“These 2 women are the first female saints mentioned at Mass” by Philip Kosloski

 You can read the original text here.

published on 03/07/26

 After the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sts. Perpetua and Felicity are the first women mentioned during the Eucharistic prayer at Mass.

A custom arose in the first few centuries of the Roman Catholic Church to recall a number of saints during the Eucharistic prayer. This was done during the recitation of what became known as the Roman Canon, also called Eucharistic Prayer I.

Those included make up an ancient list, one that was originally smaller and focused only on local saints who died in Rome.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "Benedict XIV quotes from Adalbert, 'De Virginitate,' that St. Gregory I, having noticed that no female saints occur in the Canon, added these seven here."

The list is not in any way alphabetical, as it begins with "Felicity" and ends with "Anastasia." It's possible that the list of women is ordered according to "date of death," beginning with the earliest Christians and ending with the latest ones.

It's also possible that the list simply reflects the popularity of the saints at the time it was created in the 7th century. Sts. Perpetua and Felicity were very popular, and their legendary life was immortalized in the text "The Passion of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity."

Whatever the reasoning might have been for the order, Perpetua and Felicity are the first ones mentioned after the Blessed Virgin Mary. The reference to them in the Eucharistic Prayer should prompt us to pause and reflect on their lives.

Two holy women - St. Felicity was a young and pregnant enslaved woman of the 2nd century. She was persecuted by the Romans for her Christian faith and sentenced to death with St. Perpetua in the amphitheater at the public games.

Being eight months pregnant, it is said that Felicity was actually worried that the Romans wouldn't kill her and she might lose the "crown of martyrdom." She ended up giving birth to a daughter while in captivity and was later led to the arena to be killed.

St. Perpetua was a noblewoman of Carthage and was thrown into the same prison as Felicity for refusing to deny her Christian faith. She chronicled her experience in a diary up until the day of her death. This account was highly popular for many centuries after her death.

The Church continues to hold up these two women as models for us to imitate, especially because of their courageous faith in the face of martyrdom.