Perpetua

Perpetua was a young woman who would not renounce her faith in Christ during Roman times. She was imprisoned and even after several attempts on her father's part to get her to renounce her faith and save her life she would not. She was sentenced to die with several other people in a amphitheater. When she was brought out naked and bound the spectators were so overcome with her beauty that they demanded she be clothed. Clothed or not she was still sentenced to die, a wild bull rushed at one of her companions whose name was Felicitas severely wounding her. Perpetua rushed to her friend and helped her, whether it was this act or something else we'll never know, but something drew the bull away from the two woman. A soldier, who may have been young and without much practice, pulled out his sword and stabbed Perpetua several times, severely wounding her, but not mortally wounding her. It was the hand of Perpetua guiding the soldier's hand to her heart that caused her death.

I remember hearing this story a few years ago and then I forgot about the woman's name the only reminder in my mind was the image that I had in my head after hearing this story. I do not know if every Christian person is called to be a martyr, I do not expect many people to believe this tale, however whether someone believes or not is not the issue here. I just thought this was a great example of how a strong faith and belief can lead people to do great things that normally wouldn't be done. Perpetua stood up for her belief in God and in Christ, by not renouncing her faith (which was a crime punishable by death), by standing up against her father, and by finally dying for her faith and in doing so becoming a martyr. I do not know if I could ever do something like this, I'd like to believe that I would, but it wouldn't be easy, especially if the only two options were life and death.