, and for which he would need to lean on his faith: he was accused of raping a young woman in his hotel room while in Colorado for knee surgery.

Ashamed, Kobe admitted right away that he had had sex with the woman, which was adultery against his wife. But he was adamant that he had not raped the woman.

In addition to the grave damage this did to his family, it had huge consequences for his career: major sponsors dropped him, sales of his jersey plummeted, and his general reputation was obviously badly damaged.

A year later, a judge dismissed the criminal rape charges. The woman also filed a civil lawsuit against Kobe, which was settled out of court. In the midst of this, Kobe issued a public statement that included apologies to the woman, her family, his family, and the people of the Colorado town where the incident had occurred.

In an interview with GQ in early 2015, he explained how he leaned on his Catholic faith to help him get through the ordeal:

The [loss of the] endorsements were really the least of my concerns. Was I afraid of going to jail? Yes. It was twenty-five to life, man. I was terrified. The one thing that really helped me during that process—I’m Catholic, I grew up Catholic, my kids are Catholic—was talking to a priest.

It was actually kind of funny: He looks at me and says, ’Did you do it?’ And I say, ’Of course not.’ Then he asks, ’Do you have a good lawyer?’ And I’m like, ’Uh, yeah, he’s phenomenal.’ So then he just said, ’Let it go. Move on. God’s not going to give you anything you can’t handle, and it’s in his hands now. This is something you can’t control. So let it go.’ And that was the turning point.

Kobe and his wife remained together for a few years after the accusations, and even had a second child, but in 2011 his wife filed for divorce. Fortunately, in 2013 they announced they had reconciled and called off the divorce.

 

It’s hard to know how important the Church is in his life on a daily basis. But we do know that he was raised Catholic, got married to a Catholic in a Catholic church, and says he is raising his kids Catholic. And when he was at his lowest point, it was to a Catholic priest that he turned for help and guidance.

Might we all remember that Christ and His Church is always there for us – especially in our darkest moments.

excerpted from https://churchpop.com/2015/12/26/how-kobe-bryants-catholic-faith-pulled-him-through-his-darkest-hour/

Man Has Heart Attack-Jesus Shows Up

Told from Joe Stallard's Best Friend...

"My wife and I are friends with him and his wife. I work with his wife at a car dealership. After I met her I shared with her my wife's testimony about seeing the angels. She said that her husband also had a wonderful testimony and they took us out to dinner. To Cheeseburger in Paradise! 

Well, his testimony is truly a blessing to hear. When he shared it with us he couldn't help keeping the tears from his eyes as he seemed to relive it while he told it. My wife and I were literally filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit and I was almost in tears when I heard this. 

I know most people will not believe this man's testimony but that doesn't matter. It actually happened and I have heard it from his own mouth. I could feel the presence of Jesus at that table when he shared this with us. 

Since, then we get together once a month to serve the Lord at homeless shelters. I see his wife every day at work still and we have wonderful fellowship. Praise Almighty God! 

After you have watched this check out my "Angels are Real" video to see my wife's testimony. I believe Jesus is going to be back very very soon and I am ready. I hope all of you are also."

 

Saints Perpetua and Felicity

A number of young catechumens were arrested, Revocatus and his fellow slave Felicitas, Saturninus and Secundulus, and with them Vibia Perpetua, a newly married woman of good family and upbringing. Her mother and father were still alive and one of her two brothers was a catechumen like herself. She was about twenty-two years old and had an infant son at the breast. (Now from this point on the entire account of her ordeal is her own, according to her own ideas and in the way that she herself wrote it down.)

 

While we were still under arrest (she said) my father out of love for me was trying to persuade me and shake my resolution. 

 'Father,' said I, 'do you see this vase here, for example, or waterpot or whatever?'

'Yes, I do', said he.

And I told him: 'Could it be called by any other name than what it is?'

And he said: 'No.'

'Well, so too I cannot be called anything other than what I am, a Christian.'

At this my father was so angered by the word 'Christian' that he moved towards me as though he would pluck my eyes out. But he left it at that and departed, vanquished along with his diabolical arguments.

