Orthodox Icon of St. Felicity

Saint Felicity COPYRIGHTED ART. Do not copy or deep-link to without prior permission from "Come and See" Icons, Books & Art.

February 1st
Troparion (Tone 4)
Your lambs, Perpetua and Felicity, cry out to you, O Jesus, with great love: "O our Bridegroom, we long for you in great pain, we are crucified with you, and in baptism we are buried with you. We suffer for your sake in order to reign with you. We die for you in order to live in you. Accept us as immaculate victims, since we are slain for your sake." Through their intercessions, O Merciful One, save our souls!

Perpetua and Felicity were martyred in Carthage by Emperor Septimus Severus in 203. They were in a large group of Christians who had been rounded up and imprisoned. Perpetua received a dream where she saw a ladder stretching from earth to Heaven covered with sharp implements of torture and a serpent at the bottom. She saw Satyrus, one of their number, run up to the top of the ladder without injury. He encouraged her to ascend, "but mind the serpent." She used the serpent's head as if it were the first rung and ascended to Glory. With this vision, she encouraged the others to follow faithfully in martyrdom. St. Satyrus was martyred first, then Perpetua. Then the rest all followed. This was done in the arena as entertainment for the pagans. St. Perpetua was a 22 year-old noblewoman, married, with a newborn son. St. Felicity was a slave and was pregnant. They waited for her to give birth before they martyred her. St. Felicity gave birth to a girl, who was spirited off to be raised by Christians. In 1907, an inscription in their honor was discovered in the Basilica in Carthage that marked their grave. Some of their relics were placed in the Altar during the consecration of St. Philip's Church.

This Icon is by the hand of Nicholas Papas. It is from St. Philip's Antiochian Orthodox Church in Souderton, PA.

Order #phm-02