If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)
Felicitas was fully aware of the costs of serving the Lord. Her husband had already died, probably as
a martyr, when we come into our story.
The year is A. D. 164. Emperor Antonius Pius was persecuting Christians in Rome. Felicitas was living her Christian life quietly but faithfully. A wealthy widow, she provided food for the hungry and shelter for the homeless. The Kingdom of God was advancing in this dark land. She had won many of her neighbors to Christ and that angered the pagan religious leaders. The new converts renounced their worship of the false gods in Rome. The heathen priests who feared losing power and influence plotted against her. They had her arrested as a traitor.
The Emperor turned her case over to Publius, the chief magistrate in Rome. Publius knew that Felicitas was a highly respected woman, and he wanted to spare her life. He called Felicitas and her seven sons to his house for a private meeting and tried to convince them to forsake their Christianity. He demanded that they make sacrifices to the heathen gods or suffer the consequences. Publius thought that if he threatened Felicitas’ sons, she would relent. But her reply shows the courage of her faith and complete trust in Jesus Christ. “If,” replied Felicitas, calmly,” my children are faithful to Christ, they will attain eternal life with me; if from fear of death they should sacrifice to idols, they can expect nothing but death eternal.”
Publius was furious and decided to press her by ordering the deaths of her seven sons, one by one. 
First, her eldest son Januarius was beaten to death with cords and ropes that had balls of lead attached while Felicitas was forced to watch. He did not give in but forgave his murderers and professed his faith in Christ. Each of his brothers followed in succession. They knew that it was their calling to maintain their faith in God’s mercy and grace even if it cost them their lives. Each of them knew that their mother would refuse to make the heathen sacrifice no matter the cost. Second, they beat Felix and Philippus with rods. Angry that Felicitas still refused to make sacrifice, they threw Silvanus head first over a precipice and he died on impact with the ground. Then they beheaded Alexander, Vitalis, and Martialis all at the same time, as if they had grown tired of slaughter and simply wanted to be done with the task. Finally, when Felicitas still refused to make sacrifice, they threw her into prison hoping that she would think about her death and change her mind. When she was brought again to face Publius she stood firm in the faith that had cost the lives of her seven sons. She was grateful that her teaching of her sons had been effectual and none of them denied Christ. She knew she would see them again in Heaven. Finally, Felicitas, who never recanted her faith, was executed four months later. After Felicitas was martyred, a great many more people were won to Christ when they saw her courage and faith.
Felicitas and her seven sons knew the costs involved in remaining faithful to Christ. They all had a belief in eternity. They knew that the earthly life is short in comparison with everlasting life in Heaven. I fear that people in our society have become so “now oriented” that they lack the ability to see and understand how giving in, even to small demands by the powers that be, ruin their testimony and destroy the advancement of the Kingdom of God. I don’t think most people are thinking about the eternal consequences of their actions.
We have an opportunity that Felicitas did not have. There were no laws to protect her right to worship as she chose. We supposedly have those now. We will lose them if we do nothing about it. We may end up having to face serious consequences if our stance for Christ is deemed illegal. Already, Pro-life advocates have been termed as subversives or terrorists in some government publications. Obama has shown that he is not above labeling anyone who disagrees with him as a traitor. This has been done before; just witness the rise of Hitler in the 1930’s.
Praise God, there is still time and there are groups who are not just sitting around while the fires are getting hotter and hotter. People are finally angry enough to do something.
All Christians should value life because our God is the One in charge of life. We all value our freedom. Let us all stand together or fall together. We do not have to end up imprisoned or executed like the faithful martyr, Felicitas, at least not yet. The sacrifices we could make right now are small in comparison.
Remember the words of Gregory the Great, who preached a sermon at the site of her tomb some centuries after Felicitas died. He pointed to her willingness to die for her faith and compared it to the little “persecutions” we think we are suffering. “Let us be covered with shame and confusion at the thought of how far short we fall of the virtue of this martyr–how we suffer our passions to triumph over faith in our hearts. How often does a single word spoken against us disturb our minds–how often are we discouraged or provoked by the least blast of contradiction; while neither torments nor death were able to shake her courageous soul. We weep without ceasing when God requires of us the children He hath lent us. Her grief was lest her children should not be content to die for Christ; and she rejoiced when for His sake they gave up their lives.”
Felicitas had a vision of eternity. She sacrificed temporal comfort for an eternity of joy and triumph with her sons and the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us recapture that vision before it is too late.