For a few days afterwards I gave thanks to the Lord that I was separated from my father, and I was comforted by his absence. During these few days I was baptized, and I was inspired by the Spirit not to ask for any other favour after the water but simply the perseverance of the flesh. A few days later we were lodged in the prison; and I was terrified, as I had never before been in such a dark hole. What a difficult time it was! With the crowd the heat was stifling; then there was the extortion of the soldiers; and to crown all, I was tortured with worry for my baby there.

Then Tertius and Pomponius, those blessed deacons who tried to take care of us, bribed the soldiers to allow us to go to a better part of the prison to refresh ourselves for a few hours. Everyone then left that dungeon and shifted for himself. I nursed my baby, who was faint from hunger. In my anxiety I spoke to my mother about the child, I tried to comfort my brother, and I gave the child in their charge. I was in pain because I saw them suffering out of pity for me. These were the trials I had to endure for many days. Then I got permission for my baby to stay with me in prison. At once I recovered my health, relieved as I was of my worry and anxiety over the child. My prison had suddenly become a palace, so that I wanted to be there rather than anywhere else.

Then my brother said to me: 'Dear sister, you are greatly privileged; surely you might ask for a vision to discover whether you are to be condemned or freed.'

Faithfully I promised that I would, for I knew that I could speak with the Lord, whose great blessings I had come to experience. And so I said: 'I shall tell you tomorrow.' Then I made my request and this was the vision I had.

I saw a ladder of tremendous height made of bronze, reaching all the way to the heavens, but it was so narrow that only one person could climb up at a time. To the sides of the ladder were attached all sorts of metal weapons: there were swords, spears, hooks, daggers, and spikes; so that if anyone tried to climb up carelessly or without paying attention, he would be mangled and his flesh would adhere to the weapons.

At the foot of the ladder lay a dragon of enormous size, and it would attack those who tried to climb up and try to terrify them from doing so. And Saturus was the first to go up, he who was later to give himself up of his own accord. He had been the builder of our strength, although he was not present when we were arrested. And he arrived at the top of the staircase and he looked back and said to me: 

'Perpetua, I am waiting for you. But take care; do not let the dragon bite you.'

'He will not harm me,' I said, 'in the name of Christ Jesus.'

Slowly, as though he were afraid of me, the dragon stuck his head out from underneath the ladder. Then, using it as my first step, I trod on his head and went up.

Then I saw an immense garden, and in it a gray-haired man sat in shepherd's garb; tall he was, and milking sheep. And standing around him were many thousands of people clad in white garments. He raised his head, looked at me, and said: 'I am glad you have come, my child.'

He called me over to him and gave me, as it were, a mouthful Of the milk he was drawing; and I took it into my cupped hands and consumed it. And all those who stood around said: 'Amen!' At the sound of this word I came to, with the taste of something sweet still in my mouth. I at once told this to my brother, and we realized that we would have to suffer, and that from now on we would no longer have any hope in this life.


A few days later there was a rumour that we were going to be given a hearing. My father also arrived from the city, worn with worry, and he came to see me with the idea of persuading me.

'Daughter,' he said, 'have pity on my grey head--have pity on me your father, if I deserve to be called your father, if I have favoured you above all your brothers, if I have raised you to reach this prime of your life. Do not abandon me to be the reproach of men. Think of your brothers, think of your mother and your aunt, think of your child, who will not be able to live once you are gone. Give up your pride! You will destroy all of us! None of us will ever be able to speak freely again if anything happens to you.'

This was the way my father spoke out of love for me, kissing my hands and throwing himself down before me. With tears in his eyes he no longer addressed me as his daughter but as a woman. I was sorry for my father's sake, because he alone of all my kin would be unhappy to see me suffer.

I tried to comfort him saying: 'It will all happen in the prisoner's dock as God wills; for you may be sure that we are not left to ourselves but are all in his power.'
And he left me in great sorrow.

