The Church Has Been Saying These Women's Names at Mass for Over 1,500 Years, and Most Catholics Don't Know Who They Are
Most of us recite the prayers. Few of us know the lives behind them. That's about to change.
One was nine months pregnant in a Roman prison.
One was twelve years old.
One was a servant. One was a noblewoman.
They came from different centuries, different places, different lives.
But they all faced the same choice.
And they all answered the same way.
Their names are spoken in the Roman Canon, one of the most ancient prayers of the Mass. Not as a ritual gesture, but as a real prayer, with real names, for real people who lived and died.
St. Perpetua. St. Felicity. St. Agatha. St. Lucy. St. Agnes. St. Cecilia. St. Anastasia.
You've heard those names. Probably dozens of times. But do you know their stories?
Perpetua was a young mother from a noble family. Felicity was her pregnant servant. They were imprisoned together in Carthage in 203. Felicity gave birth in prison just days before they were both sent into the arena.
Agnes was about 12 or 13 years old when she was martyred in Rome.
Agatha refused a Roman official who wanted her to abandon her vow to God. She was tortured and died for her faith.
Lucy, according to tradition, gave away her goods to the poor and remained faithful to Christ until she was killed during the Diocletian persecution.
The Church did not forget them. It kept saying their names for centuries.
Here is the question their lives keep asking:
If your faith actually cost you something, not your comfort but your safety, your freedom, your life, would you still hold on to it?
That is not a rhetorical question. It is the one they answered.
Next time you are at Mass, listen for their names. You will hear them differently now.
Source: Thy Flame of Love (Dana Rachel)
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