User:ARMoody/Perpetua and Felicity

Pain
Perpetua was imprisoned in Carthage in the days leading up to her martyrdom. She described these days and all that she endured in her diary. Perpetua described the physical and emotional torments that she suffered in the prison leading up to her martyrdom. Perpetua suffered physically due to the heat, rough prison guards, and the cessation of regular breastfeeding. Perpetua also described how the prison conditions improved after herself and the other martyrs were moved to another part of the prison. Her physical torment was also eased after she was able to breastfeed her child. Perpetua described bodily ailments in detail and the most common in her narrative was the cycle of pain and relief she would feel in her breasts. Historians have attributed this cycle of pain and relief to be due to Perpetua's inability to regularly nurse her infant son.

Motherhood
Perpetua's identity as a mother was an important aspect of her martyr story. She wrote frequently about how she worried about the wellbeing of her infant son while she was in prison awaiting martyrdom. Perpetua's worries were remedied by a miracle performed by God. After Perpetua could no longer nurse her infant son, she described an event wherein God relieved her of her motherly duties by curing her physical pains and ensuring that her infant son no longer relied on Perpetua for sustenance.