Saint Felicity and her seven sons

These Saints, whose triumphs are so celebrated in the writings of the Fathers, suffered under the Emperor Antoninus Pius. Saint Felicity Sainte Félicité Roman martyr to whom Boniface had a particular devotion. was a Roman lady equally distinguished by her virtue and her birth. She raised her seven children in the fear of the Lord, and took care to imbue them with the most sublime maxims of Christianity. After the death of her husband, she served God in continence and occupied herself only with good works. Her examples, as well as those of her family, drew many pagans away from their superstitions, while at the same time encouraging Christians to show themselves worthy of their vocation.

The pagan priests, furious at the losses suffered by the religion of which they were the ministers, brought their complaints to the Emperor Antoninus. "You cannot endure," they told him, "the boldness with which Felicity professes the doctrine of the Christians; many are abandoning the worship of the immortal gods, who are the guardians and protectors of the empire; this abandonment and the tolerance of a foreign cult offend them; therefore, they are extremely irritated against the city and against the entire State. They can only be appeased by forcing Felicity and her children to offer sacrifices to them."

Antoninus, who was himself superstitious, responded favorably to the priests' complaint. He charged Pub lius, prefect of Rome, Publius, préfet de Rome Husband of Anastasia, ambassador to the King of Persia. to give them satisfaction and to do what they requested to appease the gods. As a consequence of this order, Publius had Felicity brought to him with her seven children. When they had come, he took the mother aside and used every possible means to determine her to sacrifice, adding that in case of refusal, he would be obliged to have recourse to rigorous measures. "Learn to know me," replied Felicity, "and do not flatter yourself that you will frighten me with your threats, nor seduce me with your fine words. I hope, by the virtue of the Spirit of God, who will fight with me, to triumph over Satan and emerge victorious from the trials to which your assaults will put my fidelity." — "Unhappy woman," said Publius, transported with rage, "how can death appear so desirable to you that you would expose your children to being deprived of life and force me to take it from them by cruel torments?" — "My children," replied Felicity, "will live eternally with Jesus Christ if they are faithful to him; but they must expect torments that will never end if they sacrifice to idols."

The next day, Publius, being seated on his tribunal in the field and before the temple of Mar temple de Mars Site of public judgment. s, sent for Felicity and her children; then, addressing the mother, he said to her: "Have pity on your children who are in the flower of their youth and who can aspire to the highest offices of the State." — "Your pity," the saint replied, "is a real impiety, and the alleged compassion to which you exhort me would announce the cruelest of mothers." Turning then to her children, she said to them: "Look to heaven where Jesus Christ awaits you with his Saints; persist in his love, and fight generously for your souls." At these words, Publius had her slapped, telling her that she was very bold to give such advice in his presence, which showed an unforgivable obstinacy in disobeying the emperors.

He resolved to make a new attempt, taking the Saints separately to try to shake them by the combined force of threats and promises. He began with Januarius, the eldest of t he seve Janvier The eldest of the seven sons of Saint Felicity. n brothers; but he received only this answer: "What you advise me to do is contrary to reason. I trust in the goodness of the Lord Jesus, that He will preserve me from such impiety." He ordered him to be cruelly beaten, after which he sent him back to prison. Felix, the second of the brothers, was then brought in. As he was urged to sacrifice, he replied: "There is only one God, and it is to Him that we must offer the sacrifice of our hearts. We will never forget the love we owe to Jesus Christ. Use all the artifices and all the refinements of cruelty, you will not be able to rob us of our faith." The other brothers, having been questioned, gave a similar answer, and protested that nothing would be capable of depriving them of the eternal reward promised to the just. Martialis, who spoke last, said: "All those who do not confess that Jesus Christ is true God, will be cast into a fire that will never be extinguished." The interrogation finished, the saints suffered the penalty of the lash and were taken back to prison. Publius, despairing of overcoming their constancy, sent the entire proceeding to the emperor.

Antoninus, having read the interrogation, ordered that the confessors be sent to different judges and condemned to various kinds of torture. Januarius was beaten to death with whips tipped with lead balls. Felix and Philip ended their lives by violent blows from clubs that were rained down upon them. Silvanus, the fourth of the brothers, was thrown headfirst into a precipice. Alexander, Vitalis, and Martial, who were the youngest, were beheaded. Felicity died in the same manner four months later. She is named on November 23 in the Roman Martyrology, which commemorates the seven brothers on July 10. It is on this latter day that the feast of these saints is marked in the ancient Roman calendar, published by Bucherius. There was on the Via Salaria a church built in honor of and o voie Salarienne Burial place of Saint Felicity. ver the tomb of Saint Felicity.

It was in this church that Sa int Gregory the Great p saint Grégoire le Grand Pope contemporary to Saint Psalmodius. reached his third homily on the Gospels on the feast day of the holy martyr. This is how he expresses himself: "Felicity, having seven children, feared leaving them on earth after her more than other mothers fear surviving theirs. She was more than a martyr, since she suffered in a way what each of her children suffered. She fought the eighth, according to the order of time; but she was in pain throughout this bloody scene; she began her martyrdom in the eldest of her children and only consummated it with her own death. She received a crown for herself and for all those she had brought into the world. Seeing them tormented, she lost none of her constancy. As a mother, she felt everything that nature makes one suffer in such circumstances; but she rejoiced in her heart through the sentiments inspired by hope." The same Father takes this as an occasion to show how weak faith is in us: "In Saint Felicity, it triumphed over flesh and blood; and in us, it is not capable of stopping the outbursts of our passions, nor of detaching our hearts from this perfidious and corrupt world. Let us at least be covered with confusion, he adds, seeing that we are so far from the virtue of this saint, and that we allow evil inclinations to stifle faith in our hearts. Often a word troubles us, the slightest contradiction irritates or discourages us, and yet the torments of death itself could not shake the courageous soul of Felicity... We weep incessantly when God takes back the children He had given us, while Felicity was saddened that hers did not die for Jesus Christ, and rejoiced to see them seal their faith by the shedding of their blood."

In the arts, the seven children of Saint Felicity are grouped before their mother: each of them holds a palm. Besides the palm, Saint Felicity carries a broad sword. As Saint Felicity had only boys, she is invoked to obtain them. Drawn from their sincere acts, published by Dom Eninart. See Tillemont, volume II, and the remarks of Pinius, one of the continuators of Bollandus, volume III julii, page 5. — Acta Sanctorum. — Cf. Saint Gregory the Great, Hom. III in Evangelium.