One day while we were eating breakfast we were suddenly hurried off for a hearing. We arrived at the forum, and straight away the story went about the neighborhood near the forum and a huge crowd gathered. We walked up to the prisoner's dock. All the others when questioned admitted their guilt. Then, when it came my turn, my father appeared with my son, dragged me from the step, and said:

 'Perform the sacrifice--have pity on your baby!'

Hilarianus the governor, who had received his judicial powers as the successor of the late proconsul Minucius Timinianus, said to me:

 'Have pity on your father's grey head; have pity on your infant son. Offer the sacrifice for the welfare of the emperors.'

'I will not', I retorted.

'Are you a Christian?' said Hilarianus.

And I said: 'Yes, I am.'

When my father persisted in trying to dissuade me, Hilarianus ordered him to be thrown to the ground and beaten with a rod. I felt sorry for father, just as if I myself had been beaten. I felt sorry for his pathetic old age.

 

Then Hilarianus passed sentence on all of us: we were condemned to the beasts, and we returned to prison in high spirits. But my baby had got used to being nursed at the breast and to staying with me in prison. So I sent the deacon Pomponius straight away to my father to ask for the baby. But father refused to give him over. But as God willed, the baby had no further desire for the breast, nor did I suffer any inflammation; and so I was relieved of any anxiety for my child and of any discomfort in my breasts....

Some days later, an adjutant named Pudens, who was in charge of the prison, began to show us great honour, realizing that we possessed some great power within us. And he began to allow many visitors to see us for our mutual comfort.

Now the day of the contest was approaching, and my father came to see me overwhelmed with sorrow. He started tearing the hairs from his beard and threw them on the ground; he then threw himself on the ground and began to curse his old age and to say such words as would move all creation. I felt sorry for his unhappy old age.

The day before we were to fight with the beasts I saw the following vision. Pomponius the deacon came to the prison gates and began to knock violently. I went out and opened the gate for him. He was dressed in an unbelted white tunic, wearing elaborate sandals. And he said to me: 'Perpetua, come; we are waiting for you.'

Then he took my hand and we began to walk through rough and broken country. At last we came to the amphitheatre out of breath, and he led me into the centre of the arena.

Then he told me: 'Do not be afraid. I am here, struggling with you.' Then he left.

I looked at the enormous crowd who watched in astonishment. I was surprised that no beasts were let loose on me; for I knew that I was condemned to die by the beasts. Then out came an Egyptian against me, of vicious appearance, together with his seconds, to fight with me. There also came up to me some handsome young men to be my seconds and assistants.

My clothes were stripped off, and suddenly I was a man. My seconds began to rub me down with oil (as they are wont to do before a contest). Then I saw the Egyptian on the other side rolling in the dust. Next there came forth a man of marvelous stature, such that he rose above the top of the amphitheatre. He was clad in a beltless purple tunic with two stripes (one on either side) running down the middle of his chest. He wore sandals that were wondrously made of gold and silver, and he carried a wand like an athletic trainer and a green branch on which there were golden apples.

And he asked for silence and said: 'If this Egyptian defeats her he will slay her with the sword. But if she defeats him, she will receive this branch.' Then he withdrew.

We drew close to one another and began to let our fists fly. My opponent tried to get hold of my feet, but I kept striking him in the face with the heels of my feet. Then I was raised up into the air and I began to pummel him without as it were touching the ground. Then when I noticed there was a lull, I put my two hands together linking the fingers of one hand with those of the other and thus I got hold of his head. 

 He fell flat on his face and I stepped on his head.
The crowd began to shout and my assistants started to sing psalms. Then I walked up to the trainer and took the branch. He kissed me and said to me: 'Peace be with you, my daughter!' I began to walk in triumph towards the Gate of Life. Then I awoke. I realized that it was not with wild animals that I would fight but with the Devil, but I knew that I would win the victory. So much for what I did up until the eve of the contest. About what happened at the contest itself, let him write of it who will.

 Saturus tells the story of a vision he had of Perpetua and himself, after they were killed, being carried by four angels into heaven where they were reunited with other martyrs killed in the same persecution.



Such were the remarkable visions of these martyrs, Saturus and Perpetua, written by themselves. As for Secundulus, God called him from this world earlier than the others while he was still in prison, by a special grace that he might not have to face the animals. Yet his flesh, if not his spirit, knew the sword.

 

As for Felicitas, she too enjoyed the Lord's favour in this wise. She had been pregnant when she was arrested, and was now in her eighth month. As the day of the spectacle drew near she was very distressed that her martyrdom would be postponed because of her pregnancy; for it is against the law for women with child to be executed. 

Thus she might have to shed her holy, innocent blood afterwards along with others who were common criminals. Her comrades in martyrdom were also saddened; for they were afraid that they would have to leave behind so fine a companion to travel alone on the same road to hope. And so, two days before the contest, they poured forth a prayer to the Lord in one torrent of common grief. And immediately after their prayer the birth pains came upon her. She suffered a good deal in her labour because of the natural difficulty of an eight months' delivery.


Hence one of the assistants of the prison guards said to her: 'You suffer so much now--what will you do when you are tossed to the beasts? Little did you think of them when you refused to sacrifice.'
'What I am suffering now', she replied, 'I suffer by myself. But then another will be inside me who will suffer for me, just as I shall be suffering for him.'
And she gave birth to a girl; and one of the sisters brought her up as her own daughter.


Therefore, since the Holy Spirit has permitted the story of this contest to be written down and by so permitting has willed it, we shall carry out the command or, indeed, the commission of the most saintly Perpetua, however unworthy I might be to add anything to this glorious story. At the same time I shall add one example of her perseverance and nobility of soul.


The military tribune had treated them with extraordinary severity because on the information of certain very foolish people he became afraid that they would be spirited out of the prison by magical spells.
Perpetua spoke to him directly. 'Why can you not even allow us to refresh ourselves properly? For we are the most distinguished of the condemned prisoners, seeing that we belong to the emperor; we are to fight on his very birthday. Would it not be to your credit if we were brought forth on the day in a healthier condition?'


The officer became disturbed and grew red. So it was that he gave the order that they were to be more humanely treated; and he allowed her brothers and other persons to visit, so that the prisoners could dine in their company. By this time the adjutant who was head of the gaol was himself a Christian.
On the day before, when they had their last meal, which is called the free banquet, they celebrated not a banquet but rather a love feast. They spoke to the mob with the same steadfastness, warned them of God's judgement, stressing the joy they would have in their suffering, and ridiculing the curiosity of those that came to see them. Saturus said:

 'Will not tomorrow be enough for you? Why are you so eager to see something that you dislike? Our friends today will be our enemies on the morrow. But take careful note of what we look like so that you will recognize us on the day.' Thus everyone would depart from the prison in amazement, and many of them began to believe.

The day of their victory dawned, and they marched from the prison to the amphitheatre 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 countenance and calm step, as the beloved of God, as a wife of Christ, putting down everyone's stare by her own intense gaze. With them also was Felicitas, glad that she had safely given birth so that now she could fight the beasts, going from one blood bath to another, from the midwife to the gladiator, ready to wash after childbirth in a second baptism.

 

They were then led up to the gates and the men were forced to put on the robes of priests of Saturn, the women the dress of the priestesses of Ceres. But the noble Perpetua strenuously resisted this to the end.
'We came to this of our own free will, that our freedom should not be violated. We agreed to pledge our lives provided that we would do no such thing. You agreed with us to do this.'


Even injustice recognized justice. The military tribune agreed. They were to be brought into the arena just as they were. Perpetua then began to sing a psalm: she was already treading on the head of the Egyptian. Revocatus, Saturninus, and Saturus began to warn the on looking mob. Then when they came within sight of Hilarianus, they suggested by their motions and gestures: 'You have condemned us, but God will condemn you' was what they were saying.
At this the crowds became enraged and demanded that they be scourged before a line of gladiators. And they rejoiced at this that they had obtained a share in the Lord's sufferings.


But he who said, Ask and you shall receive, answered their prayer by giving each one the death he had asked for. For whenever they would discuss among themselves their desire for martyrdom, Saturninus indeed insisted that he wanted to be exposed to all the different beasts, that his crown might be all the more glorious. And so at the outset of the contest he and Revocatus were matched with a leopard, and then while in the stocks they were attacked by a bear. As for Saturus, he dreaded nothing more than a bear, and he counted on being killed by one bite of a leopard. Then he was matched with a wild boar; but the gladiator who had tied him to the animal was gored by the boar and died a few days after the contest, whereas Saturus was only dragged along. Then when he was bound in the stocks awaiting the bear, the animal refused to come out of the cages, so that Saturus was called back once more unhurt.


For the young women, however, the Devil had prepared a mad heifer. This was an unusual animal, but it was chosen that their sex might be matched with that of the beast. So they were stripped naked, placed in nets and thus brought out into the arena. Even the crowd was horrified when they saw that one was a delicate young girl and the other was a woman fresh from childbirth with the milk still dripping from her breasts. And so they were brought back again and dressed in unbelted tunics.


First the heifer tossed Perpetua and she fell on her back. Then sitting up she pulled down the tunic that was ripped along the side so that it covered her thighs, thinking more of her modesty than of her pain. Next she asked for a pin to fasten her untidy hair: for it was not right that a martyr should die with her hair in disorder, lest she might seem to be mourning in her hour of triumph.


Then she got up. And seeing that Felicitas had been crushed to the ground, she went over to her, gave her hand, and lifted her up. Then the two stood side by side. But the cruelty of the mob was by now appeased, and so they were called back through the Gate of Life.


There Perpetua was held up by a man named Rusticus who was at the time a catechumen and kept close to her. She awoke from a kind of sleep (so absorbed had she been in ecstasy in the Spirit) and she began to look about her. Then to the amazement of all she said:




 'When are we going to be thrown to that heifer or whatever it is?'

When told that this had already happened, she refused to believe it until she noticed the marks of her rough experience on her person and her dress. Then she called for her brother and spoke to him together with the catechumens and said:

 'You must all stand fast in the faith and love one another, and do not be weakened by what we have gone through.'

At another gate Saturus was earnestly addressing the soldier Pudens. 'It is exactly', he said, 'as I foretold and predicted. So far not one animal has touched me. So now you may believe me with all your heart: I am going in there and I shall be finished off with one bite of the leopard.' And immediately as the contest was coming to a close a leopard was let loose, and after one bite Saturus was so drenched with blood that as he came away the mob roared in witness to his second baptism: 

'Well washed! Well washed!' For well washed indeed was one who had been bathed in this manner.

Then he said to the soldier Pudens: 'Good-bye. Remember me, and remember the faith. These things should not disturb you but rather strengthen you.'
And with this he asked Pudens for a ring from his finger, and dipping it into his wound he gave it back to him again as a pledge and as a record of his bloodshed.

Shortly after he was thrown unconscious with the rest in the usual spot to have his throat cut. But the mob asked that their bodies be brought out into the open that their eyes might be the guilty witnesses of the sword that pierced their flesh. And so the martyrs got up and went to the spot of their own accord as the people wanted them to, and kissing one another they sealed their martyrdom with the ritual kiss of peace.

 The others took the sword in silence and without moving, especially Saturus, who being the first to climb the stairway was the first to die. For once again he was waiting for Perpetual Perpetua, however, had yet to taste more pain. She screamed as she was struck on the bone; then she took the trembling hand of the young gladiator and guided it to her throat. It was as though so great a woman, feared as she was by the unclean spirit, could not be dispatched unless she herself were willing.


Ah, most valiant and blessed martyrs! Truly are you called and chosen for the glory of Christ Jesus our Lord! And any man who exalts, honours, and worships his glory should read for the consolation of the Church these new deeds of heroism which are no less significant than the tales of old. For these new manifestations of virtue will bear witness to one and the same Spirit who still operates, and to God the Father almighty, to his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom is splendour and immeasurable power for all the ages. Amen.

 

excerpted: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/maps/primary/perpetua.html